After five months of qualifications and drama and after a week with the sparkling and dramatic semi finals we are now at the threshold of the grand final of Eurovision. Let there be light, let there be night.
The juries were back in semi finals, splitting the vote 50/50 with televotes, for the first time since 2022. Why, one can wonder? During the three years that have passed without them, there have still been a diverse and fair distribution of final tickets, across countries and genres. Fears that ‘ballads will not qualify without juries’ have not come true at all.
On the contrary, we have had a few surprise qualifications because of strong vocal performances: Switzerland and Estonia 2023, Serbia and Latvia 2024 as well as more artistic performances as Latvia and Greece 2025. And on the other hand quite a few have missed out because of bad vocals or staging, no matter how popular their songs were before the contest: Georgia 2023, Poland, Denmark and Belgium 2024 and Belgium and Ireland 2025. So why this distrust against the public choices?
And what happens when the juries are back? Cyprus go to the final with remarkably weak vocals and Latvia and Switzerland are left out, with perfect performances. What’s the point with juries that don’t do their one job?
My own predictions went as usual, 8/10 in each semi final. That seems to be my destiny. We wave goodbye to the sweet men from Portugal, a mumbling Boy George from Malta, wonderful Atvara from Latvia and cool Veronica from Switzerland. Instead we wave in Belgium (nice surprise!), the silver man from Lithuania, Freddie Mercury from Norway (yayayay!) and… Cyprus. None of them will end up in the upper half though.
The finalists
(In order of my expected outcome.)
- Finland, Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin
Linda & Pete are the big favourite before the contest in odds and polls and they sure deliver. This is a duet between Pete’s voice and Linda’s violin and it is quite spectacular. If they win it will be totally righteous. In the end they are the only ones with potential to win the hearts of both juries and televoters. It is however not my personal number one. And no, Pete is not repeatedly singing “Sunset Boulevard”, but “saat mut palamaan, saan sust palan vaan”. It took me forever to realise that…
. - Australia, Delta Goodrem – Eclipse
One of the main challengers to Finland for the victory, according to odds and polls, but “Eclipse” never really caught me. It is simply too generic, like something Sweden would send. I like the piano part for a few seconds, Delta is a true professional and all that, but I fear that the juries will stand for about 80 percent of her points, with a ‘surprisingly’ low televote score. However, her popularity rose after the sparking show in the semi finals, so who knows?
. - Romania, Alexandra Căpitănescu – Choke Me
Alexandra has grown to a dark horse and will definitely be in top five. This is a dark but incredibly catchy and melodic metal song, with some impressive soprano notes delicately thrown in. Alexandra has the voice, but do the juries have the guts to premiere metal? They usually don’t…
. - Denmark, Søren Torpegaard Lund – Før vi går hjem
At first it looked too much like Olly Alexader (UK 2024) with sexy dancers in a box, but slowly the song hit me. It is suggestive and catchy – and, most important – in Danish! Before the semi finals I held it as a serious competitor for the win, but it seems like the glow has faded a bit the last couple of days. Still a top five contender – if Søren’s voice will hold.
. - Israel, Noam Bettan – Michelle
Israel take a step away from the last two years of dramatic ballads sung by young females. Now we see a young man sing a more passionate love song. To Michelle. It sounds a bit cheesy and basic at first, but it grows as Noam puts all his heart and raspy voice in it.
. - France, Monroe – Regarde!
If it’s one thing we know for sure in Eurovision it’s that France never win. Not since I was born, which was quite some years ago now. Monroe is the youngest artist in the competition with her 17 years. She is a true talent and her operatic voice is crystal clear. But the song is simply not it. It’s the same French ballad as always. And we have had quite enough of operatic winners lately. So… again, sorry France! I predict a high score from the juries – but a ‘shockingly’ low televote score on that.
. - Albania, Alis – Nân
Albania have always been one of my favourite countries in Eurovision, but the last two years they have taken it to a whole new level. Last year with the originality of “Zjerm” and now with this mighty and touching “Nân”, a tribute to Alis’ mother. Alis is one of the absolute best singers in the contest. He has been moving up the charts during the last week, but too slow to challenge for the win… He will probably (and unjust if so) be ignored by juries, but get his revenge from the televoters.
. - Croatia, Lelek – Andromeda
At first I was still a bit disappointed that Lelek were not given the chance last year with their amazing “The Soul of My Soul”, which ended up at fourth place in the national final Dora, but after a few rounds with “Andromeda” I was as hooked with this. This kind of strong ethnic trip to ancient culture is the pure reason why I’m so obsessed with Eurovision. In stark contrast to all the silly songs, generic pop and boring ballads. Pure power! My number one! Another one that will get more fair treatment from televoters than from the conservative juries, who usually hate ethnic vibes.
. - Greece, Akylas – Ferto
I have still not understood the hype around this. I get that Akylas is somewhat cute in his cat ears and furry boots and it’s a fun idea to stage it as an arcade game. But the song…? There is no chunky beat, no melody, just chanting “ferto” 74 times. An extra “T” for the ten slow seconds in the middle, but then it goes right down the drain again. He will make it to top ten out of pure popularity, but can (hopefully) not match the successes of Käärijä or Tommy Cash.
. - Czechia, Daniel Zizka – Crossroads
“Crossroads” was the song that took the longest for me to remember. That is a weakness when you only have three minutes to impress millions of people. Daniel is a true talent with a wonderful voice, but and his popularity rose after the semi final. Will he make it to top ten, with a little jury help?
. - Italy, Sal Da Vinci – Per Sempre Sì
This just reeks of classic Italian schlager. Retro, timeless or dated? Many seem to look at it as timeless. Sal Da Vinci actually had a couple of sour notes in the rehearsal clip, but he will straighten it out on the final night and the juries will probably reward him – because it’s Italy. A nude shock, a quite acrobatic dance number and a wedding take place on stage!
