Switched on Pop - Eurovision 2024: from Baby Lasagna to Windows95Man

Episode Date: May 7, 2024

It’s that time of year again when the entirety of Europe (and a few other countries) come together to celebrate kitschy, bombastic songwriting through the Eurovision Song Contest! This year’s competition, held in Malmo, Sweden, features everything from rave-pop on behalf of the Netherlands, to folk-rapping hybrids courtesy of Ukraine – and Charlie and Nate are here to musicologically unpack the craziest tracks that have the potential to win it all.  For more on the controversy surrounding this year’s contest, check out Charlie’s appearance on Vox’s podcast Today, Explained. Songs discussed: Joost – Europapa Angelina Mango – La noia alyona alyona, Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria Nemo – The Code Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim Windows95Man – No Rules! Kaleen – We Will Rave Olly Alexander – Dizzy Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue Ladaniva – Jako Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's free for iOS users. Welcome to Switched on Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. Every year in the spring, we get to talk about my favorite annual song contest. Eurovision. Do you do, da da, da, da. Eurovision is, of course, the European broadcast unions gathering of countries within Europe and

slightly outside of Europe that each year has a Olympics-like competition. of musical force, each country submitting one artists or up to six singers, to sing live on international television, to be voted on by peer countries, the rest of the world, and a group of judges, and by the evaluations of musical critics and musicologists like ourselves. It is the closest thing that we have in our musical world to the Super Bowl or some other sporting event. It is genuinely thrilling. As someone who doesn't watch sports, I love this event. And just like sports, Eurovision may want to be an apolitical event, but of course it is not immune from larger geopolitical issues that are ongoing.

This is true in years past, and it's true in 2024. Because of the ongoing war in Gaza, many artists are signing petitions, threatening boycotts, saying that they would not like Israel's participation in the contest. Israel has participated in Eurovision for 50 years, and the country has been riled in controversy over a song submission that was overtly political in reference October 7th. And because of the heatedness of this particular moment, multiple artists have made political statements calling for ceasefire, return of hostages, and so on. And as of this recording, it seems as though they have all decided to continue their participation and the show is going to go on.

If you want to learn more about the context of this year's competition, I definitely recommend listening to Charlie's appearance on the Vox podcast today explained. They're also covering Eurovision in their episode today. But in the spirit of this contest continuing, we are going to listen to this year's entries. And when we do, we'll find that there is more than meets the ear. These songs have their own stories to tell. Okay, so here's how we should do it. Each year we look at the top five songs picked by bookies. one of the songs that are most likely to win.

We're going to choose our effective winner. And then in the second half of the show, let's look at the five wild cards because Eurovision always has some really creative, very kitschy out there entries. And I want to go through some of our selective picks that may not win the contest, but they can win our internal approval.

I'm so excited. And let's begin with the song that bookies are placing fifth right now. It's from the Netherlands. It's Yost Klein's Europa. Jero! Welcome in Europe Blyfe till I'm do try

A Europa Bha True to its name This is Europop at its finest It's like really cheesy 90s Europop trance music It's almost a joke of an entry to me

It's so kitchy Eurovision loves kitch It's central to Eurovision You gotta be kitchy you got to reference your country or in this case all of Europe and at first this might read like a celebration

of European cosmopolitanism We travel from France and France because he's not rich enough We travel from France to Vienna to the Netherlands he's talking about how he doesn't need a passport We go to Berlin

But he doesn't make it to Paris Because he's not rich enough He doesn't have enough money And that's where the song takes this little turn. In the second verse, he starts to describe how, in all of his travels around Europe, he gives people money, but there's no one there to help him. And I feel like the song in all of its upbeat European celebration has this darker tinge, which suggests a decline of Europe's support for its working class and perhaps that Europe is no longer the problem. that it once was. And then also, the artist has said that it is a celebration and an ode to his father and to his parents who died at a young age.

