Phil Jackson's Eurovision Blog

Happy Eurovision day!!!

H’loo! Here we are then on the ESC Grand Final day. It’s been a quick week, hasn’t it.

I didn’t post after the second semi-final as I was, to be frank, a bit bored by the end of the shenanigans on Thursday night. Some surprises once again in terms of who got through. I mean, Denmark? I was a bit sad that Ireland didn’t make it through, but then the staging let it down a little.

Where to start with Australia?! Oh my days, the milkshake man was certainly delivering. It was a bit filthy, wasn’t it. Shame about the song! C’ya Australia…

So here we are on the GF day, with a full line-up of 26 songs. As always, the EBU have scheduled songs in a running order that will give us light and shade. And they have popped some songs in the draw which will effectively kill them off.

(Source: EBU)

Once again, we have a run of songs opening proceedings with up-tempo pop vibes (Norway, Luxembourg, Estonia). Then we get Israel out of the way early doors. UK are up eight. Decent effort from the semi-final performance. It is all a bit music theatre-ey, but their harmonies are fab, and the singer in the blue dress in the middle has the best vocals. Let’s see what the hell happens… (I think we know…)

I am really enjoying the presenters this year. Hazel has been a revelation. Bonkers and brilliant in equal measure!

Will Céline Dion do what she needs to do and show up tonight? Well, she’s jetted in on her private jet, so that chances are that she will. Yay! Her just being there even if she doesn’t sing will be enough of a treat.

It’s still Sweden as favourite, and Austria in second place. I’d be happy with either winning, but as you know, I’m always team Sweden, and would be delighted if we’re back in Stockholm next year. As equally delighted if Austria win and we’ve back in Vienna.

Watch out for where the professional juries vote goes. If they back Sweden, then that’s that. If they prefer Austria, then that might well be that. All very exciting! We just have to get though three hours before the voting. The whole show is too long (as I’ve said), but hey – once a year we can make the best of it…

However you will be enjoying the ESC tonight, have a ball. To my Eurovision besties Dame Brian, Rachel, Paul, Rux, Carol, Joanna and Joe – and always fond memories of our Eurovision travels, Karen Ficker (Era Stupendo!) – lots of love and schlager shenanigans.

We will be travelling to another country to do what we’ve been doing all week. Let’s see where the journey takes us tonight…

😀

xx

Here we go then with the rundown for the second semi-final. Ten more songs to make it through to the Grand Final on Saturday, with three more ‘Big 6’ performances. Interestingly this year, all ‘Big 6’ countries are singing in their native language. I’m sure this doesn’t happen very often? I’m a big fan of music not in the English language, so let’s take a look and listen…

01  Australia  Milkshake Man – Go-Jo

We open (surprise surprise, Cilla) with an up-tempo song. No doubt it’s a catchy pop song, but OMG (and maybe this is me showing my age), I can do without the innuendo. Yes, the ESC needs levity, giddiness and some songs that are essentially novelty. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. How the heck Windows95man made it through to the GF last year for Finland, but it did! And then tanked in the Grand Final. Let’s file Australia’s song in a similar category – thinks it’s funny with all the innuendos about a man and his milk. I’m just not here for it – it all feels a bit juvenile. Or maybe I’m just grumpy! That said, this up-tempo pop song will get us going and let’s see if it gets to the GF…

02  Montenegro  Dobrodosli – Nina Žižić 

Aah, the familiar moody Eastern European vibes from Montenegro. Orchestral opening with breathless vocals, it all progresses quite nicely – except it really doesn’t go anywhere. It’s almost the instrumental as chorus, and before we know it the last 25 seconds feels like it’s going to crescendo, and then it doesn’t quite. Second in the draw, will it be early doors for Montenegro? Let’s see what the staging and performance can do…

03  Ireland  Laika Party – EMMY

OK then, get your head around this. Ireland have sent a song to the ESC about Laika, a Soviet dog who was launched into space back in 1957 (3 November to keep the historians happy!). Awr. Stray dog goes to space – let’s write a song about that, right? Nope, let’s sugar coat the fact that she perished in space and hope that Laika is still alive, kids. I love the bonkers-ness of the lyrics, and I like the preposterous hope that she’s still alive! That said, this is an earworm of a bop, and I like it a lot. Again, retro vibes, but also easily singalong-able. I’m also quite fond of EMMY’s Aqua-esque vocals.

I have shared with you the Late Late Show recording of the song, as filmed in the Old Library in Trinity College Dublin. My dear friend and Eurovision bestie Dr (Dame) Brian Singleton (mentioned on the blog every year) is made up that he’s finally got to see Trinity College embrace the Eurovision. Brian will retire as Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama and Theatre later this year, so it’s fitting for him that that this brilliant performance has been staged in the Old Library. 

I hope the kids get behind it and that it gets to the GF – just don’t tell them the dog is dead – you have to put them to bed, remember…

04  Latvia  Bur man laimi – Tautumeitas

I find this a joyous song with an uplifting melody and jolly harmonies. And the chugging musical underscoring keeps the tempo going (I hope you are marvelling at my highly musicological description!). Can’t wait to see how the performance is staged…

05  Armenia  Survivor – Parg

Will this be the curse of the song title for Armenia? Maybe not, as they’ve qualified for the past three years. It’s our first song in this semi-final with chanting in it. Probably that’s the saving grace for it? Must admit, I got a bit bored… does anyone need their drinks/snacks refreshing at this point?

