Reanna Cruz

Welcome to Switched on Pop.

I'm producer Rihanna Cruz.

Nate, Charlie, somehow the flowers are blooming once again.

The calendar says May.

Here on Switched on Pop, I think you guys know what that means.

It's the campiest time of the year.

The Eurovision Song Contest is upon us once again.

Yeah, for those of you that aren't familiar, every year, the countries of Europe and assorted other locales gather to display the best songwriting that their country has to offer.

That can mean whatever these countries want it to mean.

The competition has given us such icons as Celine Dion.

And my personal obsession as of late, Dutch musician Joost Klein.

Check him out if you haven't.

This year's competition is the 70th edition, and it's held in Vienna, Austria, following last year's win by the artist JJ and his song Wasted Love.

Lots of operatic vocals in Eurovision writ large.

This year, you mentioned storm clouds, Charlie.

It's worth noting that while Eurovision seems to pride itself on being, quote unquote, apolitical, this year's edition is extremely politically charged, specifically focusing on the European Broadcasting Union's inclusion of Israel in the contest.

Hmm.

This has been a hot button issue for the past few years of the competition.

In 2026 specifically, there's been a notable boycott.

Artists like Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno have all signed an open letter for said boycott.