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John Kennedy O'Connor (born in 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author, and entertainment commentator. He was born inNorth London,England, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States.[1] He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous media organizations, as well as written, created and produced media events for a number of international corporations.[2] He is best known for his work within theEurovision Song Contest as a TV commentator and host. Until 2023, he was the news anchor forNBC andCBSNorthern California channelsKIEM-TV andKVIQ-LD, before moving to CBS StationKIMA-TV in Washington, as the main anchor.
In 2005,Carlton Books published his bookThe Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, in conjunction with theEuropean Broadcasting Union, initially produced inEnglish,German,French,Swedish,Dutch andDanish editions, with a separate English publication inAustralia.[3] AFinnish version followed in 2007 as did aRussian version in 2009.[4][better source needed] The book has been updated, expanded and reprinted three times in the UK. The 2010 edition (ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1) was published by Carlton Books, UK, in April 2010. The first edition of the book, published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of theEurovision Song Contest inKyiv,Ukraine, was listed in the Top 10 book sales of bothAmazon UK andAmazon Germany in May 2005, after being featured during the broadcast during an inset with the contest hostsMaria Efrosinina andPavlo Shylko.[citation needed]
O'Connor's second Eurovision work,The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official Celebration, was published by Carlton Books in April 2015 (ISBN 978-1780976389). The book was also published in German and Swedish editions.[5]
Since 2012, O'Connor has been the special host ofSan Marino RTV's Eurovision coverage, presenting the preview shows. In 2013, he was the first spokesperson of the final.[6] On 17 May, O'Connor presented aEurovisionPopMaster onBBC Radio 2, withKen Bruce andPaddy O'Connell as the two contestants.
In 2014, together with his CreativeLive co-host Jamarie Milkovic, O'Connor provided English commentary for San Marino RTV live fromCopenhagen,Denmark, and did so alone in 2015 for the second semifinal. During the Eurovision finals, he also reported forABC News Australia, ABC Radio National Australia and once more guested onThe Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2 andBBC Breakfast onBBC1.
In 2018, O'Connor was one of the judges for1in360, the talent show to choose San Marino's entry for theEurovision Song Contest 2018 inLisbon,Portugal. He again presented, as the spokesperson, the preview shows for San Marino RTV.
In celebration of the contest returning to the UK after an absence of twenty-five years, O'Connor was chosen to be San Marino's voting spokesman for theEurovision Song Contest 2023 held inLiverpool.
To commemorate the 70th edition of the contest, theEBU andBBC Books (commissioned by their parent imprintPenguin Random House) will be publishingThe Legends of Eurovision - The Official 70th Anniversary Celebration (ISBN 978-1785949937) by John Kennedy O'Connor which will be released on April 4, 2026.[7][8]
Until the station closed, O'Connor was the American correspondent for digital stationGaydar Radio[9] in the UK, reporting for theNeil and Debbie Breakfast Show, covering live events including theGolden Globe Awards, theGrammy Awards, and theOscars.[10] He also reported on the gay march held on May 17, 2009, inMoscow,Russia forSky News. O'Connor has regularly reported forSky News,Fox News in New York,[11] andERT in Athens to the UK,[12] and has been a guest onBBC World News andBBC News 24 on TV[13] and "Today" onBBC Radio 4 withJohn Humphrys,BBC Radio 2'sSteve Wright in the Afternoon with hostSteve Wright and actressBrooke Shields on Radio. He has also contributed to many otherBBC Radio programs, includingBBC Radio 5 Live,The Big Toe Show onBBC Radio 7,BBC Radio Scotland, and numerous local BBC Radio stations including guest spots withNicky Campbell, Judi Spiers,Richard Bacon,Paul Henley,Ted Robbins,Liz Kershaw and featured on theBBC World Service andLBC Radio. UKChannel 4'sJon Snow interviewed O'Connor live from Chicago when news of a scandal relating to theEurovision Song Contest 1968 broke in May 2008.[14]
In Ireland, he has guested on Key 101 FM Radio with Eurovision winnersDana andPaul Harrington,RTÉ One'sRattlebag, Newstalk Radio and regularly contributes toBBC Radio Ulster.