06  Austria  Wasted Love – JJ

And now for one of the biggies this year. This song has been tucked in behind Sweden in the betting odds for a while now. On first listen I wasn’t sold on it, but it a Eurovision grower, I’d say. A few listens in and I got it. I also get that it’s more than adjacent to The Code from last year. Surely a song that overlaps with the song that won last year can’t win this year? There are also flourishes on the chorus from Duncan Lawrence’s winning song Arcade for The Netherland in 2019. Lather, rinse, repeat, right? 😀

What we have here is a song very much in the ‘popera’ stylings we see from time to time @ the ESC. Remember Malena Ernman with La Voix for Sweden in 2009, Cezar’s It’s My Life for Romania in 2013, and Kate Miller-Heidke’s Zero Gravity for Australia in 2019. All mixing the pop with the opera vocals. 

JJ’s countertenor vocal gymnastics are impressive. And this song goes to show that you can’t judge a song by the first two minutes and fifteen seconds, because the last thirty seconds is going to blow your mind (literally!). Can’t wait to see how it’s interpreted on stage…

**

‘Big 6’ time, UK styleeee…

United Kingdom What the Hell Just Happened? – Remember Monday

I know I am generalising here, but don’t we – every year – have a downer on our entry? Some years maybe with good reason, and with the receipts to prove why after the contest.

The first time I heard this song I just thought that the composers had used generative AI to put it together. You know “write a song that sounds like Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan, please”. I wasn’t impressed. Also, I thought we’d got over selecting failed talent show participants to be our entry? So, I was like ‘meh’ to it all.

Cut to me listening to all the songs over the last fortnight, and the curiosity of the bonkers structure of the song took hold. Structurally, it’s mad. But hey, mad can be good, right?

Shades of Billy Joel’s My Life on the melody on the verse (which bit you ask!). It’s there if you know that song. Also, shades of Sam Ryder with the rock vibe on the chorus. Overall, not so much of a hot mess as I first thought. The girls can deffo sing, and performance will be key. Currently sitting at 11^th in the betting odds. Their interview with Graham Norton was really good – and they come across as a nice girl group (it’s on iPlayer if you missed it).

I have figured out that it reminds me of Girls Aloud’s Biology. Now * that * is a bonkers song, but it’s brilliant…

When all is said at done at the weekend, will it be Remember Monday, or forgotten by Tuesday? Time will tell…

**

07  Greece Asteromata – Klavdia

This is Greece’s musical Ronseal. They are staying in their lane – reassuringly so – and are doing pretty much what they say on the tin most years. They have sent this song to the ESC in previous versions, but I’m not mad at that as I’m glad to be transported to Greece metaphorically once a year…

08  Lithuania Tavo akys – Katarsis

Gosh, there’s not much rock in the Contest this year, so this will come as a welcome change of pace. Nothing else sounds like it, and with the grunge stylings it will have an audience…

09  Malta Serving – Miriana Conte

Australia might be able to get away with a song with milk innuendos. Malta’s song as performed at the national final didn’t make it to the ESC. At the national final, Miriana’s song was called Kant. No giggling at the back, let’s be grown up about this. The word kant in Maltese means singing. Fine, what’s wrong with that? Well, erm, you be the judge…

Yeah, the milk man is one thing, but to those unfamiliar with the Maltese language, people will not think Miriana is serving singing. So yes, it’s equally as juvenile as the Australian song, and probably as clever as it is imprudent. I gotta say though, in that version (I downloaded it months ago) it’s an infectious bop.

So, Kant got canned. The fans have other plans in the arena, apparently, but bless them – the EBU will overlay the audio so we don’t get served Kant at home. Deffo going through. I’m sure the pre-Eurovision version gets more plays and downloads. In the meantime on stage Miriana is simply Serving… with a whole load of body positivivy…

10  Georgia Freedom – Mariam Shengelia

Another switcheroo of a song, with a change of tempo between verse and chorus, and also a language change at the midway point. This song is giving emotional vocals, choral vibes, and unlike Montenegro, this actually builds to a crescendo on the chorus. I like it. Let’s see how it’s staged…

**

France maman – Louane

The next of the ‘Big 6’ is a lovely chanson song by chanteuse Louane. Fabulous vocals and one of the best ballads (the best?), I’d say. France’s entry last year sung by Slimane, Mon Amour, was a special moment. If this is staged as it should be, it could be another top ten, maybe even top five finish. I have to say that the ‘Big 6’ have all pulled it out of the bag this year. Maybe they should all sing in a native language every year! 😀

11  Denmark Hallucination – Sissal

We’re back in the generic pop banger zone. Snacks and nibbles may be calling. It’s pretty much underscored with what sounds like Loreen’s Tattoo. As RuPaul’s Drag Gace UK alumnus Tace would say…

Does someone need to call a lawyer? 😀

12  Czechia Kiss Kiss Goodbye – ADONXS

I think this is the best entry from Czechia in * years *. I hope it’s staged as dramatically as the song sounds. It’s in the top ten of the betting odds, so peeps must be liking what they see ands hear. Although it’s another song that is adjacent to The Code…

13  Luxembourg La Poupée Monte Le Son – Laura Thorn

Luxemboug return with some Poupée as they did when they won in 1965 with Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son, sung by France Gall. Like her, Laura is serving energetic, youthful vibes in a frothy pop number…

Any excuse for a Eurovision classic (written by Serge Gainsbourg)…

Btw, when it won it was seen as the modernising of the ESC, after years of swooning, crooning, chanteuse-ing and generally music for mums and dads.

14  Israel New Day Will Rise – Yuval Raphael

One of the best ballads in the Contest this year. Seemingly in denial of the geopolitics playing out beyond the Eurovision bubble, a song with saccharin lyrics like this I can’t get on board with…

**

‘Big 6’ time again…

Germany  Baller – Abor & Tynna

We’re back in the pop Tardis with more retro vibes. Techno vibes, pulsating rhythms and more fiddling. Love it (yes, I’m a pop boy!). Germany tends to occupy the bottom five fairly regularly, so I hope an army of people of a certain age lift it higher than that.

