ESCarmchair
Everyone else goes to Eurovision... so we don't have to...
Friday, 5 December 2025
FARTY OR PARTY 2025
Saturday, 10 May 2025
ESC Armchair @ BBC Bristol!
Ann appeared as a telephone guest for a quick 10 minute chat before the grand final
Enjoy !
Wednesday, 9 April 2025
SOA 2025
The winner of each podcast will go through to the 'Champions of Champions' round to see what our favourite of the year is AND if we really think it has any chance of winning! (almost certainly not)
Marmite
Those buildings looked frankly dirty
Whatever they are dancing to - isn't that song
No need for a violin
"That's what we do well"
"Swashbuckle" graphics
A fan of Blue Peter
Enya... on drugs
Shoving fags in his face
A niche to carve out
The Quantum Leap Soundtrack
A till from the Grace Brothers
They can no longer afford trousers
Is there a culture of Panto...?
Dear Finland - your problem
Do Polish people want to watch things about Henry VIII?
Normal Collier processing
Greater than the sum of its parts
If Duncan Lawrence could write a song
Clean Bandit from Temu
It doesn’t have a leg to stand on… unfortunately
“Three riddles have I !”
It's good - but it's not right
Under the auspices of Dr Evil
When are Liechtenstein doing Eurovision?
This was everything from Novelty Island - except for Graham Lister
A rollover vote...?
A performance they believe in
Just wish it went somewhere
Never knew Jimbo and the Jet Set were so popular
It *should* be a shoo-in
Not serving subtlety
Monday, 17 March 2025
FRANCE 2025
SONG - maman
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Anne Peichert, Tristan Salvati
Sunday, 16 March 2025
CYPRUS 2025
Evangelos Theodorou (Theo Evan's real name) was born in Nicosia and started singing and dancing early on. He was in the school choir and took part in theatre and talent shows across the island. He studied at The English School in Nicosia and then went to Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied music and performance. In 2021, he released his debut single "The Wall" and has released another 7 after this in the intervening years. Theo is the first Cypriot-born entrant to compete for Cyprus since 2017. His music is mostly in the genre of Mediterranean pop but he also encompasses harder dance genres, reggaetón and R&B.
The music video contains a mish mash of different themes which hinge on the mystery of pyramids and the secret within. It feels a bit Indiana Jones meets James Bond in a three minute video. The song follows a verse, pre chorus, chorus structure which is run through twice. The verses are syllabic, almost spoken and have a rather odd intonation to them. The pre-chorus has a slight Mediterranean/Middle Eastern sound which acts as a nice bridge between the styles following and preceding it. The chorus has a clearer timbre and uses long notes for the 'hush hush' part of the song and also expands into the higher register. Just after the two minute mark the song breaks down a little before going back to the outro which refers back to the end of the chorus. The instrumentation leans into the electronic and dance music genre, starting off rather mystical and trancey but by the second verse the beat has really kicks in.
This is one of the more "The Code" coded songs we have on this year's playlist. Although Theo does not have the vocal dexterity of Nemo, the fact that the song is made up of definable bits which are produced and sung in a particular fashion and the use of character and instrumentation to create interest and tension makes it feel that way. In a visual capacity I like the staging idea of people running around like assassins; I also like the idea of the pyramids as a mystical entity to keep secrets inside. In addition, having a pyramid on stage to sing on, jump off or run around might be an interesting take on Nemo's spinning top. The chorus is quite catchy but does go on a bit, plus the breakdown in the final minute breaks up the flow too much when there could be something more exciting happening. Personally I find the verses rather odd, in particular the description 'I've got golden locks' is a confusing beginning as you don't know who or what he is referring to. Maybe the riddle with be revealed during his performance?
ARTIST - Theo Evan
SONG - Shh
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Linda Dale, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Lasse Nymann, Elsa Søllesvik, Elke Tiel
Saturday, 15 March 2025
SWITZERLAND 2025
Friday, 14 March 2025
PORTUGAL 2025
Thursday, 13 March 2025
SAN MARINO 2025
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
SWEDEN 2025
Monday, 10 March 2025
UNITED KINGDOM 2025
Remember Monday is made up of Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele who are from Surrey in the south of England. In 2019 they performed on The Voice UK getting a 4 chair turn in their audition. After choosing Jennifer Hudson as their mentor, they won their battle round but were eliminated in the knockouts. During the pandemic, they posted acapella covers on TikTok, many of which became single releases, and accellerated their strong social media following. Last year they played the BBC Radio 2 stage at C2C Festival and performed a live session backstage with Bob Harris. Since their first song release in 2019, they have released twelve singles and two albums. Individually they also have a wealth of musical theatre experiences from Mary Poppins to Les Miserables, from The Phantom of the Opera to Matilda. The majority of their output is described as country-pop.