It's a bit of a prism, this very silly song. I think that's a theme that we'll find as we listen to a lot of these entries. On the surface, there's a lot of silliness and kitsch. And then when you dig a little deeper, there's kind of a more potent message waiting to be uncovered. And yet when we listen to the chorus of the song, it is just pure frivolity. I mean, Charlie, spin that Europoppa chorus for us. I feel like this is the Barbie girl of Europe. It's got that frantic house piano, this warped vocal effect, gang vocals in the background.

And it seems like it's a lighthearted, silly song, but there's actually more going on here. I mean, he literally sings in the lead into the chorus, Welcome to Europe, Live Here Till I Die. And perhaps some of these minor chords, despite this upbeat feel, hint at something else going on than the obvious fist-pumping I love Europe kind of nature of the song. With a little shout out With a little shout out to Say, yeah, yeah, that do he good, With a little shout out to Belgian artist Stromay's song Papa Yutei, which is all

itself a song about reaching out to one's missing father. So lots of layers here. Strong start. Okay, so that's Europapa. We now go to the fourth most likely contender, according to Buckees. Italy, their entry comes from Angelina Manga. which I'm probably not saying properly with an Italian accent, my apologies.

Angelina Mango. She has a song called La Noia. This song is baffling. Reggaeton Italiano. La Noia, to be clear, La Noia means boredom. I think we need to establish that, yeah. This is what I don't understand. You have this great Italian verse,

and then this underlying reggaeton and cumbia beat happening at the same time. time, also very cosmopolitan in this way. My understanding is that this song is an ode to boredom and the way that we can find ourselves in those moments where we're twiddling our thumbs. I read it very differently, Charlie. What do you read? I read it as a scathing repost against boredom and how the power of kumbia rhythm can bring you out of the boredom. And there's another layer to this too, because the song is all about the gendered expectations of boredom and fighting back against those. Women have to do all these boring roles in society,

and the cumbia liberates you from all that. That's my read. We may see it differently. I feel like it's a song that would not work as well in the American context, just given the sort of calls of sort of ethnic cultural appropriation, saying, like, you know, we can find our freedom if we go to Latin America. We can sort of have this Caribbean vibe. And if we do that, then we can escape the constraints of Europeanism.

Eurovision often has these cross-border collaborations that can be read in different ways. I think the success of the sonic mix itself also makes its case for why this kind of appropriation could be legit. It's a very compelling blend to me. And the Italian lyrics work so well with the rhythm of, of course. cumbia and regitone in a way I wouldn't have expected. Something about the language itself, I feel like, that makes this surprising hybrid actually really effective. Well, speaking of unexpected surprising hybrids.

Take us there. We need to go to Ukraine, the third most likely pick right now. We have Eliona, Eliona, and Jerry Hales, Teresa and Maria. Perhaps the best rap about Mother Teresa and Mother Mary that's ever been done. Ukraine has been bringing the heat in Ukraine has been in the two, with the Kaluish orchestra and these beautiful traditional instruments.

They obviously had massive support because at that moment Russia had been kicked out of the competition for its invasion of Ukraine. And now we have this Theresa and Maria, wow. Maybe less overt references to traditional Ukrainian music and this political moment. But I hear in the chorus maybe a reference to folk music with that melody. And there's another moment this track, which I love, which is when they do this kind of wordless, like, spacey dance drop.

Gives me chills. despite any sort of inklings of folk melody, the production here is very contemporary, but of course they're invoking Mother Teresa and Mother Mary, two symbols of peace and healing, and of course the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. I don't think we have to reach very far to find an allegory for why Ukraine is looking for healing and peace through this song. So an example of where this sort of apolitical event, once again, politics certainly sneaks into it. All the divas were born as human beings. That's the one English lyric in the song, and it hits pretty hard. I also like thinking of Teresa as a diva. All right, let's pick things back up.

