Switched on Pop - From Westeros-techno to trance metal: Eurovision 2023

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

It’s May, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for the Eurovision Song Contest. This year’s edition of the international-but-primarily-in-Europe competition features a uniquely eclectic group of songs (per usual), from a take on electro-flamenco, to Game of Thrones EDM, to a previous winner’s return to the Eurovision stage. On this episode, Charlie and Nate look at the six songs bookmakers are looking at to lead the pack of this year’s entries. Songs Discussed: Alessandra – Queen of Kings Deadmau5 – Right This Second Gabry Ponte, R3HAB, Timmy Trumpet – Call Me  La Zarra – Évidemment Édith Piaf – Non, je ne regrette rien Claude François – Alexandrie Alexandra Blanca Paloma – EAEA TVORCHI – Heart of Steel Kalush Orchesta – Stefania Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha Kraftwerk – Radioactivity Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone Metallica – 72 Seasons Loreen – Tattoo 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 musicologist Nate Sloan. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. Well, Charlie, it's the beginning of May, so that can only mean one thing. It's time for Eurovision. The International Song Competition, where countries mainly in Europe, but not exclusively, submit songs to be performed in a lot.

Live television spectacle. I feel like people might not experience the level of energy around Eurovision in the United States, but in Europe, it is palpable. And we are going to do our best to get people equivalently hyped because there's really nothing like Eurovision. And it also provides just some wide ranging musical content from the wonderful to the weird and everything in between. Only about a dozen Eurovision songs have ever charted on Billboard's Hot 100, most notably the Italian classic Volare, which topped the Hot 100 way back in 1958, and Waterloo by Swedish megagroup Aba, which won Eurovision in 1974. Most recently, the song Arcade by Dutch songwriter Duncan Lawrence hit number 30 in 2021, thanks to going viral on TikTok. This year's finals are on May 13th, and in honor of the world's campiest competition, the two of us are going to listen to the top contenders of this year and see which songs the Eurovision bookmakers have slated to win. Okay, I feel like there's a couple of important disclaimers.

One, we promise to butcher pronunciation and we are sorry. Indeed. Two, this is purely musical analysis. Eurovision is a very visual form, but I think both of us have intentionally avoided watching the videos and I've only listened to the clips to figure out which has the most musical integrity. Important. And three, let the record show we are mere appreciators of Eurovision. We are not deep Eurovision heads. So there's just so much musical discussion to be had around here.

And I'm sure that we are going to be missing things. But this is our take. Well said, Charlie. Okay. And now we're going to listen to the six songs. that the Eurovision odds makers have concluded are most likely to win. And we're going to do those in order from number six to number one. Now, let's acknowledge that some of these odds may change by the time this episode comes out.

But as of now, these are the most likely winners. And at number six, with a 4% chance of winning from the land of Norway, we are going to listen to Alessandra's song, Queen of Kings. Charlie, what's your reaction to Alessandra, Queen of Kings? I don't think I've ever quite heard a mashup like this of a Renaissance-style melody with a building EDM instrumentation. It's really funny. The melody feels like it's ancient.

It's giving Game of Thrones techno to me. Yeah, exactly. And I feel like that's what it's going to give us. like there's got to be a huge drop, right? Yes. I love it. I love that feel when we get this 12-8 bass line. It's such a cliche of EDM that I love every time I hear it.

Like it takes me back to Deadmouse's 2010 album 4x4. equals 12, maybe even a nod to this little technique. Or we could take more recent example, like the song Call Me by Gabri Ponte, with Rehab and Timmy Trumpet, a cover of a Blondie classic. And for good measure, let's hear Queen of Kings one more time. I feel like it's a whole new genre, electro renaissance. Dead mouse goes to Westeros. That's...

