#121: We're having a sauna!

Welcome to Blind Guys Chat, where this guy, Oren O'Neill. Hello. And this guy, Jan Bloom.

Hello.

And Claudia O'Donovan.

Hello.

Talk about the A to Z of life. Well, hello, ladies and gentlemen, and you're very welcome to episode 121. And now don't worry, we do have two people sick on the podcast.

We're smoking again, you know, big cigars.

Get those Cuban women rolling.

Oh, Cuban women. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're gonna talk to Kevin Sherman later on. And if we sound, if Jan and I sound different is because we recorded it a couple of days ago when we were both feeling fine and nothing for him. So, so don't worry about the.

But it was funny, Orin, because, you know, after Kevin's recording, I, I, I have piano lessons, you know, these. And, and you know what my teacher, he said, y. Do you know, I, I was playing the final countdown a little bit, you know, you know, and, and then with the same melody in the same tone short was also Salav from, from Netherland. Yeah. So I am now also practicing that. So if I am doing well, I will do some recording also, you know, I am not like Stuart, you know, he is our professional. But I will try to do something.

Yeah, give it a go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, it was funny.

Let's talk about just briefly, Meta. I still have managed to get a. A new email address from my very kind cousin Patty in America. So I'm having problems pairing the repairing the phone with the Meta glasses. So I'll work on that now after this recording. But I've been hearing about Echo Vision glasses, smart glasses. I don't know if you've been hearing a bit about the bit of chatter and you said there's something else. Is there another smart.

There are gossips or not gossip, but there is a press release from Meta, but they are announcing in September or from September, their successor from. And that is the Hypernova, what they want to call it, I think, if I'm not mistaken. And it is a little bit look like the Google Glass also with a screen inside.

All right.

Yeah, for us it is not really a big thing, you know, because, yeah, we don't care about the glasses inside or the screen inside, but it seems to be. And yeah, a state of the art new set, but also the price is also state of the art. It's above US$1,000.

Oh, wow. These Echo Vision, they're called Echo Vision. I believe they're at as well. Yeah, they're at csun and I know, they haven't been released yet. I think there's some issues with. Well, actually, I know there's some shipping issues into Europe, but apparently the workaround is. And our old friend, you know, he's not that old. He's young enough. Jerry Lawler. Yeah, I heard him on a podcast, leaving a message on a podcast recently saying that he was going to get these glasses through, I think through Florida, through a friend or relative who lives in Florida that's coming over later in the summer. As far as I've heard, they're coming in at a retail price of about $599, which is a little bit more expensive than the meta glasses. But these smart glasses, these echo vision glasses are specifically. Much like the envision glasses specifically designed for.

For the visually impaired.

Visually impaired, which is great to see, but that price is kind of interesting.

It's not like the envision glasses, you know.

No. So I don't know how. I don't know. I don't know how much you're going to be able to. To ask these glasses or what information is going to be able to get back. Maybe we should try and get the people on and.

Would be good.

Can ask them. Yeah, so that'll be good. So echo vision glasses, if you've, if you've heard about them or you know about them or anybody's got them, give us a. An email or an. All your demos and let's. Let's hear about them.

Yeah, yeah, would be good because it's really something because yeah, when you are used to something to wear on your face and, and to have being hands free, that is quite cool, I must say. You know, it is really an. Yeah. A really a big advantage of taking your phone out of your pocket, opening the app, seeing AI or be my eyes or whatever. Envision and then to use your phone to hold up because yeah, when you open out the fridge and you. Yeah.

It'S in the fridge.

Take a bottle or you can take something out of the. And then you. Hey, hey, Mater. Look and tell and Hopper, there you are. You know, so it is amazing.

So if working. Have you got the look and tell look and describe working again?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right, well let's, let's move on and hear from Kevin for the show.

Gorgeous.

We even promo this guy in the last episode, which is at the very end, which we don't normally do. And that's, you know, I'm totally averse to any kind of advertising whatsoever.

You're not a commercial guy yet.

No, I'M not a commercial guy at all. We welcome back for the 15th year running, the only man who knows anything about the Eurovision Song Contest when it comes to blind guys chat, because we haven't a clue.

No.

Yes. It's the man who has recently been blanked by all his friends because he went to New York and Boston only a few days ago. It's Mr. Kevin Sherwin.

Hey, Kevin.

Welcome back.

I think my intro should include the fact that I won the quiz that time.

Oh, yeah, you mean two years ago.

Yeah. I didn't win the most recent one.

No, that was Dave Nason who won it.

You didn't win it. So can we just get over that?

Can you just get over it?

Okay, okay, okay. Okay. I'm very pleased to be back. It's been a while. It's been a while.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's true. I think your mother did very well on that. On that show.

Yeah, she was great.

Yeah, she loved it as well.

She had a great time. So you're just back from McTrumpy Trump Trumpy land. Yeah, for four days. Where I've been joking with. For those of you who don't know, Kevin is part of the team, the annual. The Audio Description team and his two colleagues. And I have been joking for most of the week about how poor Kevin has had to go to New York to see six shows in four days.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Insane, I would say.

