Eurovision Song Contest 2025

yerwanthere123

Luxembourg

https://youtu.be/6RWcwJ3zYh4?si=sRczzZv3TPIVGPXw

Going to bed now, but will give it a listen in the morning

thebronze14

After first listen of our 6, none stand out. All bland enough. Can't see any qualifying. Will have to give another listen though

Welsh Megaman

Poll opened on wiwibloggs…

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123105502#Comment_123105502

I find Wiwibloggs rather annoying…they only seem to show interest in national final or Eurovision songs that are either girlbops or ballads sung by hunky men…but their readers have got it fairly spot on here with the top 3.

Not too many are interested in Samantha Mumba's song, so I really hope all those "I'll definitely vote for Samantha because I had her poster on my wall when I was 12!" types here don't bother to pick up the phone.

I feel bad for Niyl, it's not a bad song at all, but too much of a slow burner and not really suitable for Eurovision.

yerwanthere123

Semi final draw made, Ireland in the first half of semi final 2

Not a great draw I think, a lot of the more 'traditional' voting allies are in the first semi. Not yet sure where the automatic qualifiers are voting though.

LordBasil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123108373#Comment_123108373

Spain, Italy & Switzerland vote in SF1

UK, Germany & France vote in SF2

Having the UK is good for us as well as Australia, Malta & Denmark. If we pick Emmy we won't have Norway though. First time since 2022 we are in SF2.

SF2 has been the graveyard for many Irish entries, our last qualification from SF2 was back in 2011 with 'Lipstick'!! Hopefully this year is different.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123108373#Comment_123108373

Lots of automatic or near automatic qualifiers here though i.e. Sweden, Norway, Ukraine, Netherlands etc.

I think our one looks less competitive with quite a few 'hit and miss' countries in terms of qualification.

Libertine07

First half yet again, this is getting ridiculous!

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123108373#Comment_123108373

Been away all week so only catching up now on the allocation draw.

Bad news first - it's not great we've drawn first half AGAIN. But don't worry too much, being first half doesn't doom an entry to failure, it just means an act has to try a bit harder to stand out, and hope that you're not drawn in the first three slots. A good way to make sure you don't open the show is to have an entry that's unconventional, polarising and possibly even alienating, because the producers will always choose an inoffensive, up-tempo song to start the show (the two semis in 2024 were opened by what younger fans call "girlbops.") A ballad tends to get the second slot, and to be honest, I could imagine the producers putting Samantha or Niyl on second.

Now the good news - we've avoided the perennial qualifiers, who've all gone to semi 1. Ukraine has never failed to qualify and being in a semi with Ukraine means you're effectively in a semi with only nine qualifying spots. Sweden has only missed out once (2010) so that's likely another qualifying slot gone straight away. Azerbaijan is a bit of slump right now, but has failed to qualify only three times since 2008, Portugal has only missed one year since 2017 (2019), the Netherlands has only failed to qualify twice in the last 10 years (2015 and 2023), and Norway hasn't missed the final since 2016. It's good we're avoiding them.

In our semi, Lithuania, Greece, Finland and Australia all have great qualifying records over the last couple of years, but none would be considered a guaranteed qualifier. Israel might be the closest to one, as they're likely to get a huge televote score again.

So, I don't think it's too bad. We just need to get one of the later first half slots and avoid being the first song on after a commercial break.

EDIT: typo

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123100056#Comment_123100056

Forgot to comment on this. Overall it's not really doing anything for me. Might qualify, can't see it doing much in the final if it gets there.

Here's Greece

https://youtu.be/UxzeTezgey4?si=x4v2ebESGnJ70y9i

Maybe one for the juries to appreciate more. As above, it might qualify but beyond that I'm not sure.

Busy night ahead, as Slovenia, Belgium and Spain will all select their entries!

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123125256#Comment_123125256

It'll be interesting to see how Luxembourg does this year. The EBU/SVT definitely gave them a bit of help last year, including last slot in the semi-final running order and Petra's comment during the voting window along the lines of "If they don't qualify tonight, they might not come back for another 31 years", but they won't have that this year.

That said, this year marks 60 years since "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" won (which means it's also 60 years since Ireland's first participation), and with Luxembourg's 2025 song title including the words "poupée", I'm sure RTL, and maybe the EBU too, will push that link as much as possible.

yerwanthere123

Slovenia

https://youtu.be/fsCc3ukABOA?si=FgFLgSFWkpp_yY16

It's very nice, and he can really sing, but feels like it wouldn't have been out of place at Eurovision 20 years ago

Belgium

https://youtu.be/0fm1l_LrUus?si=rlKKanYxaGp-lgpb

Feels like the first genuinely good song this year. Belgium are soaring into the final with this, and perhaps even the top ten.

Spain

https://youtu.be/H46FB-rLh04?si=Z5ITYU1qQvQ-dCF_

Nothing to get too excited about here, I think. Though she does give it her all!