But I love this continuum of 12-8 EDM you've constructed Charles. It's probably worth acknowledging that this track, Queen of Kings, also has, like, a specific vision of women's empowerment. I think, like, there's regnancy here. This is, like, I am the ruler. I am the king. Yeah, flips the cliche of King of Queens to Queen of Kings, and the intensity of that drop moment, it certainly emphasizes the power of the femininity in the same.

song. Another musical choice that supports that is the whistle note that Alessandra gives us about two minutes into the track. I think we need to run that back one more time. That is a beautiful moment. I love whistle tone. That's one way to declare your power. Let me hit this ridiculously high, unworldly note. All right, Norway. I'm digging it. You might be number six, But I think this is a serious contender. Let's see if the rest of the top five can bring the same heat. We move now to the five seed with a 5% chance of winning. From Spain, we have Blanca Paloma with their song EAEA.

Yeah, we definitely got that. So already we're in the pronunciation valley here. Okay. Wow. So Aya Aya. This is a cool track, Charlie. Yeah. What are you digging about it?

I mean, the first thing that jumps out is the way this song takes a traditional Spanish genre like flamenco and gives it this 21st century update with these electronic beats and synthesizers. It feels very indebted to the recent work of Rosalia, among others. Yeah. And I think it's really... cool. These are the moments in Eurovision when you're able to make this compelling pop music statement that connects to your country's tradition and heritage. That's when this competition really shines to me. Yeah, and you get to hear pop music that goes outside the standard styles of pop singing. In this case, we're hearing all kinds of microtonalism moving outside your major and minor scales with these beautiful bends in the vocal. You know, something that obviously draws from Flamenca's styles of singing and has a much longer heritage in the Arab influences of musical scales and music in general that was brought into Spain over the centuries ago. In addition to those microtonal vocal touches, Charles, I hear the rhythm that's driving the song is very characteristic of flamenco, very percussive, driven by propulsive handclaps, polyrhythmic,

intricate, we're not Flamenco experts, but suffice to say, the rhythmic complexity here is stunning. Yeah. And it's cool to hear that in a track like this. And I can imagine the live performance of this is going to be pretty spectacular as dancers build off those rhythms. Yeah, the energy is palpable in the song. Okay, so we're feeling Spain's entry. Let's see if we can muster the same enthusiasm for their neighbor, France. number four spot,

5% chance of winning. The artist is La Zara and the song is Evidamon. Starts very cinematic. Well, that's a very dramatic. Well, that's a very dramatic start. As you said, kind of a cinematic opening.

And then we go into this more kind of traditional French style. And then if we keep listening, we get an entirely different sonic landscape. Four on the floor. All right, Chuck, what are you making of this? The split personality of this track.

I think that it is representing multiple kinds of French identity and classic French musical styles. just as Spain is bringing its own musical flavor. And the French entry, we're hearing, I think, two very discreet, important genres in the world of French music. You have the chanson.

The opening part reminds me of that classic essential French early genre that people associate, obviously, with someone like Edith Piaf. You could take a song like, non-gener-gratrian. You get the orchestral elements, and then everything sort of shrinks down to highlight,

Edith Piaf's voice. Let's go back to Evidemal. I'm also hearing the same kind of approach to vibrato in both of those singers, Edith Piaf and Lazare, like, ah, ha, ah, it's like very characteristically French to me. Okay, but then what happens? So we get this traditional song style to begin with, and then we go into French disco. Yeah.

You know, and that's a whole world in and of itself. I often think of a tallow disco as the more famous European disco scene, but French disco is a big thing, and obviously birthed French house as well. And so we could think of a track like the famous French singer Claude Francois made some great disco hits like the 1978 song, Alexandria, Alexandria. That disco vibe me of a dulypa of a dulypa song. But so much of Eurovision is the blending of traditional with contemporary. I think that the French entry is making a really strong case because both of of these vibes are part of French musical history.

And so I think it's a very strong song. Totally. And France really needs a banger of this magnitude because they haven't won in 45 years. And there's even a moment in the song where Lazara kind of like speaks to the nation. She says, she asked France, did I manage to sing the greatness of France? She's asking like, am I, am I doing us justice? It wouldn't be Eurovision without a little bit of national pandering, but that is a great moment.

