The Story of My (High School) Life



Join the gang for another episode of Star Spangled Eurovision as they take a listen to the 2020 songs from Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland! This week, Ireland takes Max down memory lane, Alix explains why Denmark is the way it is, Bart is unimpressed with Finland, and all three gush over Sweden’s for yet another year.

Songs featured:

If you’re interested in participating in our Star Spangled Jury, all you have to do is send your Top 10 entries from 2020 to starspangledeurovision@gmail.com or DM them to us on Twitter @SSE_Pod. All are welcome to participate! Submissions due May 9th.


Less Hot, but French



Join Alix, Max, and Bart for another quarantine edition of Star Spangled Eurovision as they take on the entries from Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Austria. This week, Alix finds her soul mate, Max is reminded of his angsty high school years, and all three agree that the 2020 entries are getting better every week!

Songs featured:


What We Really Think About Things



Join Alix, Max, and Bart for another quarantine edition of Star Spangled Eurovision as they review the 2020 entries from Romania, Serbia, Iceland, and Greece. This week, Alix hops on the Romania train, Bart and Max disagree on the merits of Serbia’s entry, and all three agree that this group of songs might have had a winner.

Songs featured:


Boybands and Balkan Ballads



Welcome to another quarantine edition of Star Spangled Eurovision! Join Max, Alix, and Bart as they cover the 2020 Eurovision entries from Belarus, Estonia, Moldova, and Croatia. This week, Estonia sends Alix down memory lane, Max’s hot take on Croatia might get him in big trouble, and all three agree that this batch of tracks leaves much to be desired.

Songs featured:


Welp…



As you may have heard, Eurovision 2020 has been cancelled in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, but worry not! The 2020 songs are still part of the Eurovision cannon, and the crew of Star Spangled Eurovision are going to keep bringing you their hot takes throughout the rest of the season. Join us as Alix, Max, and Bart react to the entries from Slovenia, Poland, the UK, and Germany and find out which songs we’re not too mad don’t have to compete this year.

Songs featured:

Stay safe everyone!


The Worst in Me



Join Alix, Max, and Bart as they share their thoughts on the Eurovision entries from Norway, France, Belgium, and Ukraine. This week, Alix thinks Ulrikke’s dress might be more dazzling than her song, Bart and Max have some Instagram advice for Tom Leeb, and all three agree that Ukraine is back with a vengeance.

Songs featured:


A Diva to Stan



Join the crew of Star Spangled Eurovision as they give their hot takes on the entries from Armenia, Italy, Latvia, and Lithuania. This week, Max and Bart are desperate for a diva moment, Alix’s takes some cold medicine-fueled tangents, and all three agree that the Baltics are in it to win it this year.

Songs featured:


Hot Mess Express



We’re back! Welcome to Season 3 of Start Spangled Eurovision! This week, Alix, Max, and Bart give their hot takes on the first four entries in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest from Albania, Spain, Czechia, and Australia.

Songs featured:


All Together Now: Eurovision Choir 2019 w/ Lenore Cohen



Max and special guest Lenore Cohen discuss this year’s edition of Eurovision Choir, a biannual competition where choirs from around Europe compete for the title of Eurovision Choir of the Year. Take a listen to find out what we thought about this year’s competition, who we thought maybe should’ve won, and which choir probably soundtracked the movie Midsommar.

You can stream this year’s edition of the contest here, and if you’re so inclined, watch the 2017 version here.

Songs featured:
Babite Municipality Mixed Choir Maska (Latvia) – “Pērkontēvs”
Volve Vokal (Norway) – “Ønskediktet”
Vocal Line (Denmark) – “True North”
Jazzva (Slovenia) – “Spomenčice”
Cake O’Phonie (Switzerland) – “Swiss Hearts (medley)”
Ysgol Gerdd Ceredigion (Wales) – “Cúlna” / “Ar Lan y Môr”

We couldn’t include it in the episode, but listen to Denmark’s winning performance in the final here.


Jury or No Jury?



What’s the point of juries? Ostensibly they’re to temper the influence of bloc voting and politics in Eurovision and make sure the best song wins. But what effect do they have on the final result, and is it time to get rid of them? Max, Alix, and a very special guest discuss all this and more on our first off-season episode this year!

You can find our dataset on discrepancies between jury and televote scores here.

We love bringing you new Eurovision content, but could use a little help. We’d really appreciate it if you head to over to ko-fi.com/starspangledeurovision and give us a few bucks to keep this thing going!