Absolutely insane. It must be wrecked.

What kind of shows was it? The Taylor Tubbies or what was it?

Well, I saw four. Four musicals and two plays, so.

Oh, you branched out. You went to two plays.

Yeah.

Very cultured of me, wasn't it?

Tell us what the weather was like in New York.

It was quite mild and quite pleasant and even I went out, like, to one of the. The viewing spots, you know, the big tall things where you can look at across the city called buildings. Yeah, no, like viewing something. Viewing, anyway. Yeah, exactly. And it was lovely and clear and beautiful and blue skies, so. Yeah, it was nice.

And did you see a lot of people wearing meta glasses?

Not that I noticed. Do they. Do they kind of blend in quite. Oh, no, actually. Would they be quite big on your face? Quite like clunky or chunky?

You wouldn't really know them, I don't think.

I was thinking of the visors or the. The headsets. Yeah, No, I probably wouldn't. Wouldn't have copped it. Wouldn't have copped it. Yeah.

Nay.

Kevin has hit the spot there with me. If it was a helmet, I don't know. I'd. No, absolutely. I wear that. Yeah, no problem.

Yeah.

Well, sometimes it's also more safe to wear a helmet than glasses because when I bump into a door or whatever, I bump my head, then the glasses are getting stuck. But my helmet, you know, I have a helmet to cycle. You know, a cycling helmet.

Oh, really? Boy, responsible. So what did you go and see in New York?

Yeah, yeah. So I saw two plays. One was called oh, Mary, which was like a farcical comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of Abraham Lincoln. But it's not, like, factual at all. It's like very. It's turning it on its head and making it all very silly. That was very funny. Titus Burgess was in that. Have you ever seen a show called Unbreakable? Kimmy Schmidt? Anyone seen there?

Kua.

Titus Bird. He's a bit. He's a big deal. Anyway, I saw another play called John Proctor is the Villain. Do you know who John Proctor is?

No, I do know. I've heard the name, and I can't.

Yeah, so he's the. He's the main character in the Crucible. And so in this. And I didn't know anything about the Crucible, but it's a play anyway. So this play was about people, young people in school learning about the Crucible and. And things Happen. And it was. It was excellent. And someone from Stranger Things was in it. The musicals was what I was really there for. So I saw four musicals. One was Betty Boop the Musical, and that was a weird one. I don't really know why I went to see that, but it was on and I was like, I'll sure, I'll go. Another one was Death Becomes Her. Do you remember that film?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

With Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Was it Michelle Pfeiffer?

It was Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep. Yeah. Goldie Hay. Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis.

Michelle Pfeiffer was in the other one. I'm thinking about the Witches of Eastwick. Sorry.

That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was excellent. Really funny.

Give me a point for knowing those two actors.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah. Thank you.

Yeah. Do nil for.

All right. Yeah, I loved that one. And I saw a Korean musical called maybe Happy Ending. That was beautiful.

Maybe.

Maybe a happy Ending.

Yeah.

That wasn't based in North Korea anyway, was it?

No, it wasn't. It was based in Seoul and. But the main. The main reason I went in the main event was this musical Called Smash. And There was a TV show called Smash about 12 years ago, and it was a drama about behind the scenes of a Broadway musical. So it was all these people trying to make a musical about Marilyn Monroe and it turned out that the fake songs in this fake musical were excellent. Like, they're brilliant songs. The show kind of flopped in the end. It was two seasons and ever since then I've been like, I wish I could see a show with those songs in it. I wish it was a real musical. And then they actually made a new musical called Smash again about the making of a Marilyn Monroe musical. But those songs were all in it and it was absolute bliss for me to go and see it after, you know, 12 years of wishing I could see these songs on stage. And so I went and that was the. That was the main event. So I had a great time. Loved it. But as you say, bit jet lag now. Yeah.

So Smash is Smash still on Netflix?

Smash is on Prime Video. I would really recommend it. I hope it's audio described. But even if it's not, the music is fantastic. It's real classic Broadway style.

Such.

Such good songs. Like, even the first episode. So it's basically about these two women vying for the role of Marilyn, and over the course of the show, you're like, oh, who's going to get it? What's going to happen? And the end of the pilot episode, there's this song called Let me be your star and it's the two of them, when they audition. It is a bit like that. Yeah, that was the first draft. They changed the lyrics.

Unfortunately, you're not look alike, you know, like Mary Morrow, but otherwise Oren.

But as diva ballads duets go, it doesn't get any better than Let me be your star. So if you're at all curious, if anybody listening is at all curious about what the music is like, stick on the pilot episode and the song at the end. You'll know then if you're into Smash. But to me, it's one of the best musical songs of the past, you know, 15, 20 years.

Well, just to let you know, I've. I've just offended my wife by singing because she's just shut my door.

Oh, there you go.

Yeah. So I'll definitely go and watch this.

Tonight and I hope it's unlocked, otherwise.

You'Ll be as well.

You get your meal served tonight.

