So how did you like it?
My show coming to you live in the evening? And not being a repeat? Hopefully everyone who listened liked the content - I know that two Saara Aalto fans and at least 20 fans of Famous Oberogo all tweeted their appreciation of those artists being on the show, along with Aly Ryan herself! The bulk of the first hour of show 57 was my interview with Alasdair Rendall and John Bennett who both chatted about their 'baby' that is Eurofest, together with answering questions on Eurobash and OGAE UK. I really enjoyed the interview and was more than happy to play their favourite songs too! Together with my traditional use of music to explain the news of the week, plus an attempted introduction to a new slot on the show (I'll explain it again below), it was an enjoyable two hours - have a listen:
I foolishly forgot to taken a picture of Alasdair and John at the interview so I used a picture I took in Lisbon of Yianna Terzi for the article and Mixcloud picture - here is the playlist...
"Never Ever Let You Go" - Rollo & King
Interview on 17th August 2019 part 1 with
Alasdair Rendall & John Bennett
"Conquistador" - Da Vinci
"Domino" - Saara Aalto
Interview on 17th August 2019 part 2 with
Alasdair Rendall & John Bennett
"Bandido" - Azúcar Moreno
"Happy Birthday" - Eden
"Proud" (Cyrillic remix) - Tamara Todevska
"Let Me Be The One" - The Shadows
"Oniro Mou" - Yianna Terzi
"Lighthouse" - Nina Kraljić
"Izin Korem" - Zhanar Dugalova
"Victorious" - Lina Hedlund
"Marija l-Maltija" - Joe Grech
"Wear Your Love" - Aly Ryan
"Alors on danse" - Stromae
"Bulla" - Famous Oberogo
"Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" - Svetlana Loboda
"L'oiseau et l'enfant" - Marie Myriam
"Out On My Own" - Michelle
"Hemel en Aarde" - Edsilia Rombley
"Happy Birthday" was a nice choice, not only it being the last time the hosts picked internally before 2020's choice, but also that it was my partner's birthday yesterday! I want to explain a bit more about how I'd love listeners to request tracks for the show. Please don't just send a one line request of 'Can I have "blah" by Bloggs' - I'd really appreciate if you could do the following, something I tried to explain on the show but I don't think it came across that clearly...
You all know that Marie's winning song for France in 1997 is my favourite ever ESC entry and would be a good bet for a request on a Eurovision show. For my show, I'd want to know:
"Why I Love It!"
I'd say something like...
"How many Eurovision singers have started their vocals with NO accompanying music, pitch perfect and with such emotion? Marie Myriam sounds like an angel, has a joyous enthusiasism throughout and with her backing singers carries the listener along from beginning to end. "L'oiseau et l'enfant" is a powerful and melodic ballad with such beautiful lyrics, it has always stayed with me since I first heard it and its purity has made it my favourite Eurovision entry ever. That is why I love it!"
Give it a try yourself - add some of your personal flavour to your favourite ever song. If you could preferably say it on an mp3 so I can play it direct on the show before your song, that would be even better, otherwise you'll have to listen to me say it all! Send your request plus the reason why you love it to eurovision@bradleystokeradio.com - I look forward to hearing your passion soon.
Show 58 will be even heavier on the name "Let Me Be The One" than usual as I will be chatting with Emily Roberts, the creative driving force behind the new Eurovision musical of that name! We chatted for a good long time about her musical theatre productions and the reason for her writing one about the Contest that we all know and love. She is currently in rehearsals getting the final staging ready for two weeks of shows in Yorkshire and London (dates on the poster above). There will also be a teaser track from the show in its entirety, so listen out for that too! There will also be the same mix of news and music as in every week's show, plus new material from former Eurovision and NF acts until we start hitting the 2020 stuff for Rotterdam. All the other shows are on Mixcloud, just in case you are a new convert and you want to catch up with the previous 56 episodes, otherwise...
Join me next week for the second evening instalment
of "Let Me Be The One"!