Hey friends!
I’ve got an upper secondary school project in social sciences, where I need to present a song and make a political analysis, as in looking for indications of political messages or ideologies, of the song. I thought this was the perfect opportunity for me to pick a Eurovision song, as it is among my favourite things in the world.

These are the exact instructions if you really care (but honestly I doubt you need to read them to save your kind soul some time):

“* IN-DEPTH ASSIGNMENT: IDEOLOGIES and ROCK ’N’ ROLL

Your task is to activate your knowledge of political ideologies and try to find traces of the ideologies and their political ideas in some song lyrics, which you choose yourself. Keep in mind that the lyrics are rarely obviously linked to an ideology, without you having to look for, for example, social criticism – which can be both woven into talk about a lot of other things and also in many cases perhaps implied or ironic. You therefore have to interpret the lyrics yourself and explain what you think the lyricist means. Also keep in mind that interpretations are precisely interpretations, i.e. There are rarely any completely correct answers, instead it is important that you can explain what connections you think you can see to some set of political ideas (which do not necessarily have to be the same as the author of the text intended from the beginning. A text can contain examples of several different ideologies, which may be contradictory, without the author of the text thinking about it himself.) As long as you can present reasonable justifications for why you think that the social criticism (e.g.) that you think you can distinguish can actually be reasonably connected to some political idea(s) (which in turn are part of one of the ideologies we have gone through) – then you can't go wrong. Keep in mind that pacifism, racism, feminism, etc. are not ideologies in their own right, but are part of the overall ideologies.*”

(I used Google translate and I don’t think you can blame me for not translating all of that myself, so sorry if the grammar is shit)

That being said, what song should I pick. I really like the pre-2000s Eurovision, so that would be preferable although not necessary. I had thoughts about picking Dancing Lasha Tumbai, but the lyrics are really not too much to discuss, so I’d have to discuss the context around it which I don’t know if my teacher wants, at least not as a focus.

TL;DR: School project. Political analysis. What song? Preferably, although not necessarily, pre-2000. Preferably lyrical depth.

Thanks for your help!

I know he became quite famous in Poland after gladiator. What do you think his chances are to try to go to ESC again?

New Music Friday is our weekly thread dedicated to new music releases by past Eurovision and National Final contestants.

This is a place to share, discuss and celebrate these artists' latest releases following their time in the contest.

Feel free to share singles, albums, collaborations, or covers, as well as any opinions and thoughts you may have about them.

Please remember to include the year that the artist participated in ESC and the country they represented.

Happy listening!

Based on tracks like Apartment and Saint, Bobi Andonov’s soulful and cinematic vibe could be a game-changer for North Macedonia’s image at Eurovision 2026. What do you guys think?

Was bored and decided to recreate some of the iconic outfits from this year in dress to impress 😋

Note: these aren't meant to look exactly the same as the original outfit nor person, i simply tried to capture the same essence and vibe within the game

She had amazing vocals (and power). No way Poland qualified over this. This really deserved that final spot, and probably the most underrated song that Iceland sent in recent years. I think it would’ve qualified if they had a different draw, but it’s still what it is. Iceland 2023 for the bot

I decided to post this song for this week's Throwback Thursday since I thought the greenscreen effects were interesting. Stefania is a Greek-Dutch singer who represented the Netherlands at JESC 2016 as part of the girl group Kisses with the song "Kisses and Dancin" (8th place).

In 2020, she was selected by ERT to represent Greece at ESC with the song "Supergirl" (Greece 2020). "Last Dance" was her second song to represent Greece at ESC due to ESC rules requiring new songs for ESC 2021, and she finished in 10th place in the grand final with that song. Ever since then, Stefania has hosted Junior Songfestival (the selection show for Netherlands at JESC).

Now that we're officially going back to Vienna in 2026, the official Eurovision YouTube channel posted the opening of the 2015 contest, the last time it was held there. It was pretty cool to have a vocal theme for the contest, and maybe this is a sign that we'll have another one this year...

This is one of those national final entries that were ahead of their time in Eurovision terms.

Sure, ESC Gabe can tell you about the endeavours of Winny Puhh, however, their predecessors from Germany should no go unnoticed because they left quite a mark in Eurovision history.

Even though "Wadde Hadde Dudde Da" is a pretty good entry, this is up there with the best guilty pleasure songs in the history of Eurovision national finals.

Also there is quite a lot to digest in terms of the actual message...

Bhutan's "Eurovision Asia" videos were already in "private" or deleted. I can't find them anymore in their official Facebook and YouTube accounts.