First thing I'm going to ask Kevin today, for those who don't know, because we did have a question at Christmas about the Eurovision and I Remember, it was for. It was for Anne Farrell and she didn't, she didn't get it because she didn't know what Eurovision is. So. So I'm going to ask you, first of all, before you, before you ask my second question, I'm going to ask you the first question, which is, can you please explain to those who do not know in the rest of the world what Eurovision Song Contest is?

Oh, yeah. Thank you.

In three words or less. Your time starts now.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a contest for songs.

Yeah. Nah, Great. Super.

And mostly, mostly European countries, although you get the odd rogue country thrown in. Like it's been going for. Yeah, it's been going for like nearly 70 years and it is, you know, supposedly a great unification of different cultures and a celebration of music and it's apolitical, supposedly, or it's meant to be. And. But again, things can kind of creep in. But it is. Gay Christmas.

Gay Christmas.

Gay Christmas. That's also good.

Yeah, we love it.

So non gay people enjoy it as well, plenty of them. But it's just. It's just a wonderful celebration of a bit of glitz, glamour songs, all kinds of nonsense. And then of course, somebody wins. A country wins in the end. And then we go to that country the next year, or at least it's held there the next year.

And that broadcaster didn't have to spend a fortune trying to host the thing, even though they thought we send a crappy song, no chance of this winning. And then they win. Yeah.

And where, where is the contest now, Kevin? In which country? Where are we going?

It's in Mar a Lago, Florida.

Do you know they tried an American song contest? Did you hear about that? Flopped. It massively flopped. Like each state had a song. It was a nice idea, but it. It tanked. American Song Contest, I think. Yeah, American Song Contest. But it did not work at all. They only did one and then there was. It abandoned it. We're going to Basel in Switzerland. Well, I'm not going. But that's where the Eurovision is being held because Switzerland won last year. Off to Basel, everyone goes and good loses all their life savings.

And what are your plans, Kevin? Are you going there or are you having a party in Liverpool again like last year?

Yeah, yeah. Funny that you remembered that. Yeah, last year I went back to Liverpool because they had events around the fact that they had hosted it the year before. No, I've no plans to travel. Most likely we'll be just having a bit of a party at home, I would say.

Great. Oh, that's so.

So the bit of news that I had, which you didn't have because you were, you know, fluting about in New York.

You're jealous.

I am. I'm really so jealous.

Yeah.

Except I don't want Trump there. But I don't. Yeah, I love America. But anyway, anyway. Sorry, no, the mute. The information I had, which Kevin didn't. Was that Armenia. Their. Their song was written by an Irishman.

Well, certainly co written. I've looked into it since and yes, he, he is one of the writers on the song for sure. Yeah.

So by pure chance I just happened to read this over the weekend. Well, tell us. So we have. How many 30s is it? 35. 37 countries.

7.

7 countries. And that'll be whittled down to 20. 25 countries, isn't it?

Yeah, we have 26 in the final.

26 in the final.

2 semi. Finals.

Yeah, 2 semis. And then we have usually 26 in the final.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay. So away you go. I'll. I let, I let the chord go. And you tell us all about what's happening this year.

Well, you know what, I. As the songs come out one by one, you kind of get a sense of what kind of year it is, you know. So like the first songs come out probably in December time, it's usually Albania. And then another one creeps out and another one and another one. And then some countries have their own national finals. So, you know, There might be six songs, or in Sweden's case, 30 songs, which everyone hears. And then there's week after week we decide who wins or. And some countries just go, here's the song, this one. Italy, the Sanremo Festival. And actually the funny thing about Italy is they have this big multi week spectacular show. And actually Eurovision itself is based on this Sanremo format. So San Remo came first. But the Italians are very proud of their musical culture and heritage, as they should be. And they're kind of like, the winner gets to choose if they want to go to Eurovision as an extra little addition. But this show is not about finding the Eurovision entry. This show is a celebration of Italian music and to find the best song of these songs and that's it. But also they can go to Eurovision if they want. And the. The winner of the San Remo festival this year was a guy called Ollie and really good song, I thought, and he was a really good. He's a really good performer and he just went, nah, don't fancy it. Not going.

Yeah, yeah.

So he just turned it down. Yeah, like, he's a young guy, like at the beginning of his career, I assume, but like, for whatever reason was like, no, I'm not doing that. And so they, the person who came second, who's. Who. Very stylized, very slim guy, long hair, paints his face really white, so looks like a bit of a. Some kind of clown or mime or something. Anyway, he's going. And quite a nice song. But Italy will not do anywhere near as well this year as they would have done had they had the guy decided to go. So, like, they've shot themselves in the foot a little bit, I suppose.

Throw them away. All the, all the options for a winner they have thrown away.

Yeah, I think so. I think so. But the, the, the favorite this year, and certainly my favorite, I've got two favorites, but one of them is. And like, this is a perennial country that is spoken about at the top of the table when it comes to Eurovision, which is, of course, Sweden. They've won. They. They now are matching Ireland's record of seven wins, but in my estimation are a much better Eurovision country than Ireland because they've won in the last songs.

Are much better in the last 30.

