Eurovision Legends
149 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★ - 10 ratingsEurovision Legends is the biggest podcast about the Eurovision Song Contest. Emil Löfström invites songwriters, artists and other important people from the world of the Eurovision Song Contest for a warm and lighthearted conversation about their Eurovision adventures and careers. How did the songs originate, what happened behind the scenes, who ought to have won the contest and what did the song demos sound like? This and much more in this award-nominated podcast that goes out globally over the internet and on British broadcast radio.
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Episodes
Loreen
February 02, 2023 23:01 - 44 minutes - 101 MBHaving started her career in the Swedish version of pop idol 2004, it took Loreen 7 years before the big breakthrough came. What happened in between and what does she have in common with Leila K. What was her relation to Melodifestivalen before 2011 and what has this competition meant for her career? Hear Loreen tell the story of her trip to Baku, memories from Melodifestivalen, art installations on stage, why Danny said no to ‘’Euphoria’’ and why she is back to the contest after alread...
Jamala
June 08, 2022 22:01 - 29 minutes - 68 MBIn 2016, a Ukrainian trained opera singer sang a song about the deportation of Crimeans in 1944, which could easily also be interpreted as a thinly veiled comment on the recent Russian annexation of Crimea. It is sometimes hard to remember that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been going on for almost a decade now, but Jamala did try to warn us already back then and sadly she was proven all too correct when Russia invaded the entire Ukraine in February of 2022. She has currently fled the...
Hans Van Hemert
April 20, 2022 22:01 - 1 hour - 146 MBMany countries in Eurovision seem to have their own "super-composer", and in the case of the Netherlands this person is Hans van Hemert. He wrote the Dutch entries of 1972, 1974 and 1976, and he has made many more attempts, which we of course get to listen to in this episode. It gets really crowded in the virtual podcast room today, as Hans and Emil are joined by Frenk Reemer, brother of Sandra Reemer, Astrid Colle, daughter of Sandra's duet partner Andres, and a whistling parrot. Hans take...
Udo Jürgens
April 13, 2022 22:01 - 1 hour - 152 MBUdo Jürgens was already a big star when he first competed in Eurovision for his Austria in 1964. He didn't win, but got the biggest hit after the contest, both with his own version and with covers in various languages. He was back again the year after, and this time he almost competed for another country as well. It took some heavy convincing to get him to return for a third time in 1966, which was when he finally won the contest. Emil has a nice chat with Udo's son John Jürgens, who tells ...
Eva Santamaria
April 06, 2022 22:01 - 50 minutes - 114 MBAn argument in Los Angeles led to the creation of the perhaps most modern song to have taken part in Eurovision until that time, but the road that led Eva Santamaria there was quite a surprise. Hear what she has to say about the orchestral arrangement of the song, about it becoming a feminist anthem, and about who did what with who in Millstreet (hint: "sexo")! She was one of the favourites to the victory before the show, but who did not want her to win? Eva's memory is almost as good as h...
Merethe Trøan
February 09, 2022 23:01 - 1 hour - 176 MBThe "plump chicken from Trondheim" tried to reach Eurovision already at 14 years old, but had to wait another seven years until she finally succeeded with the unusually structured banger "Visjoner". We get to listen to the way too long and extremely different demo that was accepted to Melodi Grand Prix, and we get to hear Merethe's honest opinions about Rolf Løvland's final arrangement of the song for Eurovision. We will also learn what caused her to laugh out loud during her performance, wh...
Baccara 2.0
February 02, 2022 23:01 - 59 minutes - 137 MBTwo years ago Emil spoke to Maria Mendiola and Cristina Sevilla from (one of the constellations of) Baccara. Since then they have gone viral, made a comeback on the charts and published new music, but on a much sadder note Maria alas passed away in 2021. Emil and Cristina have a new conversation, revisit some of the topics from the previous interview and Cristina tells us everything about the rather chaotic history of the group Baccara after the split of the two original members Maria Mendi...
