Norway Sends The Norwegian Chef To Eurovision

Norway’s selection of the chef from the Muppets or you may know him as, Jonas Love with “Yah Yah Yah”, and the kind of delighted chaos that makes you want to hit replay. If you enjoyed it, subscribe, share the episode with a mate, and leave us a review.

#eurovision #eurovisionsong contest #eurovisionpodcast #eurovisionaustralia #eurovisionfunny

Transcript

Welcome Back And Eurovision Grief

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Bonjour, good dog, prevent, hello, and welcome back to the Duspir podcast. And let me be the first one to say Norway was robbed! We love you, Keno, you are still the winners in our hearts. So, what has been happening to Norway in the last 12 months? Well, Norway held national elections in September of 2025, and the result was the political equivalent of look, we're not breaking up, but we're definitely sleeping in separate bedrooms. Labour stayed in power, but as a minority government, which means they're technically in charge, whilst always constantly asking, hey, can someone please vote with us on this one this time? You know, it's a tree. Meanwhile, politics is getting more fragmented and polarized. The big fights, energy policy, the relationship with the EU and welfare spending, aka the classic trio of how do we power the country, who do we hang out with, and who's paying for grandma's knee? Because if you're wondering what Norwegians are arguing about at the dinner table, besides whose turn it is to wear the reflective vest, the hits are tax reform. There is healthcare pressure from an aging population, and the eternal question, how much money do we take from the sovereign wealth fund before it stops being saving responsibly and starts being, hey, buying a jet ski because it's on sale. Now, to be clear, Norway is still a stable democracy. It's just that that old everyone agrees quietly vibe is giving away to everyone disagrees politely but intensely. Also, Norway is still one of the richest countries on earth because it has oil and gas revenue and a sovereign wealth fund worth about two trillion dollars. That's right, two trillion dollars, which is an amount of money so large it stopped being a number and becomes a weather system. Now, very early on, the Norway government was very smart and it took money from oil and gas sales and put it away in essentially a retirement fund for the country and has let that money sit there, grow, gather interest because it's the people's money for the people. But now the government wants to dip into that fund a bit more with oil fund spending estimated at about 579 billion. That's right, they want to take out 579 billion from the fund and spend it in the 2026 budget. Norway is basically saying, look, we're budgeting responsibly while opening a vault the size of a small galaxy. But before anyone yells, just use the money, there's the fine print. Oil revenues are expected to decline gradually, while costs rising from an aging population, higher health and pension spending, and increased defense spending. So, yes, it's wealthy, but it's also doing the classic adult move of looking into the future and whispering, oh no. Meanwhile, thanks to the war in Ukraine, Norway has become Europe's largest supplier of natural gas, which is a strange way to become the life of the party, but here we are. Norway also remains a major supporter of Ukraine, and in August of 2025, it joined Denmark and Sweden in a$500 million NATO support package. And even in Norway, yes, even in Norway, there are real non-fjord related problems. Housing affordability is a major issue, especially in Oslo. The aging population puts pressure on pensions, and rural cities are losing people too quickly, which is tough because you can't really have rural cities without, you know, the the people who live there. Finally, climate target. Norway, Norway's goals are ambitious, the kind of goals you announce confidently while standing on an oil platform. The plan cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Three and a half years away, and become a low emission society by 2050. So Norway is essentially trying to be both the world's responsible grown-up and its well-funded energy dealer. And honestly, if anyone can pull off that contradiction politely, it's probably Norway. So, who have they chosen to represent them at Eurovision? So Norway has selected Jonas Love with his song Yah Yah Yah. Which, to be honest, when I just saw the title of this song, I'm like, have they sent the Norwegian chef? Jonas in 2014, he participated, ooh, in an audition for Norwegian Idol. He was the vocalist in the synth pop trio Shuffle Baby, which released several singles until 2020. In 2025, he participated in season 10 of The Voice, where he reached the semifinal. He is married, he has a son, and he is ready to represent Norway on the Eurovision stage. Okay, for those who don't know, most of us grew up with the Muppets, and there was a character called the Swedish chef. Except in Sweden, where they changed that character and called him the Norwegian chef. So picture the Norwegian chef. But oh my lord, he is now divorced. He's been working out, and he has just had the gay makeover of a lifetime. And he is now released back on the scene, and the ladies at the club say yay! Oh my lord, did Norway just get me pregnant? This is the best three minutes I have had today. That was also the quickest three minutes I've experienced a week. That was amazing. Why is no one talking about this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, mm, mm, mm, mm, mmm. Straight to the top of the charts. Love this. Why is there not more people talking about this? His outfit, clearly manaskin inspired. You know what? I'm just gonna go listen to this again. You do whatever you're gonna do. No way. Chef's kiss. You never fail.