Let's go to Switzerland. I never thought of going partying in Switzerland, but we're going to. We have an entry from Nemo in the song, The Code. There's a lot I love in this track. I don't even know where to start. How about the reference to La Boeem? As in the 19th century opera by Puccini. And then we get a operatic reference in the vocal, this to me sounds like maybe borrowed from Mozart's Queen of the Night aria.

That's amazing. I feel like these operatic references allude to Nemo's pyrotechnic vocal chops, their ability to hit these staggering high notes. Not only that, they can also rap. Let me tell you'll tell about life by the good and the bad better hold on tape. Who this likes what's wrong, it's right? Everything is balanced. Everything's life.

I got so much on my mind and I've been awake all night. I'm so pumped. I'm so psych. You know, at first, I definitely didn't get this song. I thought it was just an upbeat track that had. some operatic qualities that's just about breaking the rules. And then I was like, what the heck is an ammonite? I had to look that one up too, Charlie. It's an extinct spiral-shelled cephalopod comprising the subclass aminoidia. Oh, of course. And in my research, my understanding is that

they exhibit sexual dimorphism. That is correct. Which is when the male and female sex of the same species represent different physical forms. And so I'm like, what does this have to do with the song? And when we get into the chorus, we hear this very strong rejection of the binary of zero and one. And of course, it all makes sense. This is a gender non-binary anthem. Of course, Eurovision has been for a long time, a very friendly LGBTQ plus space, famously having openly transgender artists winning the competition much earlier in time than had been seen in other competitions. 1998, Dana International, 2014, Conchita Verst. And so once again, here we have a song that on its surface might seem like a fun,

Europop kind of song, but there's a lot more in the message. They broke the code. And that brings us to the currently top-rated, most likely to win song coming from Croatia by an artist name. I hope you're ready for this. Hit me. Baby lasagna. Yes.

And his song, Rim Tim Toggi Dem. This is one of those fascinating musical concoctions that you only encounter in the wilds of the Eurovision song competition.

Yeah. It's a little bit heavy metal. It's like a little bit traditional Croatian folk. It's a little bit Euro pop. A little bit Lincoln Park to me. A little bit Lincoln Park. Yeah.

And it's another sign that once you go past the surface of a kind of silly title, Rim Tim, Taggy Dim. There's more depth waiting for you. Yeah. This is a song about Croatian youth leaving the rural countryside in search of economic opportunity in foreign cities. And that title represents the folk dance of the singer's native town. And they're torn between leaving and staying. And that's a powerful thing to

grapple with, I think. Yeah. One of the opening lines of the song, It's about leaving the village and selling the cow to go off in prance. Which at first sounds very silly and funny. Have you ever heard a song about selling a cow that's outside of the maybe like country tradition? I don't know. And yet, clearly the humor and the deeper meaning are interwoven in a way that honestly feels so Eurovision. It doesn't feel like it would ever fit in like an American pop context. A song which feels like it's mocking is in fact very somber.

about the way in which Croatians are struggling to have economic opportunity at home and being forced to emigrate elsewhere to create a life. You might not expect such depth from an artist named Baby Lazzania, but there it is. These are the wonders that the Eurovision Song Contest can provide. All right, Nate, those are the top five most likely to win, according to Bookies. I know my favorite. Do you know your favorite? I know my favorite. Okay, but we're going to have to compare it to the wild cards.

We're going to do that right after the break. Attention Spotify. Has arrived at the new Good Girl Jasmine Absolute of Caroline Herrera. A fragrance intense with character gourmet and addicive. Imagine a jasmine emvolventy, caramelized, and tonka-tostata. A combination that seduce from the first instant and she'll away. Good Girl Jasmine Absolute, hypnotica, irresistible. Discover it'llow it.

And let's envolver for susentia. Okay, wild card round. For this round, there are no rules. Ha ha! Our first song comes from Finland via the artist Windows 95 Man. One word, all caps. And the song, no rules. You see what I did there?

