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…
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!).
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…
01IcelandRóa – 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…
02PolandGaya – 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!)…
03SloveniaHow 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…
04EstoniaEspresso 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…
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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…
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05UkraineBird 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…
06SwedenBara 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…
08NorwayLighter – 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…
09BelgiumStrobe 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…
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And so to the second of the ’Big 6’…
ItalyVolevo 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…
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10AzerbaijanRun 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…
11San MarinoTutta 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…
12AlbaniaZjerm – 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…
13The NetherlandsC’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…
14CroatiaPoison 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 25th place in 2023. France finished in second place in 2021, and then 24th 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…
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Back with the ‘Big 6’, it’s the turn of our hosts…
SwitzerlandVoyage – 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.
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15CyprusShh – 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…
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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.
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…
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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…
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).