Hersi Matmuja
January 26, 2022 23:01 - 1 hour - 153 MBWhen Albanian singer Hersi Matmuja finally won Festivali i Këngës on her fourth attempt the usual revamp of the song started. How much of a say did she have in this process and why didn't she like the final version? Was it only because it didn't bring her out of the semi-final at Eurovision? How did she and the Albanian people handle the disappointing result and how come she didn't even obtain a record contract? And whose bright idea was it for her to go to Denmark to get a huge back tattoo ...
Robin Bengtsson
January 19, 2022 23:01 - 42 minutes - 96.6 MBHe was the guy who came on from backstage and gave working out in a suit a face, but the musical career of two meter Swedish hunk Robin Bengtsson started earlier than that. An alumn of the Idol franchise, he got his first chance to compete in Melodifestivalen in 2016 and won it already on his second attempt in 2017. But how come he values his first song higher than the one he actually won with? How have coincidences led to all of his participations, which will number at four times with his...
John Ballard part II
January 12, 2022 23:03 - 52 minutes - 120 MBEstablished in the business with successes like Ace of Base in his catalogue, John Ballard started to get invited to participate, mainly as a lyricist, on various projects for Eurovision by Dimitris Kontopoulos. He grants us full access to all the various shenanigans that takes place to create a Eurovision success in some countries where he sometimes has had to write up to 80 (!) different lyrics for the same song, and he speaks his mind about his colleague and songwriting partner Philipp Ki...
John Ballard
January 12, 2022 23:01 - 1 hour - 180 MBHe has finished top ten four times out of five attempts in Eurovision, but never for his home country nor for the country where he has lived for over 40 years. Who is John Ballard? The legendary lyricist behind such songs as "Hold Me" and "You're the Only One"? In this first episode we find out why he moved from his native Scotland to the west coast of Sweden, and how he became a household name there with several participations in Melodifestivalen. We of course get to listen to these songs,...
Mrs Einstein
January 05, 2022 23:01 - 50 minutes - 116 MBWe continue the story of Eurovision 1997 that started in the episodes with Icelandic Paul Oscar and Katrina and the Waves with one of Katrina's vodka suppliers – Marjolein Spijkers from the Dutch group Mrs. Einstein. The theatrical group was selected to perform all of the entries in the Dutch selection, but were they all agreed that they should do it and did the right song really win? How come they ditched their expensive outfits just one day before the final and when did they opt for goin...
The Roop
December 29, 2021 23:01 - 44 minutes - 103 MBSnubbed on a very good chance to win in the cancelled 2020 contest, The Roop fought their way to another victory and finally got to grace the Eurovision stage in 2021. But these were not the first times they have tried out for Eurovision, neither as The Roop nor in other constellations, even though Vaidotas seems a little uncertain on this point!? How do you handle the situation when you have no money? How do you follow up a success like "On Fire"? Have they been subject to ageism? Will we s...
Magdalena Tul
December 15, 2021 23:01 - 1 hour - 145 MBFollowing a streak of missed finals for Poland, hopes were higher when Magdalena Tul and the song "Jestem" became popular with the fans and was generally predicted to proceed to the final when she was to perfom first in the first semi final in 2011. The reality became quite the opposite, though, when she not just failed to reach the final, but it turned out that she had actually finished dead last in the semi final. Did she have technical issues? Should she have chosen a different version o...
Frans
December 08, 2021 23:01 - 1 hour - 159 MBHaving had a huge hit already at seven years old, Frans Jeppsson Wall surprised the Swedish audience when he, almost forgotten, suddenly appeared in Melodifestivalen ten years later with the first ever song he had written as an "adult". What was it like breaking as a child star, did he even get paid and how does a child handle not winning the awards he has been nominated to? Hear Frans tell the story of his return to the public eye, when he quickly went from an underdog to the big favourit...
Alon Amir Part II
December 01, 2021 23:01 - 1 hour - 159 MBWe continue to listen to the fascinating adventures of Alon Amir in the world of Eurovision, starting in a bed together with Anne-Marie David. Our first stop is Moscow in 2009 with two political artists and a political song which he pressured the jury to get selected. He hated the city but the vodka consumption increased by each day, and with this the pranks within the delegation. Then we have the suicide mission to Baku, where Alon was surprised not to return home in a coffin, and the tim...
