Your information to all 37 Eurovision songs

[ad_1] Mark Savage Music Correspondent

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/647a/live/335dc1c0-2cc4-11f0-a654-3fbec6ba11e7.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Alma Bengtsson Australian musician Go-Jo drops to his knees, wearing bejeweled aqua leggings, and not much else, during rehearsals for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest." class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Alma Bengtsson Australia's Go-Jo is one in all 37 artists hoping to carry the Eurovision trophy in Basel, Switzerland

The 2025 Eurovision Music Contest pops its cork on Sunday, with a "turquoise carpet" parade that includes rivals from all 37 nations.

However the competitors actually begins on Tuesday, when the primary semi-final will see 5 nations unceremoniously kicked out.

One other six will lose their place on the second semi-final on Thursday, earlier than the Grand Remaining takes place in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday, 17 Might.

This 12 months's entrants embrace two returning contestants, one skilled opera singer, a thinly veiled allusion to sexual emissions and a dance anthem a few useless area canine.

It is quite a bit to soak up.

That will help you put together, here is a information to all 37 songs within the contest, which I've sorted into tough musical classes, primarily for my very own sanity (it did not work).

Left-field pop bangers

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/42fe/live/8273d840-2c19-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Pavla Hartmanova / BBC / Alma Bengtsson JJ, Remember Monday and KAJ" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Pavla Hartmanova / BBC / Alma Bengtsson From left to proper: JJ, Bear in mind Monday and KAJ

Win or lose, UK contestants Bear in mind Monday have given headline writers a present with the title of their entry: What The Hell Simply Occurred?

A souped-up, full throttle pop anthem, it cherry-picks the perfect bits of Queen, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Beatles, presumably to remind voters of Britain's wealthy musical heritage.

With eight tempo adjustments, it may show tough for voters to know, however the band's stellar harmonies and glowing personalities ought to carry them via.

Crucially, the tune avoids the Eurovision cliches of jackhammer dance anthems and windswept balladry – one thing Bear in mind Monday have in widespread with this 12 months's favourites.

Sweating it out on the high are Swedish representatives KAJ, whose tune Bara Bada Bastu is an ode to the restorative powers of the sauna, full with dancers in skimpy towels.

Unreasonably catchy, it is gained the approval of Abba's Bjorn Ulvaeus, whose been singing the observe in his personal non-public sauna. As you do.

Stiff competitors comes from Austrian singer JJ, and his operatic ballad Wasted Love.

A timeworn story of unrequited love, it leans on his coaching as a counter-tenor, earlier than exploding into an sudden techno breakdown.

A favorite with the bookies, the tune's solely Achilles heel is its similarity to final 12 months's winner, Nemo.

Distinctive another way is Eire's entry, Laika Occasion – a 90s rave observe a few canine who was despatched to area by Russia and left to die there.

Singer Emmy goals for a hopeful spin on a tragic story however, regardless of a peppy efficiency, it is a bit of a downer.

Extra palatable is Luxembourg's Laura Thorn, whose La Poupée Monte Le Son is a callback to France Gall's 1965 profitable entry, Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son.

The place the unique was a few "trend doll" operated by songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, Thorn's response is all about taking management.

"If you happen to assume a person like you may manipulate me, return to your mum," she scolds. Yeouch.

Different nations sucking as much as Italy

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/36d8/live/4f0bf180-2c1a-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="ERR / Sarah Louise Bennett Tommy Cash and Gabry Ponte " class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> ERR / Sarah Louise Bennett Tommy Money and Gabry Ponte will symbolize Estonia and San Marino with tributes to Italian tradition

Rome should be blushing. This 12 months options not one, however two, songs in regards to the vibrant tradition of Il Bel Paese.

The primary comes, not surprisingly, from San Marino – the impartial microstate that nestles inside north-central Italy.

Titled Tutta L'Italia, it celebrates the whole lot from the county's soccer crew and its vineyards, to the Mona Lisa (below her Italian identify Gioconda).

Written by Gabry Ponte – one of many brains behind Eiffel 65's Blue (Da Ba Dee) – it is a slight, however enjoyable, combination of dance beats, conventional accordion enjoying and the folks dances of Calabria.

The staging might be its downfall, although, with Gabry marooned behind his DJ decks whereas the singers, who for some motive want to stay nameless, obscure their faces with masks.

Extra memorable, however undoubtedly extra unhinged, is Estonia's Espresso Macchiato.

Carried out by Tommy Money (the one Eurovision contestant to have appeared on a Charli XCX document) it is an affectionate-ish caricature of Italian stereotypes, that includes the indelible lyric: "Life is like spaghetti, it is exhausting till you make it".

Smut!

