Iceland
This one’s grown on me a lot since first listen – it’s proper Scandinavian-style Europop, very E-Type actually. I love it! 10
Sweden
Yay, Sverige! A great song of course, but will it get lost among the divas of the night, and will too many people be put off by Hwarlot’s scary face? My mum thought she had had plastic surgery to look like a cat. 12
Turkey
There’s no place for this kind of rock music in Eurovision. It’s not even comedy rock. Go away, please, and make sure you take all your guitars and amps and similar rubbish along with you! 3
Ukraine
I didn’t think I cared either way about this one til I found myself continually bursting out with “Shady! Lady!” over the past few days. I don’t remember anything else, but I remember that I like it. 10
Lithuania
Forget Hwarlot’s face and Turkey’s seriosity, this is the scariest yet! He should get the job as the phantom of the opera, it would be quite convincing. 4
Albania
I do like the background picture here, it makes the stage as a whole look great. The song isn’t anything special, but it isn’t terrible either. I was surprised when it turned out to be a bit rocky when it got going, not just a formulaic ballad. 6
Switzerland
One for the mums here, certainly. Starts off as a ballad (very Idol winner-ish… but I never want to think of Idols again after American Idol this week), but gets quite good as it goes along. I actually quite enjoyed this. 9
Czech Republic
This could be a great pop song (like Nelly Furtado meets Steps), but it’s a mess. Listening to the radio edit now, I really like it, but her singing live was rubbish and the arrangement sounded awful. 8 (for the song)
Belarus
I was kind of impressed by this because I recall Belarus being very old-fashioned in past entries, and this is definitely a step forward in that sense. It’s not amazing but enjoyable enough, quite a catchy song. 7
Latvia
Yay, my favourites! It’s a joke song, but actually very catchy. I kept waking up last night with it in my head, in fact I’m going a bit mad with “hihiho and a hihihey”s. The best bit though is “we’re robbing you blind… I hope you don’t mind” – a bit polite for pirates! Again this is quite E-Type-esque, always a good thing, also reminding me of ace Dutch group Ch!pz. 12
Croatia
Kind of funny, but not any good, so the amusement was really irrelevant for me. I only like funny songs when they are catchy and jolly too. I expect it’ll do quite well though, as it’s quite traditional, despite its pretentions to being rap music. 3
Bulgaria
I didn’t think I liked this, but I found myself really enjoying it and had it in my head much later. The performance stood out, because they put a lot of effort in to make it interesting and the song was different to all the others. I don’t think it’s a recipe for success, as voters are generally quite conservative, but I enjoyed it at least. 9
Denmark
Finally my mum spots what this song reminds us off – Wombling Merry Christmas! The “all day long” bit is just the same. I’m not sure this arrogant-looking Chico-alike would be too pleased, but he probably doesn’t know the Wombles anyway. My mum still loves the song, and I think it’s alright, just not as good as the similar but far jollier Danish entry of 2005, Talking To You by Jacob Sveistrup. 8
Georgia
This is OK, not bad or good, but I’m more concerned about the dress change. It was amazingly quick, and especially impressive considering her blindness. 5
Hungary
This was very boring, and I don’t really remember anything of it except their was a female singer, who may have been wearing silver… but that may just be an educated guess as everyone else was. I could look it up on YouTube but I can’t quite be bothered. 4
Malta
I didn’t realise it before, but this is great! It’s got a bit more oomph than some of the other diva songs, as it’s more fun and therefore doesn’t come across as desperate, even though I know Malta are really very keen to do well in Eurovision. 10
Cyprus
She starts off dressed as a snow queen type of thing, then removes her coat to reveal an even more ridiculous outfit. Well, a horrible one anyway… but at least it’s not silver I suppose. The song is better than many, but not actually good at all. They shouldn’t be embarrassed, but they’ve no chance of winning. 4
FYR Macedonia
This isn’t too bad, but it simply can’t keep up with the other female singers in the competition this year. The chorus is kind of catchy, but the rap bits reek of trying too hard. 7
Portugal
Very boring – I can’t see why Paddy seems to have high expectations for it, apart from being the last song of the night. 3
The results came out, and I hadn’t made predictions but I was very excited to find that every single Scandinavian entry reaches the final this year! However, I was disappointed to not see Malta through. So, it’s the final tonight, I should make some predictions. I have no idea who will win, but those I expect to do well are:
Ukraine
Croatia
Russia
Latvia
Which means it will probably be someone else entirely who wins. Perhaps there’ll even be the shocker of a winner from the West. I can’t wait to see what happens!