So, Charlie, that was a lovely trip through the bottom three of our top six. When we come back after a quick break, we are going to check in with last year's Eurovision winner, now in Spot Three, and hear what they're bringing to the table this year. We're going east. Maria, you have a podcast now and you need to start acting like it. What's the first step as a podcaster?

Well, you have to ask lots of questions. I'm Maria Sharpova and I'm hosting a new podcast called Pretty Tough. Every week, I'm sitting down with trailblazing women at the top of their game to discuss ambition, work ethic, and the ups and downs that come on the path to achieving greatness. I have a few pretty tough questions for you. Okay. Ready? Ready. Do not sugarcoat something for me.

No, no. No. We'll dive into their stories and get valuable insights from top executives, actors, entrepreneurs, and other individuals who have inspired me so much in my own journey. Pretty tough is your front row seat to the women who have demonstrated the power in being unapologetic in their pursuits. I hope you'll join us. New episodes drop Wednesdays on YouTube or in your favorite podcast app. Charlie, we've made it to the number three song, most likely to win Eurovision with a 7% chance. It's last year's winner, Ukraine, but a new band. This is Tvorci and their song, Heart of Steel. This is cool, Chuck.

One of the first things I notice is how different this is from the Ukrainian entry that won last year, the Kalush Orchestra and their track, Stefania. That song used traditional harmonies and instrumentation like the Telenka flute. This year's track by the duo Tvorci, feels just a little more in line with contemporary electronic music and not maybe as like specifically Ukrainian. Even though this song does sound more contemporary, I think just like last year's entry,

it's also tackling the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. According to the BBC, the song was produced after the group had been watching videos at the Siege of Mariople. And I think we can hear that sense of conflict in the chorus. The lyric is talking about having a heart of steel. Of course, in that siege, soldiers were camped out in a steel plant. And I think the sounds of sort of future bass that I'm hearing are appropriate to the message because you have these sort of like air raid like siren rising sounds. And you have this base, which is kind of out of time.

and unpredictable. The rhythm as well is very disjointed. It pulls and pushes and is never quite in time. It's disorienting, it's discomforting, and I think that they're capturing this historical, very somber moment appropriately in the production of the song. I love hearing that, Charles. It gives me another insight into these lyrics that I might not have had.

otherwise. It's a compelling track. Is it going to win? Let's find out as we listen to the final two selections in the top six. First at the number two spot with a 16% chance of winning is the finished rapper Kariah. A with an umlat, A with an umlat, R-I-J-A with an umlat. This is the song Cha, cha, cha. Really big shift in vibe. Now this is why I watch Eurovision, Charlie. This is awesome. I mean, this just, you don't get this kind of music in the good old United States of America, and I'm here for it. I feel like we're getting a dosage of traditional folk music, which in Finland would be heavy metal. Indeed, the music that Finnish parents use as lullabies for their children every night, just shredding on distorted electric guitars to put their kids to bed.

But there is a big metal scene in Finland. But it's blended with these other electronic elements. For me, I'm getting a sort of like Croft Fork-like baseline. Blended with an anthem trance lead sound that is reminiscent of Alice DJ's better off alone. Blended with the sort of thrash metal style of Metallica's guitar playing, which we can use as an excuse to play a second off of their new album 72 seasons. You put those three in a cauldron, you blend it together, and you get, for me, fiddling, cha, cha, cha.

You forgot to mention, like, the rage against the machine style vocals, and then the chorus response, cha, cha, cha, cha in the background. I mean, this is cool. It's cool. It has all those elements you said, and then it's got this, like, kind of, like, interactive part to it as well, this participatory section. and then halfway through we get something even more bizarre. What was that?

Like this little hyperpop excursion in the middle of this song? I love that auto-tuned moment. It's such a ridiculous contrast to the Rage Against the Machine style spoken vocal earlier. We go into pure pop, just like sing along stadium. All right, cha, cha, cha, cha has a little something for everyone. Yeah. But we still have to listen to the number one song, Charlie, from Sweden with a 45% chance of winning. This is Lorene with the song Tattoo.