Years or whatever, you know, 20 years or more. Yeah, the songs look. And you know, not to disrespect or insult anyone who's worked on the Irish entries, Sweden just, I think, understand, have a great understanding of what makes a very compelling Eurovision entry. And so this year, although I'm not going to Basel, I did go to Stockholm for the final of Melody Festival and yeah, it was great. I was. I loved it. And like, it was in this arena that held 30, 000 people and it was full.

Wow.

And so, like this, it's a really huge deal over there and it's just, it's just funny when you kind of compare different countries attitudes to Eurovision because, you know, I don't think you're going to feel the 3Arena with potential Eurovision entries, you know, like, it would be lovely if that happened and maybe in the future. But. So I went.

The standard was being very high then, if you can fill another.

Yeah, it really was. It really was. Now they have 30 songs in the whole contest and they have six weeks of, of, of the show and it's, you know, really big deal, really high rating.

Swedish Kevin. Or was it also. Can you see the influence already from the immigrants? A little bit?

Yeah, actually, actually there was a song by, I believe, a young Muslim teenager and they had various, various. A bit of diversity there in terms of the performers, but funnily enough, it all came down to two songs, one of which by. Was by, like, a Swedish kind of Eurovision stalwart who's called Mon zelmerlev. He won 10 years ago with this song called Heroes, like one Eurovision outright and since then has hosted Eurovision. And so this year he was coming back again and it was. The big thing was, oh, he's gonna walk it, you know, he's definitely gonna win, just like Lorraine did a couple of years ago.

Yeah.

And going into the contest, the very, very bottom of the favorites list were these three Finnish guys called K, A, J. They're their initials, Kai. Yeah, they're from, like, Finland, but, like, near Sweden, like towards the border, I think. They have this song about having a sauna and how it's fun to just chill out and have a sauna. And so they were literally 30th in the. The bookies odds or whatever going into the contest, like, not considered at all. And then Sweden, slash, the people who were voting for. For Melody Festival and the Swedish public just kind of fell in love with them and they ended up winning and beating Mons. Like this, you know, Eurovision powerhouse Sweden song is Barabadabastu, which means just have a sauna, I think. And so it's like these three lads, it starts off, they're just having a bit of a. They're camping and having a bit of a barbecue or putting the sausage over the fire. And then. And then. And then this sauna appears and they're just. They're just sitting in the sauna chilling out and it's such a fun song. It's really, really catchy. It's really.

I can't wait for you to audio describe this.

I think they will do the sauna on. On. On stage as well.

You know, that's exactly how they say it. Saa. So, yeah, similarities in pronunciation there. But it's really fun. It was a real kind of David versus Goliath thing of them.

Yeah, yeah.

Ultimately winning. And so there's a lot. There's a lot of goodwill for them. And looking at the odds now, they're first in the odds with a 25% winning chance. And of course, if they were to win, they would beat Ireland's record, but they deserve to.

Great. Oh, I love to hear it.

Yeah, yeah. Really, really good. And then my other favorite, unfortunately, is. Where is she? She's down at number 27 out of 37, which is Denmark. It's just. Oh, really hallucination and I just. I just.

AI. It's AI.

It's AI. Isn't it?

No. Artificial intelligence. Because they are all continuously hallucinating. You know.

When I was in Stockholm, some of the entrants from this year were performing at, you know, a party after. After the final. And so she. Her name is Sissel, and she came and she sang her song and her vocals were spectacular. It's. It's not seen as a contender whatsoever. Like, looking at the odds for her semi final, it looks like she might not even get out of the semi final. But for me, it is, like, my number one or two favorite this year. I was saying earlier, you know, about the songs coming out, you kind of get a sense of how you feel the year is for me, like, there's not that many songs that I love, but I know going from past experience, once everything ramps up and you start to see clips of the songs, rehearsals, you start to listen to them a bit more. I think I will get more into it just at the moment in terms of the kinds of songs I like or I love. There aren't that many of them, but it is. It's a very varied field. I would say anybody with a ballad this year has a really good chance of standing out.

Really?

Yeah.

Because.

And how about, you know, Finland? They always have this rough song, you know, Are they, again, a nice Finland?

Yeah. If Finland is up there, in terms of likely winners, are people likely to do well? But it's quite a suggestive song. Oh, yeah. So it's. It's this performer called Erica Vickman, and the song is Ich Coma.

Oh, I come.

Do we need to translate? Yeah. And so I'm coming. And what's interesting about it is, in terms of set pieces, she ends up, like, standing on this huge microphone that kind of lifts into the air and she's standing on, like, the microphone pole. What do you call it? Microphone stand. And then, like, all these fireworks fly out at one end of it. So there's, you know, got to be.

The top end would.

Actually. Isn't. It's actually the other end. But the point being that, you know, spectacle. Oh, my God. But spectacle is. Is usually these days a big thing for Eurovision because. Not least. Because in the semi finals this year, and I think we've talked about this before, the last couple of years, in the semi finals, the juries don't vote at all. It's only public vote. Yeah. So that's. That's why people are putting in these songs that are spectacular things.

Yeah.

