Episode 14 - Dueling Pianos and Glittery Angst

Andy & Ryan are back with another heady mix of Eurovision goodness in which pianos duel and it all gets a bit angst-ridden up in here. We start with Romanian-Norwegian Ovi who managed to reach the contest twice with Paula Seling. Their pop duet 'Playing with Fire' features a giant perspex double piano, a leather catsuit, and, naturally, lots of flames. It's a certified banger which ultimately placed third. Elsewhere Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran also have a 'piano-off' with the catchy 'Rock Bottom' which represented the UK during the bleak strike-ridden days of 1977. The strikes meant no broadcast of A Song for Europe that year and a 5-week delay of Eurovision itself as the UK struggled to honour their duty to hold the contest. Apparently there were sighs of relief all round at the BBC when Rock Bottom missed out on the top spot. Andy goes back to his happy place - 2003 - for that glorious Turkish winner 'Everyway That I Can' which saw feisty Sertab Erener 'ha' and bellydance her way into the Eurovision history books determined to get her lover back. Similarly desperate for her relationship is Iceland's Selma who will even shoot arrows and wear pedal-pushers to ensnare her man. Sadly, with this awesome song 'If I Had Your Love' (which just maybe Andy's favourite Euro track of all time!) she fails to better her 2nd place in '99 and doesn't even advance beyond the semi-finals. Ryan muses that it was simply ahead of its time and he may just be right about that. Elsewhere we have Birthe Kjaer painting the town red while simultaneously giving the Danish musical-loving audience a title for a highly successful Eurovision-based theatre production and Vanessa Amorosi surviving a nasty car accident on stage in her bid to represent Australia back in 2020. It's not hard to see why absolutely everybody loved her attempt. The chaos monkey that is the Randomiser is also in an angsty mood, selecting Victoria from Bulgaria who complains that 'Growing Up is Getting Old' in some style back in 2021. At this rate we're going to end up trusting this crazy song-choosing machine. Until next time Euro-chums! Socials: Twitter: @EuroQueensPod Instagram: EurovisionQueens Email: [email protected] Spotify playlist: shorturl.at/egvEP Season 1: Episode 14 Playing with Fire by Paula Seling & Ovi (Romania 2010) Every Way That I Can by Sertab Erener (Turkey 2003) Vi Maler Byen Rød by Birthe Kjaer (Denmark 1989) Rock Bottom by Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran (UK 1977) If I Had Your Love by Selma (Iceland 2005) Lessons of Love by Vanessa Amorosi (Australia 2020) Growing Up Is Getting Old by Victoria (Bulgaria 2021)