Okay, this is the best song ever written in the history of music. Finland has really carved a niche as bringing the ultimate silliness to this competition. I mean, last year they had cha, cha, cha by Kariah. And now we have Windows 95 Man. My name is Windows. Windows 95. And as fun as this song is, I think it's really important to watch the performance as well. Yeah, Windows 95 Man does have a T-shirt with a Windows 95 logo, a hat with a Windows 95 logo.

But he's missing a very essential garment. Pants. No pants. All the denim from his pants has been repurposed for a giant egg from which he emerges in the center of the stage. I can't even describe it. It's just it must be seen, this live performance. This is the kind of song which defies any real musical analysis. It doesn't want to be analyzed.

It has seemingly to me no purpose. I can't divine any deeper meaning here. I'm sure someone can't. They're very well, may be. But all it says to me is that we are in such a deep moment of 90s nostalgia that this sort of Euro-trans sound that used to be traded around on MP3s and played on Winamp,

this is like the sound of the moment in 2024 at Eurovision. I think you're having a hard time because this song only has one rule. No rules. No rules. All right, can we keep it silly for a second? Please.

Let's go to Austria. Kaleens, we will rave. Oh. Oh. This song has a 1% chance of winning right now, and I think that is wrong. This song might break the mold of what I was describing earlier in that these Eurovision songs have one thing on the surface and one thing below. I feel like this is exactly what it says it is.

We will rave. Yeah. It's a mashup of so many different 90s and 2000s dance forms. We've got Technosense. We have drum and bass drums. We have amazing squelchy acid house bass scents. Squelchy. Oh, yeah.

Oh, it's squelchy. Squelchy, you say. And it's all married together with this epic EDM drop. It's an ode to raving. What more can you ask for? Let's keep this party going, Charlie. What's next? Let's go to the United Kingdom and listen to Ollie Alexander's Dizzy.

Some nice little London bells in the background there Making us dizzy, making us think of the UK I think I know why you like this song And I think it's the reason why I like this song Is it the chord progression in the chorus? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Classic text painting, I think.

I'm feeling dizzy by the constant Coral movement and modulation that takes me far away from where we start and he tells us to take us back to the beginning and he brings us back to the beginning. As the chorus progresses, the harmonies get further and further away from our opening key of C minor

before finally spinning all the way back again to the opening chord. It's a really effective chorus in that respect. That said, I just feel like this song doesn't have that extra layer that might send it up into the top five. It's like a love song, and that's great. but is it enough?

Yeah, I honestly, I will say overall, I think this is a fun little musical moment, but it's not quite what I wanted, especially that this song is produced by Danielle Harrell, whose work I really enjoy, major producer for Kailin Polichick. This song actually reminds me a lot of a song that he did for Kali and Polichick called New Normal.

The bottle is empty. Now what is this? The fog machine is a throat. I'm a first guy you come in. The song New Normal by Kellyanne Pollycheck off of her album, Pange, from 2019, does a similar sort of thing in which the chords constantly modulate into new spaces every single time. She says, now what is this? Great moment of text painting. And yet, I always associate Daniel Harle's productions with a lot of big musical surprises and experimental production.

And I'm just not getting that here with the UK's entry. So I wouldn't be surprised if this is not. at least my pick of the wild cards. UK fans might be disappointed by this take, Charlie. I feel like they're making a push the UK by putting Ali Alexander out as their contestant. He's an established singer as part of the band years and years and actor. You know, he's a big name. And perhaps the song won't quite deliver on that promise.

Okay, well, let's move from the United Kingdom and go west just a little bit over to Ireland, where the artist Bambi Thug has a very dark song called Doomsday Blue. That is genuinely spooky. Yeah, right. And another fascinating study in contrasts. When we go from this dark, satanic,

industrial voice to this light, sparkling, acoustic guitar accompanied interlude, it's like, whoa, what just happened? I'm waiting for the Bambi Thug baby lasagna collab. Oh, wow. I am here for it. I would love to hear that collaboration. While we are waiting, we have one more wild card.

