Building Bridges - A Eurovision Podcast For The Rest Of Us

In this episode, Jan and Dave look back at North Macedonia's Eurovision journey and chat with two artists who were part of it! As MRT plans to return to the Contest after a 5 year absence, we sit down with Jana Burčeska, who competed in Kyiv in 2017, and who will be part of the Macedonian delegation in Burgas. Then we chatted with Andrea, who inadvertently became Macedonia's last Eurovision artist in 2022.10:17 - Jana Burčeska Interview: She looks back at Dance Alone’s enduring fan love despite its 2017 non-qualification, her pregnant and engaged Eurovision whirlwind, and the lesson that fan adoration doesn’t predict votes. She recalls Tel Aviv 2019 with Tamara Todevska, shares her Burgas synchronicities, and teases new, calmer music.Find her on Instagram!33:58 - Andrea Interview: She reflects on Turin 2022: being thrown into the fire at 22, bonding with fellow artists, and Eurovision’s unique sense of acceptance. After a post-Eurovision hiatus, she completed her degrees, moved to Berlin, and is reinventing herself through hip-hop/R&B and deep house, with new music due early next year. Keep up with her on Instagram!For more information about this episode, check out our website at buildingbridgespod.com as well as our social media profiles on Instagram, X, and TikTok!Thank you so much for listening! We'll be back with another episode very soon!

In this unscripted episode, Jan and Dave react to the historic vote taken at the 95ᵗʰ EBU General Assembly on Thursday. Included in the vote to approve new rules for Eurovision 2026 was an understanding that there would be no further vote on any country's participation. Its approval means that Israel's broadcaster Kan is free to participate at the 70ᵗʰ Eurovision Song Contest, something that immediately triggered the withdrawl of the broadcasters from Ireland, Slovenia, Spain, and The Netherlands (with decisions from Belgium and Iceland yet to come). We share our initial thoughts on this news.We would like to hear what YOU think of these events. Get in touch via email ([email protected]), or by leaving us a comment on Facebook or our other socials below as we will be sharing some of your comments on our next news episode.For more information about this episode, check out our website at buildingbridgespod.com as well as our social media profiles on Instagram, X, and TikTok!Thank you so much for listening! We'll be back with another episode very soon!

In this episode, guest Karin from Sweden's 12p podcast is back to spill the tea on all 30 artists competing in Melodifestivalen 2026! We'll find out what artist recently appeared on Drag Race, why SVT made one artist change their name, and we'll take the pink balaclava off of Fröken Snusk! All that and more on this week's episode!06:00 - Heat 125:55 - Heat 243:25 - Heat 355:10 - Heat 41:05:25 - Heat 51:30:06 - Karin's Picks to win each HeatFor more information about this episode, check out our website at buildingbridgespod.com as well as our social media profiles on Instagram, X, and TikTok!Thank you so much for listening! We'll be back with another episode very soon!

In this episode, we celebrate the fantastic news that three old friends are back in the Eurovision family, and will perform at the 70ᵗʰ Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna — Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania! We take a look back at their previous efforts in the Contest and pick our favourites from each country in this special episode!04:35 - 🇲🇩 Moldova10:57 - 🇷🇴 Romania16:46 - 🇧🇬 BulgariaFor more information about this episode, check out our website at buildingbridgespod.com as well as our social media profiles on Instagram, X, and TikTok!Thank you so much for listening! We'll be back with another episode very soon!

In this episode, we're finally back after a brief hiatus, and discussing something we never thought possible — is Canada getting ready to join the Eurovision family?Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney released his budget, and included were $150 million CAD (€92.45 million) for national broadcaster CBC to explore joining the Contest. Even more eyebrows were raised when Eurovision's Director Martin Green confirmed that talks between CBC and the EBU are in early stages.To cover this story from all angles, we first check in with Dale Roberts from Aussievision to find out how Canada's potential début is similar and different than Australia's from 2015. You can read more of Dale's thoughts on this on Aussievision's website.Then we check in with some well-known Canadian Eurovision fans to get the reaction on the ground in Canada. In our first ever round-table, we are pleased to welcome:Alexander Plant, host of the ESC101 podcastMatti McLean, artist and performer, creator of the show “A Canadian Explains Eurovision to Other Canadians“Shawn Vickar, Eurovision content creator @worldvishawnFor more information about this episode, check out our website at buildingbridgespod.com as well as our social media profiles on Instagram, X, and TikTok!Thank you so much for listening! We'll be back with another episode very soon!