The Horniest Eurovision in History with Special Guest AJ Clay

Steven Perkins: 00:00:00

In today's episode, the runner up takes it all as Lucio signs up for Italy.

th eight more songs for Basel: 2025

I had a lovely time, thank you very much for asking. And a lot has happened in the world of Eurovision since our last episode.

In a little while I will be joined by AJ Clay to discuss the latest crop of songs selected to compete at this year's contest. But first, let's catch up with some of the main headlines from the last two weeks.

To begin with, Italy has confirmed that Lucio Corsi will represent them at this year's contest with Volevo essere unduro.

This follows Sanremo winner Oli declining the offer to take part in Eurovision this year with his song Ballor de Nostalgia, commenting in a statement on his Instagram that he was doing so in the awareness that it is one of those things that maybe only happens once in a lifetime.

In accordance with the previously discussed plans, in the event of the Sanremo winner not wanting to go to Eurovision, broadcaster RAI offered the opportunity to runner up Lucio, who accepted. In other news, broadcaster SRGSRR has revealed the official mascot for this year's contest.

Lumo, the heart shaped creature is intended to promote unity and showcase the beating heart of Eurovision. And although they're kind of cute, I can't quite shake the feeling that Lumo looks a little bit like Roger the alien from American Dad.

While my husband said that Lumo reminded him of the Lisa, Rinna, M and M. And if you don't know what that is, I dare you to google it. But be warned, it's not for the faint hearted.

Lumo was created by 20 year old Lyn Brunner who entered a competition run jointly by the Basel Academy of Art and Design and the Basel School of Design. Lumo will be out and about in Basel from the beginning of May, so do keep an eye out for them if you're heading there.

France have announced that their representative Luanne will perform her song for this year's contest live for the first time at the Stade de France during the halftime show of the France vs Scotland Six nations match on on the 15th of March.

The title of the entry hasn't been revealed yet, but the fact that France television have picked such a high profile slot to make the official release of the song to the world suggests that they have a considerable amount of confidence in it.

And finally, the enduring silence over what's believed to be Eurovision's worst kept secret continues as a couple of listings magazines in the UK seem to have confirmed remember Monday as this year's UK representatives.

cement about the UK's act for: 2025

Since our last episode, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Serbia have all either held their national finals or announced their internal selection. And I am delighted to be joined by Edinburgh based writer, podcaster and bad film enthusiast AJ Clay to discuss them. Aj, thank you for joining us.

Steven Perkins: 00:02:55

You're very welcome. Nice to be here.

AJ Clay: 00:02:58

It's great to have you. We have got a lot to get through. As we just mentioned. We've got like eight acts to get through, so let's round the bush. Let us race in.

We'll start with Armenia because that is the one that's been sat there for a while, while I've been away. Yeah. So this, this one I've been catching up with. That was one by, I'm gonna say Parg. I don't know if it's Parge.

Steven Perkins: 00:03:17

I'm not sure. I think it's probably Parge.

AJ Clay: 00:03:19

Parge. Yeah. We'll figure that out as we go along with Survivor. Now, my initial reaction to this was, oh, go.

The Game of Thrones cosplay in the staging because it feels like we've got quite a lot of that at the moment. I feel like I hold Armenia up to quite a high level because I really, really loved their entry last year.

This one to me isn't really hitting me in a good place. It feels like it's kind of. It's a mashup of Queen of Kings and I feed you my love. But it's not as good as either of those.

What are your feelings on it?

Steven Perkins: 00:03:50

Yeah, I mean, just to pick up on what you said about the kind of Game of Thrones armored theme this year seems to be kind of, you know, I mean, Norway have just got Aladdin armor as well, and I'm like, we, we can only have one. You can't duck it out backstage, guys. And I mean, yeah, like you said, there's just so many high quality Armenian things.

I absolutely love what they deliver most years. But this just felt. I think the whole national final was vocally very dubious. So he was the best of an average lot.

AJ Clay: 00:04:20

Yeah.

I mean, I really hesitate to criticise anyone who's trying to write songs in their second or third langu, but I do feel we may have moved slightly beyond As a society lyrics like, I'm a Survivor, Staying Aliver. That's the chorus. I mean, that's your kind of. That's your calling card. So I was not terribly enthused with the song.

Steven Perkins: 00:04:43

I mean, at least it's got a little bit of an anthemic thing with the chorus. It might be okay. But, yes, at least it's better than Fire Higher Desire. I mean, that's every entry.

