Eurovision Song Contest 2025 - Mod warning in the OP

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123207841#Comment_123207841

Yes, I saw this on Reddit earlier. San Marino has a chance for a very good result with this, but the panel who decides on San Marino's entry is prone to bad decisions and I can't see them sending this. I see this year's jury includes Ema Stokholma, the radio presenter who popped up a few times during Sanremo, and Federica Gentile, who was the rather spaced-out Italian spokesperson in 2013.

I must admit, I'd not heard of Gabry Ponte before, but it turns out he was a member of Eiffel 65 (da ba dee.)

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123208006#Comment_123208006

More televote fodder. We're heading for another jury landslide winner while the televote gets dispersed around the numerous unserious entries, and then everyone will complain again about why this keeps happening when the answer is staring them right in the face.

I really don't want another Måns win, but it's looking more and more likely, unless France pulls something special out of the bag.

Sparks43

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123208254#Comment_123208254

https://youtu.be/C3I6OhjdY_8

France is forming its Battalions this year.

This will be the last Loane song i post because otherwise it seems like i am biased and taking over the thread 😂

Seriously i do think France takes it this year

Libertine07

Please don't let us down France!

They've been sending very strong entries for a while now, so they're due a win.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123209082#Comment_123209082

I wasn't a fan of Mon Amour last year (particularly the microphone stunt) and considering the allegations now against Slimane, it's for the best he didn't win, but he finished 4th in televote (ahead of Nemo) and 2nd in jury (behind Nemo.) There were rumours he didn't give a great performance in the jury final, which cost him votes, but despite that he was still the jury runner-up. Had he performed better on Friday night, I think he'd have won.

George White

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123174443#Comment_123174443

Surprised Topo is still going.

Been a thing since the 50s. Had his own UKTV show in the 60s after appearances on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

yerwanthere123

Here's the Australian song as the links above no longer work

Australia

https://youtu.be/_08I6mjHSLA?si=yJ0ONU11ng6S2a2j

I like this, think it's an earworm. No idea how they stage it though

As far as I can see the new Italian song never actually got posted on the thread, so here it is

Italy

https://youtu.be/Bk8WsYLyVZc?si=0Ir6BMdDBkBs2euO

For some reason RAI have trimmed all the YouTube performance videos down to one minute, so here's the music video where you can hear the full thing

https://youtu.be/vkWEvDK45pE?si=yfW_dxfGF7Fu_nmM

Welsh Megaman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123206817#Comment_123206817

Breaking news…

EMMY will be performing ‘Laika Party’ during half-time of the Ireland-France match on March 8th.

A taster…

Welsh Megaman

Netherlands!

https://youtu.be/hEHwr5k9pd0?si=-ROrMpzWFmgo_n2_

Will always be difficult to top the majesty of ‘Europapa’ (which I still listen to on a daily basis - I’m not even joking!), but a decent song nonetheless. 🙂

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123217017#Comment_123217017

It's nice to finally hear a "serious" entry. I like it, but I fear it'll live or die by its staging with the televoters. If it makes the final, the juries will score it highly.

supereurope

The contest doesn't need a mascot. It's been tried before and didn't catch on. Third time lucky? Hopefully not.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/feb/27/the-love-child-of-mick-hucknall-and-crazy-frog-is-eurovisions-lumo-the-worst-mascot-ever?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawItylZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYAUdFrKBnScw671wFL3nL7U49gF4uRdVxg-6GIdV9JoEDHBMJLwEER1tw_aem_n8GHGcL-1o53uHyxYBWo9A#Echobox=1740668048

supereurope

It feels like national finals season this year has gone by in a flash, and I can't believe it's already the penultimate weekend of selection contests.

Serbia picks its entry tonight, with Denmark, Croatia and Germany coming up tomorrow night. Serbia and Denmark are both in Ireland's semi, so we'll find out two more rivals for Emmy. Two internally-selected songs will be revealed during the week as well, Austria and Czech Rep.