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fd9a/live/78d094c0-2c1b-11f0-8ff1-59f5dcf8e9f5.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Sarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson Go-Jo, Erika Vikman and Miriana Conte" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Sarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson From left to proper: Go-Jo, Erika Vikman and Miriana Conte

I am attempting to surrender sexual innuendo, however Eurovision is making it har... troublesome.

A trio of artists are attempting to sneak smut previous the censors, led by Malta's Miriana Conte, with a throbbing membership observe referred to as Serving.

In its authentic kind, the tune's refrain revolved across the phrase "serving kant" – the phrase kant being Maltese for "singing" and a homophone for an English time period that undoubtedly doesn't suggest singing.

It is a reference to a well known phrase within the drag / ballroom world; however a number of nations complained it broke broadcasting tips, prompting a hasty re-write.

If the stunt was meant to generate headlines it labored, however now that Miriana has our consideration, she's not letting go.

Her efficiency, that includes a large disco ball pursed between two purple lips, is gloriously OTT, and she or he has an enviable set of pipes. Too unhealthy the tune is riddled with Europop cliche.

One other contestant doubling his entendres is Australia's Go-Jo, who needs us to "take a sip" of milkshake from his "particular cup". Interpret that the way you need however I might be cautious of hitching a carry in his ice cream van, if I had been you.

With a smattering of Electrical Six's saucy disco funk, Milkshake Man is tasty sufficient to get Australia again within the finals after solely attaining a semi final 12 months.

Lastly, we now have Finland's Erika Vikman, whose tune Ich Komme is billed as a "joyous message of delight, ecstasy and a state of trance".

Structured to imitate the pneumatic realities of lovemaking, it recollects iconic homosexual anthems corresponding to Kylie's Your Disco Wants You and Donna Summer time's Scorching Stuff – and ends with Erika taking pictures into the sky astride an enormous gold microphone that is undoubtedly not a stand-in for a phallus.

Three songs impressed by most cancers

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/45d3/live/561b1fd0-2c1c-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="France Télévisions / Sarah Louise Bennett Louane, Klemen and Kyle Alessandro" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> France Télévisions / Sarah Louise Bennett From left to proper: Louane, Klemen and Kyle Alessandro

Little in life is extra devastating than the phrase "I am afraid it is most cancers".

The illness will have an effect on one in two of us and, though survival charges have dramatically improved, the affect could be devastating.

This 12 months, three separate Eurovision contestants have been touched by most cancers, inspiring songs of unmatched heartbreak and reflection.

French singer Louane captures it greatest. Her tune Maman, is an intimate dialog along with her mom, who died when she was simply 17 years outdated.

Over three verses, Louane describes the "vacancy" she was felt; and the way she crammed the void with unhealthy behaviour and meaningless amorous affairs. However, because the tune progresses, she tells her mum she's settled down and located objective... by turning into a mom herself.

She sings it fantastically, with a combination of remorse and energy. And when her daughter's voice seems within the ultimate moments of the tune, it could take a steely coronary heart to not shed a tear.

Over in Norway, 19-year-old Kyle Alessandro shared the same story, when his mom was identified with most cancers in autumn 2023. Fortunately, she's now in remission, however one thing she mentioned throughout her remedy impressed his Eurovision entry: "By no means lose your mild."

Kyle took that phrase and turned it right into a thumping pop tune about surviving adversity. "Nothing can burn me now," he sings. "I am my very own Lighter."

Klemen Slakonja, in the meantime, is a comic greatest recognized in Slovenia for his impressions of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin - however his ballad, How A lot Time Do We Have Left was written after his spouse, actress Mojca Fatur, was identified with bone marrow most cancers.

As he sings, Klemen's dancers increase him into the air and maintain him the wrong way up, to symbolize the disorientation the household felt.

"When she learn her prognosis, our world turned the wrong way up and I felt that rush of blood in my head, the identical one I really feel at any time when I'm the wrong way up within the efficiency," he informed Eurovision World.

Defying the percentages, Mojca survived, and joins him on stage at Eurovision. It is a deeply intimate and transferring second.

The bops

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0de3/live/10fb7f40-2cac-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Sarah Louise Bennett / Valero Rioja / Alma Bengtsson Red Sebastian, Melody and Væb" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Sarah Louise Bennett / Valero Rioja / Alma Bengtsson Left to proper: Pink Sebastian, Melody and Væb

Listening to this 12 months's line-up, it is just like the contestants all heard Cascada's Evacuate the Dancefloor and went, "Nah, we're good, thanks".

There are membership bangers all over the place, with Belgium's Pink Sebastian (named after the crab in The Little Mermaid, bless him) submitting a complete tune in regards to the loved-up liberation of an all-night rave.

"The place no phrases are wanted to really feel the connection / The place clocks by no means tick and the place love is the ending."