15  Serbia Mila – Princ

(I want to add an E to his name!)

As with the Greek entry, this is reassuringly Serbian. I know my bestie Rachel will be all over this. Coming towards the end of SF2, and pretty much standing out from any other male vocalist in this anthemic oeuvre, I hope Princ without and E gets through…

16  Finland Ich komme – Erika Vikman

And finally, the last song of this semi-final. Or as the Finns would say, Ja lopuksi semifinaalin viimeinen kappale. I know, right!

As we started this semi-final with some (in my view) juvenile shenanigans from Australia, there’s similar to follow from Finland. It feels like, post Käärijä, this is Finland’s tactic – seemingly provocative and risqué with a bit of a banger of a song, which it is. At the national final (which she won by a landslide), Erika straddled a canon whilst singing Ich komme. Classy. 

Finland have been asked by the EBU to tone down the suggestive nature of the performance. Let’s see how that shakes down. The song will bring down the house, I’m sure. Sailing through to the final…

So, my fave five songs from this semi are…

Austria

Ireland

Germany

Latvia

Malta

How about you? Where will your votes go?

Enjoy the second semi-final tonight. I’ll be back tomoz with my take on all the action. ‘Citing!

Toodles,

😀

xx

Our Swiss hosts wasted no time in making that point, announcing the Contest as a welcome home party. I hadn’t thought of it like that, but I guess it is. I know I mentioned yesterday that there wouldn’t be much faffing at the start of the show, but there was! The duo of presenters settled into their stride as the show went on, and their script was actually very funny in places. It did make me laugh that presenter Sandra looked like a highlighter pen, with the colour of her outfit in vivid yellow.

As Rylan Clark said during his BBC commentary last night, “It’s the best time of the year”. And yes Rylan, it really is!

What a great first semi-final last night. A tough call to whittle the songs down from fifteen to ten, I’d say. Some of the faves didn’t make the cut, which goes to show the strength of the field this year. Did your faves make it to the Gand Final?

Out of my fave five, only Azerbaijan didn’t make it through. Pity, but the song will stay on my playlist as it’s still groovy for me.

Overall, most of the songs seemed to be enhanced by the staging, or it matched the songs. There were a few dubious performances. Red Seb from Belgium, well fancied by many before last night, was very poor vocally when singing in his lower register. And I love me a theme, but it really was all a bit too red. Surprised to see it go out last night, but actually with that vocal, there’s a reason why.

Clearly some of the retro vibes were not resonating with the voters last night (Belgium, Azerbaijan), but how fab was the styling and staging from Ukraine. I loved the filter on the camera and the vibe of the lead singer (and band as a whole). Their performance was delightful.

There were some songs where it really didn’t look (sound) like the singer was doing the heavy lifting, vocally. That’s the thing with backing vocals now allowed on the backing track, some of the effort can be supported by the pre-recorded vocals.

Brian and I were in tears by the end of Slovenia. I know, we’re big softies, but it was proper moving, right? As I feared, the draw probably didn’t help, and actually, despite effective staging, it really is a bit of a buzzkill lyrically in some ways.

I was disappointed with Estonia. I thought the vocal was a bit thin, and don’t get me started on the beyond Trump sized red tie. What’s that about? Rather odd staging (I really didn’t get it), but Tommy is a huge personality on social media, so no doubt that helped him through.

Spain gave us the diva vibes that we were expecting, although with shades of a Home and Bargain Beyoncé. Fun though, but she ain’t no Chanel from 2022.

Ukraine continues their run of qualifying for every ESC they have competed in. The lead singer reminds me of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s alum, Scarlett Harlett. 😀

Sweden nailed it, as expected.

Slightly surprised that Norway got though, but then the young chap will have his fans and audience.

Italy’s singer was very much channelling David Bowie Ziggy Stardust vibes, with the nice interplay with the guitarist – a bit like Bowie and his guitarist Mick Ronson used to do. Nice touch there.

San Marino (yay, it got through) was very much lads, lads, lads, lager, lager, lager vibes.

The Netherlands used close camera work very effectively, I thought. I like it when performances in the arena are tilted to the telly viewers. Not much fun for those in the arena, like. Switzerland took a similar approach.

As I mentioned the other day, Croatia will not scale the giddy heights of the runners-up position as they did last year. They crashed out.

I am surprised that Cyprus went out, as they were being favourably received. Maybe too much faffing on stage with the building blocks? And it just goes to show that a handsome chap cannot always guarantee success…

Céline Dion made an appearance on video tape. Hopefully that’s just a teaser and she will show up in the Grand Final? We’ll see.

And what else did we learn from the first semi-final?

The stage is massive and very versatile…

Poland have sent a young Michelle Visage lookalike…

The interval act with the presenters was a bit cringe, until Petra Mede saved the day…

Lots of male performers were clearly channelling Harry Style fashion vibes…

The cover version of Céline’s Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi was dreadful… 

The split screen results of the voting worked really well (if a little confusing as a country could only be shown three times)…

Chief supervisor Martin Osterdahl has been banished from the arena and was sitting in what looked like the stationary cupboard (probably for his own good after the booing he had to endure last year)…

The hosts were highly likeable, and well done to Hazel Brugger for clearly filling time in the green room segment by freestyling and going off script – something must have been happening behind the scenes…

So, that’s my view on last night. 

On Thursday morning I will post my preview of the second-semi final, so check that out ahead of the semi-final tomorrow night.

