Amy Poehler’s podcast is gradually turning into a gold mine for the music press. After treating us to some very funny moments with Paul McCartney, she has now managed to coax Robyn into a candid discussion about Eurovision.
The author of ‘Sexistential’ discusses the festival in response to a question from Poehler about her popularity in Sweden. The host doesn’t understand why Eurovision is so beloved in the country, and Robyn doesn’t seem to have it all figured out either: “We don’t have ABBA anymore, so I don’t see much Eurovision,” she explains, recalling that the group won the contest in 1974 with the unbeatable ‘Waterloo’. She also mentions Carola, another Swedish artist whom she and Zara Larsson grew up listening to. All of this happens around the 1:02:14 mark.
Her assessment of the festival today is far less kind: she says it seems “a load of crap,” that when she watches it she feels “overstimulated and bad,” and she even talks about secondhand embarrassment. She acknowledges that she still watches some editions with American friends and that one of them, Bert, even has a blanket that he places over his eyes when the festival starts because it feels too embarrassing for him.
It’s worth noting that Sweden has won Eurovision up to seven times, two of them thanks to the same person: Loreen. The festival has a huge tradition in the country.
In other news, Robyn is also making headlines for being the latest guest on Tiny Desk.