And they're supposed to just appeal to the casual voters or people who are watching at home. So there's a few, what I would say, like, jokey entries this year. Like, there aren't as many, like, proper in quotation marks songs this year that would appeal to juries. There's a lot of like, silly funny things. And yes, the sauna song is in that category, but it's by far the best of those.

What about the Netherlands?

Well, yeah. And you. You tell us about the Netherlands, you know.

Oh, yeah. Well, it was first a little bit. Still a question mark if we would participate because they were still a little bit, well, bad feelings about last year. Yeah. What happened.

What happened last year?

N. There was an. Our contestant. What was his name again?

Used Klein.

Yeah. Yo's client. Hey, you are. You know, your things. Well done. Kevin Yoast Klein. Yeah. So he had a really nice song, Row Papa. It was catchy. But he is. He has. He has quite a temper, this guy. He was doing a rehearsal or something. Yeah. And then he went off stage and then he made a move to a camera lady, whatever. He was not really fun of that. She was recording his moves or whatever. Okay. The organization committee decided that Jos Kleine was not allowed to participate in the. In. In the final. Okay. That was it. And then I came up to court or. Or he was asked to come to court, but that never happened. They separated the whole issue.

So this year they've come back with a humdinger. A winner. Yeah.

Oh, nah. Well, he is a nice guy. His. His name is Claude and he is in Holland. He is quite popular. He has had some hits. Yeah, he has some hits. And he is a young guy. He's coming from Africa, speaks natively French and he loves to make songs. A little bit hybrid between French and Dutch. And now he created a song or they created a song for him, a hybrid French, English. And the funny title is C'est La Vie. Yeah, that's life how it is. That's the. The easy translation into English. And it is a nice song, but it is not a winner.

Yeah, I think you're probably right. Looking at the odds here, you're actually fifth in the favorites, which is really going. So I think he'll definitely do well. It's a toe tapper. It's.

Yeah.

And he seems like a really good performer and probably not a winner, as you say, but I think it'll definitely do well. It definitely, definitely do well. Yes.

If we pass the semi finals, you know, if we. If we end up in the final, then it's already a winner, you know.

Yeah, well, that's the thing that. That's what, you know, Ireland got so lucky and came sixth, but, like, again, I think we're just in. In the state of just getting to the final will be, you know, a bit of a triumph in itself.

Well, what do you have then now for a song, Kevin and. Or.

Yeah, well, Oren, do you want to take this one?

Oh, absolutely, yeah, absolutely. I know, I know the lady. Is she from Iceland?

She's from, I believe, Norway.

Is it Norway?

Pretty sure, yeah.

Like, that's. That's all I know.

Well, yeah, so that's all I know.

Did I win the car?

No, not at all.

Tricycle?

No, you know, it didn't even come for what it's like.

So the rules state that at least one songwriter has to be from the country that the song is representing, and so that's why it's. It's eligible to compete. But, yeah, so she's called Emmy and she's from Norway and her song is like a party, which, you know, could be three words, like a party, but the way it's written is Laika, as in the dog that the Russians. Yeah, so like a party. So it's very sophisticated, you know, and so what it is is the lyrics are basically like, oh, I hope she never died. And she's having a party in space. Right. So it's like this optimistic thing about wishing that the dog was a bit.

Of dose of realism.

Well, listen, given what's happening in the real world, I think we can allow her a flight of fancy and just let her just imagine things, whatever, in her head. But. So it's a fun little. It's a fun. Definitely a fun song. She also performed at this party I went to in Stockholm afterwards. The crowd were, like, chanting to. Just for her to sing it again and she was like, wait, what? You want me to just sing it again? They were like, yeah. So she did it again. So, like, people are. People are into it. Definitely not gonna win. I would say. Definitely not gonna win.

So what's the Irish. Sorry, what's the Irish hook in it? Because, yeah, she. So she's the writer and she's.

Sorry, no, one of the writers, but one of the writers is Irish. Yeah.

All right. So there was a bit of controversy. It wasn't there when she won, you know, with Samantha.

Samantha.

Samantha Mumbo.

Yeah, Samantha Fox.

She. I'd say you'd know some of her hits. She had hits, like, in going at least 20 plus years ago, but she came back to do Eurovision and it was kind of a big deal. When she was announced, a lot of people were excited because she was a proper pop star, you know, and she had some really good singles.

I think now.

What's that?

I think she's trying to make it big in Hollywood now.

Yeah, sure. She was in this film called the Time Machine years ago, I think was called the Time Machine. But so she had these. She had a clutch of great pop singles. So when she was announced, everyone was very excited that she was coming back. And, you know, she. She's a really good performer. She was really good on the night, but the song. And I listened to an interview with Michael Keeley, who's the head of the delegation for Ireland, and he kind of said, you know what? She was brilliant. She was so great to work with. Maybe in years to come she'll look back and think that maybe the song wasn't quite right. And in my opinion, that's absolutely the case. I. I was going into it thinking, anybody but Samantha Mumba, I want to win. She definitely was a bit salty. She was a bit salty. She did an Instagram post.

She was a bit salty.

That's a nice.

She did an Instagram post and she. She kind of lashed out at the panel. There was a panel there who weren't voting. Like, they didn't have any real impact on the results, but they were given their opinions on the song.