Until then, continua a goderti la settimana dell Eurovision…

😀

xx

Just a quick post before the first semi-final tonight at 8pm UK time.

Watch out for a change in how the results are delivered at the end of the show, to see who has made it to the Grand Final. You will remember that in the past the ten countries were read out at random, and that was that. This year there will be split screen action, three countries at a time, with one selected as a finalist. They keep repeating this with the various combinations of countries until we have the magic 10. I like it when the EBU tweak the format – it keeps us on our toes and will make for better telly. I guess when it’s split screen we can shout at the screen which county we want to get through (like we have always done!).

Do you remember when the EBU changed the sequencing of the final public vote from least votes to most votes after the professional juries? It was all a bit weird the first time they did that, but looking at old Contests now, delivering the votes the old way is quite long winded. 

Let’s see what we think of this change tonight…

No change at the top of the bookies betting odds. Sweden and Austria locked-in for first and second. Belgium on the rise, France falling back, Switzerland on the rise, the UK pretty static in twelfth place. It would be nice to be on the left hand side of the leaderboard in the final. Apparently the staging is a little underwhelming? We’ll see on Thursday when the UK take part in the second semi-final.

Geopolitcs is playing out on the fringes of the Contest, you’ll know why. Let’s hope for good vibes and good times for these semi-finals and, as is usually the case, we’ll have a cracking Grand Final on Saturday.

Tonight the broadcast will be straight down to business, so not too much faffing at the start of the broadcast. I always find the bloomin’ flag ceremony at the Grand Final a bit of a chore. There were promises last year that the producers were going to cut the airtime down. It still topped out at over four hours, which is far too long.

Anyhow, we’ve got two hours and twenty minutes of Eurovision to escape to tonight.

Brian and I had out first gin and Fanta when he arrived last night (a Eurovision tradition of ours as regular readers might remember). We’ll be pouring a g ‘n’ t soon, and I’ve got some spicy Nik Naks and sour cream and chive pretzels for us to nibble on. Here are the receipts from two years ago 😀 …

Get your house in order with snacks and beverages and enjoy the evening. I will be back on Wednesday with a review of ‘what the hell just happened’ (thanks Remember Monday!).

Until then, passe une bonne nuit!

😀

xx

Preview of the first semi-final

HAPPY EUROVISION WEEK!

It’s finally here! Long anticipated by many, we’re one day away from the first semi-final.

Rehearsals began in Basel on what was our bank holiday weekend in the UK. In the first week there were technical rehearsals of the staging, lighting etc., with the use of stand-ins in place of the performers – who knew! Following that it was the turn of all the semi-finalists to do their rehearsals on stage in person over recent days. All culminating before the welcome ceremony on Sunday afternoon, on the turquoise carpet no less. If you missed the action, you can catch up via the link below…

From today it’s dress rehearsals and then we’re into the live action on Tuesday night.

This year the rehearsals have been held in private. For many years the eyes and the ears of fans (and others) were all over this stage of the preparations. Some comments were helpful and insightful, some bitchy and snipey. So, in a move to contain the coverage at this sensitive time for the performers, initially the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) released a review of each rehearsal, accompanied by three pictures.

What was hilarious is that some of the fan websites were critiquing the performances based on three photographs and a write up! Oh, the desperation to have something to say! I will have plenty to say once I’ve seen the semi-final on Tuesday.

That said, if you would like to preview all the performances the EBU have now posted lots of content and rehearsal footage via the ESC socials, webpage and YouTube. When I do my recaps on Wednesday and Friday I will have the full semi-final performances in my round-up.

With that in mind, here are my thoughts on the first crop of songs – what I think based on what I’m hearing and feeling (remember, I’ve not seen any performance footage yet). As always, there’s a smorgasbord of musical styles, tilting to styles of music we are already familiar with, and some, not so much. 

As I have said to you in the past, a Eurovision winner is a song you have never heard before that you already know…

We start this semi-final with two up-tempo songs…

01  Iceland  Róa – Væb

A bit of a bop to get us started. Brothers Hálfdán and Matthías Matthíasson are serving youthful energy and galactic silver style. Sung with gusto, interspersed with Celtic fiddles as well as chants of “Hey” to get us involved – and a key change. Even though it’s sung in Icelandic, there’s enough of a hook in terms of melody and rhythm. Good start…

02  Poland  Gaya – Justyna Steczkowska

More fiddling with the Polish song. Confident vocals with a thumping tempo and some nice harmonies. Maintains the vibe in the opening of this semi-final. I like it (btw, I like a lot of the songs this year!)…

03  Slovenia  How Much Time Do We Have Left – Klemen Slakonja

Oh gosh, early doors introspection from Slovenia! There are a few song titles this year asking the more philosophical questions of life (we’ll get to the UK later), and this is one of them. How Much Time Do We Have Left is a nice change of pace from the first two songs. I like the timbre of the vocals and the melody. The song feels like a little hug. I hope it doesn’t get forgotten in the running order, but it might. The lyrics are heartbreaking, and the storytelling of the song resonates if you listen to the song. It makes me want to have a little euro-weep. Scratch that, it makes me want to have what Oprah Winfrey calls the ‘ugly cry’. If the professional juries were voting I’d be more confident of it getting through, but they only contribute to the Grand Final. Fingers crossed, but it might be a bit of a buzz kill… 

04  Estonia  Espresso Macchiato – Tommy Cash

One of the early faves in the betting odds. It has drifted recently, but for me this is one of the first songs that hooked me in this year, and one of the best. There a quite a few songs this year that flip between major and minor keys, or changes of tempo and language. This is one of them. I love it. It’s a bonkers earworm. Clearly riding on Sabrina Carpenter’s fabulous Espresso from last year. Tommy sees that, and raises it to Macchiato level. I would say this is sailing through to the Grand Final. Hopefully Tommy’s signature style and luscious locks won’t be a hindrance…