AJ Clay: 00:04:54

Yeah, that's true. I think this is the thing that's kind of saddened me a little bit about this one.

I felt that what they sent last year, the Ladden Eva with Jacko, really felt like it was very distinct, very specific and very. It felt very Armenian. This feels like absolutely anybody could have sent this. And that to me is slightly disappointing.

Steven Perkins: 00:05:11

Yeah. Lady and was so unique and so fun. And this is generic, I think. Generic cure revision.

AJ Clay: 00:05:19

Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, I don't think there's anything ultimately wrong with it, but I don't think there's a lot that's right with it either.

I do worry for them a little bit that, you know, he's quite handsome, which will certainly help televote wise. But I don't know if that's enough to really push this over the line in terms of qualifying. I think they could be in slightly sticky, Shaky. Yeah.

Shaky territory this year. Yeah, well, we'll just. I mean, you mentioned that the overall quality of the vocals wasn't great.

I did check in with the runner up, which was Simon, I'm gonna say, rather than Simon with AI Papare Bai, which I kind of liked. I wondered why it was staged on a Nintendo Virtual Boy, because it was. It was all like red and black.

And I didn't really get what they were doing with that. I still. I mean, I wasn't sat there thinking this, you know, they should have sent this. This would have easily qualified.

I still think, kind of whichever way they went wasn't. Wasn't a great prospect. But this one, I at least kind of felt it has slightly more of a point of view. Maybe. I don't know.

Steven Perkins: 00:06:24

Yeah, well, it was Very much the kind of. The lyrics were very thirsty indeed of memory services. It was like, oh, I see where we've gone here. I see which Eurovision gaze we are targeting.

But it was okay. I think the thing that I. I liked the. The staging was okay, but the. It started to get quite shouty and very kind of.

It doesn't have the kind of hooky it was just. Now you're just yelling at me. I'm not thirsty now. I'm just sad.

AJ Clay: 00:06:51

Yeah, I. I felt there's always going to be at least one entry at Eurovision that is just a lot of yelling and maybe that. That would have been this one, but.

Yeah. So I feel like Armenia this year, maybe possibly not seeing them in the final. We'll have to. We'll have to see, actually, because I do think their.

Their. Their semi final, I think, is quite a. Quite a tricky one as it is. So we'll see how they get on.

Moving on, Azerbaijan, who internally selected Mama Gala with run with you. Now, I'm gonna have to disclaimer to start with because I've only heard a studio version.

I've not heard it live or anything, so we don't know what the staging's like. We don't know how good they are live. I quite liked it.

I think it feels like after they've had a slightly iffy couple of years, Azerbaijan, and this feels like they've slightly had a bit of a return to form. It's quite fun. It feels like that last year they were trying to be very authentically Azerbaijani.

This year we've gone like, sod it, let's try and be Sweden and it could work for them.

Steven Perkins: 00:07:45

Yeah. I mean, if in doubt, just try and be Sweden or just send the songwriters to all the other countries, which seems to be happening.

But, yeah, I enjoyed it too. I think, despite my. I was all ready to be set up to be disappointed.

And then when it premiered, I was just sort of found myself vibing out, thinking, this is kind of funky, kind of disco. Yeah.

Very silly video as well, which I don't know if that's going to be the staging of it getting Frankenstein's monster, but if we do, that's great as well.

AJ Clay: 00:08:10

Yeah, it feels like it's got a bit of a sense of humor about it and it is. It is genuinely quite catchy, I think. So, again, I feel that they're in quite a tricky semi final.

I mean, I'm not sure there is such a thing as an easy semi final of either of them this year.

Steven Perkins: 00:08:22

But they're stacked with bangers, some of the semis, or it's going to be a bloodbath, I think.

AJ Clay: 00:08:28

Yeah. But I think they've got a decent shot with this one. I think they've certainly put their kind of best foot forward with this one.

And if they don't get through, then it won't be for a lack of effort on their part. And I say that as someone who actually genuinely quite enjoyed last year's entry, even though I knew it wasn't going to qualify.

Steven Perkins: 00:08:44

It's always the fates to enjoy the thing that you know is just going to be left behind first. Yes.

AJ Clay: 00:08:49

That is the thing, isn't it, when someone releases a song and you're like, I love this. It's doomed, but I love it.

Steven Perkins: 00:08:54

Yeah. Oh, no. Or I'm Peter King.