After Eleni Foureira's Sto Theo Me Paei, we got another sample of Israeli 2015 entry

19th - 25 points. Daz won the UK NF of this year ‘Making Your Mind Up’ with 121 points beating Anthony Costa who had 96 points ‘It’s a Beautiful Thing’. Kym Marsh who is a known actor in the UK was fourth ‘whisper to me’. The supporting performers that joined Daz Sampson for the performance were Ashlee, Emily Reed, Gabriella, Holly and Leeanne Simister. Emily Reed was the runner up to the infamous Gemini who got the UK the first nil points after a horrible performance in 2003. She was a replacement for a dancer called Jessica who was in the original dancers from the UK as she was sixteen & BBC decided to pull her from the show due to licensing rules as the other dancers were old enough. Daz still bought Jessica a ticket to Greece to experience Eurovision as shown in his documentary on his journey with Eurovision.

This was the one of the better entries in the UK’s dark era in the 2000’s.

Well, here is my personal take on the Eurovision Song Contest logo for 2026 and beyond, which I believe is much better than the typical iconic design from the real ones. It's designed to be flatter and more minimalistic, while still resonances the strong Eurovision identity. It's timeless, minimal, and sleek, while the heart symbol I created is a more modernized version. It really feels like a brand identity refresh or a rebranding effort for Eurovision as we celebrate its 70th anniversary!

I was an Italy fan this entire season, and Volevo Essere Un Duro is for me the best staged Italian entry along with Maneskin

The little Toy Story tribute, then Tommaso joining Lucio and they share the mic, and the harmonica handoff at the end where they do a little nod to each other - all just small moments that made me completely fall in love with the performance (and song) even more

And nobody’s mentioned Tommaso’s killer outfit - imo Eurovision’s best dressed man this year

I loved the 2020 tribute interval act at the Basel 2025. How likely do we think this will be an annual tradition? I don't see any reason why not personally. It would be so wonderful to eventually be able to put together a 2020 recap of ESC-stage performances.

What songs would you like to see next?

My personal shortlist for 2026 is The Mamas, Daði Freyr, and Damir Kedžo. I would assume Vincent Bueno would be in the mix as we are in Vienna.

I definitely hope so

I guess this is happening!? Is this thread even allowed?! Mods?!?

How to Watch

BBS Programme YouTube

Format

Out of nowhere, Bhutan have done a rapid-fire national final and seemingly with Vietnam doing something on the 31st, are soft confirming Eurovision Asia is happening despite there still being no official confirmation from the EBU. 10 acts are now down to 7 and will presumably be reduced further for the Final. Interval dancing acts are also happening.

The winner will represent Bhutan in Eurovision Asia. The runner-up will represent Bhutan in the ABU TV Song Festival (the real reason they're rushing this).

The jury is a 3 man team consisting of Ugyen, Pema Samdrup, and Cheoying Gyatsho. Hosting duties go to Kelzang Dolkar (who speaks in English for the International audience) and Wangchuk Dem. The score for the Semi is split 20:80 for the Public:Jury vote, but these ratios may change for the final. Hopefully we'll know more when the Final happens.

Line-up

Note: may not reflect performance order, and they do not appear to be performing the songs they would send at this stage

1. Sangay Lhaden (have already performed as of posting so you may need to rewind during ad breaks)
2. Karma Drupchu
3. Baeyul 301
4. Tashi Choden
5. Tshering Namgay
6. Thukten Nyendra
7. Pelden Wangchuk

Eurovision’s 70th anniversary in 2026 feels like the perfect symbolic moment for something new. Personally, I’d love to see Kosovo debut that year.

RTK (Kosovo’s broadcaster) has shown interest before, and musically I think they could bring something really special — a mix of modern Balkan pop and folk elements, similar to Albania but with their own twist. It would also fit the spirit of Eurovision: celebrating diversity and welcoming new voices.

Of course, I know there are political hurdles, and maybe it’s not realistic right away — but I still think the 70th anniversary would be the ideal time to make it happen.

👉 What do you think?

Would you want to see Kosovo debut in 2026?

What kind of entry do you imagine they’d send?

And if not Kosovo, which country should be next?

So far 3 countries currently competing in esc have an ebu and abu membership, those being turkey axerbajan and Australia.

Kazakhsan has competed in jesc before and there are rumours of them joining esc however this is quite difficult given the timezone but they are also members of abu

So can these countries participate in 2 eurovisions ?

If you get a chance to see them, do! They basically have one album, so it’s pretty quick to get to know. Set is therefore about an hour.