2010 – 2014 under our old name “esc-chat.com”
escgo! at Eurovision
On-location: Oslo 2010 – Düsseldorf 2011 – Baku 2012 – Malmö 2013 – Copenhagen 2014 – Vienna 2015 – Lisbon 2018 – Tel Aviv 2019
Virtually: Stockholm 2016 – Kyiv 2017 – Rotterdam 2021 – Turin 2022 – Liverpool 2023 – Malmö 2024 – Basel 2025
2010 – 2014 as “esc-chat.com” | since 2015 as “escgo!”
Stage verdict: Sweden, Georgia and Australia
How well are Sweden, Georgia and Australia selling their songs at Eurovision in Kyiv? Felix is dissecting each entry into six categories. In each category, he awards between 1 and 4 stars. Not for the songs though: in this series, it’s all about the job they do on stage!
From Iceland to Latvia: 2nd rehearsals, as seen by an absent fan
It’s a late start to the day here at home. It’s basically October and we don’t know any song for Lisbon yet, only Cyprus and the Netherlands announced their entrants already. I’m sipping my coffee and then I suddenly realise it’s actually May, and rehearsals in Kyiv...
From Finland to Moldova: 2nd rehearsals, as seen by an absent fan
As I’m attempting my verdict on the second set of rehearsal clips, I created my own little press centre here in Berlin, with my laptop, a notepad, coffee, my CEZAR pen from Malmö, and some (fresh) Manner for some Vienna vibes. Time to find out and comment on what...
From Sweden to Montenegro: 2nd rehearsals, as seen by an absent fan
I’m blogging about the ESC rehearsals from home. While I’m an absent fan, and my sources are obviously limited, I will still try to give my comments about what’s going on in Kyiv. It's a rainy day here in Berlin and I decided to cancel my appointment at the...
The View from San Francisco – Second Semi Final, First Rehearsals
It’s a new day, a new semi-final, 18 new rehearsals, and I am feeling like I’m really ready for it to be next week already. Hi! Serbia: Much like Sweden, Serbia makes sure we get an easy landing at the beginning of the second semi-final, opting for a staging that...
The View from San Francisco – First Semi Final, First Rehearsals
Missed me? Last year, out of complete boredom and a great need to obsess about rehearsals despite being on the other side of the world, I decided to take advantage of the fact I co-manage this website and ramble my random rehearsal thoughts away. Somehow people cared...
Final Post-Mortem: The View from San Francisco
Well, well, Sweden. What can I say. I know a lot of fans complain about your attempt to take over the Eurovision world, but I have to hand it to you – you are bloody good at it. That was some show. I needed a few days to work out everything in my head. I have to admit...
The Final Countdown: The View from San Francisco
It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! And what better way is there to spend the time between now and Te Deum than going through the finalists for some thoughts, comments and personal wishes? This time I consulted with my friend, the Eurovision sorter, and made a...
What if…? Five possible victory scenarios
Tonight sees the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It's time to go through some possible scenarios, to speculate how certain possible victories would affect Eurovision in the one or other way, and finally to give you a personal voting recommendation....
Semi-final 2 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
Another semi final came and went, and just like that, even though it feels like only yesterday we sat through the first day of rehearsals, we now have our full final line-up. Not without putting a third of Europe through a collective heart attack first, though. Not...
Countdown to Semi 2: The View from San Francisco
Going through the second semi-final, I realized I am not quite as emotionally attached to the songs here as I was to the songs in the first semi. This heat, as it turns out, is more about the songs I want to stay in it than the ones I want to see going through. And...
Semi-final 1 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
A little late, because real life interfered - RUDE, I know - but here I am, and I have big news: I'm not a complete idiot! I actually managed to get stuff mostly right! It's all very exciting, but I'm sure it will change by the end of the second semi. For now, though,...
What if…? Five possible (and impossible) scenarios for tonight
It's the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 tonight! While we all wait impatiently, I've sat down for a moment or two and thought about all kinds of things that could happen tonight. So... what if…? …Austria doesn't qualify We've seen it before: Big...
Countdown to Semi 1: The View from San Francisco
The last 24 hours before any Eurovision night are always so difficult. The seconds slow down until they're standing still, and time definitely doesn't feel like thunder (oh oh). In these hours of need and struggle, I find the only thing I can do is come up with a...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 7)
Somehow a week has gone by, and the first round of rehearsals is now over, making way for Eurovision week! As a reward for overcoming the first week so bravely, this post is slightly less long than the others, and one cup of coffee might be enough to survive it. Don't...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 6)
It's been an exhausting day for Eurovision fans everywhere. Three first rehearsals of the remaining direct finalists plus 18 second rehearsals of semi final 2 meant an entire day of working really hard refreshing blogs, social media feeds, message boards and YouTube...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 5)
The first of two insanely long days of rehearsals took place in Stockholm today, with France and Spain getting their first rehearsal in and all the first semi finalists rehearsing again. Not blogging this in real time, I am allowing myself the freedom of reversing the...
Semi-final 2: The colour analysis
Summary: https://youtu.be/lxONpx3cQ5c In detail: Eurovision stages once were used to give the entries an individual setup. Especially after colour television was invented. This stage doesn't, because obviously, SVT wants to play the gods of fairness and forces every...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 4)
Before I start with the last full day of the first rehearsals, I would like to send TVR my gratitude for not only being late with paying their debt, but also being so late not paying it that the rehearsal schedule could not be changed anymore, which meant I only had...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 3)
In which I realize I still haven’t deleted Romania from my 2016 playlists, which is weird considering I don’t even like it. Today, I get to tackle the first rehearsals of half of our second semi finalists, and seeing how long my previous posts were, I decided to also...
Semi-final 1 – The colour analysis
Tell me black or white, what colour is your Eurovision song? The Eurovision Song Contest has been aired in colour since 1968, and 1971 was the first time it was possible to choose a different stage colour for the entries in a more or less technologically advanced way....
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 2)
Yesterday I began reviewing this year’s rehearsals, and much like the real-life first rehearsals, I found the first round to be very educational. For example, I learned that Europe has many Republics, that I really can’t come up with proper adjectives to describe San...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 1)
It’s been a good decade since I last attended Eurovision rehearsals, and that decade, apart from making me older than I'd like to admit, also taught me a few things about obsessing about - analyzing, I mean analyzing - rehearsals from a distance. Don't get me wrong:...
ESC 2016: We’re live… at home!
You might have heard it on our social media already, but the escgo! team will not be live in Stockholm for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Since 2010, we have covered the competition directly from the host cities and the heart of the press centre, but personal...
Vienna Blog – Part 7: Final Rehearsal and the Big Day!
As part of our live coverage from ESC 2015 by Felix and Martin, our website featured a rolling live blog throughout our time in Vienna, the content of which is reproduced below and in the other “Vienna Blog” posts! Friday 22 May, 15:29 As you can see, we are not...
Vienna Blog – Part 6: Time for the Second Semi-Final
As part of our live coverage from ESC 2015 by Felix and Martin, our website featured a rolling live blog throughout our time in Vienna, the content of which is reproduced below and in the other “Vienna Blog” posts! Wednesday 20 May, 14:55 We are live in the hall to...
Vienna Blog – Part 5: The Tuesday Night
As part of our live coverage from ESC 2015 by Felix and Martin, our website featured a rolling live blog throughout our time in Vienna, the content of which is reproduced below and in the other “Vienna Blog” posts! Tuesday 19 May, 20:35 We're live in the press centre...