A favorite with followers, the 90s rave components of Strobe Lights really feel a bit dated to me, however his meticulously-choreographed efficiency is a deal with.

Denmark's Sissal takes the same sound, with a throwback Euro-bop referred to as Hallucination that effortlessly evokes two-time Eurovision winner Loreen.

Sissal mentioned her largest purpose was for the viewers to really feel they could not sit down through the tune. Mission completed.

Germany, in the meantime, have been hoping to reverse their 15-year dropping streak with Baller, a super-catchy trance anthem that would not sound misplaced at Berlin superclub Berghain.

Carried out by Austrian siblings Abor & Tynna, it is languishing in the midst of the sphere, after Tynna developed laryngitis, robbing the duo of the possibility to impress followers at Eurovision's numerous pre-parties. However now that she's recovered, the tune may stand up the rankings.

That is much less seemingly for Væb, aka the Icelandic Jedward. Their energetic dance-rap tune, Roá, is all about rowing from Iceland to the Faroe Islands, "as a result of it doesn't matter what occurs in life you simply carry on rowing via the waves".

Sadly, it is not as deep because it sounds.

Spanish star Melody fares higher with Esa Diva, a pumping home observe with a sprinkling of flamenco guitar, that paperwork her journey to fame.

And Azerbaijan's Mamagama go all Maroon 5 on Run With U, a clean pop tune elevated by a twinkling riff on the saz – a long-necked plucked instrument just like the lute.

Submit-immigrant pop

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e9eb/live/eee27160-2cac-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Sarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson Shkodra Elektronike, Claude and Klavdia" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Sarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson From left to proper: Shkodra Elektronike, Claude and Klavdia

OK, so I've stolen that description from Shkodra Elektronike.

They're an Albanian duo dwelling in Italy, who fuse the ethnic music of their hometown, Shkodër, to a progressive digital sound.

Their tune Zjerm (Hearth) imagines a time when cross-cultural understanding would result in peace and concord – a world with out a want for troopers and ambulances, and the place "oil would scent like lilac" (no, me neither).

Greece's entry, Asteromáta, can be rooted in historical past and reminiscence, as Klavdia describes the unbreakable bond that refugees share with their homeland.

"Even when they cross the seas / They shall always remember the sacred earth they referred to as residence," she sings, in a haunting ballad that blends conventional Greek and Pontic components with hovering strings.

Taking a extra upbeat strategy is Dutch singer Claude. A refugee from the bloody civil struggle within the Democratic Republic of Congo, he moved to the Netherlands on the age of 9 and fell in love with Eurovision whereas ready within the refugee centre.

His tune, C'est La Vie, is a tribute to his mum, who taught him to see the optimistic of their scenario.

Fizzing with freedom and pleasure, it combines components of chanson and French-Caribbean zouk, and appears set for a high 10 inserting.

Witchcraft, sorcery and moody goth boys

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2407/live/baae8a80-2c1d-11f0-8f57-b7237f6a66e6.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Sarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson Theo Evan, Justyna Steczkowska and Marko Bošnjak" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Sarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson From left to proper: Theo Evan, Justyna Steczkowska and Marko Bošnjak

The success of "goth gremlin witch" Bambie Thug eventually 12 months's Eurovision has conjured a veritable coven of imitators in 2025.

Polish singer Justyna Steczkowska, representing her nation for the second time, even features a Slavic magic spell in her tune, Gaja – summoning the spirit of the mom Earth to "cleanse" her of a poisonous relationship.

It is a suitably intense efficiency, with Justyna singing lengthy sustained notes and enjoying a livid violin solo, earlier than being hoiked into the rafters on a pair ropes.

What a time to be alive.

Marko Bošnjak, in the meantime, is cooking up a Poison Cake to feed to his tormentors - mainly the individuals who bombarded him with homophobic hate messages after he was chosen to symbolize Croatia.

The criticism was so intense that he misplaced his voice and could not go away the home for 5 days.

His tune is suitably melodramatic, replete with guttural synths and creepy playground chants. It is a bit overbaked, however ought to nonetheless sail via to the finals.

Taking a extra ethereal strategy are Latvian group Tautumeitas, whose tune Bur Man Laimi interprets as "a chant for happiness".

Harking back to Bjork and Enya, its overlapping people harmonies are primarily based on conventional Latvian wedding ceremony songs, making it one in all this 12 months's most charming entries. I concern it might be too refined to attain properly, although.

Additional thriller is supplied by, Theo Evan, Cyprus's reply to Nick Jonas. The lyrics to his tune, Shh, are a riddle, written by former tennis participant Elke Tiel, whose "hidden reality will solely be revealed on the Eurovision stage in Might".

He opens his efficiency perched between two items of scaffolding in a recreation of Leonardo da Vinci's well-known Vitruvian Man sketch – so there is a clue.

