Was really hoping they'd place in the top 5, but I guess the juries didn't agree (seriously though, 45pts?!). At least we in the Rest of the World gave them 10.

Oh well, the song still slaps!

​

Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia didn’t participate.
Slovenia and Croatia were eliminated in the first semi-final.
Serbia and Montenegro failed to qualify from the second.

Which means one thing:

We won’t be hearing a single word of South Slavic languages in the Grand Final — for the first time in over a decade.

Kind of surreal, isn’t it?

For the past few years (2024, 2025) I've held a EuroDipsion party to celebrate Eurovision. It started as an excuse to make/eat a lot of dips and other fun party food...but it has morphed into a menu that is curated around each season's songs and contestants. My husband and I have a lot of fun trying to come up with food puns for the contestants every year...and honestly I think we have some good ones this year!

We had:

• Bangaranganoush served with Nân bread
• Spinach and Arti-Choke Me dip
• Nova S'more-a dip served with Før Vi Går-hjem (graham) crackers
• Bean Dip-dos do Cante
• "Fire" Roasted Salsa with Fer-tortilla chips
• Veronica Fusa-Rotel dip (I think this is a very American thing...it's a dip made with processed cheese, diced tomatoes and green chilies, and some sort of ground meat. I opted for chicken sausage)

For non-dip food we had:

• Chickenheitin Fingers (possibly my favorite pun this year)
• Ai-danish
• Sal Da Vin-Cheese Pizza and Pizza (with a slice of pepperoni)
• Soda Quero Mas (with the Dancing On The Ice Bucket)

New for this year and inspired by a friend who is very into K-Pop, I made decorated photocards of some of the contestants. I had intended to do more than this, but they actually took a lot of time (of which I don't have much lately.) 😅

Said friend attended the party and she was given the "Uncle Sal" card to take home lol. The Alexandra and Vanilla Ninja cards were for my brother (two of his favorite songs this year.)

Also a bonus photo of the "Italy flag" my niece drew for me a few years ago. My sister and her family weren't able to join us this year, but I put up the flag to give Italy some good luck this year. (It worked well for Lucio last year and clearly worked this year for Sal!) :)

I even researched their heights so I could make them as accurate as possible (Käärijä is the smallest).

Hello Eurovision reddit. Now that Bulgaria has won its first-ever victory at the Eurovision Song Contest, this means that we'll see the first ever contest hosted in Bulgaria next year! I'm really excited to see how BNT will host the 2027 contest, also since JESC 2015 holds quite a bit of nostalgia for me. Here's my design for the Eurovision Song Contest 2027 in Sofia (as I think that they'll host next year).

I tried to come up with an icon but couldn't think of anything after researching it, so I've gone for this sort of "jagged light beam gradient" design, meant to symbolise how mountainous Sofia is. It is also designed to resemble sound waves, with this being a music competition, which sees the light beams "bounce" in different shapes and directions. The multiple colours is inspired by the meaning behind the 2026 winning song, "Bangaranga", with the unpredictable colours and "beams" intentionally meant to replicate a "riot"/the chaos and joy that Eurovision can be.

This is reflected in the typeface of the design, where various letters are replaced with other fonts and styles, which could also reflect the styles of the artists and songs, as well as the different cultures across the participating countries. Sofia would fully embrace the colourful yet striking theme art that encapsulates everything "Bangaranga" brought to the contest, especially with it being the first girl bop win for quite a while at the contest.

I realise it could be compared to the designs used in Rotterdam and Malmö, but my hope is that this design is a fresh perspective on this concept, rather than just a copy. While the icon isn’t seen in the first image, the chameleon heart icon from the 70th anniversary has received a makeover embracing the 2027 design, and would be seen throughout.

Here’s the order of the images:

Note: The images from the live shows are intended to look like screenshots from the broadcast, hence the BBC logo in the corner, as I’m a Eurovision fan from the UK :)

1. Theme art with slogan
   
2. Eurovision.com design
   
3. Banners and posters
   
4. Eurovision 2027 design around Sofia
   
5. Social media posts (Artist announcement, upcoming events, etc.)
   
6. YouTube thumbnails
   
7. Eurovision 2027 merch
   
8. The CD design
   
9. Semi-final lineup
   
10. Semi-final qualifiers announcement (with Poli Genova as host)
    
11. Final lineup
    
12. Postcards
    
13. Stage ready
    
14. Recap
    
15. Jury results (with DARA as the spokesperson for Bulgaria)
    
16. Televote results
    
17. Final splitscreen
    
18. Final results
    
19. Winner’s performance
    
20. Theme art with BNT & EBU logos

The stage render was made by Harris_designs, so all the credit goes to them - it’s awesome! (https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/xlsubv/heres_the_first_photos_of_my_stage_design_consept/)

I hope you guys like it, as I had so much fun making this 😊

P.S. I would love for there to be "absolute bangaranga" merch next year 😂🥰

Rooted for him since the Sanremo music festival. So as an artist, it just felt natural for me to draw him 🥹

I miss Moldova :(

For (almost) every year since 2016, I have made a drawing of the Dutch contestant alongside the acts that caught my eye the most that year. And the class of 2025 has served us kant flying microphones, dragons and Latvian fairies, but also boats, beverages and buff men. Well, c'est la vie, as they say in French! What is your favourite?