Alon Amir
November 24, 2021 23:01 - 1 hour - 166 MBMost of us Eurovision fans dream of one day playing some minor part to contribute to or nestle your way into our beloved contest, be it by submitting songs, doing volunteer work at an event or why not starting your own podcast about the topic? Alon Amir from Israel managed to do this for the first time at the tender age of 17 when his job was to light the candles for the 1995 Israeli entry "Amen", candles that they later weren't allowed to bring to Ireland, but they brought Alon anyway. Th...
Lise Haavik
November 17, 2021 23:01 - 50 minutes - 116 MBPeople all over the world often have a hard time separating the Scandinavian countries, and honestly, who can blame them when we have people like Lise Haavik, who was born and raised in northern Norway, moved to Denmark to study economics, formed a band and a marriage with Danish artist John Hatting (against her father's better judgement, mind you), tried out for the Danish Eurovision ticket a couple of times and finally won the right to represent Denmark, when the competition was held in No...
Sandra Reemer
November 10, 2021 23:01 - 1 hour - 194 MBSandra Reemer was one of the dutch great and competed three times in Eurovision during the 1970's. Alas, she is no longer with us so instead we have invited her brother, Frenk Reemer, who has been close to his sister during all the years and is also working on a book about their family. Let's hear the story about the girl who was forced to leave Indonesia at a very young age and who together with Frenk started singing in local events to gather money for the construction of a church in their...
Petri Laaksonen part II
November 03, 2021 23:02 - 1 hour - 145 MBThis is the second part of the interview with Petri Laaksonen, in which our hero finally learns that you don't always win every time you take part. After winning on his first two attempts, Petri continued to submit songs to the Finnish pre-selection, so many that he claims that he is the composer with the most songs in the contest throughout history. Now with experience and a network of contacts, he co-operated with artists such as Arja Saijonmaa (who finally sung the wrong song), Ami Aspel...
Petri Laaksonen part I
November 03, 2021 23:01 - 54 minutes - 125 MBThe young student Petri Laaksonen was totally inexperienced as a songwriter, but after some encouragement from his teacher he decided to try to take part in the Finnish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Without any connections in the music business, he found lyricist Veli-Pekka Lehto in the phone book and had him write lyrics to the song he had composed, and to their surprise it was accepted. However, the pre-selected artists weren't too keen on his composition, until establishe...
Jon Ola Sand
October 27, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 181 MBHe used to be the coolest guy in every Eurovision, but don't you want to hear about when Jon Ola Sand got really angry during the broadcast? Or why he was so dissatisfied in Birmingham in 1998? Much happened during his ten years as the Executive Supervisor for Eurovision, and already before that in other roles as Head of Delegation and Producer. What has he got to say about Azerbaijan? When was he really disappointed in Russia? How close are Liechtenstein, Kosovo and Kazakhstan to compete...
ABBA part II
October 20, 2021 22:02 - 49 minutes - 113 MBMost of us believe that ABBA became a huge success all over the world immediately after they won Eurovision 1974, and although their winning entry "Waterloo" made a big impact on the charts all over the world and their manager "Stikkan" Andersson was well prepared to launch them it wasn't really as simple as that. Björn and Benny competed again as composers in Melodifestivalen already the next year and several of the songs that later became huge hits for ABBA were first floated around to ot...
ABBA
October 20, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 173 MBIn 1974, a Swedish group changed Eurovision and music forever, but the story of ABBA did not in any way start there. All four members of ABBA, or five if you include manager and lyricist Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, had their respective careers, in Agnetha's case it was even "international", before they formed the group, and together with the ABBA expert Carl-Magnus Palm we take a deep dive in the roads that converged into the pop sensation that won Sweden its first victory in the Eurovision. ...
Manuela Bravo
September 15, 2021 22:01 - 39 minutes - 89.7 MBManuela Bravo participated for Portugal in 1979, which by many fans is considered to be a really good year, but still she managed to give Portugal one of its best results ever until their victory in 2017. Born from a musical family, she started her career at only five years old, and sixteen years later she was offered the happy-go-lucky "Sobe, sobe, balão sobe" for the Portugese national final after an other artist had turned the song down. Who was her biggest opponent in Portugal, what doe...