Okay, Lorene, go off. Wow. So some important background here, Charlie. Lorraine actually won the Eurovision song contest in 2012 with her entry Euphoria. Okay. I'm trying to come back over a decade later. Awesome. So she is a proven contender in this competition and seems poised to perhaps be crowned yet again.

Are you, I mean, what is your reaction to this track? Is this like taking you to the peaks of pleasure and power that I feel like it's trying to do? Her voice is spectacular. Absolutely. I think that this song in many ways is a textbook in how. how to make a Eurovision hit. See, a Eurovision song is a very different kind of track than what we might be writing today

to win over the algorithm on TikTok. You need to embed your hook in someone's mind with one listen only. And Tattoo has some very clever techniques that guarantee that you're going to remember this song. And it does this by basically having only two melodies in the entire song. Check this out. At the very beginning, we get a synthesizer line and listen to what happens when we get to the pre-course of the song. It's the same melody, Charlie.

Ding, ding, ding. It's the same melody, but it feels so different because the first time you hear it's this very muted, plucky synth line. It doesn't have any of that grandiose rising, a motive quality that the vocal picks up in the pre-course. You've already heard that melody and it's just drilling itself into your ear. And the same thing is true of the main hook because Nate, play me the verse. Yes, Captain. Beautiful melody.

And when we get to the chorus, it's the same melody. It's almost the exact same melody. It shoots an octave higher, so we have way more energy. It's a flex. It's a flex for sure, too. It's such a flex.

It has. has a little variation at the end where she does this. Uh-oh-oh-oh. Exactly. I love that extra hook that she adds onto it, but this song is ostensibly two melodies that we keep hearing back to back to back. There's some other stuff in there, too, of course. But that is the thing about this song.

It's so simple. And yet in the way that it's orchestrated to build and build and build, it swells and every moment feels new. but actually you've heard it all before. So no surprise, perhaps, that this is currently the odds on favorite to win Eurovision. To Superhook. Now, Charlie, that's the bookmaker's pick, but what about you? We just listen to six phenomenal tracks.

Which one do you, would you vote for, Judge Charlie? We've got Edie and Westeros. We've got some beautiful flamenco coming from Spain. We got French disco meeting. the traditional chanson but Charlie I think we both know what our pick is right? I do love Ukraine but I think this year

it's the cha cha cha cha cha that's what we're going to be singing here at Switched on Pop headquarters cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha Charlie that's I mean that's literally your track chat chat chat Charlie all right so on May 13th

the Eurovision song contest finale is going to take place and we will find out who the winners will be. We know who it's going to be. We'll see. There's always the possibility of a dark horse upset. Nate, you mentioned a dark horse upset. There is a song coming from Israel called Unicorn,

not a dark horse, a bright horse. With a horn. With a horn and wings. No, that's a Pegasus. Forget about it. Anyway, there are so many bizarre entries in Eurovision that delight and confound me. We would love to hear,

from you all about your favorite and also strangest entries. You can hit us up at Switched On Pop on social media, on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Switched on Pop is produced by Rihanna Cruz, edited by Art Chung, engineered by Brandon McFarlane. Our illustrations are by Iris Gottlieb, Abby Bard, just community management, and Nashat Kerwa is executive producer.

We are also a production of Vox Media Podcast Network and Vulture. Sure. You can catch more episodes on our website, switched onpop.com, where we have got some very fun merch. And we're going to be back again next week with a deep dive interview with the brothers Jonas. All three of them. This is a long time, long time coming for us, Charlie. Very excited. Yeah, you've got a whole beef in your life surrounding the Jonas Brothers. Not to be clear, not with the Jonas Brothers. Okay, I just want to salvage that.

It is Jonas adjacent beef. It is about the Jonas Brothers. but it's not with the brothers. Yeah, all right, we'll see if we can resolve all of that next week. And until then, thanks for listening. Attention Spotify. Has arrived at the new Good Girl Jasmine Absolute of Caroline Herrera, a fragrance intense with character gourmet and addicive.

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