Radio International - The Ultimate Eurovision Experience (2026-05-27): PED Cure Dose 2: Eurovision 2026 Interviews with Dara (Bul), Christer Björkman Eurovision Asia, ESSYL,, Bzekbi, and more

Radio International - The Ultimate Eurovision Experience is broadcast from Malta's Radio 105FM on Tuesday evenings from 2100 - 0059 hours CET. The show is broadcast live on Wednesday evenings from 1900 - 2300 hours CET on the Eurovision Radio International Mixcloud Channel as well as on the Facebook Page of Eurovision Radio International with an interactive chatroom.

 

 

AT A GLANCE - ON THE SHOW THIS WEEK 

• Indepth Interview with Eurovision Winner Dara (Bulgaria 2026)
• Interview with Jiva (Azerbajan 2026) done at the Turquoise Carpet
• Interview Clips with ESSYLA (Belgium 2026) 
• Interview Clip with Simón (Armenia 2026)
• Interview Clip with Bzikebi (Georgia 2026) 
• Interview Clip with Alis (Albania 2026) 
• Eurovision Spotlight: Eurovision Song Contest 2026 - The Assessment with Chris Poppe
• Interview with Christer Björkman on Eurovision Song Contest - Asia 
• Tribute to Björn Tidmand (Denmark 1964) 
• Eurovision News with Johannes Vitt courtesy of www.escXtra.com
• Eurovision Birthday File with David Mann
• Eurovision Cover Spot with David Mann
• Eurovision Calendar with Javier Leal 
• New Music Releases by Eurovision Artists 
• Your music requests 
  
  

 

Eurovision Winner 2026 for Bulgaria - Dara "Bangaranga"

 

Interview with Eurovision Winner Dara:  The Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest took place on 16 May 2026 from the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria with delegations from 35 countries battling it out for the winning trophy of the contest and the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2027. For the very first time Bulgaria won the competiton with Dara and the song "Bangaranga" receiving a total amount of 516 points combined from Public and Jury Vote. The Radio International Team was on location and had the chance to meet Dara at the Turquoise Carpet but also Johannes was able to meet the singer during the rehearsals for an interview. Hear it all on the show this week. 

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Scoreboard

 

What a thrilling voting it was on Saturday with the final result being visible just above. Full details can be viewed at our friends from Wikipedia - click here


The Radio International Photo Album from the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 - CLICK HERE

ESSYLA (Belgium 2026)

 

Interview with ESSYLA (Belgium 2026): Belgium has been part of the Eurovision Song Contest since the very beginning in 1956 only missing out participations for three times. In 2026, ESSYLA represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Dancing on the Ice" successfully qualifying Belgium to the Grand Final reaching Number 21. The Radio International Interview Team had pleasure to meet ESSYLA at the Turquoise Carpet as well as JP met her after the had qualified for the Grand Final and conducted interview which you can hear on the show this week. 

Jiva (AZ), Bzikebi (GEO), Alis (AB) and Simon (AR)  with Radio International Interview Team

 

Interview Clips from the Turquoise Carpet (Alis, Jiva, Simón, Bzkebi):   The Turqoise Carpet marks the start of the Welcome Ceremony of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Artists walk the carpet in front of the many Eurovision Fans and International Media who conduct short interview clips with the artists. This week listen to the interview clips JP, Marc and Salman did with Jiva from Azerbaijan, Alis from Albania, Simón from Armenia, Bzikebi from Georgia. 
Jiva performed "Just Go" and ended up at Number 15 in Semi Final 2.
Alis performed "Nan" and made it to the Grand Final coming 13th.
Simón performed "Paloma Rumba" reached Number 14 in Semi Final 2.

Bzikebi performed "On Replay" reaching Number 15 in Semi Final 1. 
Listen to these interview clips on the show this week.

 

Christer Börkman with JP

Eurovision Song Contest 2026 - Asia: Interview with Christer Börkman:  During the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 and a Media Briefing it was announced that that Eurovision Song Contest 2026 - Asia will be taking place in Bangkok, Thailand on 24 Nov 2026. The venue is IdeaLive and so far these countries are competing in the very first edition of the contest:  Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam (more countries will be added). One of the creative minds behind this new project is Christer Bjoerkman who himself represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 and created Sweden's National Selection to the Eurovision Song Contest - Melodifestivalen in the form as we know it today. Christer retired from Melodifestivalen but still is part of the Eurovision Family now creating Eurovision Song Contest - Asisa. Radio International had the pleasure to chat with Christer Björkman in the Media Centre of Eurovision 2026 in Vienna. Listen to it on the show this week. 

 

 

The Eurovision Spotlight: The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 - The Assessment:  It is a tradition that Radio International will review the Eurovision Song Contest with the Team Members and talking about the highlights and sharing opinions on the staging of the contest. This week Chris Poppe continues the new serieslooking at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

 

 

Björn Tidman (Denmark 1963)

 

Tribute to Björn Tidmand (Denmark 1964):  During this week's edition of Radio International the sad news reach the studio of the passing away of Björn Tidmand at the age of 86. Björn represented Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with the song "Sangen of Dig" which came 9th. Rest in Peace. More details about Björn Tidmand can be found over at our friends of Wikipedia - click here.

 

Eurovision News, New Song Releases, Birthday File, Coverspot, Eurovision Calendar: Also JP will be joined by David Mann for the Eurovision Birthday File and Eurovision Coverspot.  Javier stands in for Nick and will be presenting the Eurovision News courtesy of escXtra.com. There will be a lot of the great new releases of Eurovision artists on the show as well as great Eurovision Classics. Javier will be updating us on the upcoming Eurovision events in the Eurovision Calendar and lots more.

 

For full details of this week's Show Content and Play List - click here