#28: The Aftermarket

Eurovision provides an aftermarket for winners of singing competitions. Why don’t we have that in America? Andy Dehnart from Reality Blurred joins us to discuss. First up, we check in with the soon-to-be-final tally of countries participating in Eurovision 2019. We were at 40 once Armenia confirmed, but Bulgaria announced their withdrawal due to budget concerns. Speaking of budget concerns: Ukraine is still in the mix and will have a national final in February. Also having a national final: Australia! Fingers crossed for Aboriginal trip hop making its debut in Tel Aviv? For our main topic, we discuss the tangled relationship between European singing competitions and Eurovision. The Voice and the X Factor have been viable feeder systems the last few years, with the United Kingdom’s version of the latter becoming an end goal for some Eurovision alumni.1 You could say that Eurovision works as a tournament of champions or an All-Stars edition of all the singing shows. But… why doesn’t that exist in the US? We lean on Andy Denhart’s reality show expertise to help us answer some of these questions, as well as expose some of the more bizarre factoids we’ve all squirreled away. Sinbad on Star Search? Battle of the Reality Network Stars? Murder and sex scandals destroying franchises? This episode has it all! Episode Summary * Andy Dehnart / @realityblurred (1:00) * Country count (3:21) * The European Singing Competition Industrial Complex Aftermarket (6:48) Links * Australia’s national selection process (SBS) * Bulgaria leaves Twitter * Brendan Murray tries to “Break Free” (YouTube / X Factor UK) Subscribe The EuroWhat? Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your podcast catcher of choice. When you subscribe, feel free to rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other folks find this podcast. You can also follow us on Twitter @eurowhat, see our photos on Instagram @eurowhat, and like us on Facebook. Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. We can also be reached by email, if you prefer. * Brendan Murray is currently on the X Factor UK live shows.  ↵ Brendan Murray is currently on the X Factor UK live shows.