**

As with last year, all of the automatic qualifiers (the ‘Big 6’) perform in the semi-finals. First up is…

Spain Esa Diva – Melody

Pretty much in the oeuvre of Spain when they go all hi-energy dance vibes on us. Singer Melody is serving us sass, with a catchy song including familiar flamenco flourishes. You can also hear a bit of Loreen’s Tattoo on Melody’s vocal stylings (Melody’s melody, if you like!). I am sure that she will be styled in some kind of gem stoned body suit with a bevvy of male backing dancers? If I was a betting man…

**

05  Ukraine  Bird of Pray – Ziferblat

A delightful groovy song (baby). Shades of Sweet Dreams My LA Ex in the guitar riffs. And for some reason I’m getting Jesus Christ Superstar in the backing vocals. The groove is a departure from what Ukraine would ordinarily send. It will do well, for reasons we would rather not have to take account of in the Eurovision bubble, but also because it’s a good pop song…

06  Sweden  Bara Bada Bastu – KAJ

Now then. Is this the ESC2025 winner in waiting? Well, it’s been number one in Sweden for the past 11 weeks, since it won the Swedish selection process, Melodifestivalen. It’s been favourite in the bookies betting odds since before it won Melodifestivalen (remembering that odds are based on where punters are putting their money).

Interesting to note that this is the first time since 1998 that Sweden will be singing in Swedish and not English. As of 1999 participating countries could sing in any language, prior to that it was only in their domestic tongue. Singing in Swedish doesn’t seem to have diminished the songs popularity. Why? Because it’s joyous, fun, a bit giddy and an earworm of a song – something we can all sing along with even though we don’t understand Swedish (us non-Swedes!).

It goes off script from what Swedeen would usually send – perfectly crated mainstream pop. This is perfectly crafted, but with the musical stylings of dansband in the mix it feels fresh and fun. And the song is one that, once you’ve got the hook, it’s easy to sing along with.

Oh, and – what’s that you say? Why is this blog post titled Finns can only get better? Well, that’s because the group KAJ are Finnish, so the Finns are doubling-up this year. KAJ seem on for the win and deffo top three in the Grand Final. It’ll be interesting to see what the professional juries make of it. See what you think…

07  Portugal Deslocado – NAPA

Mid-tempo guitar vibes from Portugal. Nice melody, with shades of The Beatles and Elton John to my ear. If it gets to the Grand Final, I am sure it will be popular with the professional juries. The first Portuguese song to catch my ear in quite a few years…

08  Norway Lighter – Kyle Alessandro

An up-tempo pop song that you have heard before. It breaks down the tempo over the bridge. It’s OK, if a bit generic. Performance will be key. I hope they tweak the national final staging, I’m guessing they won’t. Maybe one to refill the snacks and beverage to…

09  Belgium Strobe Lights – Red Sebastian

He’s not just any Sebastian, he’s Red Sebastian. 😀 

This is a europop banger. Over the recent past, Belgium has a habit of sending heavily inspired retro sounding songs (think Gustaph in Liverpool in 2023 with the 90s-tastic Because of You). Red Seb is giving us techno vibes on a plate, allowing those of us of a certain age to enter the Eurovision Tardis. File this under “this sounds a bit like 2Unlimited’s ‘No Limits’”. We have at least one of these songs every year. Consistently in the top ten betting odds, sure to make the final…

**

And so to the second of the ’Big 6’…

Italy Volevo essere un duro – Lucio Corsi

Aah, another song that is a hug in the form of a song. Very much in the oeuvre of what Italy send to the ESC, and a style with which they consistently do well.

BTW, songs representing Italy @ ESC ordinarily have a route though the San Remo Music Festival. Each year the winner is invited to represent Italy. As with other countries over the years, some performers decline the opportunity to represent their country (which happened in Germany a few years back). And so it was this year that the winner of San Remo, singer Olli, declined to take the invitation. Unsurprisingly, when offered to runner-up, Lucio Corsi, the invitation was accepted – like you would!

For me it’s adjacent to the vibe of Portugal, but I like that too. I’m sure the professional juries will lap it up. And be sure to not judge a book by its cover, right…

**

10  Azerbaijan Run With U – Mamagama

Ooh yeah. We’re back in the groove again. Love it. Deffo vibes from Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, and playing with falsetto on the vocal is effective. A few years back Azerbaijan hit the ground running when they debuted at ESC2008. A run of good results – and winning ESC2011 – has tailed off in recent years. Let’s see if they can reach their first Grand Final since 2022…

11  San Marino Tutta L’Italia – Gabry Ponte

Keeping the good vibes coming, this song is adjacent to Sweden’s Bara Bada Bastu, in that there’s more chanting for us to get involved with, and more ‘speaking-singing’. Accordions in the mix on this one? It’s catchy, and I’d like to see it get though. It might get cancelled out by Sweden. Good job San Marino, it’s been hit and miss in the past. More of a hit for me this year…

12  Albania Zjerm – Shkodra Elektronike

I often like the musical stylings of Albania, so it’s no surprise that I like this song. Very much staying in their lane. I love the orchestration and the lyrical hook of ‘Aman, miserere, Aman, miserere’, and the interplay of the female and male vocalists. It’s another song overlapping with another song – Poland this time. Looking at the ESC history books, Albania get through every other year, so if that’s the case, they should get though this year…

13  The Netherlands C’est La Vie – Claude

Don’t be fooled by the balladeering at the start of the song. Forty-four seconds in it’s * boom * – a pop banger! This is so going through and a possible top five finish in the Grand Final. Deffo top ten. A brilliant year for The Netherlands, for sure… 

14  Croatia Poison Cake – Marko Bošnjak

There are often highs @ ESC, followed by lows. In other words, success or relative failure. The UK had it between 2022 and 2023, for example. Sam Ryder finished in second place in 2022, followed by Mae Muller in 25^th place in 2023. France finished in second place in 2021, and then 24^th in 2022. Etc, etc.