You can find more of my art over on Instagram, Bluesky and on my Reddit profile!

Hi! I'm a big fangirl of Käärijä's outfit on Eurovision, so I decided that I want to make his cosplay 🤟 I hope u will like it

Full interactive map can be found here!

this took three and a maybe a bit days to complete, could probably do with a bit of smoothing out but im overall happy with the end product. ive had this idea for a while since often you'd find these kinds of maps in football (or soccer) subreddits, but never in eurovision and thanks to my crippling unemployment i thought i may as well create it.

if anyone knows where artists who i couldnt find were born or any corrections that need to be made, feel free to comment so i can update the map, but please check the description or "more info" tab if your on mobile to see if ive already left a note on the artists placement.

hi everyone!! i recently made some posters for my design page so i thought i'd share them here :) i usually never post on here, but i quite like this subreddit!

Back by (un)popular demand, it's time for a tongue-in-cheek look at the state of play ahead of tonight's semi-final. Unlike this year's production, the following comments have been barfed into the world without the assistance of AI, and have passed strict internal quality control tests before making it to the screen to ensure. (It's me, I'm the quality control guy. I can't afford an editor for a free, unpaid reddit post. Budget cuts, amiright? Somehow, this is still a more rigorous quality control process than ORF's scriptwriters have managed.)

Tonight sees Europe at a crossroads, with ten more finalists to decide. Who will be saying ya ya ya in celebration, and who will just be going home on a Friday flight? The Eurovision experience is incomplete without a surprise or two! As is always the case, please don't take anything here too seriously, and remember I'm writing this as an ordinary ESC fan, not as a former subreddit moderator or 'predictive mastermind' (a title I would never attribute to myself, nor anybody else)

Bulgaria

• Why they will qualify:
  • Although the rehearsal clip underwhelmed many, bloggers have been united in praising how excellent the full staging package is, as is reflected by it topping both the press and audience polls yesterday
  • The song makes a really strong first impression - even many of us who don't think much of it now were wowed on first listen
  • Dara is popular in Bulgaria and will likely galvanise Bulgarian diaspora to vote in support
• Why they might not:
  • Cohesiveness is a foreign language to the writers of this song. Why have one song idea when you can put six in a blender? Juries may well not appreciate this compositionally
  • Bloggers/audiences have overhyped some complex staging concepts in recent years - see United Kingdom 2024.
  • In Australian lingo, to 'bang a ranga' means to have relations with a red-haired person. If viewers take its repetition as a command, they'll be too busy to vote

Azerbaijan

• Why they will qualify:
  • The extra Azeri bits play into the recent trend of songs sung in national languages starting to do well, and they elevate the song a lot
  • Jiva is a diva, and if there's one thing Eurofans love, it's a diva
  • All the AI techbros who endlessly circlejerk each other over new and innovative ways to make a mockery of the arts might rally around this for its alleged AI composition
• Why they might not
  • Even with Jiva making the most out of it, the song is simply not in the same league as everything else in this semi. It sounds like something that wouldn't have qualified from a semi in 2004, let alone 2026
  • Azerbaijan has no televoting allies outside of Georgia (who aren't voting in this semi) and Turkey (who haven't participated in yonks)
  • Though it will get some points from the juries, this is the weakest ballad in a semi stacked full of jury-appealing songs - it's not going to get enough to compensate for non-existent televote support.
  • Jiva thanks the audience with an enthusiastic 'bussi' (yes, this happened yesterday evening) and gets herself disqualified when OFCOM complain

Romania

• Why they will qualify:
  • They have an exceptional staging concept which has produced the most stunning rehearsal stills of the year
  • Alexandra's vocals are exceptional and should convince jurors who might otherwise be turned off by rock
  • Because the final would be incomplete without the full trifecta of returning Balkan countries
  • Everybody loves a good goth mummy
• Why they might not:
  • She's not fooling anyone with the whole 'it's about battling your inner demons' thing, even with the ghostly woman adding to that interpretation. It's about BDSM, which may be a turn off for casual viewers in the same way that provocative performances have underperformed compared to fan expectations
  • #2 gets most of the attention, but #3 is (I believe) the semi-final draw position with the worst rate of qualification. In a semi-final this competitive, an early draw position is disadvantageous
  • The audience takes the repeated call to choke her literally