Martina Majerle
September 08, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 183 MBWith the same origins as the 1993 Croatian representative Put, Martina Majerle has gone on to grace the Eurovision stage with her presence more times than any other Balkan singer, and for three different countries nonetheless. Often in cooperation with legendary songwriter Andrej Babic, she has recorded demos and provided backup lots of times and her eight appearances at Eurovision has made her well-travelled and with stories to tell. What has been the differences between the different host...
Paschalis Arvanitidis Πασχάλης Αρβανιτίδης
September 01, 2021 22:01 - 53 minutes - 123 MBPaschalis Arvanitidis became a huge star in Greece already with the group The Olympians in the 1960's and then went solo, and even had a brief career in Germany with Leo Leandros, the father of Vicky Leandros. So when he teamed up with three other successful solo artists (Robert Williams, Bessy and Mariana) in Greece to submit the song "Mathema solfege" to the Greek broadcaster for Eurovision 1977, it was basically a done deal as soon as the selection jury recognized their famous voices. Th...
Egon Egemann
August 25, 2021 22:01 - 49 minutes - 113 MBWay before Alexander Rybak fiddled his way to victory, an Austrian guy brandishing a white violin represented Switzerland with a song about his love for his instrument. The song was allegedly written by his Swiss wife, but was that really entirely true? In this episode with Egon Egemann we will finally learn the true origin story of the melodic masterpiece "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus", as well as numerous other facts and stories about his career and life. How come he went for a solo ca...
Orna Datz אורנה דץ
August 18, 2021 22:01 - 40 minutes - 93.1 MBEurovision 1991 went down in history due to the tied score between Sweden and France, so that the winner had to be decided by tiebreaker. What many tend to forget is that Israel with the song "Kan" was also in the mix, and in fact held the lead for much of the voting process. Since this happens to be Emil's personal favorite of all Eurovision songs ever he has been nagging her for more than a year, and Emil finally gets to talk to Orna Datz, the female half of the married duo who sang it. ...
Jüri Pootsmann
August 11, 2021 22:01 - 42 minutes - 98.3 MBWhat is the next natural step when you have won Pop Idol, gotten a song from legendary Stig Rästa and won both the jury and the televote in the Estonian national selection? Well, finishing dead last in the semifinal of Eurovision, of course! Or maybe not, but that is the way it happened for young Jüri Pootsmann in 2016. How could this happen? How did it affect his career? Why the Bond theme? What were the struggles with Swedish Television? What happened to the act? Who gave him flowers? Whi...
Gunvor
August 04, 2021 22:01 - 49 minutes - 114 MBWe often hear about the success stories from Eurovision, but Gunvor Guggisberg, now Gunvor Meyer, shows us that despite being treated really roughly by the media and finishing last place with zero points, you can go on to have a great life with a family, your own dance school and a still-going music career. In this interview we learn that Gunvor really knows Eurovision and what she thought about the result in 1998, about a weird encounter with Guildo Horn behind the scenes, her co-operation...
Christer Björkman part II
July 28, 2021 22:02 - 1 hour - 136 MBHow could a Swedish Eurovision representative with one of the worst results ever for the country get to be in charge for the entire show for two decades? How did his job affect his friends and family, not least his husband/tuft-of-grass Martin Kagemark, who himself is a talented singer who had to take a step back due to Christer's position? We get to hear a couple of Martin's submitted songs. Is Christer a genius and/or a dictator? We let him answer that question himself. How scared was Er...
Christer Björkman
July 28, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 172 MBChrister Björkman is such a huge Eurovision fan that he lied his way into the audience of Eurovision 1991 in Rome, and made someone else pay. He had tried to reach Eurovision for much longer than that, though, since he had unsuccessfully submitted songs from the mid 80's onward (we get to learn about and hear the songs), but it wasn't until he tormented the Swedish artist elite that he actually made it into the Swedish pre-selection. He was certain that he wouldn't win and was almost replac...