AJ Clay: 00:09:00

So, yeah. There's not a lot more we can say about Azerbaijan at this point, I think, because we've got so little to go on, but.

Steven Perkins: 00:09:05

No.

AJ Clay: 00:09:06

Yeah.

Steven Perkins: 00:09:06

Sort of a life. We don't know if the vocals are going to fall to bits. Yeah, we'll see.

AJ Clay: 00:09:11

We will see. And I think at least the building blocks are there, which is a good start. So we shall skate onwards to Iceland, appropriately enough.

And I'm going to do my best to pronounce these. I believe it's Vibe is the name of the band and rua, I'm going to say, as the name of the song, this one again, I really liked.

I thought this was a lot of fun. I mean, the silly kind of silver outfits that they had. It feels very Eurovision ready in terms of the staging. It feels very well thought out.

They've got a concept, it works with the song. What do you think?

Steven Perkins: 00:09:45

Yeah. I mean, I know that they're kind of repeat offenders because they did try and enter, I think it was last year.

It feels like, from what I know they've got quite a big kind of young fan base that they give a kind of Jedward energy, but that's complimentary. I like jet work.

AJ Clay: 00:10:02

Yeah. Jedward. Non derogatory.

Steven Perkins: 00:10:04

Non derogatory. Or.

AJ Clay: 00:10:06

Or.

Steven Perkins: 00:10:07

I think in our group chat it was Jedward. Jedwardson, I think they ended up being called.

AJ Clay: 00:10:11

Very good.

Steven Perkins: 00:10:11

But I. I love their retro. The kind of like silver tracksuits. It was giving me kind of a millennial, a retro. A kind of Backstreet Boys. I don't know, like.

And they kind of. That kind of doof donkey kind of is kind of meant to be blasted out of your car in, like, a rural part of Iceland. It's like a whole sub.

Sweden has this weird thing where there's music that is just designed for these speed limited cars that farmers sons just drive around. It's that. It's that you have your, like home brew, your rock guts in your car and you're like, yes. And it was good.

It was like a sort of sea shanty as well. I don't know why it was doing that, but. Sure, you know.

AJ Clay: 00:10:55

Exactly. I'd say that level of cultural insight is why we booked you for this podcast.

Steven Perkins: 00:11:01

Icelandic expert. Not really. Scandi Religion. Scandi file, I think.

AJ Clay: 00:11:05

Yeah. But I think you made a really good point there, which is that there's just something very kind of difficult to resist about this. There's something.

It's very kind of inclusive. It feels like they want the audience to have. They're having fun. They want the audience to have fun as well. And I feel.

I watched it and I was, you know, a million miles away, but I got swept up in it immediately.

Steven Perkins: 00:11:23

Right, yeah, exactly. You're going to just feel it's got an infectious beat. You're going to want to get up and dance.

If it comes on in the Euro club, you're going to be like, oh, yeah. And it's just. Yeah. Universal language of dance.

AJ Clay: 00:11:35

Yeah, exactly. And I think there was a lot in the staging that I think worked really, really well. So I don't think they need to do.

I think they can pretty much take it as is, plonk it down in Basel and it'll work nicely. I don't really have any worries about them qualifying this year, I think.

Steven Perkins: 00:11:49

No, I think it will be. It should go through.

AJ Clay: 00:11:52

We'll quickly mention Stebby Jack, who is the run up with Set Me Free. This one I thought was fine. Something that's very much a place for this. I don't necessarily think it would have been the right choice for Eurovision.

I think it would have probably got a bit lost if they'd sent this.

Steven Perkins: 00:12:08

Yeah, well, that was kind of the vibe I was getting from. That was kind of emo metal y. Kind of, I don't know, Lincoln Parky, maybe.

AJ Clay: 00:12:17

Yeah, that sort of thing. A bit of fire.

Steven Perkins: 00:12:19

A bit of fire. Cool. The staging, kind of clambering around, a gantry kind of thing. Yeah, it was. It was good. I think it was a well earned runner up.

I think I enjoyed the performance, but, yeah, I think it would have got lost. As opposed to lads and silver tracksuits doing sort of shanty.

AJ Clay: 00:12:38

Exactly.

Steven Perkins: 00:12:38

Much more compelling.

AJ Clay: 00:12:39

Yeah, I think it was. It was Definitely. You know, I say it was a worthy runner up.

I don't think there was necessarily a lot about it that would have really stood out at Eurovision, because I think it's the sort of thing we have seen there quite a bit before and it might have slipped through, but I wouldn't have fancied its chances. So I think the right decision was made overall.