Coming from Armenia, it's Ladeneva's Jako. That is hot, hot fire. I love this song. I feel like this is the only one we've really listened to today that is truly invoking national heritage. I feel like that's something we've seen a lot more. in past competitions where it's the sort of combination of the Europop, plus some traditional instrumentation.

But here we have this Armenian entry that has a very clear Armenian folklore. Also, this has a Balkan music in there, and a hook that is driven by this traditional scale that feels yet universal. Like, I just want to dance along to Jocko. This is a really cool track. Can we make our... our picks now. I'm champing at the bit. Okay. Let's start with the wild card. What's your pick?

I was so tempted by the forbidden fruit of Windows 95 man. Yes. But I'm going to have to give it to Jocko because I cannot stop thinking about it. I cannot stop listening to. I cannot resist the infectious energy of this track. Like you said, it's got this traditional instrumentation and scalar work that I find so compelling. This is going to be my wild card pick. I was feeling we will rave in the same way you were feeling no rules, but the song that's stuck in my head is also Jocko. Okay, so we are aligned with Jocko. Two votes for Jocko in the wild card round. Taking us to the top five, and the question is, is it going to be anyone other than baby lasagna for you? The top three, Croatia, Switzerland, and Ukraine, I'm having a lot of difficulty deciding between these. I think these are all bangers of the

highest order and anyone I leave out will haunt me. And, you know, my answer might change tomorrow. I love the operatic stylings of Nemo. I love the powerful narrative of Rim Tim Taggidim. But I'm going to give it to Teresa and Maria. I cannot resist the vocals, the impassioned rapping, the constantly shifting beats. This is probably the song that I would come back to the most. And this one to me really captures the spirit of Eurovision.

I'm going with Teresa and Maria. I would say my number three, Europa. I just can't get it out of my head, but it's so silly. Baby lasagna, rim tim, Taghi Dem, my number two. My number one is the code. I think Nemo, coming from Switzerland, has the most powerful vocal. Yeah. Such a strong message and a song that I want to keep on hearing in a way that I think if I hear your

old papa one more time, I might lose my mind. We didn't even talk about the ASMR breath pre-chorus. That is another stunning moment. Yeah, I'm very happy with your choice. I would love to see either of those songs top the ESC this year. I'm tempted to ask us to pick a winner, but I don't really actually. like ranking music. And I think we're going to have to leave it up to the Eurovision voting public. By the way, if you're not in Europe, there is a category for rest of the world, which represents

one country and you can vote in Eurovision and influence the results starting this week, Tuesday, Thursday, the semifinals, Saturday on the finals. Regardless of who comes out on top, this is one of my favorite times of the year. Because listening to to these songs is not only such a joy and a pleasure, the sort of jockeying between them, the excitement of that, but also getting to have a small window into a country's traditions, its politics, its perception of its place in the world. That's really what makes Eurovision so fascinating and so endlessly compelling to me. And I feel like we've talked about a lot of songs, but there's still so many countries that we didn't get to discuss. So I'm going to

encourage our listeners to sound off. Tell us what did we miss? What are your favorite tracks? What do you think is not being talked about enough? The Eurovision discourse does not end. Switched on Pop is produced by Rihanna Cruz, edited by Art Chong, engineer by Brandon McFarland, illustrations by Arras Gottlieb, community management by Abby Barr, our executive producer with the shock Kerwell, a member of the Vox Media Podcast Network, a production of Vulture, which is part of New York Magazine. You can subscribe. subscribe to New York Magazine at nymag.com. We're on the interwebs at switch on pop.com and we're on the socials at switch on pop, which is where we need to hear everything that you want to talk about

in Eurovision and put your email address into a box on our website that will sign you up for our weekly newsletter full of additional insights and rabbit holes. We'll see you again real soon. And until the next episode, thanks for listening. Thanks for listening.