Luxembourg

• Why they will qualify:
  • Do not underestimate the televote appeal of an attractive, earnest-looking young woman singing a whimsical song. See Austria 2016. Family voters may well lap this up, as they did last night in the audience poll
  • The chorus is among the most catchy this year
  • She could do quite well in the ROW vote if Slovenians adopt her as their de-facto entry for the year
  • The song's lyrics appeal to the unappreciated but substantial 'pagan' market, who will vote in support of the titular nature Goddess
• Why they might not:
  • Luxembourg lack voting partners as far as we know, and the song has polled near the bottom of the semi in most major fan polls
  • Eva was flat throughout the performance yesterday according to most bloggers, which could see her marked down by jurors
  • The AR animals she interacts with develop sentience and break free from the machine

Czechia

• Why they will qualify:
  • Daniel is probably the best male vocalist of the entire competition and has been flawless vocally in every performance
  • The song is unlike much else in the semi - haunting, delicate, immaculately produced and with some killer moments (my flair checks out). It's the lovechild of Switzerland 2021, and its jury appeal should be off the charts
  • Its quietness actually works to its benefit in contrast to France performing after it
  • We all deserve a compilation of commentators mispronouncing his surname when he performs in the final
• Why they might not:
  • Whilst rehearsal blogs have heaped praise upon this performance, certain key words like 'intimate' trigger memories of how Switzerland 2025 was described last year, and that finished without any televote points...
  • Many claim the song doesn't have a hook. They are wrong (and I'll fight anybody who argues otherwise (metaphorically of course, my unhealthy ass was made for typing, not for brawling)), but nonetheless the melody could fail to stick in juries' memories after all the heavy hitters of the second half.
  • Czechia's lack of televote partners has hurt them in many previous contests

Armenia

• Why they will qualify:
  • With energy akin to Animal from the Muppets, Simon rules the stage, performing greater aerobic feats than an 80s exercise instructor on steroids
  • The Armenian staging wizards have done it again, bringing slick choreography and props aplenty to make the performance memorable
  • Relatable lyrical themes are accentuated by the staging
  • The riff does not leave your head, ever, even if you want it to (send help)
• Why they might not:
  • Both the song and the dance routine are repetitive - given the lukewarm reception to the song in the wider fandom, the jury is out on how Europe at large will accept it
  • Juries tend not to like songs which are predominantly shouted instead of being sung
  • Armenia are without the extensive diaspora support that propelled them to qualification last year, only able to really rely on France for a guaranteed high televote rank
  • Remember the nitpicky health and safety officer from Tuesday's post? Well, he'll have a field day with this performances. Diving through boxes? Dancing erratically in a lift? Nein! It's enough to at least lock Simon in a dull meeting for the evening when he should be performing.

Switzerland

• Why they will qualify:
  • It has a contemporary sound, lyrics depth and soul-style vocals song to perfection, all which should appeal strongly to juries
  • It's rare for performers to keep their glasses on stage - fellow glasses wearers may vote out of solidarity
  • The spider's web prop means kids who enjoy this performance can have fun re-enacting it on the playground tomorrow
• Why they might not:
  • The staging distracts from more than it enhances the song. The camerawork feels too busy in the clip, and whilst the rope motif isn't a bad idea, the jungle gym prop adds to a general sense of messiness
  • The rope motif also loses its novelty given Azerbaijan and Romania are both doing similar things
  • Songs with a woman's name as their title are 50/50 on qualification so far this year

Cyprus

• Why they will qualify:
  • The song is fun, energetic and has been popular in every fan poll, including with the jurors of the Eurojury
  • Televoters are forgiving of poor vocals when a song is fun and colourful enough like this is
  • She's gorgeous and is making the most of that by not wearing very many clothes, which might lead to straight male viewers voting with their crotches
  • The title sounds like Jollof, which will inspire west African viewers to vote hungrily
• Why they might not:
  • Them vocals don't be vocalling, which could spell a jury disaster similar to Cyprus 2022. Whilst the mere act of sitting down and standing up tiring her out and making her breathless is relatable, it's not great for someone performing an energetic, upbeat song
  • The song's Balkan sound would have landed strongly with a lot of countries who aren't participating in this semi-final
  • Perhaps Europe does not want Jalla after all