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123126126#Comment_123126126

Klemen Slakonja is a very well-known television presenter and comedian in Slovenia, so he had a massive head start on all the other contenders. Not sure why they even bothered putting on a final tbh. Personally, I think the song is a bit of dirge, but it is heartfelt. It might get through to some viewers, but I can't see it doing much business. Slovenia has been competing since Millstreet, but has never had a top 5 finish and hasn't finished in the top 10 since 2001. This isn't going to change that.

Belgium is getting a lot of hype online, it reminds me of Luktelk, Lithuania's entry from last year. That was a great song, but didn't gain any momentum. However, this should qualify easily and could be a top 10 finisher.

I haven't heard Spain yet, but from what I'm seeing online, I wouldn't book any hotel rooms in Madrid. Spain came close in 2022, but they've struggled to build on that.

supereurope

As I predicted a few weeks ago, there's a Samantha Mumba interview in today's Sunday Independent. Surprisingly, it's not with Barry Egan.

squonk

Just listening to all the clips it’s a big come down after Bambi this year. None of the songs seem strong enough to get anywhere and with the National broadcaster doing the staging it’s a virtual certainty. Bambi took control of their performance and it showed. I’m saying it now, we’ll fail to get out of the semi.

Welsh Megaman

That Belgium song is really good - a 'toe-tapper', as the kids say nowadays.

Couldn't really focus on the Greece song, as the singer looked as if she was wearing one of those fake glasses-and-nose combos you get in joke shops.

Welsh Megaman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123129750#Comment_123129750

You get the feeling that Bambie may have set the bar a bit TOO high for this year's contenders.

Watching Baby Lasagna's grand final performance from last year (as I do on a daily basis 😀 ), the comments on YouTube follow the same theme - along the lines of 'Nice of Baby to invite the ESC to his concert' - which is how it should be. Eurovision came to Bambie, not the other way round.

At this early stage, you don't get that feeling from this year's songs (unless they put on an incredible stage show).

gmisk

Uk act announced!

https://twitter.com/superTV247/status/1886817285874008379?t=xVRUcmwblyR3wsq2ZMlfVQ&s=19

satguy

I think the Eurovision Song Contest has run its course.

It's time for it to go away now,, it has become a freak show,, and is in no way a "Family Safe" event.  

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123068681#Comment_123068681

Isn't that Peig Sayers in her youth?

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123134692#Comment_123134692

Watched by about 150+ million people every year, so it's literally the opposite of having "run its course". So good luck with getting it to "go away" 😊

satguy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123134771#Comment_123134771

We all remember the newspaper headlines in the days after the show aired last year.

Eurovision SLAMMED for 'OVERTLY sexual' performances unsuitable for children...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyijVoCvA-Q

It gets worse every year,, and I for one remember when all of the EU watched 300+ million.

This year nobody really wanted to host the bloody thing,, It has become a noose around the winners neck, nobody want to win it.

Ireland even sent a Puppet once, just to make sure we could not win it..

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123134617#Comment_123134617

There were rumours going around the other day that the UK act was going to be a girlband…some people were getting in a twist, thinking it was either Bananarama or the Sugababes.

I won't lie, I've not heard of them, but I'm getting Systur vibes, and that's not a bad thing.

Welsh Megaman

Just watched a few Remember Monday videos - Systur and The Chicks are obvious reference points.

Pleasant enough records - you could eat your ice cream to them - but not holding my breath for a big win.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123135089#Comment_123135089

I didn't realise earlier that Remember Monday are from The Voice. I know that being a reality show reject tends to be a path to Eurovision fairly frequently nowadays, but I'm disappointed that the BBC has gone down this route. As UK fans on Bluesky are saying, the band didn't get very far on The Voice, which doesn't bode well. That said, going country isn't a terrible idea - it worked well for the Dutch for years.

I'll wait to hear the song before making any firm judgments.

zell12

In other news…

“almost 20 countries” had agreed to participate in the autumn, including Brazil, Cuba, India, China and other “friendly” nations.

Russian senator Liliya Gumerova said the Intervision contest would be a “chance to promote real music” and “not fake values that are alien to any normal person”, condemning Eurovision for including performers such as the Austrian drag performer Conchita Wurst.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/04/putin-orders-revival-of-soviet-era-eurovision-rival

2smiggy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123134692#Comment_123134692

you know you don't have to watch it, or force for family to watch it ?

satguy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123135985#Comment_123135985

But I do have to pay for it,, and might be sent to jail if I refuse to pay for it..

gmisk

Pretty clear favourite

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123136029#Comment_123136029

That is kind of laughable as a response.

Plenty of TV programmes RTE etc put money into that I wouldn't watch in a million years like the 2 Johnnies, maybe wise up? It's not for you clearly, grand don't watch it, loads of people do. It's also proportionally to the content they get, cheap TV (and radio) for RTE. Maybe go troll another thread.

On ignore ya go.