Steven Perkins: 00:12:57

Yeah.

AJ Clay: 00:12:58

Now, this one, let's move on to Australia. This one, I think it's been fair to say, has had a slightly mixed reaction. People have been enthusiastic about it. People have.

Have not enjoyed this one. This is Gojo with Milkshake Man.

Now, a lot has been made about the fact that this is the 69th Eurovision Song Contest and we do appear to, as a result, have got a lot of very horny songs. This being one of them.

I think, personally, opening with playing like Greensleeves is quite a bold move in the post sixth musical era, because I feel like they have taken that and they have done the best thing you could possibly do with that, so that you can only sort of fail to meet the comparison there. The weird thing about this one was I was watching it and thinking, this feels gross and icky, but I'm also. It's kind of ear. Wormy.

Steven Perkins: 00:13:46

Yeah, it's a little bit eerwormy. It almost felt like I kind of trying to do, I don't know, Electric Six or something like that. But to me, the vibes were very creepy.

Especially, like you said, the play in the green sleeves and the kind of ice cream van. I was talking about it with my pals and thinking it was very. Those kind of 80s public information films, the kind of Stranger Danger.

It's like this weird man in his ice cream vans telling me to try his milkshake. I would love Run Away. Run away. It's just.

Oh, it kind of gave me the ick in the way that, like, Erica Vickman's didn't, because that just felt like, you know, empowering and very. Whereas this was just very.

AJ Clay: 00:14:24

Yes.

Steven Perkins: 00:14:25

Come here.

AJ Clay: 00:14:26

Yeah, I think I don't want to make too many comparisons. I feel like Erica Vickman, there's definitely a level of consent in that one with the viewer that I feel doesn't fully exist in this one.

And I think, you know, the thing is, as well with.

Because it's Australia and I do feel like they've, you know, their kind of presence at Eurovision is still a little bit of a slightly wispy thing, they're not always the most popular country, so I feel like, they've kind of set themselves a fairly big hurdle with this song because, as you say, it does give you the ick very slightly that they're really going to need to work hard in the staging and the overall performance to, I think, counteract that if they want to make it to the final.

Steven Perkins: 00:15:06

Yeah. And they've had such strong. They've been really good in previous years and I generally enjoy what Australia sends, especially Voyager.

I think we hit a peak with Voyager and, you know, love them to bits still and to kind of, you know. It'd been rumored that this was going to be the song and I thought, oh, no, I'm sure it won't be. Oh, okay.

It just felt like such a step down from Voyager. I don't know.

AJ Clay: 00:15:29

Yeah, yeah, I think so. And again, I liked their entry last year.

I could sort of understand why it didn't qualify because I don't think it necessarily translated in the live performance on the night. But, yeah, this feels. There's something about this one that just weirds me out in a non good way. And, yeah, it's creepy. Let's leave it at that.

Let's move on to something which I think is a lot nicer, which is Netherlands. They have internally selected Claude with C'est La Vie.

Again, we've only really got a music video to base this off so far, but I was really, really impressed with this one. I thought this was a very, very strong entry.

It reminded me a little bit of Mon Amour from last year and not just because they're both sung in French, but it's got a kind of similar, quite sort of sincerity and earnestness to it and an absolutely beautiful voice. But I think it's different enough that it works really well because it's a bit more kind of upbeat, it's a bit more fun as a song.

What were your feelings about it?

Steven Perkins: 00:16:33

Yeah, no, I was instantly kind of. It was really charming video as well.

Again, we don't know what the staging is going to be like, but I really like that he kind of had the little sort of younger version of him mirroring him and doing kind of the dance with him. And it was really funky and really interesting and like, say different. And I do wonder as well. When I first heard it, I thought, oh, no.

I had to remind myself it was Netherlands because it sounded like, so French. And then I realized maybe everyone's thinking, right, Switzerland, they've got a lot of official languages.

Maybe if we send, you know, like French, Italian, that'll work. Yeah, whatever the reason, It's.

AJ Clay: 00:17:08

It's really good because he's originally Congolese, I think, isn't he? So assuming that's right.

Steven Perkins: 00:17:13

Yeah, yeah, that's.

AJ Clay: 00:17:13

That's where. That's where. Where the French element comes from. But, yeah, because I was at the Googling going, is French an official language of the Netherlands?

And then. No, it's not. But, yes, I think, as you say, there's.