. - Bulgaria, Dara – Bangaranga
Welcome back Bulgaria, my favorite Eurovision country 2016-2021! But the comeback entry couldn’t be more of an anticlimax. It feels like three different songs randomly mixed into one, where the bridge actually is quite okay, but with a chorus where Dara repeats “bangara” or “bangaranga” 70 times, while dancing sitting on a chair. Then comes the worst dance break I have ever seen in Eurovision. Add to that the disturbing zombie painted dancers. Sorry, but this is actually my 35th out of 35 songs. But that’s just me. Dara is quite popular and rose further after the energy she delivered in the semi final.
. - Moldova, Satoshi – Viva, Moldova!
First, Moldova is one of my absolute favourite countries historically in Eurovision. I love the Moldovan ethno served by for example Nelly Ciobanu and Zdob si Zdub. But “Viva, Moldova!” is definitely not what I was hoping for. Yes, it’s party energy, but that’s it. The lyrics are embarrassing: What has “Palma de Mallorca” got to do with Moldova? Nevertheless, regardless of what I think, everything trends towards the upper half for Satoshi and his aerobics pass on stage.
. - Sweden, Felicia – My System
It’s not the highest item of innovation, but the beat of this song is surely impossible to get out of your system. And the “body part” line is just brilliantly catchy. Sweden will do well again. But we will definitely not win. And that’s okay. After the semi final and Felicia’s reported voice issues, I doubt that she will make it to top ten in this stiff competition. Denmark, Bulgaria and Moldova will probably steal the votes in this genre.
. - Poland, Alicja – Pray
Poland had a few great options in their national final, but settled for this mess of a composition. It starts as a gospel ballad, turns into rap and ends up in some boring rhythm and blues. Alicja, who should have represented Poland in the cancelled 2020 edition with “Empires”, does impress vocally, but please go back and finish the song writing!
. - Serbia, Lavina – Kraj Mene
Wow. A metal head as I am, I’m usually not that impressed with the harder rock in Eurovision, but this is pure art. Luka Aranđelović takes both theatrical appearance and harsh vocals to a new level for Eurovision. I really hope that conservative juries don’t put out this fire of originality, fire and desperation, as they did with Iceland’s Hatari in 2019 or Norway’s Gåte in 2024.
. - Ukraine, Leléka – Ridnym
Leléka not only (almost) share the name with Croatia’s Lelek, she also share the same concept with Eva Marija from Luxembourg. It is a smiling girl in beige who sings about nature and roots growing to trees. I hold “Ridnym” as the better of the two though, which was reflected in the outcome of the semi final. Ukraine always do well in televotes.
. - Malta – Aidan – Bella
Malta does Italy better than Italy this year with this retro Mediterranian ballad. It is a bit basic, but yet catchy enough to reach the final. But here it will disappear a bit in the competition, I’m afraid.
. - Norway, Jonas Lovv – Ya Ya Ya
Jonas is perhaps the most charismatic performer in the contest. He owns the stage, as a natural rock star – a mix between Freddie Mercury and Ralf Gyllenhammar. In a weak Melodi Grand Prix he was initially not mentioned as a favourite, but stood out as the clear winner in the end. Still “Ya Ya Ya” has had trouble to reach it’s audience in Europe. I’m glad he made it to the final, but here he will probably have to settle for the lower half of the scoreboard.
. - Lithuania, Lion Ceccah – Sólo Quiero Más
Lithuania and I continue to be on totally different planets in Eurovision. This theatrical silver man has a strong voice, but the song is a dark, depressive snooze fest. He also seemed nervous in the semi final and did a quite poor vocal performance. I’m really surprised that he made it to the final.
. - Belgium, Essyla – Dancing on the Ice
The last two years Belgium have been overhyped beforehand, only to crash on stage and miss the final. Now, it was the opposite. This simple dance pop has mostly flown under the radar, but it looked quite cool in the semi final, with quite spectacular staging. Yes Essyla still looks a bit uncomfortable and hasn’t got the strongest vocals out there, but the song is far better than it’s reputation!
.. - Cyprus, Antigoni – Jalla
Yes, it is catchy and happy ethno pop, that I once used to like so much. But that was 20-25 years ago now and it’s getting quite more of the same. Especially when you repeat “jalla, jalla, jalla” 70 times. No, I need more than this to get excited. Antigoni also did a poor vocal performance in the semi final and should not even have made it here, to be fair.
. - United Kingdom – Look Mum No Computer – Eins, Zwei, Drei
It is silly, it is funny, it is catchy. It is all that Greece attempt to be, but much better, and with a touch of 80s synth and British punk. Actually one of my most streamed Eurovision songs this season and the best from UK since Katrina & The Waves won in 1997. But will it succeed? No, of course not. It’s UK.
. - Germany, Sarah Engels – Fire
If it wasn’t for Bulgaria, Germany would have been clearly last in my list. This is the most generic girl bop you can ever imagine. A bleaker version of Georgia 2024, which was a bleaker version of Cyprus 2018, which was a bleaker version of Armenia 2008, which was a bleaker version of Turkey 2003… yeah you get it! We had better songs in this genre far down the scoreboard in national finals in Croatia, Montenegro and Malta this year.
. - Austria – Cosmó – Tanzschein
First I hated it, as a childish joke entry with a boy with a star in his face and dancers with silver masks portraying wild animals on stage. Then I thought it was rather cool, with a nice beat. Now I think he is a bit too inexperienced to deliver a stand out show.
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Watch the national final performances or all music videos on Youtube.
Listen to all songs on Spotify:
Too epic to be true – all entries in Eurovision Song Contest 2026