Moran Mazor מורן מזור
July 21, 2021 10:34 - 1 hour - 165 MBMoran Mazor's participation in 2013 can be seen as just yet one of the failed attempts to reach the final that Israel was living through a four-year stretch of, but in this episode we will learn that there is so much more to this "fat girl with glasses", as she humorously describes her former self. She has a wonderful bubbling personality, and we get to learn why we weren't shown more of that in Malmö. We also get to hear the original demo of "Rak bishvilo", of cheating in the national fin...
Charmed
July 14, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 149 MBIt's an extremely wild ride when the three party girls from Norway reunite for this episode. Though 21 years have passed, they are still as funny and crazy as they were in Stockholm 2000. They give us the entire unfiltered story from how they were formed, how they got the song (we get to hear the first demo), their own DIY styling (both their Pocahontas outfits and how they wore out the Swedish hairdressers) and all their mad escapades in the contest. We learn about their different personali...
Fabrizio Faniello
July 07, 2021 22:01 - 53 minutes - 122 MBIn the flirtiest interview ever on this show, Emil takes on Fabrizio Faniello, the guy who competed twice for Malta with varying results. We finally learn why the performance of "I Do" failed so miserably, how many and which of Fabrizio's songs were originally submitted to Melodifestivalen, about all the ten songs he has tried out with in the Maltese national selection and of his very different memories from Copenhagen and Athens. Also, what happened to his voice in 2001 and to his outfit i...
Matia Bazar
June 30, 2021 22:01 - 36 minutes - 84.4 MBMatia Bazar are known to the Eurovision audience for their appearance with "Raggio di luna" in 1979, but they have been a musical force to reckon with for many years, both in Italy and abroad, and has sold millions of records all over the world. Since their beginnings in 1975 up until present day many different band members have come, gone and returned, and today Emil is joined by old band member Piero Cassano and current member Fabio Perversi. Why did Piero leave the band to instead write ...
Hazal Selçuk
June 23, 2021 22:01 - 59 minutes - 137 MBHazal Selçuk was only 16 years old but born from an impressive family consisting of both musical royalty and regular royalty. Most notable was of course her father Timur Selçuk, who both composed and energetically conducted the classic song "Bana bana", with which Hazal and the group Pan competed for Turkey in 1989. We learn that Timur decided to compete in order to get his passport back, that Hazal also finished third with a solo song in the same national selection, that she was the cause...
Sarai Tzuriel שרי צוריאל
June 16, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 130 MBSarai Tzuriel was one of the best knows faces in Israel when she was asked to become the female part of the duo to perform "Yavoh yom" in the Israeli national selection in 1986, together with the composer of the song, Moti Giladi, although she was primarily known as an actor and show host, as was he. But which female superstar was approached first, why were they not popular with the Israeli media, which future Israeli Eurovision participant made her iconic debut in that same selection, why w...
Marion Rung
June 09, 2021 22:01 - 55 minutes - 128 MBMarion Rung started her career at only 15, and it is still going on 60 years later. For 33 of those years she actually held the record for the best Finnish result in the Eurovision, from 1962 when she debuted in the contest at only 16 with the entry "Tipi-tii" which she then beat herself in 1973 with "Tom Tom Tom". That record held until the long overdue Finnish victory with Lordi in 2006. But Marion has participated in the Finnish selection several more times, many of which she must be rem...
Thomas Forstner
June 02, 2021 22:01 - 56 minutes - 130 MBIn 1989 he came from nowhere and made an impact with a song by Dieter Bohlen, and two years later he returned and faced a very different outcome. How did Thomas Forstner get this opportunity? Why didn't he continue his co-operation with Dieter Bohlen and how was he treated by the composers in 1989, when they competed for Germany as well? How did a washing mishap lead to a shortage of purple fabric? And why did everything go so wrong in Rome in 1991? Legend: Thomas Forstner Songs: Nur Ei...
Linda Martin
May 26, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 125 MBSeason 3 of the podcasts kicks off with Eurovision royalty, lady Linda Martin, who beside her victory and second place in Eurovision have competed in the Irish national final an additional seven times, many of them with her band Chips in the 1970's. After making her first appearance in Eurovision 1984 with "Terminal 3", a song that was premiered on Irish TV in a very peculiar setting, her runner-up position was still not quite enough for her. She continued to be one of the most determined...