There's so much in the video, I think really implies what they could do with it in the live staging. And I'm quite excited to see what they do with it. And I think his voice is just stunning and I'm really excited to hear it live as well.

Steven Perkins: 00:17:36

Yeah, no, really, really enjoyed the vocals and hoping that that translates to, like, the live. Like, live vocals and he doesn't get done over by sound engineers or whatever. And also really hoping that he does.

But, like, I know that I feel historically some of the. The Dutch entries by People of Colour have not done very well, which annoys me. So I'm really hoping that with Claude, they get a good result.

AJ Clay: 00:18:02

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up.

Steven Perkins: 00:18:03

I think he deserves it.

AJ Clay: 00:18:04

Yeah, I think that is a really important point. I think, you know, there is kind of.

Historically, people of Colour at Eurovision don't tend to necessarily do particularly well in the televote, and I say it happened a few times with Dutch entries, so that's something we certainly can't overlook. But I think there's a lot of potential in this one. I think he, as a performer, I think, is very kind of.

There's a warmth to him, certainly from the video, and I think if he can capture that live on the stage, then I think he will be very charming. And, yeah, this is just one. I'm just really excited to see and hear it live, I think.

Steven Perkins: 00:18:40

Yeah. And we need that. And it kind of what's been a very meh season in some respects, to have something so exciting to look forward to. It's just.

It's just a godsend.

AJ Clay: 00:18:51

Yeah, that's it.

I was watching this one thinking, I don't necessarily know if it's a winner, but this feels like it could be a very strong contender, you know, for the kind of the top. Top five, at least, I think.

Steven Perkins: 00:18:59

Exactly.

AJ Clay: 00:19:01

So, yeah, we will see what the future holds for this one and hopefully we'll get some live performances to evaluate soon. Let's move on to Serbia now. I believe. I believe I'm correct in saying that this is pronounced Prince is the artist's name and the Song is Mila.

f you remember, there was. In: 2018

He was firing an arrow with a rose on it across the stage and it was erupting out of his chest.

And it reminded me of that a little bit, with a kind of a touch of under the ladder by Milovin from Ukraine from a while back, who will always have a face, my heart. Yeah, I love a great deal. That's like a sort of gothic element to it.

So I think, you know, staging wise, when I was watching this, I thought maybe possibly doing a bit too much, which we've seen in the past. You can do too much on stage at Eurovision and completely baffle everyone and then people just think, no, thank you.

But I think the song itself has potential. It's well sung. It feels like emotionally, it's quite resonant. How do you feel about it?

Steven Perkins: 00:20:11

Yeah, I mean, I think the staging certainly stood out.

I think you're gonna come down on a moon, like some kind of strictly prop, and then, like, halfway through, there's a sort of aerial spinny lady in the corner. But it was thinking, well, I'm sure they might not do that staging. But of a. What for us was just a very average semi final that he was in.

It absolutely stood out in our household. We kind of sat when he started sing, just went, wow, okay, that's a voice. And we're big fans of kind of Balkan ballads. The Balkans, really.

Do you know your mullet vase and things like that? And so this really stood out to us and thought, well, you know, it's really sincere. He's easy on the eye. He. The group chat was going, oh, it's Thor.

Oh, a very buff Viking is singing a ballad and giving me a. I mean, what's not to like?

AJ Clay: 00:21:04

Yeah, I will say, when I was looking him up and I saw that he'd played the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar, I was like, that makes so much sense.

Steven Perkins: 00:21:10

Do you know? That does, yeah. And then he just descended from heaven. That would make sense. He's coming down on his moon to save us.

AJ Clay: 00:21:17

Yeah. I feel like we had some genuine contenders from Serbia as well, because the runner up was Harem Girls with Aladdin.

And I was generally quite sad that this one didn't. Didn't win, because this would have been a lot of fun at Eurovision. I think this is kind of this iconic group of drag queens.

Steven Perkins: 00:21:32

I mean, they looked Great. They also, like. It was a weird moon theme that we had that night because they also had someone sitting on a moon that they sort of.

Of hauled in on on a chain. Yeah, it was a bit.

AJ Clay: 00:21:43

It's a bit kind of like Seven Dwarfs, wasn't it? Just kind of like putting things in from the.

Steven Perkins: 00:21:47

Off to drag we go. But yeah, it was great. I think vocally shaky in a few places, but the song was really. Yeah, it was catchy. It was kind of.