Shh is one in all quite a lot of gothic pop songs, sung by brooding younger males with attention-grabbing hair.

Among the many greatest is Kiss Kiss Goodbye, by Czechia's Adonxs, who divebombs from an angelic falsetto to an unsettling baritone as he confronts his absent father.

Lithuanian band Katarsis are an attention-grabbing experiment, with a intentionally downbeat rock tune that declares "the foundations of the whole lot have begun to rot".

Titled Tavo Akys (your eyes), it builds to a compelling climax, but it surely's exhausting to see it being a vote-winner, until Eurovision immediately attracts an viewers of depressed emo teenagers.

Rounding out the sphere are Armenian singer Parg, with the Think about Dragons-inspired Survivor and Serbia's Princ, whose overwrought ballad is named Mila.

Each performers give it their all, however the songs do not feel sturdy sufficient to outlive the semi-finals.

70s rock throwbacks

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7b8b/live/fa2bc960-2c1e-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images / Alma Bengtsson Lucio Corsi, Napa and Ziferblat" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Getty Photographs / Alma Bengtsson From left to proper: Lucio Corsi, Napa and Ziferblat

4 years after Måneskin's victory, Eurovision's rock revival continues apace.

Italy are again at it once more, due to Lucio Corsi – assume David Bowie as Pierrot – and his glam rock ballad Volevo Essere Un Duro (I wished to be powerful).

A fragile anthem for individuals who really feel they do not slot in, it recollects how Lucio was bullied as a child, and the way he is grown to embrace his fragility. At one level, he sings: "As a substitute of a star, [I'm] only a sneeze."

It is a timeless little bit of songwriting that pulls off that essential Eurovision trick of sounding new and acquainted all of sudden.

Portuguese indie band Napa even have a 70s vibe, channelling Paul McCartney's Wings on the delicate rock tear-jerker Deslocado (misplaced).

It is one other tune about migration, written after the band had been compelled to relocate from Madeira to the Portuguese mainland because of the financial disaster.

"Despite the fact that we have been right here for just a few years we at all times have that need to return, and that anguish of claiming goodbye to household," mentioned singer Guilherme Gomes.

Final however not least are Ukraine's Ziferblat, who proceed the nation's astonishing run of high-quality entries within the midst of a struggle with Russia.

Their tune, Hen Of Pray, is an sudden mixture of 70s new wave band Automobiles, birdsong and the guitar riff from Rachel Stevens' Candy Desires My LA Ex – whereas the lyrics are stuffed with hope for a peaceable reunion with their family members.

It is higher than that makes it sound.

The ballads

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8ec4/live/a3544570-2c20-11f0-b26b-ab62c890638b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Shai Franco / Sarah Louise Bennett / Maurice Haas Yuval Raphael, Nina Žižić and Zoë Më" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Shai Franco / Sarah Louise Bennett / Maurice Haas From left to proper: Yuval Raphael, Nina Žižić and Zoë Më

The place would Eurovision be with out a raven-haired girl bellowing right into a wind machine set to "hurricane"?

Israel has sturdy kind on this class, and units the bar once more with New Day Will Rise, a melancholy piano ballad sung in a combination of English, French and Hebrew.

The tune's carried out by Yuval Raphael, a 24-year-old who narrowly escaped along with her life on the 2023 Nova music pageant, the place an assault by Hamas claimed the lives of 378 folks and triggered Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza.

It is exhausting to not interpret her lyrics as a response to these occasions – "everybody cries, do not cry alone". In consequence, her participation hasn't acquired the identical stage of criticism as Eden Golan, who represented Israel final 12 months.

That may't be mentioned for Georgia's contestant, Mariam Shengelia, who has been booed throughout pre-Eurovision appearances for her alleged help of the nation's authoritarian, pro-Russian, anti-LGBT ruling occasion, Georgian Dream.

Shengelia has denied the accusations, mentioning that her tune – a stirring, quasi-militaristic ballad referred to as Freedom – is about "freedom of alternative, freedom to like, freedom to dwell as you wish to dwell".

"No quantity of manufactured hate will change that," she informed the Eurovision fan website Wiwibloggs.

Montenegro's Nina Žižić tackles home abuse in Dobrodošli, a brooding and refined orchestral ballad.

The singer, who beforehand entered Eurovision in 2015 with the cyborg pop oddity Igranka, delivers her lyrics with ardour and sincerity, however in some way the tune by no means fairly takes off.

Final however not least, we now have defending champions Switzerland, represented by 24-year-old Zoë Më, who describes herself as a "little fairy".

Appropriately sufficient, her self-penned tune, Voyage is delicate as a fairy's wings, fluttering with a soft-spoken plea to deal with one another with kindness.