Still waiting on official news from the UK, though it seems the world and its dog knows it's going to be country girlband Remember Monday. I wonder why the BBC are dragging its heels so much on this, especially since it seems to be an open secret by now.

yerwanthere123

Serbia

https://youtu.be/t4IptfDeZIw?si=mgm4yhp9ptRh9P2V

Honestly, it's not doing much for me. It'll probably sneak into the final and finish mid/lower down the table, pretty much like Ramonda last year.

Quite liking The Netherlands! Hopefully it qualifies, cause I think it could possibly get a lot of jury love in the final.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123221362#Comment_123221362

It's not getting much love online…"pretentious" has come up a fair bit, with others saying it seems more like a showcase for the singer's vocals more than anything else.

I think you're right, it'll finish 10th in its semi, and around 20th overall.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123218477#Comment_123218477

There will be a preview video for Laika Party incidentally; it's being filmed by Emmy in Norway this weekend.

yerwanthere123

Denmark

https://youtu.be/YRe0ciXdIzY?si=QWcTZUKA_Bm4hKXS

Standard fare Eurovision 'banger' I think. Think it could qualify and then finish near the bottom

Germany

https://youtu.be/vk6Uv-TuFKk?si=K1eUqyeWz6mpVM7V

Again I think this is ok, but I wouldn't say it's amazing. I kept waiting for a big moment where it'd really elevate itself, but it never came. I think maybe it could finish upper right-hand side of the table, though?

Say Your Number

Germany sending a lacklustre EDM track when they had Feuerschwanz right there

BOOOOOOOO!

delboy85

It has been an incredibly underwhelming year for me so far.

There's not a single song I love (there are a few I like).

I'm hoping that France has something special.

And if San Marino chose Gabry Ponte it will easily be my favourite so far (and will surely get them their best ever result).

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123223882#Comment_123223882

Denmark is the country with the longest current non-qualifying streak - we haven't seen them in the final since 2019. I'm not sure this Cascada knock-off is going to get them back to Saturday night. It also doesn't help that Iceland, Denmark's biggest supporter at Eurovision, is in the other semi, along with Sweden and Norway.

That said, viewers tend to vote for "girlbop bangers" in the semis (and abandon them in the final), so if they come up with impressive staging for this, it might squeak into the top 10 in the semi. Sounds more like a song that'll place 11th to me, though.

Germany, meanwhile, went for a Clean Bandit knock-off. It's alright, the repetition of "Baller" is catchy, and it's always nice to hear a country sing in its own language.

supereurope

It seems to be a bit of a tradition on social media now for fans to declare a year the worst ever. Liverpool was the "the worst ever" because the arena was too small and Kääijä didn't win, Turin was "the worst ever" because Spain, the "real" winner in eyes of many, was denied because of a huge sympathy vote for Ukraine, and so on and so on…

Normally I roll my eyes when I hear fans going on about the current year being "the worst ever", but…I do think 2025 is on course to be a poor year. It's reminding me too much of the dark days of the 2000s, with novelty dominating in order to qualify from the semis. Perhaps it's just me growing older, but many countries seem to have forgotten that Eurovision is a family show. Malta is sending a song with a word that sounds like "C*nt" (and that wasn't an accident), and we have Australia and Finland going for songs that have been classified as "horny." Away from the adult-theme songs, there's lots of "unserious" entries.

Unless France pulls it out of the bag, I think the result is already known. Måns from Sweden, with a fairly unimpressive song (there's no doubt he sells it well though) will absolutely storm the jury vote, while all the televote fodder entries will split the viewer vote, allowing Måns to win even if he finishes 6th or 7th with the public. Another Swedish win will be followed by more rants and complaints from fans about why "the people's champion" doesn't win anymore, even though the answer is clear as day.

For me as well, the contest really lost something when it allowed prerecorded backing vocals. It's been very clear, particularly since Liverpool, that many countries are using them to help the lead vocal as well. I think the next step will be the EBU deciding, that like on-court coaching in tennis or team orders in F1, it can't be policed so they're just going to allow prerecorded lead vocals as well.

Sorry for the Sunday morning rant, but it really feels like the contest and I are growing apart, and that saddens me.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123223882#Comment_123223882

The German entry is pretty decent : fresh and contemporary and quite original for Eurovision. Apparently, the singer was under the weather with a heavy cold last night and could barely get the words out. You could imagine the performance improve a lot by the time of the Contest.