Somebody has to give their op.

Yeah, exactly. So you had, like, Arthur. I don't know how to pronounce his surname, but he's on Dancing with the Stars. Brian Dowling's part.

Miller, was it?

No, Garoli. Bambi was there.

Bambi Talk was there. Yeah.

Donald Skihan, who's a.

He's a cook, he's a cookery guy.

But he was making the sandwiches ago and there was someone from radio. Anyway, Samantha really took against the fact she called them a pack of bozos and she said that she hopes that they choke on a bag of. And then use an eggplant emoji to say. Because she just thought that there was no need for them being so harsh on the songs. But in my opinion, watching it, I thought what the. Everything they said was fair as far as I'm concerned. And yes, they were critical of her song, so maybe she was annoyed about that, but she was kind of saying, I don't care that I didn't win. I just think it's not right that they were. That there was a panel there who aren't qualified to comment on this kind of stuff. So that was her whole thing. It Was quite a storm, media storm. Like people were really talking about it. It was a bit of fun, I suppose, but I'm sure she was a little bit embarrassed to enter and not win like you would be. But the song really wasn't good. So out of all the songs that were there, I would have preferred another song to win which was by this performer called Nile. And I thought it had excellent vocals but didn't win. So like a party. Great, great, great fun song. Not my kind of thing necessarily, but happy that it's, it's going and as of now it's like the bookies anyway predicted to just scrape into the final. So if that happens, I'll be happy, that'll be a success for Ireland and be great and. But it won't be anywhere near the top 10 if I was to put.

Like 500 on for, for an each way bet. I think maybe bear in mind now my mortgage is on this.

Right? Yeah. Right. I think maybe Austria have a good chance now. They're up there in the odds. They're second in the odds. It's a very kind of operatic vocal which really appeals to like the juries. And then towards the end it gets a bit, it gets very intense and like techno y and like I just, I just think it depends on how the, the staging goes because, you know that's, that's a big part of it these days. So I think Austria.

Would they be likely to get maybe the Eastern block vote?

Because they're also funny.

Yeah, yeah, possibly. Yeah, possibly.

They ever won? They have one.

Austria. Have they won with Conchita Worst. The bearded. The bearded.

Oh, yes.

Well, I don't, I think, I think he's a drag queen or a drag performer. I'm not exactly sure, but it was a song called Rise Like a Phoenix several years ago, so. Yeah, I'm sure.

And now about the controversial things and Russia is not coming. I think.

Yeah, Russia is still not allowed. Yeah. But Israel are involved and they have, they have a ballad by somebody who, you know, survived the gaja. October. No, on the other side, the attack on the music festival. So. Yeah, so there's, there's definitely a narrative there to appeal to some people, I suppose.

And you think there's going to be trouble again. Will there be this year?

I don't know.

And, or do people just stop?

Yeah, you're alluding to some of the backstage stuff last year and a lot of that was to do with the Israeli delegation being quite intimidating to performers and just being a bit unkind. A lot of the performers last year, like threatened to quit. Like Bambi Thug wasn't going to do the show. Yeah. But they obviously did in the end. But there have been things put in place from this year onwards, so I think there's no filming allowed backstage now. I think some of the Israeli delegation were like filming some of the other competitors and then putting it on social media with like snarky comments. So all of that can't happen.

They were making Bambi and the other. The Swedish entry, weren't they?

Bambi and the Swiss one, I think is as well, Nemo. And they're both non binary people.

Yeah.

And so they were being quite unkind. Yeah. So things have been put in place, so I don't think it'll be quite as. As toxic an environment. And I remember the message even that I sent you guys last year was how there was kind of just a dark cloud over it. So I hope it's not there this year, but obviously Israel are there. So that brings with it a certain amount of baggage and a certain amount of, you know, negative feelings from a lot of people and I don't know. Yeah, we'll see.

Okay. Australia. Oh, yeah, Australia.

Yeah, Australia. Yeah, they. They kind of flopped last year. They didn't make the final, so people were kind of. And it's been 10 years, I think, since they were invited to take part. So people were starting to think, are they kind of. Are they kind of fading away? But their song this year is called Milkshake man and it's decent, Definitely decent. We'll probably make the final. Probably do. Okay. So, yeah, they're in a good. A good position. Poor old uk, I think are in again for a bit of a flop entry or a flop performance, unfortunately. They have a group of these three singers called Remember Monday, which is a strange name. But anyway, they're very good vocalists. The song just isn't up to snuff, in my opinion, for. For Eurovision this year, but I will say France is a contender as well. So I mentioned before that, like, a ballad is really going to stand out this year and France have a lovely ballad by Great singer. It's. Well, you know, Celine won obviously for Switzerland, so there's a talk of whether she'll be back in some capacity this year now that Switzerland are hosting it. But you can find again. Oh, she did not. She did not much. She does mime all the time. But she didn't mind then.

No, but she might. Didn't she do a good old mime for the Olympics last year?

Yeah.

Yeah, but there's a lot of factors there in that kind of broadcast. You couldn't risk a live vocal.