We were worried when we saw the. The kind of song title we're looking at going, oh, is it going to be a bit, you know, appropriative? It's Hareem Girls.

But in the end it was, you know, it wasn't. It was just some really pretty drag queens having a nice time, which in, you know, somewhere like Serbia is a Probably a big deal, like a bigger.

You know. I'm not really sure how free a country it is for the.

AJ Clay: 00:22:20

Yeah, that's the thing I was looking up and thinking actually for. For what I imagine is a relatively conservative country.

The fact that they were, I believe they were second in the televote and did higher in the televote than the song that actually won. So, yeah, that's nothing to sneeze at. That's genuinely quite impressive.

And again, hopefully the fact that there's always next year they could come back. We'd be interested to see what they could offer us in a future year. But. Yeah, but I think I would have enjoyed seeing that at Eurovision.

A bit sad that it's not going, but still perfectly happy with what they are sending.

Steven Perkins: 00:22:52

Yeah, yeah, I think it's a perfectly good offering.

AJ Clay: 00:22:55

Now let's move on to Denmark who have. Let's not sugarcoat it here.

Denmark have got the longest non qualification streak of any country that is currently active at Eurovision, a fact that I'm sure is not lost on them. So they've kind of got a point to prove here and we've talked previously about songs that turn up, you know, staging concept, everything ready.

This is very much not one of them, I feel. I think she is a singer. Fine. The song itself, fine. The staging. No, not sure what they're doing with that. The wind machine that they had going.

All her hair was in her face and she couldn't. I don't think she could even see where she was at one point and it all just felt a bit weird and sort of half thought through.

But I think the key thing to take away here is obviously it's much, much easier to come up with good staging and costumes and whatever for a song and a singer that already works and it is to sort it the other way around. So I think they've had their priorities right here. I think she is a very strong singer.

The song I really like, actually, I think there's a lot of potential there. What do you think?

Steven Perkins: 00:23:59

Yeah, immediately I was kind of thinking again, it's very. We're looking to Sweden. And actually when I was kind of re.

Watching this final and quite a lot of the songwriters they've basically brought over from Sweden, there's a lot of familiar names from Belfast and actually one of the competing acts was Swedish. So there was a lot of like. As soon as it started, I just thought it's very. Loreen. It's very kind of. They've got the wind machine.

You've got the sparkles, you've got. It's a sort of upbeat, dancey. Like. I do like the song. I think that it's.

AJ Clay: 00:24:29

It.

Steven Perkins: 00:24:29

There's a chance that it will get through if there's not better bangers. If Mons isn't in. I can't remember which semi Sweden is in, but if it was Mons versus, You know.

AJ Clay: 00:24:41

That's a good point, actually. Let me. Let me just go and check that while we're chatting.

Steven Perkins: 00:24:44

But yeah, there might be different ones, but I can't remember.

AJ Clay: 00:24:47

I think. I think it is. It is a tricky one for Denmark because I'm not looking at this one and thinking all their problems are over. They're.

They're definite qualify. Oh, they're in a different semi to Sweden.

Steven Perkins: 00:24:57

Okay. Oh, that's fine.

AJ Clay: 00:24:59

They'll be fine.

But yeah, I don't think it's a done deal for them and I think they could still have some bumps ahead on the road, but I think they have got good, solid material to base a very strong challenge out of. I think the only thing I would worry about is what you were saying with reference to it feeling very Swedish.

I think sometimes voters can kind of tell that you're very deliberately trying to copy something that's worked for somebody else and that could count against them, I think.

Steven Perkins: 00:25:30

Yeah. I mean, I think if enough songs stack up that sound exactly like a Melfest entry, then people are going to go, you know, get a bit tired of it.

AJ Clay: 00:25:39

Yeah. Like, we already have a Sweden. We have Sweden at home.

Steven Perkins: 00:25:42

We do. We know Thomas Gayson is very busy churning out songs to them. Please let him rest.

AJ Clay: 00:25:48

Yeah. But, yeah.

So I really, really want Denmark to get through this year because I feel like A lot of their non qualifiers, I felt have been unjust and I don't think they deserve to have this kind of reputation as the longest non qualifiers of countries taking part.

Steven Perkins: 00:26:04

No, I've enjoyed some of their previous entries and also, memory serves, I think Cecil, who's singing this is Pharoeese, sort of the Pharaoh Islands, because. And I think maybe if they can kind of get the overseas Pharaohs, then maybe that will help because they were certainly in the arena, so.