The Danish woman is a good vocalist and performer, but it's a bang average song that doesn't really go anywhere.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123224609#Comment_123224609

Agree with a lot of what you say here. I usually ignore the usual 'worst year ever!!' chatter that we see online every year, but I am concerned about this year.

I honestly wouldn't say there's a single great song picked so far, and I think we've only got ten to go. There's only about three or four songs I like, but nowhere near to the extent I'd usually do. This time last year I had Ireland, Croatia and Ukraine on repeat, in all cases before they'd even won their National final, but this year nothing. I'd even go so far as to say that Laika Party is one of the better songs picked so far, and that's a song that in reality should be a mid-table contender at best. So I'm really hoping that we'll get something strong before the deadline.

yerwanthere123

Like most I'm keeping my fingers crossed for France, and some are even suggesting the Czech Republic might have something decent too. As things stands Måns should walk this for Sweden if he's picked, but there does seem to be momentum behind KAJ now. I guess their chances depend on to what extent the juries will tank them. If Sweden fails to send Måns then it truly could be a very open year.

Of course there's also Israel to come too, and they'll likely get a big televote again. Hopefully the juries will tank them again, unless of course they actually send a good song.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123224901#Comment_123224901

I'm in the same boat as you, there's no song from 2025 that I've heard and thought "Yep, that's a winner." The good news, though, is that we almost know the complete lineup for our semi now and I don't think EMMY is out of it at all…she has a shot of qualifying.

I think the only country in our semi that we know absolutely nothing about at this stage is Georgia. They usually announce late anyway, but there has been some chatter online that they might withdraw.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123224906#Comment_123224906

I enjoyed the ESC thread last year, and it was such a shame that it turned so incredibly toxic in the days before the contest (just like the contest itself), mainly due to people who didn't contribute at all during NF season then came out of the woodwork during contest week. For that reason, I've avoided talking about that particular country, but my assumption is the juries will tank them again, ensuring that even a massive televote score won't bring them a win. I don't think any delegations would be willing to travel there, even if it is over a year away.

yerwanthere123

Israel winning would be another huge headache for the EBU in what's been an extremely turbulent few years for Eurovision. I don't think they'd even be allowed to host it anyway if it did happen, wouldn't be deemed safe enough.

Libertine07

I agree it's not shaping up to be a stellar year, it's the weakest of this decade so far for me. Very few songs being added to my playlist.

I do love The Netherlands and I hope it comes across well on stage. I see it as a potential jury (and maybe even outright) winner.

I also have KAJ's song residing permanently in my head. It would be amazing if Sweden would stop taking themselves so seriously for one year and just send this. It would do very well in the televote.

yerwanthere123

Croatia

https://youtu.be/cBe2GlF30-I?si=iF_sBjoaOV_WNK4n

Well, they won't be topping the televote this year anyway 😬 Talk about a downgrade on Baby Lasagna. Mad they weren't able to build upon his momentum.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123226443#Comment_123226443

Yikes…just when I thought Croatia had got the hang of Eurovision again. Big step back here, and maybe not even going to make it to Saturday night.

If you'd asked me in the late 90s to name which one of the "new" countries was going to win Eurovision first, I'd have said Croatia. Good results from 1995 to 1999 (except 1997), with particularly strong songs in 1998 and 1999. Then it seemed they forgot how to do Eurovision and the good results stopped. I thought that last year maybe marked Croatia's comeback, but this is…not good.

LordBasil

Bloody hell @ Croatia, this year just keeps going from bad to worse.

I'm praying the remaining internals deliver the goods otherwise I fear Israel or Sweden will win. Israel winning could lead to mass boycotts and the thoughts of smug Mans winning with that awful song. I can't deal with it.

For the love of God, somebody save us!!

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123226471#Comment_123226471

It kind of feels it's just being handed to Måns. I'm not calling shenanigans, it just seems no one else (maybe except Israel) wants to win this thing.

Maybe that's intentional of course, as no one wants the cost of hosting. For many countries, getting to Saturday night will be victory enough, hence we have so much televote fodder this year. They're not worried about what the juries will think.