No, I would have. I wouldn't have had any problem singing Life.

Oh, but you are such.

Keyboards.

Oh, yeah, yeah. No backing vocals as well, you know. Yeah, yeah.

Before you go. Right, so you said Austria for the win, right? Yeah, for the win.

I think Sweden or Austria, but I would prefer Sweden, but I think Austria might.

Yeah, me too. I will go to the sauna as well, you know.

Okay, so here's. Here's your. Here's your difficult question. Who will be the first to go through Norway? Oh, right, you've heard it here.

Yeah. It's in no particular order. They just say this.

Yeah, it has to remember, folks, it has to be. It's on screen. I'm sure the presenter says who it is, but if you see Norway second or third or fourth or fifth, then Kevin has. Knows nothing random.

You are quite rude, Ms. Oren. Hey, come on. He's doing a really. He's an expensive guy.

Yeah, yeah.

You need to respect me.

I'm gonna have to get Larry to watch the show on Saturday night, so he. Okay, so. But who do you. Who do you think. Just give us three that you think will actually not go through at all. I know you've mentioned some others, but definitely, like Italy. Okay. Not a chance. Will. Well, the UK have to go through any. Because they put money into it.

Yeah. Italy and the UK will be in the final anyway because they're part of the big five, as they're called. A song that's really going to flop is Slovenia. It's called How Much Time do we have Left? Or something like that much, because I'm.

Running out of disc space.

It's a real. It's a real drippy ballad. It's really cloying and really saccharine people. Belgium. Oh, Belgium. Have a good. A good banger, I would call it. Strobe Light, Soft bang. And it really gets going. It really gets going.

Okay.

And a really good vocal. But another song. Another song that's not going to do much is Georgia. They never. They never do too well, so they're going to be. They're going to not do well. And I think unfortunately, Armenia, with that Irish songwriter are at risk of not doing too well as well.

Georgia and Armenia won't get through on the Tuesday. Okay, that's good. Well, listen, we really enjoyed it. Maybe you'll come back after on the Sunday if you're not too hammered and tell us about. If if you're. If Austria, you do not win and tell us.

And I expect everyone on this call to be humming the sauna song on that whenever I come back, because that's how much of an earworm it is.

I listen to it because you sent it to me, but it's in. Bleeding sweet. It's in.

It's in a weird, like, partly Finnish dialect of Swedish. Yeah, but. Yeah, but you just make noises and it's grand. Do whatever.

Oil.

Make noises.

All right.

I sing along and I don't know what the words are.

How much longer?

Just sing along.

Just sing it up. All right.

Look forward to chatting to you again about it.

Okay.

For having me, as always.

Oh, no, thank you. Thank you. And well, yeah, go back to bed now and get ready.

Okay, thanks, Kevin.

Thank you.

Bye. Bye, guys.

Take care.

Bye.

Time, time, time. Yes, folks, it's time for emails. And you've never heard. Well, you haven't. Not never, but you've not heard a long time.

But the nice. Yeah, it was really. And also. But we're going to Eastern, you know, with the Matthias Pasion. My God, it's really.

Yeah.

Anyway, listen, thanks to Kevin, and I forgot to say, during the podcast, Kevin has a podcast, his own podcast called Things Gay People Like. And he still still hasn't had us on it.

We're not allowed on it because we're.

Not allowed to be gay. No, no, no, you don't have to be gay.

I thought you had to be gay.

Well. Well, you have to be either one of two things. You have to be gay or you have to have a passion about something. And I mean, we have a passion about something. Laziness. Yeah, laziness.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I thought you had to be gay, and I thought that's why he wouldn't know.

You have to be.

You have to be gay or you have to have a passion about something. Now, if you're. If you're gay and you have a passion about something, that's even better. But we're still not allowed on this podcast.

Yeah. And we are lucky that he was released out of the U.S. you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Gosh.

Yeah.

It is not easy.

Let's say no more about that now.

All right, Mrs. Go on with your emails. Speaking of emails, have you got any from the US have they managed to get through?

Yes, they haven't. They haven't stopped the email communication yet.

Thank God there. Yeah.

Lovely Nora, that we love Nora and Larry in Boston. Yep.

Yeah. So how is Nora?

Nora is in good form. She says, hi, BGC crew. I'm catching up and listening to. Yeah, listening to episode 118 Cloda. We do love all of you guys. Thank you. I must have had a crisis of confidence in episode 118. I have no idea what I said, but thank you, Nora. That means a lot. First things first, she says it's about 4 to 5 degrees today, but it'll be at least 18 by Sunday. Wow. Nice and sunny. A bit windy. All of the big filthy snowbanks have long melted and there'll be a total. There'll be a total lunar eclipse tonight. I'm trying to remember when she.

I wonder, did she see Kevin when she was there? I don't think he was wandering the streets of Boston.

It was the 13th of March. So, Nora, I have to apologize that we held this for so long. You can blame more on Happy St.

Patrick's Day to you.