Last year Croatia were runners-up with the rather shouty (and Käärijä adjacent) Rim Tim Tagi Dim. Good result, almost won. This year they offer us Poison Cake. Feel good vibes all around, erm!? I feel they may well feel the lows rather than the highs this year. It’s not a terrible song – I like the nursery rhyme vocal interludes – but it’s not as catchy as Marko was last year…

**

Back with the ‘Big 6’, it’s the turn of our hosts…

Switzerland Voyage – Zoë Më

Another song in the form of a hug. Ethereal melodies and breathless vocals give the song a certain coquettish-ness. It’s a lovely break from a run of uptempo bangers. Let’s see where it sits in the Grand Final. Well done, Switzerland – the host country has done good.  

**

15  Cyprus Shh – Theo Eva

The last song of this semi-final, and all talk is that this performance – like Bambi Thug last year – has had a bit of a ‘glow up’ since the national final (thanks Brian!). Ooh, the intrigue!

We’ve heard this song in previous contests, and in other songs. This time we are absolutely channelling the brilliant Insomnia by Faithless. Love it just for that. On the one hand this is generic recycled pop, but by this stage in the semi, we will all be warmed-up (possibly imbibed!) and ready to rave it up 2005 stylee. Yes, it really is twenty years ago since Insomnia was released – strewth!

Going though for sure…

**

So, that’s my take on the first semi-final songs. It’s a good year, right? Even if there’s something familiar, there’s always something new. I don’t do predictions anymore, but as I type, my favourite songs – nothing to do with the competitive aspect – are…

Azerbaijan

Estonia

Sweden

The Netherlands

San Remo

Let’s see how they all translate when they take to the stage on Tuesday evening.

How about you? Is your favourite song in this semi? Have we heard the winner yet?

As I said earlier in this post, there is plenty of official coverage over the eurovision.tv socials and webpage to keep you updated on what’s occurring in Basel (pronounced Baa-zel, btw).

I will be back on Tuesday to assist with snack and beverage selection. Click back then.

Ci vediamo allora!

😀

xx

Bonjour, vilkomen, ciao and welcome to my Eurovision Song Contest blog for 2025!

I can’t quite believe that it’s just over a year since I last blogged with you and shared my thoughts, feelings and memories on all things Eurovision. Longtime readers will know that I’ve been doing this blog for Edge Hill University since I first attended the Contest in the host city of Belgrade in Serbia, way back in 2008. Back then, and over several years, I travelled to the host countries. These days (and this year), I’m watching from home with drinks and nibbles to hand.

Welcome to any new readers. Hopefully I can add a little something to your Eurovision experience in 2025. 

This year we head to Basel in Switzerland, following Nemo’s win with their song The Code in Stockholm last year.

There are 37 participating countries this year, which includes the ‘Big 6’ who are automatically qualified for the Grand Final. This means that in each of the two semi-finals, ten songs from each will join France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and hosts Switzerland to contest for the crown this year. 

The semi-finals are on Tuesday 13 May and Thursday 15 May, with the Grand Final on Saturday 17 May. In the UK, all television broadcasts are via BBC1 and BBC iPlayer, as well as the live feeds from eurovision.tv.

I feel slightly more prepared this year, as the Contest is happening a week later, and I’ve been listening to the songs and doing my Eurovision homework. As with the last couple of years, I won’t see any performance footage until the live television broadcasts. What sounds good now might look and sound lousy on the night, as much as what sounds pants now might look brilliant and therefore sounds better. Let’s see! 

What’s great about the ESC every year is as Terry Wogan used to say, it’s “the great unpredictability of it all”. Whether that’s your favourite song winning – or not, or a song coming from nowhere and surprising everyone and upsetting the betting odds.

Sweden have been locked-in as favourites to win for months now. If they win this year, they will have won eight Contests and that would take them clear of the joint seven victories they have, along with Ireland. More on their potential/probable success on the blog in the days ahead…

**

So, all eyes turn to Switzerland as the host Country for ESC2025. Eurovision really is the history book on the shelf that’s always repeating itself, in some ways. Switzerland hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, in Lugano. Not only that, but they also won the first Eurovision Song Contest with the song Refrain, sung by Lyss Assia.

Aah, the beautiful chanson stylings of the mid 1950s. As I say to my students when I’m teaching ESC related lectures, when we look at archive footage, this was the pop music of the day, even if it looks and sounds a bit old fashioned now.

I had an encounter with Lyss Assia at the Grand Final of my first Eurovision in Belgrade in 2008. For whatever reason, before she went on stage to do a link with the presenters, she was standing in the aisle next to my seat. Seemingly abandoned by whoever was looking after her, with them perhaps not realising who she was. Leaving a Eurovision legend standing in the aisle seemed a little impolite, so my friend Milija offered her his seat. And so it was that for a few minutes I was sitting next to, and chatting to, Eurovision royalty. I so totally wanted to take a selfie! I thought better of it. I’ve got the memory of chatting to the first winner of the thing that I care so deeply about – that’s the ESC, not Lyss Assia! It’s a special memory that always makes me smile… and because the producers left her standing in the aisle!