In Australia, O'Connor has become a regular contributor to variousABC Radio National programs, including the now defunctPerspective program, hosted by producer Sue Clark, providing commentary on British and International Politics as well as popular culture issues.[15] Among other stories, O'Connor reported on the underlying racism of the 2008 US General Election,Gordon Brown's accession as British Prime Minister and the international media coverage of the2007 Australian federal election, for the program.[16] He has also regularly appeared on ABC'sRadio National Breakfast Show withFran Kelly and many local radio stations in Australia and was the featured guest on an hour-long special on theTriple J ABC station.
In May 2010, O'Connor appeared withJustin Lee Collins onUK Channel Five, advising Collins on his quest to represent a country at theEurovision Song Contest 2010 in the showEurovision: A Song For Justin.[17] During the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway, O'Connor appeared onAljazeera TV,BBC World News &BBC News Channel withJames Dagwell onE24[18] and after a one-on-one interview, wonPopMaster on BBC Radio 2'sKen Bruce show, playing againstPaddy O'Connell in a Eurovision spoof of the regular feature, a feat he repeated in 2012 against the BBC Moscow Correspondent Steven Rosenberg. He was also featured onITV News andBBC Local Radio live from Oslo. In 2011, O'Connor was featured in the documentaryThe Secret History of Eurovision, shown inMore4 in the UK.
Since 2013, O'Connor has been the lead on-screen host for the educational broadcaster CreativeLive, fronting a variety of multi-day live broadcasts from the platforms San Francisco studios.
At the end of 2014, it was announced on Twitter and PBS.org that O'Connor was recording a series for PBS on international architecture and was filming the first episode in Kuala Lumpur and San Francisco withCésar Pelli as the subject. The six-part series (also featuring Norman Foster and I.M.Pei) aired across the US in the summer of 2015. In August 2015, O'Connor was recording a travel series focussing on India, Nepal and Myanmar.
In February 2020, O'Connor became the host ofFacebookLive, broadcast bi-weekly on the social network's blueprint platform. In May 2021, O'Connor became the host of the irregular corporate online newscastThe Zero Trust Exchange, produced byZScaler.
From February 2022, O'Connor became the news anchor for NBC and CBS Northern California channelsKIEM-TV andKVIQ-LD. In July 2023, he became the main news anchor for CBS stationKIMA-TV in Washington.
O'Connor's written work has been published in the United Kingdom in (among others) theSunday Express,Daily Mail,Radio Times,Private Eye,Northern Woman andThe News of the World. In the United States, he had a syndicated column originating in San Francisco, primarily published inPlaylands magazine, a local guide to entertainment and has been interviewed byThe Guardian,[19]The New York Times, theSan Francisco Chronicle, theSan Jose Mercury News, theHouston Chronicle and other American daily papers. He has been profiled inMeetings & Conventions Magazine.
For the 60th anniversary of Eurovision,The Telegraph ran O'Connor's (accurate) predictions for the result in the run-up to the competition.[20] The Star also ran a detailed discussion of the UK's contest chances for 2015.[21] Previously, Oikotimes.com ran a series of seven articles written by O'Connor in January 2011, tracing the history of Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest. Concurrently, the UKDaily Mail, reporting on the BBC's selection of the groupBlue to sing for Britain in theEurovision Song Contest 2011, quoted from an article written by O'Connor for ESCInsight.com.
In 2006, O'Connor was featured in the UK editions ofMetro for their "60 Seconds Interview" column.[22] In 2007, O'Connor contributed on camera items for both theAssociated Press andReuters for broadcast, in addition to video spots onAOL's Big Story. Online, he has been interviewed by ESCToday.com[23] and Oikotimes.com[24] about theEurovision Song Contest.