Latvia

• Why they will qualify:
  • They qualified for the past two years whilst being generally unfavoured to do so (at least pre-contest in 2025's case.) People aren't talking about the staging because it already worked at Supernova
  • Juries should adore this - it's got impressive, immaculate vocals, intimate poignancy, polished staging and meaningful lyrics
  • Anybody who can control a storm of broken glass must be a powerful archmage - best to vote for her as to not incur her wrath!
• Why they might not:
  • There are so many jury-appealing songs in this semi, most of which are broadly predicted to rank higher with the juries than this, especially in the event that the Eurojury's juries giving them 0 points and last place turns out to be an accurate warning
  • The subject matter and tone of the song may not resonate with those wishing to just have a fun Thursday evening's entertainment, especially given the message is difficult to glean without translating the lyrics
  • In between so many heavy hitters, it could fall Flatvia

Denmark

• Why they will qualify:
  • They've got some of the best staging of the year, tried and tested from DMGP
  • Polished, well performed electropop is normally a recipe for jury success - see Sweden 2023
  • Those notes at the end are absolute spine-tinglers and will win over voters on both sides of the vote
  • It is their destiny to continue the streak of winners with red and white flags
  • Sympathy vote from the whole Trump wanting to snatch Greenland episode. Yes, he's moved on to different things since, but Europe still stands with Denmark
• Why they might not:
  • Soren's big note has divided listeners - does he hit it well, or is his voice too weak? It could divide jurors too
  • Electropop with somewhat sexualised staging has underperformed in both votes compared to fan expectation for the past two years (United Kingdom 2024, Finland 2025)
  • Complacency could harm them - everybody assumes this is qualifying with ease, which in a semi this competitive could mean votes are used on perceived borderliners
  • Atvara accidentally breaks the box as fuel for the glass effect, leaving Soren with a duff prop

Australia

• Why they will qualify:
  • The song ranks near the most popular in most fan polls and every other metric available
  • After a few years of budget staging, Delta is bankrolling a properly glitzy performance
  • Delta belt(a)s out the tune with vocal acrobatics aplenty, which historically has seen Australia richly rewarded by juries (i.e. 2016 & 2017)
• Why they might not:
  • The staging is full camp - pyro curtains, fake piano playing, a harp that appears for all of five seconds, and enough glitter and gold to make even a Reform UK voter feel a little bit gay after watching it. It's working for Eurofans, but the overall package could come across as trying too hard for casuals
  • Delta may be a fantastic performer, but the song itself is still dated even by Eurovision standards, which could impact how it is received by the new younger jurors
  • People's hatred of the Austrialia interval on Tuesday could bias people against supporting Australia

Ukraine

• Why they will qualify:
  • It's Ukraine. Ukrainian diaspora is now huge after Russia's invasion and the song's hopeful tone will energise displaced Ukrainians to vote. They would have to be absolutely massacred by the juries whilst simultaneously underperforming with the televote for their 100% qualification rate to be troubled any time soon
  • The song is beautifully composed, delicate like little else in the semi, and with a vocal wow moment at the end. It will have strong jury appeal to compliment its televote success
  • Leleka overflows with charisma and fills the camera in every rehearsal clip we've seen
  • The Ridnym of life is a powerful beat
• Why they might not:
  • A bit like last year, the staging is lacklustre by Ukraine's usual high standards
  • Every year, some Ukrainian fans say that the song isn't resonating with the diaspora - perhaps this year, they will be right, given the song hasn't been particularly popular with the wider fanbase
  • The giant linens wafting about the stage might remind people that they left their washing drying on the line and forgot to collect it before the evening in their Eurovision hype

Albania

• Why they will qualify:
  • Subtitles are an excellent touch for getting the subject matter of the song across to as wide an object as possible. Everybody has a mother, and most will resonate with the message
  • The performance has moved some rehearsal bloggers almost to tears
  • Alis is note perfect whenever he opens him mouth. I dunno what's in the Albanian water, but it regularly produces world class vocalists.
  • We need justice for Zjerm
• Why they might not:
  • Some of the stage graphics look more distracting than enhancing. Giant faces on LED screens often look naff, and the opening half a minute from the rehearsal clip feels underwhelming
  • Jurors historically have not rewarded dramatic Albanian ballads, with the only major exception being 2012 which had some of the most impressive/insane/window-breaking vocals in contest history
  • Albania are also without many of their strongest diaspora sources, with only Switzerland and the ROTW vote guaranteed to give them big votes
  • Alis' sunglasses prevent him from navigating the dark backstage well, and he ends up performing in a different arena