I have another story about being in a queue my dear friend Ruxandra at a conference behind Jürgen Habermas. But that’s for another day…

My earliest memory of the ESC is when Brotherhood of Man won in 1976 with Save Your Kisses For Me. At the time I was five years old. For many of us, our earliest ESC memories are from watching with family, and so it was for me.

People often ask me when Eurovision took a proper hold on me. Well, it was ESC1988 and the climax of the voting (see below). With one jury left to vote, the United Kingdom were five points ahead of Switzerland. If we got eight points or more the UK would win, anything less…

https://youtu.be/OKbWsaQb11w?feature=shared

Céline Dion won the Contest for Switzerland for the first time since 1956, pipping the UK’s Scott Fitzgerald by ONE POINT – quelle dommage! 

Céline was a largely unknown (beyond Canada and French speaking territories) French Quebec singer. And now she is unquestionably one of the greatest female vocalists of all time. Blimey, you can hear her pipes in this vocal in 1988 – just brilliant, although the less said about the outfit the better 😀 …

Why we ever forgave her… well yeah, that voice will forgive anything! And I’m team Céline all the way, but maybe not that night or the day after!

Fast forward to 2024 and Switzerland won for the third time. For both performance and vocal it was a deserving winner on the night – although I can’t say it’s been a song I have listened to much since…

Kudos to Nemo for bringing the ESC back to Switzerland for 2025!

(this was the confirmation of Basel as host last year)

As always, we’re in for a treat for the eye and the ear, and the staging is looking fabulous…

There is lots for me to guide you through over the next few days here on the blog, but in the meantime you can get your euro-party started with…

The non-stop Euovision playlist

and

The Winner’s playlist

Plenty for us to look back on and look forward to as the blog is back for all things ESC2025!

Thanks for reading along (again). I will be back on Monday with my preview of the first semi-final which takes place on Tuesday 13 May at 8pm on BBC1 (UK time).

In the meantime – on y va!

😀

xx

Phil Jackson’s Eurovision Song Contest blog will be relaunched on Friday 09 May 2025!

Check back then and with daily updates during Eurovision week, starting Monday 12 May, through Sunday 18 May.

Let’s get our Eurovision Party started! 😀

xx

What a brilliant show last night, as the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest reached its conclusion.

We’re off to Switzerland next year, after their well-deserved win. As with last year, the winning song was the favourite with the national juries but not the public televote. I don’t have a problem with that (as I said on the blog last year), the combination gave Switzerland a clear win.

As Graham Norton said in his commentary, how Nemo managed to deliver that vocal whilst doing all the balancing and acrobatics was amazing. Vocal and core strength was a winning combination.

SVT did another brilliant job curating the grand final. The presenters continued to shine (in the main), and there were brilliant interval acts once again. What has been noticeable is that SVT has celebrated Swedish music and in effect made a show for their domestic audience (much like at Melodifestivalen, obviously). Even the flag parade at the start was made bearable by a brilliant Swedish mixtape underscoring the arrival of the finalists on stage. 

I was delighted to see Alcazar on stage – one of my favourite pop acts. I went to their farewell tour in Göteborg (Gothenburg) in 2018 – hopefully a reunion is on the cards. The swedes do like to take the micky out of themselves, and the way Petra dispatched Alcazar was hilarious. They are pop royalty in Sweden, but they didn’t mind being the butt of the joke.

So we were teased with Abba, and then we got the Abbatars. A nice touch, but not what we were all hoping for. Then again, them not appearing in the arena just adds to their mystique in some ways.

Conchita, Carola and Charlotte did a nice cover of Waterloo, without out-diva-ing each other.

I mentioned booing on my last post, and there was some last night – most notably for Martin Österdahl. He certainly wasn’t comfortable with that, and his usual swagger when giving the ‘good to go’ green light was replaced by a rather hurried handover. Peeps not happy that The Netherlands were excluded. There will be ramifications for the EBU to deal with, and I am sure that will play out over the coming weeks and months.

The musical homage to Martin from Sarah Dawn Finer’s Lynda Woodruff was genius… ‘when he licks his lips and says you’re good to go’. 😀 

The televoting sequence was certainly surprising and dramatic. Poor Olly Alexander getting the dreaded nul points was devastating. I’ve seen pictures of him today smiling and seemingly positive. The UK finished 18^th, which was a marked improvement on last year, with a staging that was a bit provocative. Clearly the jockstraps were not to everyone’s taste?! 

Delighted that Ireland had such a good result. It really is an OMG performance. Hefty scores went to some countries – perhaps unsurprisingly. A few raised eyebrows about some of the douze points from the juries. And didn’t Joanna Lumley do an ab fab job delivering the UK jury vote. Patsy Stone vibes all the way. 

I think the whole week has been absolutely fabulous. I like it when Sweden host as they know better than any country (I would say) what works and what to do. So much drama, but also lots of nostalgia to remind us why we love this Contest. Let’s hope Switzerland do as well as Sweden next year.

If I blog again next year, maybe you’ll join me?

Hejdå från mig! 😀

(goodbye from me)

xx

Happy Eurovision Grand Final Day!

Yesterday, we thought we had our running order for the grand final. Well, we did – until today. There were news stories circulating yesterday about something going on with The Netherlands, as they did not participate in the dress rehearsal on Friday afternoon. For the Jury Final last night, a recording of their previous performance was shown as part of the show, with Joost again not taking part.

Today it has been announced that the EBU have withdrawn The Netherlands from the Contest. So Joost it toast. This is (I think) an unprecedented move by the EBU. In the past they have withdrawn songs and countries before the Contest, but never during. I might be wrong, but this is certainly fanning the flames in Malmö. 

Who knows what will happen tonight, with talk of countries boycotting for various reasons, and hostile crowd reactions during the dress rehearsals. 