AJ Clay: 00:26:21

Excellent. The runner up in this one was Tim Shu with proud Tim, known to Eurovision fans from a friend in London from about 15 years ago, I think.

This one, I thought was very, very sweet and probably would have. I think this one probably would not have broken their non qualifying streak at Eurovision.

Also, I think the revelation at the end of the song that he is in fact singing it to his younger self is the least surprising thing that has ever happened.

Steven Perkins: 00:26:50

It's. There's such a generic. The vts are very kind of, you know, I wrote it to my past self as a kind of, you know, you can do it. It's.

It is so generic X Factor, that kind of sentiment, you know, I mean, it was. It was nice, it was sweet. It was a bit sherany, which, you know, for me is a no, no.

AJ Clay: 00:27:09

Yeah.

Steven Perkins: 00:27:09

But, you know, he. It was very sincere, you know, it just would have. I think it would have just sunk.

AJ Clay: 00:27:16

Yeah. I think that one, you were probably looking at about sort of 14th, 15th in your semi, weren't you? Kind of.

It'll pick up a few votes, but it's just not going to be anyone's, you know, must get this through to the final kind of thing. So I think, you know, they made the right decision out of the options that they had.

And we will see how Sissel's hallucination develops over the course of the next couple of months, because they have still got plenty of time to do some tweaking with the staging and all around it, because, yeah, the bare bones are there. So we'll see what Denmark show up to Switzerland with.

Now, Germany, of course, have been very, very vocal this year that they are really pulling out the big guns. They want to win this year.

They've done this huge collaboration at home, saying if we don't win, the whole thing's been pointless and the result being Abor and Tina with Balaam.

r than any German entry since: 2007

It's very kind of mum pop kind of things that they're sending and this feels for the first time they've actually gone, let's try and send something that feels a bit cool and a bit fun and dancey. And I admire them for trying that, actually. I think that why not like really try something?

I would say when I was watching it I was like, the live vocals I don't think are 100% there yet. I think the live vocals were a bit shaky.

Steven Perkins: 00:28:52

Yeah, I mean, I think that that was kind of the case with quite a lot of them. It does feel like throughout Europe there's a shortage of good sound engineers, but. I don't know.

But it felt very like at least it's a different direction.

Obviously we had kind of like rock metal last time around and this felt very kind of like you'd hear it on whatever their equivalent of Radio 1 would be. Just kind of like you hear it in the clubs. It's kind of maybe what younger listeners might be dancing to. And yeah, it's catchy, I think.

Yeah, it seems like a really cool direction for them to go in.

AJ Clay: 00:29:26

It feels like they sat and went, well, look, last time we won it was with Leena and we've gone for something that's off that general vibe, that song wise, maybe not so much, but as a human being, their lead singer feels very much kind of from the same mould as Lena.

And I think actually in terms of the song, it feels like it's the most interesting thing Germany have sent since Taken by a Stranger, which was Lena's follow up after she won. And I say interesting, I appreciate can be a term that isn't always complimentary.

I mean it as a compliment because I really like that song different. Yeah. And I think this feels like, okay, this is interesting. They haven't sent anything like this previously or at least not for a while.

So, yeah, it felt like it was a good choice. If they're going to put all this much effort into sending something and trying to win, then I feel like they've gone in a good direction.

Steven Perkins: 00:30:16

Yeah, yeah, no, I think so. And I really hope that it's not all been, you know, in vain because they really do feel like they've pulled out all the stops for these live shows.

Like it was a never ending. Like so many VTs, so many. Like it just Felt like they really are hungry for the win.

AJ Clay: 00:30:32

Yeah.

And interestingly, I felt the runner up, which was Lyza or Lisa with Lovers on Mars, very much felt like if that had won then the whole thing would have been a bit pointless because that did feel like the sort of thing that Germany has sent a lot in the last decade.

Steven Perkins: 00:30:45

Yeah, that one, I mean, that had very interesting staging as well. Someone said, oh, it's very SpaceX as kind of like I've launched a, a big gay rocket into space.

I'm like, well, that's nice, but it's nothing we haven't heard before.

AJ Clay: 00:31:00

Yeah.

So again, I feel the right call was made on this one and it's weird because I want to root for Germany to do well, but I feel like I also rely on Germany to do badly because then that prevents us from being at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Steven Perkins: 00:31:12

So, yeah, you really want someone to be worse than us because. Well, it's not bad.