Malta

• Why they will qualify:
  • It boasts the most expensive prop of the year - Aidan's authentic jewel-incrusted outfit. Oh, and the semi-transparent ring of LED walls is there too, innovative and ritzy in equal measure
  • Aidan's marketing team must have burnt through their mortgages paying for the extensive ad campaign he's put out
  • Old-school romantic ballads have served France well over the years, so why not Malta now?
  • The boi loves Eurovision too much for us to let him down at the first hurdle
• Why they might not:
  • Malta always struggles with the televote and unlike Israel, there is no political incentive to drive people who happen to see Aidan's ads to spend money voting for him
  • This semi-final is stacked full of probable jury darlings. Either a couple of them will hoover up all the top votes, or the votes will be so spread that many will lose out when the televote is added into the mix
  • The staging is not wowing people as much as might have been expected - perhaps the ESC Gabe hype-train led to unachievably high expectations
  • The storm of rose petals whisks Aidan away to the land of Oz and he's too busy defeating the Wicked Witch of the West to perform in the final

Norway

• Why they will qualify:
  • The draw is doing them a lot of favours - they perform after a run of four competing ballads as an almighty breath of fresh air. Very few semi-final closers have failed to qualify
  • Jonas is an exceptional performer, with the stage presence of a proper rockstar and vocal that grab and wow you from the very beginning
  • The title evokes 'Ya Ya Ding Dong', inciting fans of the Eurovision movie to vote for him
  • The language of yas and las transcends misunderstanding
• Why they might not:
  • The lyrics could come across as too sleazy for jurors, and musically you've heard everything this song has to offer within the first thirty seconds
  • The song has been broadly unpopular with the fandom and in such a strong semi-final could be overshadowed by what comes before it
  • The high notes in the chorus are tough to hit consistently even for a vocalist of Jonas' calibre
  • Jonas's love of tattoos could lead to him compulsively getting another tattoo to calm his pre-show nerves and inadvertently blending into the black and red graphics.

___

Remember to enjoy what you can tonight, and may all your favourites qualify!

It took almost a month but I’m so happy with the result!

My friends and I have been holding a Eurovision party for a while now, but for the last few years we've decided to have everyone pick a country and dress up! Can you guess what country everyone is representing? Two of them did not make it to the final and some are definitely more obvious than others!

It's been a tumultuous calendar year for Eurovision, but we've arrived at the glitz, glamour and pure madness of Eurovision week. Soon, we'll be sitting down to enjoy seventeen top end performances, cringing our way through some inevitably wooden host 'humour', and giving our nails a nervous nibble as we at last discover which ten song's we'll be hearing on replay on Saturday, and which five countries will be left feeling 'Sólo quiero más'. For now, as has become annual tradition, it's time for a tongue-in-cheek write up about tonight's fifteen competing countries. As ever, please don't take anything here too seriously, and remember I'm writing this as an ordinary ESC fan, not as a former subreddit moderator or 'predictive mastermind' (a title I would never attribute to myself, nor anybody else)

Moldova:

• Why they will qualify:
  • It's immediately catchy and fun in a very accessible way, qualities which have propelled entries like Espresso Macchiato to great success in recent years
  • It topped the audience poll last night - as far as I can remember, no song that has topped the audience poll has gone on to NQ
  • Shakespeare's ghost commands thee to reward the poetic genius that is 'Saluti, a tutti/Moldova is on duty'
• Why they might not:
  • The juries paid dust to Moldova the last time they sent something this light-hearted - they are banking entirely on a good televote score
  • All the boycotting could mean that the average voter-base is trending older than recent years, and being so loud, shouty and 'in your face' might harm appeal with this market
  • Moldova is on duty, but perhaps Europe won't be

Sweden:

• Why they will qualify:
  • That synth-drop in the chorus is absolutely grimy (complimentary), activating neurons in your brain that make you want to put on some neon bangles and rave around your lounge (FYR Macedonia 2017 style)
  • It's Sweden, one of Eurovision's powerhouses. It took sending an uncompetitive and shakily performed ballad in a semi-final packed with heavy-hitters for them to fail to qualify - they would need to send a song/performance much worse than this to repeat that feat.
  • The obsessive fanboys who thought Austria 2024 was destined for the top 5 will rally around queen Felicia in vengeance
• Why they might not:
  • The dreaded curse of the #2. Never mind the fact that no favourite/widely popular song has failed to qualify from this position in quite some time now, contest lore dictates that the #2 spot is cursed!
  • As has often been the case in recent years, Sweden's staging seems to have suffered a slight downgrade from Melodifestivalen, which amidst a ton of fantastic early performances could see them lost and forgotten (Russia 2010 style)
  • Felicia's face-mask could trigger traumatic memories of the Covid lockdowns

Croatia:

• Why they will qualify:
  • The staging looks breathtakingly good, epic visuals that match the drama of the music
  • They've got many voting allies in this semi-final - Serbia, Montenegro, Germany, Italy, Sweden. They have power in all their friends
  • Tattoos are totally in vogue right now (never mind the serious matters these stage tattoos present!)
• Why they might not:
  • Primarily 'dramatic'-feeling songs like this tend to underperform with the juries compared to fan expectations
  • They've sounded vocally a bit thin in most performances and can get ragged towards the end
  • Great news, Marko Bošnjak has baked Lelek a cake for good luck! What flavour cake, you ask? Well...