Secondly, Nora says, I feel I need to apologize for the crazy dumpster fire, AKA Trumpster fire. I love it. It's good, isn't it, that the US Is causing both internally and externally at the moment. You are all right about the news People here who support him selectively choose news sources that will confirm what they want to hear. Every day we wake up thinking, what crazy stunt will he pull today? And he has yet to disappoint. It is far too much. Yeah, it is far too much to go into, but it's really frightening. And to be honest, Nora, I have. I just met my friend Linda and we were talking about it and it is terrifying what's going on. So I feel for you. I really do.

I also like. Can we ask Nora what are the consequences she thinks for the disability group in her. For.

That's a really good point for Braille.

Displays, Braille paper or because he is screwing up the whole Ministry of Federal or Federal Ministry of Education.

Yeah. So I'm guessing this help is also.

Getting disabilities and he all. He doesn't. Well, he hates or how do you call it, inclusive people.

Oh yeah.

You're not allowed to be inclusive anymore, you know, anyway. So you maybe know you can tell us about that. But Nora says Elon Musk has paid for his influence on Trump and Jan is probably right about Putin having something. Something to hold over him. Jan also mentioned China. There are China. They are quiet now, but they have their sights on taking Taiwan within a few years.

Yeah.

Since.

Since that is where most the microchips are made, that will affect us all. So that's something to think about. Anyway, did I hear Jan say that aliens and dinosaurs helped to build the pyramids. I'm concerned.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, yeah. That is what they think. Think or think. Some. Some crazy voices. They say that. Yeah.

Well, because Nora is very concerned about you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because Nora thinks that you may have been exposed to contagious idiocy. Idiocy In Florida when you were there. It's rampant there and she hopes you recover.

Well, he did go to Mar a Lago.

Exactly. I wanted.

Oh, did you?

Yeah, I was invited and I was offered a job, you know.

Oh, really?

The first blind governor of Greenland.

He has to buy it first and.

I'm still waiting, you know.

Anyway, Nora says you asked for a crazy Be my eyes story. This happened to a woman I know who has no usable vision at all. She was traveling for work and was in a hotel. She was asking a Be my eyes volunteer to describe something in the hotel room using the back camera on her phone. You know what's coming, Jan?

No, but I am hoping.

What she did not know until she was told by the volunteer was that there was a full length mirror in the frame and it showed a reflection of her in the nip. Anyway, that story. Nora says that story reminds me. Did I ever tell you about a blind friend who mistook a fire hydrant for a lost little child? Alone in a yellow raincoat. People walked by her on the rainy street while she tried to talk to the fire hydrant for about two minutes. Oh, that's so funny. Well, that's enough for now. Nora says, happy Saint Patties. We live one block off the parade route in Boston. One million people are expected this year. God help us. She says. Keep up the good work, Nora and Larry.

No, thank you very much. Always good to hear from Nora.

I love Nora.

I like that story. Yeah.

One million people in their parade. Holy moly. Yeah, we do have another email. Let me take it out for you. Claire McLaughlin. She's an artist and this is about the.

From Ireland or Scotland?

She is from Ireland. Yeah.

Oh, Ireland. Okay.

She is. And this is about this project called Scene Scene Unseen. And it's.

She.

Okay, I'll just read it out. Hello. I am delighted to tell you. Hello?

Hello.

That scene will stop it now. Go in circles. This is desperate. I'm getting very shiny. I'm delighted to tell you that Seen Unseen returns this June with a visit to the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin on June 6th at 2.30pm this is followed by a Seen unseen visit to Illon West Cork Arts Centre in skibbereen. On Friday, July 18th at 3pm, we'll put all this in the show notes. Participation is free of charge for the visually impaired community and tactile packs are posted to participants joining online, which is cool. So you can be in person or you can be online, which is interesting. Early registration is advisable and you can register by WhatsApp text or voice note. And what I'll do is I will put all of this in the show notes because otherwise I don't think. Unless. Do you want me to read it out or. Yeah, I'll put it in the show notes. It'll be easy.

Yeah.

Thanks for spreading the word. Kindest regards, Claire.

Okay, thank you very much, Claire. Okay, we'll send. We'll put that information in the show notes and it is time to say goodbye thank you to Kevin. But before we do, what I'm going to do is going to play in our Eurovision Song contest winner from 1997. That's myself and Mr. Jan Bloom, chef and Larry. Mr. Yon Blome is on the keyboards and guitar, and Chef is on drums. Larry's on bass. And I'm singing. And this was the winning entry for 1997's Eurovision Song Contest. Bye. Bye. Trudging through the doubling traffic oh, no. On our way to the end CBI we got another brain lesson no help of me Come Armageddon Come Armageddon, please. Every day is brilliant Every day is filled with contraptions Try to hide the fact I haven't got my homework done Good idea. Try it again. Or tree say a bad word not saying that. Thank God. Here, steward, we can have a bit.

Of fun.

Every day is brilliant Every day is gloomy and gray I wonder can I switch teacher maybe Claire Wheel is available. Oh, yes. Here we go. There we go. With brackets at signs. Euro signs. Oh, no, close brackets. Every day prayers play Every day is roomy and gray Every day Every day Every day Every day Every day Every day a Braille day Every day is shining yeah.