This year's line-up is almost complete ... we're only still waiting for the songs from Cyprus, France, and Georgia.

Czechia 2025: Adonxs / "Kiss Kiss Goodbye"
Language: English

Israel 2025: Yuval Raphael / "New Day Will Rise"
Language: English, French & Hebrew

Portugal 2025: NAPA / "Deslocado"
Language: Portuguese

San Marino 2025: Gabry Ponte / "Tutta L'Italia"
Language: Italian

Switzerland 2025: Zoe Me / "Voyage"
Language: French

Ukraine 2025: Ziferblat / "Bird of Pray"
Language: English, Ukrainian

United Kingdom 2025: Remember Monday / "What the Hell Just Happened?"
Language: English

 

Talk about sore losers.... Several of the contestants here in Sweden this year have been complaining about Kaj's win. Some are saying they won't compete again because it's not about songs anymore but about spectacle, and there's even been some whining about the fact that the members of Kaj are from Finland.....    

Thankfully there has been some pushback from former contestants as well. And from what I understand Kaj actually received more votes from the public than Loreen did two years ago, when she set a new record. So it's clear that the Swedish public love this song and this performance.  

 

8 hours ago, Huntress said:

This year's line-up is almost complete ... we're only still waiting for the songs from Cyprus, France, and Georgia.

Czechia 2025: Adonxs / "Kiss Kiss Goodbye"
Language: English

Israel 2025: Yuval Raphael / "New Day Will Rise"
Language: English, French & Hebrew

Portugal 2025: NAPA / "Deslocado"
Language: Portuguese

San Marino 2025: Gabry Ponte / "Tutta L'Italia"
Language: Italian

Switzerland 2025: Zoe Me / "Voyage"
Language: French

Ukraine 2025: Ziferblat / "Bird of Pray"
Language: English, Ukrainian

United Kingdom 2025: Remember Monday / "What the Hell Just Happened?"
Language: English

 

Czechia: I liked this song almost all the way through. He's got a good voice, and the song has a Bond-like feel to it, but that dance break near the end almost ruined it.

Israel: Very similar to last year. A little too similar. But she has a good voice.

Portugal:    Oh dear.... moving on... quickly   

San Marino: This sounds better than it actually is, because Italian is such a beautiful language.

Switzerland:  ESC ballad, Formula 1A. Not bad, but boring. And just like with Czechia, that instrumental break near the end feels out of place.

Ukraine:  Umm.... no!

UK: I'm not overly fond of the tempo changes. I like the verses (even though, or maybe because, they remind me very much of Billy Joel's "My Life") but the slower chorus does nothing for me.

Why do thes female singer sound ailke so many ties. Listen to the first 30 seconds of the Israel entry and UK, and you'd think they were the same person. Same phrasing, same breathing, same tonal intonation. 

 

All 37 songs from this year's competition:

My current Top 10 before the rehearsals:

01 pt – Italy
02 pts – Germany
03 pts – Azerbaijan
04 pts – Luxembourg
05 pts – Finland
06 pts – The Netherlands
07 pts – Iceland
08 pts – France
10 pts – Sweden
12 pts – Denmark

The full versions of the three entries not yet posted:

Georgia

France

Cyprus

 

I think my top 5 favourites are (in no particular order): Sweden, Luxembourg, France, Denmark and Cyprus.

I wish that Cyprus had performed in their own language, then that would have been my outright favourite.

Rounding out my top 10 would be (again, no particular order): Spain, Greece, Italy, Serbia and Iceland.

 

First semifinal tonight, and here's a preview.... 

 

Through to the big final on Saturday:

Norway, Albania, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Estonia, Portugal and the Ukraine

Eliminated: 

Slovenia, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Cyprus

Portugal qualifying was the only shocker. I'm really happy for Iceland.

IMO, the automatic finalists – Spain, Switzerland and Italy – had the best performances.

I love the studio version of Azerbaijan, but on stage, it was a disaster.

Yes, Portugal qualifying was definitely a shock. I'm not crazy about the Ukrainian entry either, but that was always going to qualify for obvious reasons. 

I was a bit surprised that they had the video message from Cèline Dion already in the semifinal. I would have thought they would save that for the final on Saturday.

After watching the performances tonight I can't understand why Finland and Malta are seen as some of the favourites. Finland's song is not one of the best this year and I maintain that Miriana Conte who represents Malta is a poor singer. My guess is that it's because of the controversial nature of both these songs.

I'm not all that impressed with Austria either. But France on the other hand emerged as a big contender tonight. A beautiful song, a wonderful singer and fantastic staging.

Greece also had a spectacular stage show which definitely enhanced their chances.

I guess it's part nostalgia factor but I really want Luxembourg to go through to the final as well. I love the homage to France Gall and Laura Thorn sold the song very well. Much better than in the clip from the national final.

Yay for Luxembourg and Greece!   🥰   And I must say that Latvia's song is oddly magnetic. I think it deserves a place in the final.

I would much rather have seen Australia and Serbia in the final than Lithuania and Malta though.

 

ETA: Malta, Israel, Armenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Austria, Greece, Luxembourg, Denmark and Finland qualified for the final.

Australia, Serbia, Czechia, Georgia, Ireland and Montenegro eliminated.

Edited May 15May 15 by I Am A Swede

In the 2nd semi-final, I enjoyed Denmark and Luxembourg (plus France) the most. I was also positively surprised by Germany's performance, because usually our performances are ... well, lackluster, to put it nicely.

The one country I did not expect to qualify was Armenia, but yeah, the staging probably helped a lot, because the song itself is just noise in my ears. I thought Serbia would make it instead.

None of the Ex-Yugo countries made it to the Grand Final (first time since 2013), while all the Nordics and Baltics qualified.

Recap of the 2nd semi-final:

Edited May 16May 16 by Huntress