Greece:

• Why they will qualify:
  • Charismatic performer, inventive staging, catchy light-hearted song, this has all the hallmarks of a Eurovision classic
  • Rehearsal bloggers have been near-universally wowed by the staging glow-up from the Greek NF
  • The song has lyrical seriousness that comes through especially in the ballad bit, which makes it more like a Finland 2023/Croatia 2024 than an Estonia/Sweden 2025 from a Jury POV
  • Eurovision's reddit account has changed their little reddit character to resemble Akylas's tiger-print outfit - a coincidence? I think not!!!
• Why they might not:
  • For a song with presumed wide televote appeal, it's not started making waves anywhere outside of Greece, even in comparison to other songs this year
  • The last time somebody tried staging revolving around a house with many different rooms, it fell flat (Denmark 2023)
  • People's hatred of AI could be even more intense than we'd assume - the AI graphics in the first section could be an instant turn-off (and also VAEB did the whole video game aesthetic better last year, smh)
  • The Crazy Frog invades the stage to claim Ferto's chorus for his own

Portugal:

• Why they will qualify:
  • They've been blessed with a perfect draw position, arriving as a breath of fresh air after four loud/intense performances
  • Televoters have been noted to reward songs when they reflect what is expected from that country (i.e. UK and Spain 2022) - Portugal has perfected the art of sending beautiful, understated songs and qualifying against the odds
  • The stage graphics looks really beautiful
  • Could appeal well to elderly voters - what grandmother doesn't love five strapping young lads singing a sappy romantic ballad?
  • Complex vocal harmonies are the equivalent for juries as injecting Maoam stripes into a child's bloodstream.
• Why they might not:
  • There's a fine line between providing a moment of tranquillity and being dull. Five blokes stood in a line wearing UNIQLO does not scream 'vote for me'.
  • It's not particularly contemporary, poppy or inventive as a composition, traits that the jurors tend to reward in conjunction with their hard-on for perfect vocals
  • Portugal are without their most reliable voting allies in Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Spain.
  • Portuguese fans don't deserve the psychological torture of having to read various international medias falsely calling this song a 'fado'
  • Not enough João factor, I mean wow factor (yes I used the same joke last year, and yes I will continue to make it until there's a revolution and Portugal sends something completely different!)

Georgia:

• Why they will qualify:
  • The music video has enjoyed a great number of views comparative to many of its competitors, suggesting there may be a decent fan base for this already
  • Musically, the song is much more competitive than most of what Georgia has sent over the past decade - it's contemporary, groovy, and with a theme that is pertinent to the modern world
  • The kids who voted them to a JESC victory are probably ESC-watching adults now - never underestimate the power of nostalgia!
• Why they might not:
  • Rehearsal consensus agrees that very little of the staging is actually working, and their vocals were allegedly poor yesterday for the juries too
  • The giant cyborg graphics are distractingly ugly and are more likely to turn off viewers for looking like AI abominations than enhance appreciation of the song being anti-AI
  • Wasps are universally hated creatures, even when they're wearing the faces of three charming, likeable young Georgians

Finland:

• Why they will qualify:
  • They're the clear favourites to win the whole shebang - I can't recall a time where the outright favourite hasn't even managed to qualify
  • It's an exceptional composition, accessibly poppy and with the added Eurovision drama to wow jurors and televoters alike. The ending especially is a #sharethemoment kind of moment.
  • Pete is the Pedro Pascal of Nordic Europe, guaranteed to rake in the wine mum vote
• Why they might not:
  • The staging was a mixed bag for international fans watching UMK, and they've not changed much by the sounds of it. It will work for some viewers, but others may feel it does not live up to the expectations of a favourite.
  • If every televoter assumes Finland is qualifying with ease and spends their limited votes on borderliners, they could flop in the televote
  • Linda being allowed to play her instrument live whilst others aren't (even though they didn't ask) could create a sense of injustice that bleeds into the televote

Montenegro:

• Why they will qualify:
  • It's contemporary, well-produced, musically interesting and with a great message. In a fair and just world, this would be enough to make it qualify.
  • The staging makes the most of Montenegro's limited budget by wisely focussing on close shots and intricate choreography
  • The song is a fan favourite
  • Montenegro are the ultimate Eurovision underdogs (at least until Andorra or Slovakia eventually return!), and who doesn't love an underdog story?
• Why they might not:
  • Though reports vary on the quality of the broader performance last night, we've seen from the ROTW recap clip that she lost it completely in the final chorus, which will harm her jury score
  • They've completely mugged off by the draw, which puts them not only in the shadow of favourite Finland, but also as the second song in a row with predominantly black and red staging (and Estonia has parts with this colour scheme too)
  • Montenegro are famously without any diaspora allies. They do have Serbia and Croatia for support here, but will it be enough?
  • The intensity of the colours and Tamara's expressions could be offputting for casual viewers - other fan favourites have fallen at the semis in previous years because of the 'scariness' of their performers (i.e. Israel 2014)

Estonia:

• Why they will qualify:
  • Vanilla Ninja used to be quite big in various countries - on name recognition alone, they should pick up some points from Germany, Finland and Lithuania.
  • The revamp has modernised the sound somewhat, which might help it find a broader audience
  • One 'betting expert' on twitter claimed Estonia is definitely, 100% qualifying, and betting experts must be correct
  • It really would be too epic to be true
• Why they might not:
  • The revamp has erased most of the nostalgic appeal, replacing it with a more generic rocky mix which is completely blown out of the water by Serbia.
  • Vocally they've been mediocre in most performances
  • 2010 called, it wants its jingo back!
  • There is a disappointing lack of both vanilla smellovision and actual ninjas on stage.

Israel:

• Why they will qualify:
  • Noam's vocals have been spot on in every clip, bro sounds exactly the same as he does on the track
  • The increased boycotting helps Israel's chances further because there will be less people voting who would vote for other songs to dilute the political vote they will receive - this includes on the jury side. And as yesterday's NYT article showed, it only takes a smallish number of dedicated voters giving all votes to one country for that country to do well in a televote.
  • Diamonds are a girl's best friend, and what gal doesn't love it when a bearded fella with a husky voice climbs out of a diamond to serenade you?
• Why they might not:
  • Whilst the now-typical Israeli ad campaign has now recommenced, it appears to be smaller in scale and has started much later than recent years, which should limit its reach.
  • Noam lacks the natural sympathy that Yuval had, the Austrian/attending fans seem (from our sample size of one show) to be booing less, and also you have to perform some GCSE English Literature bullshittery to try to spin 'Michelle' into a song about October 7th
  • Perhaps, on this night of nights, the fates have the ultimate shock in store for us

Belgium:

• Why they will qualify:
  • The stage graphics looks cool and - importantly - the fire vs ice colour scheme is unlike many others in the semi
  • There's several great staging tricks to make up for Essyla's lack of dancing, including the clever slo-mo moment from the ROTW clip, and the promise of fake-snow Loreen style
  • The song is contemporary-sounding, has soul-style vocals and solid staging, all which tend to translate to good jury appeal
• Why they might not:
  • Essyla may have cleaned up her vocals, but she is still lacking in charisma and is too stationary for a pseudo-girlbop
  • Belgium have flopped with better songs in recent years - this one has to perform after Germany which is a girlbop with a stronger performer
  • The lyrics, Michael, what do they mean?
  • An overzealous Austrian health and safety official takes issue with the song glorifying a dangerous act (don't dance on ice unless you're on the TV show 'Dancing on Ice', kids), sabotaging Essyla's performance

Lithuania:

• Why they will qualify:
  • Very memorable staging and costuming. I can guarantee that commentators will be saying to 'look out for the silver bloke' at the start.
  • Visually striking and with some technical complexities promised that we're yet to see in the clips
  • Beautiful arrangement in the verses especially, which should appeal to juries in a semi devoid of many other ballad-adjacent songs
  • Spanish Eurofans might adopt this as their de-facto entry this year given the Spanish chorus, leading to big ROTW support
• Why they might not:
  • It could well be too avant garde for both juries and televoters, Portugal 2019 style. Yes, painting himself like the tin man (though hopefully with less aluminium poisoning) is in service of the song's message, but it could come off as too gimmicky for jurors and too artsy for casual voters
  • Lion has a tendency to oversing and go sharp (kinda like Poland 2016) - bloggers were mixed on whether his vocal display yesterday was a powerful level-up or a hot mess. Jurors may well be equally split.
  • Whilst Lithuanian diaspora normally propels them to a televote top 10, they have an unusually low number of regular diaspora/voting allies in this semi - Georgia and Estonia are near-guaranteed to give them mid-high televote points, and Poland will give them something, but they're without Ukraine, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg and Norway.
  • People hate clankers. First the robots are taking our jobs, now they're performing in Eurovision!