AJ Clay: 00:31:18

We will see. Obviously, we still don't know what the UK is sending yet, even though it feels like it's the worst kept secret in all of music at the moment.

But they have yet to confirm the artist or song. So we still don't know what we're doing.

Steven Perkins: 00:31:30

We don't remember Monday exactly.

AJ Clay: 00:31:34

We've forgotten about Monday. Forgotten about them. Well, we've still got a little bit of time. Not massive, but. So let's have a quick chat.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how the contest is shaping up so far this year and who your standouts are so far.

Steven Perkins: 00:31:49

Well, yeah, I mean, this year's been kind of difficult for me because obviously last year there was just, just, just a lot happened and it was very controversial and I think a lot of us kind of got burned out by it. So I was really hoping that this year there'd be some really good. You. Something to draw me back in.

And yeah, I mean, I think the ones that are kind of stacking up to be good, like, I think my kind of playlist in the car is a little smaller this year. I think a lot of countries are playing it safe.

AJ Clay: 00:32:17

Yeah.

Steven Perkins: 00:32:18

You know, and I think I can see why, because they want it to be the least controversial. It's not going to be the least controversial, I'm sure, but know something will happen.

But I think a lot of, a lot of countries are dialing it down a bit and kind of going, well, we'll just send this. But I mean, for me, yeah, the standouts, I have to say, like I mentioned Erica Vickman.

I'm a big fan of hers anyway, and I've seen her at a music festival in. In Finland and she's just. Just very, very good fun. So that's definitely a play on repeat in the car, kind of one.

Not a great deal of other ones sort of on repeat, but yeah, some. I mean, maybe some of the San Remo, some of the. The runners up of that, because that was a strong, strong year.

But yeah, like I say, it does feel a little safe. I don't know.

AJ Clay: 00:33:13

Yeah, I think that's an interesting point because I feel.

I really felt like that one of the big disappointments about everything that happened last year was that it was such a very, very strong field last year and I felt that kind of got overshadowed with everything else that happened. And this year I feel like it's not. Not. It's not as strong. I feel like I've not heard a winner necessarily yet. I haven't heard.

Listen, I remember hearing the Code last year and being like, oh, that's a winner. That's a winner for sure. And this year I hadn't had that moment yet. So, yeah, we still. Obviously we've got a few still to confirm.

Steven Perkins: 00:33:47

Yeah, there's like, Georgia is still in.

AJ Clay: 00:33:49

Cyprus and obviously Sweden. Although I imagine we know who Sweden is ending.

Steven Perkins: 00:33:54

I think we know who's being the coronation next week. Yes.

AJ Clay: 00:33:58

Which, although I will say I've had a listen to Mons and I wasn't overwhelmed by it. It felt it's fine. It doesn't. It doesn't thrill me. But we shall see. Yeah.

Steven Perkins: 00:34:14

I mean, it's just all right. It's very. Will this do? Yeah, instead of united by music, maybe it should just be Will this do?

AJ Clay: 00:34:21

It's like the slogan you not by met.

Steven Perkins: 00:34:24

Meh meh.

AJ Clay: 00:34:27

But yeah, I mean, what I will say actually is that we've still got the UK entry to come, so it's possible the UK entry is going to blow us all out of the water and be like, we're winning this time. But yeah, I hope so. It would be nice and we'll see what Sweden do.

We'll get their results next weekend, so we will find out what's coming up with them. And thank you very much for joining us on the podcast. Aj, Would you like to tell our listeners where else they could find you?

Steven Perkins: 00:34:57

Ah, yes, you. You can find me. On the skies of blue there's blue sky.

I help out with a podcast called Keep Dancing, which normally does Strictly stuff, but at the moment, because obviously Strictly is not on. We are doing Keep Watching. So we just watch whatever's on UK TV and chat about it, which is basically currently Gladiators.

So you can follow Keep Dancing podcast, BSKY Social. And yeah, come and listen to us chat some nonsense about things that aren't Eurovision.

AJ Clay: 00:35:29

Brilliant. Well, thank you very much for joining us.

It's been lovely having you on the show and possibly we'll catch up with you at another time perhaps when we've got a bit more things to talk about in terms of this year's field.

Steven Perkins: 00:35:42

Absolutely, yeah. Always up for it.

AJ Clay: 00:35:45

Huge thanks again to AJ for joining us here on Douzpoix. I should just say that due to Croatia's somewhat inconsiderate habit of holding their final on Sunday nights, that's after we record this episode.

covering the results of DORA: 2025

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