Michael James Down part II
May 13, 2021 22:02 - 1 hour - 110 MBThese are special times and therefore it is time for a very special episode. Right now the artists and composers who will be competing in the Eurovision are getting all the attention, but what about those who almost made it, but not quite? Michael James Down has competed with 45 different songs in various national finals all over Europe, as an artist and as a composer, but has never won a ticket to the big event... yet! This gives him a unique and broad perspective and in two episodes he wi...
Michael James Down
May 13, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 129 MBThese are special times and therefore it is time for a very special episode. Right now the artists and composers who will be competing in the Eurovision are getting all the attention, but what about those who almost made it, but not quite? Michael James Down has competed with 45 different songs in various national finals all over Europe, as an artist and as a composer, but has never won a ticket to the big event... yet! This gives him a unique and broad perspective and in two episodes he wi...
Rafał Brzozowski
May 11, 2021 22:01 - 22 minutes - 51.6 MBWhat is actually the journey for a song written by Swedish songwriters to reach a big Polish artist and then to get internally selected? Why hasn't he published his gigantic hit "Tak blisko" in English, how many of the neon signs from the music video will accompany him to Rotterdam and how many times has Rafal tried to reach Eurovision previously? Country: Poland Song: The Ride Composers: Joakim Övrenius, Thomas Karlsson, Clara Rubensson & Johan Mauritzson Host: Emil Löfström Contact: ...
Lesley Roy
May 10, 2021 22:01 - 17 minutes - 39.2 MBHow come Lesley Roy was chosen in the first place last year and how did she take the cancellation and was it a no-brainer to say yes to compete this year? Why was it so important to work with Max Martin and why does Ireland struggle hard these days to finish in the top? And why Swedish composers? Country: Ireland Song: Maps Composers: Philip Strand, Emelie Eriksson, Lesley Roy & Lukas Hällgren Host: Emil Löfström Contact: [email protected] Instagram Facebook http//www.eurovisi...
Jendrik
May 09, 2021 22:01 - 30 minutes - 69.5 MBHe is almost the definition of positivity, both in his expression and his message, but still he receives a huge amount of hate. What does he think about this and has he got any useful tips and tricks to share on how to handle it? We will also learn about the amount of chaos we can expect on stage in Rotterdam, whether the laundry machines will be reused there and the secret about how you can come from nowhere with basically no budget and get to represent the mighty Germany. Country: Germany...
Eden Alene עדן אלנה
May 06, 2021 22:01 - 25 minutes - 57.6 MBEden Alene is back for Israel and we are of course curious about a lot of things. Why is there no Amharic in this year's entry? Will she break Maja Blagdan's record? Does she have a personal favorite among this years songs? And why was her song from last year - "Feker libi" - so important? Country: Israel Song: Set Me Free Composer: Amit Mordechai, Ido Netzer, Noam Zlatin & Ron Carmi Host: Emil Löfström Contact: [email protected] Instagram Facebook http//www.eurovisionlegends.s...
Vasil
May 05, 2021 22:01 - 29 minutes - 68.2 MBLet's find out the truth behind the video clip that caused such a scandal, how close Vasil came to be disqualified by his own country and how much he is ready to tell us about the incident. We also learn about his Eurovision interest, being nervous for Rotterdam and to nail that final long note. Country: North Macedonia Song: Here I Stand Composer: Vasil Garvanliev Host: Emil Löfström Contact: [email protected] Instagram Facebook http//www.eurovisionlegends.se Hosted on Acast...
Hooverphonic
May 04, 2021 22:01 - 22 minutes - 51.4 MBHow big was the pile of songs that Hooverphonic produced and chose from for the 2020 contest, that later got cancelled? Did they simply pick another one of these for 2021? What can we expect on stage, how big is the pressure from home, given that they are one the biggest bands in Belgium, and how has the mood in the band been affected by the return of the previous singer Geike Arnaert? Country: Belgium Song: The Wrong Place Composer: Alex Callier & Charlotte Foret Host: Emil Löfström Co...