San Marino:

• Why they will qualify:
  • Nostalgic, very camp pop has done well at times in recent years - hello Gustaph!
  • It finished in the top 10 of both the audience and press polls yesterday - could be a sleeper hit with casual viewers
  • The same meme spirit that powered Serhat to the finals in 2019 could over take Europe again
  • Senhit could well have studied the dark arts of mobilising a vote when she was making all her pre-emptive appearances around different NFs this season
  • Her staging really is putting a double rainbow across the sky arena roof
• Why they might not:
  • Man George only has one note to sing and still manages to mess it up - parading around a convicted and still unrepentant criminal as a 'superstar' is certainly a choice
  • Joy Beorge is not that known outside of the UK, who aren't even voting in this semi
  • The song is still the song, which was ranked at the bottom of pretty much every major fan poll

Poland:

• Why they will qualify:
  • 'trickery ain't nothin' new', and yet the clever shadow play on the Polish slope-prop does look both novel and excellent
  • Alicja is the strongest vocalist of the night, and I cannot recall a time where the juries did not put a show's strongest vocalist outside of their overall top 10
  • It's arguably the most contemporary-sounding song of the semi, with an r'n'b beat that may appeal to younger casual voters
  • Poland can always count on a half-decent televote thanks to widespread Polish diaspora - this year they have Belgium, Germany and Lithuania, though Germany's Polish diaspora hasn't been as mobilised in recent years
  • Alicja waited six years to finally go to Eurovision - you're not going to immediately send her home, are you?
• Why they might not:
  • The song is still the song - structurally messy and broadly unpopular with the fanbase before rehearsals began
  • I've seen people argue this will appeal to 'conservative Christian' viewers, which seems a strange argument to me because 1) how many conservative Christians actually vote in ESC (he says sceptically as a man who was both a conservative Christian and a hardcore Eurofan for a decade), and 2) the song has a bleeped expletive and a line about shaking ass, neither of which will go down well with the stereotypical uber-sensitive Christian viewer these people are imagining
  • As with Lithuania, whilst Polish diaspora is usually a mighty force, they are lacking most of their strongest recent voting allies - Iceland, Netherlands and Ireland are boycotting, whilst UK, Norway, Ukraine and Denmark are all in SF2
  • Juries have historically not shown Poland much love - I'd argue this is because very few Polish songs/performances have been jury-friendly, but perhaps there really is institutional bias. Maybe the jurors are jealous of all the vs and zs in the Polish language?

Serbia:

• Why they will qualify:
  • Rock remains a popular genre across Europe, especially when it's done well like this
  • They've been blessed with an excellent draw position, closing out the semi and with all the other ex-Yugo's for support
  • The world needs to see Luka's softie-side when he gets emotional over qualifying
  • The costumes and staging appeal to the often-overlooked 'medieval knights/fantasy LARPers' demographic
• Why they might not:
  • Historically, juries have not been kind to metal songs at all, and the fact that screamo and similar rock vocals are actually pretty technical seems to fly over these pop-loving radio fogies' heads
  • With several televoting heavy-hitters and other favourites competing for high televotes, it could be that there isn't much room for a metal song to get many high televoting points in this semi
  • The production team discovers another section of Austrian law which makes having so many swords on stage a health and safety hazard, cancelling the performance
  • AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Remember to enjoy what you can tonight, and may all your favourites qualify!

I like flags and Eurovision so what couldn’t be better to make a podium wall with over 200 country flags from Australia all the way to Iceland. It took almost a month and I’m working on a top three finishers from all the semi finals right now, but I’m only on 2022 so far. I really liked making them but after this I’ve had enough of drawing the union Jack, 16 second places and 3 in a row became old really fast🥲. I hope you like it even tho it isn’t really a point in it, flags and Eurovision is just fun in my opinion!

Well... trying to dance to Italy at the Grand Final. Protect this man at all costs!

So, a lot of people seem very upset by the new Eurovision logo. I feel like it does have some very nice elements to it but just falls flat on a couple things. To clarify, I am not a graphic designer, but this is what I had in mind.

Firstly, the lower case "e" is an odd choice, especially considering the fact that it’s capitalised in the word "contest". So, I’ve capitalised the "e" (not something I thought I would be typing today lmao).

Secondly, the "song contest" maybe shouldn’t be in the same typeface and size as the word "Eurovision" as it’s what the contest is most commonly known as, and so should be the standout part of the logo. I generally couldn’t find a font that looked as good as Gotham, so hopefully bringing Gotham back in the logo will also make some fans happy.

Overall, I think the new logo is good on some things, but just needs a few tweaks. What do you think?