When Brian and I were in the arena for the grand final of ESC2015, in Vienna, the crowd were extremely hostile to the Russian singer following her performance and during the voting sequence. It was really quite unpleasant.

When I returned home to watch the Contest I expected to hear this disquiet in the crowd. And yet I didn’t. The audio feed had clearly been tweaked for broadcast, effectively disguising the boos. So tonight there will be no sign of the booing in the arena for us watching at home/elsewhere.  Manipulation of this kind feels a bit shady, but on the other hand it’s perhaps good that it can be tweaked so as to not give bias for or against any act.

A reminder of (minus The Netherlands) the running order tonight…

Looking at the running order, the producers have once again sequenced the songs in a way so as to not have a run of ballad after ballad, and pop followed by more pop. Also, don’t forget that songs are sequenced around the commercial breaks that will be happening in some countries.

The host nation Sweden will get things going tonight. It is rare for host countries to open the show, but M&M will get a home town roar (even though they are from Norway!) that will get our Eurovision party started.

Ukraine is killed off from second in the running order – no country has ever won from there. 

Spain, followed by Estonia, who are followed by Ireland, is a good run of songs. That’s a good position in the draw for Bambie Thug. It has been rising in the betting odds, and is currently in the top five.

Greece followed by the UK is a good setup for Ollie. I hope he does well tonight, as his genuine excitement that he is taking part is highly infectious And if you have watched the documentary about his rehearsals on iPlayer, I think he deserves to.

The much fancied Croatia and Switzerland are in the final six songs in the running order. This is also good for them.

And I think the final song from Austria will be boosted from France’s amazing climax and crowds reaction to it, which precedes it.

Tonight the smorgasbord is really tasty, and as I have said all week, there is something for everyone. Speaking of tasty, there are also quite a few songs when watching from home where I will be topping up our drinks and snacks. You can’t do that in the arena! 😀

So wherever you are enjoying the ESC tonight, I am with you and sending you lots of Eurovision positivity – I think we should all be doing that this year, as we have in the last couple of years.

Being united by our love of Eurovision is a lovely thing, and I have enjoyed reviewing and commenting again this year. I hope the songs you love make you proud tonight.

I will be back for one last review on Sunday, when we will have a new winning song, and a new host country to visit via the telly next year. And we might have enjoyed some surprises (ooooh!)…

Ha en fantastisk show! 😀

(have a fantastic show)

xx

The fun times continued in Malmö arena last night, with Petra and Malin guiding us through the proceedings effortlessly. What did you think of the songs? I found it a bit of a slog!

I think that was because the first semi-final had a number of songs that had everyone talking (UK, Ireland, Croatia). Last night felt a bit flat – although it was still brilliant telly. By the time we got to the voting reveal I wasn’t particularly invested in many of the songs that got through – although the main ones that needed to did. Watching with Brian and Ellen in Liverpool, we were all surprised by Latvia getting through. Not my work wife Claire Parkinson, who was very happy that it did.

Petra and Malin opened proceedings with a genius comedic interpretation of Loreen’s Tattoo. As with Tuesday night, the script throughout was spot on and cringe moments were again once avoided. The script for both semi-finals has been imbued with togetherness and coming together. And we know why that is…

For one of the interval acts, another great line-up of Eurovision alum/turns included Helena Paparizou, Charlotte Perrelli and Sertab Erener. They served us Eurovision girl power with (finally!) some wind machine action!

The public vote winner from last year, Cha Cha Cha was reprised, with Käärijä showing that the songs leaning into it this year are poor imitations when it comes to that staging.

Petra’s musical interlude, We Just Love Eurovision Too Much, was perhaps a bit of a thin parody of their participation compared to the amazing Love, Love, Peace, Peace that she performed with Måns Zelmerlöw back in 2016.

The singalong was highly entertaining. We were singing along in Liverpool, I’m sure you were too!

So what did we learn in the second semi-final?

Who knew that this year is the 50^th anniversary of Greece participating in ESC? Opa!

Both semi-finals have had an in-memoriam sequence…

Spain doing schlager is fun and unexpected…

Eurovision in the round is brilliant…

And a few observations about the performances…

Switzerland was as good, if not better than Croatia. And like the UK’s staging, core strength is needed…

France started off slowly, but the moment Slimane stepped back from the microphone and continued to belt out the song, it was amazing. As was the reaction of the audience in the arena…

The staging for Chechia was poor, and took away rather than adding to the song – it was always going to be difficult coming after Switzerland…

The staging for Italy was also poor and detracted from the song. The fact that it is drifting in the betting odds is no surprise…

The staging for San Remo lifted the song with Bambi Disney Thug vibes…

The jollity that is the Armenian entry woke things up (the semi was dragging!)…

The vocal for Estonia was very pitchy, but connected with enthusiastic staging…

That poignant moment at the end of The Netherlands had us dewy-eyed (no, you’re crying)…

After the reveal of the ten songs going through to the grand final, there were even more nostalgia vibes – which has been more noticeable this year. The show ended with Sweden’s winner from 1984 – Herreys performing their classic song Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley. All rather brilliant, with men of a certain age now in their golden shoes (not boots) in 2024.

In the early hours of Friday moring, the ESC producers revealed the running order for the grand final…

(source: EBU)

I will review it on my Saturday blog post, so do check in with me again before the grand final at 8pm in the UK on BBC1 and iPlayer.

Who on earth will the producers drag out for the grand final? Something big is promised, and this year is the 50^th anniversary of Abba’s victory with Waterloo. Surely it can’t be Ab…

Drömmar kan gå i uppfyllelse! 😀

(dreams can come true)

xx