Sam Ryder, “There’s Nothing But Space, Man!” U.K. singer Sam Ryder may not be a newcomer, but the powerhouse vocalist’s debut solo effort is a long time in the making. Ryder fronted a handful of bands, opened a juice bar, busked on the street and played at weddings. There’s…

Kalush Orchestra, courtesy Jens Sage While there was pressure on all the contestants in the 2022 “Eurovision Song Contest,” Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra probably had the most. Kalush Orchestra 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 21 City Nights Club Tickets: $95. “It was rather stressful because 200 million viewers were watching it, and…

Subwoolfer from Norway rehearses for the “Eurovision” finals. Photo courtesy “Eurovision.” We’re gonna try something a little different for this year’s “Eurovision” column: I’m gonna try to be my version of nice. I know, it’s weird to me too. Don’t worry, though. I haven’t found a new spirit of…

Kalush Orchestra, courtesy “Eurovision.” Just yesterday my weekly column ran as a preemptive apology to “Eurovision” fans, Europe, and Australia for some reason. I strongly dislike the entire “Eurovision” genre of music and every year I drag it for being boring and awful. Thus, I did not actually watch…

United Kingdom’s James Newman during the second semifinal of the 65th edition of the “Eurovision Song Contest” at the Ahoy convention centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on May 20, 2021. Photo by Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP). Last week I wrote not one but two columns about “Eurovision,” reviewing all…

Athena Manoukian. Courtesy: Eurovision. First, let me address that this has been an extremely, profoundly, historically bad week in the United States. As of this writing, there are protests, both violent and nonviolent, in at least 25 cities across the country, because 20 years into the 21st century an…

Daði og Gagnamagnið. Courtesy. It’s time for Part 2 of an epic American analysis of the would-be contestants in the canceled Eurovision 2020 competition! The good news is there’s nobody as profoundly bad as Russia in this set. And in fact, Iceland is in here, and it always brings…

Comrade Putin wishes Dear Leader a happy birthday. Also, Russia’s Little Big sings about numbers in Spanish for “Eurovision.” Almost exactly a year ago I rated the 10 “Eurovision” 2019 finalists. I did not like them. Eurovision fans, in turn, did not like me for criticizing them, and I…

What, you’ve never seen an ice queen on a pole before? As an American I’m obligated to give a passing thought to the annual Eurovision Song Contest as a sort of foreign novelty then immediately forget about it. The United States isn’t involved, after all, despite three non-Europe continents…