What can we expect and who will win tomorrow?

After a film with, again, beautiful images of the Netherlands, and yes, a role for Duncan Laurence, we go to the flag parade. DJ Pieter Gabriel accompanies the artists musically with his own adaptation of the worldwide hit “Venus” by Shocking Blue, also a hit from Dutch soil. Presenters Edsilia Rombley, Jan Smit and Chantal Janzen sing the song.

We open with Cyprus; often an uptempo pop song is chosen to open, this year too. Albania takes the cursed second place. However, Albania is not one of the potential winners anyway, so the second place remains where it is. Israel follows; she once bursted out in tears when the Eurovision song contest was canceled, but now Eden Alene is in the final, followed by Belgium. Hopefully Hooverphonic will remain in peoples memories in the beginning of the broadcast. The advantage is that the song may stand out even more after an uptempo song. However, Russia follows with a striking act and then Malta. What that does to Malta’s chances is a big question mark, but it is not favorable. Certainly not because Portugal will follow after Malta; they are the surprise of the contest. We wouldn’t even be surprised if Portugal ends up very high; The Black Mamba isn’t Salvador Sobral, but still. The end of the first block is formed by Serbia; The fact that the three ladies are through to the final was no surprise, but it will probably not be much more there. Or is Serbia lucky that all other countries of the former Yugoslavia are not there?

While advertisements are watched in some countries, the rest of Europe sees Nikkie Tutorials showcasing three winners of the #Eurovisionchallenge. Valentina, who won the junior Eurovision this year, will also say something. Emmelie De Forrest, Jamala and Duncan Laurence talk about their trophy. After that, Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit will make an appeal to share your photo of how you watch the Eurovision song contest.

The second block is opened by the United Kingdom. That is usually not something to be happy about. People are still refilling the glasses or sitting on the toilet. By the way, yesterday in the Dutch tv-show Op1 you could see how British journalists are already busy putting the blame for a low score apart from themselves, even before the contest is over. However, the UK entry is completely insignificant to Greece that performes next. Greenscreen is certainly not new, but it is smart to use it. In quality, however, the Greek entry is far surpassed by that of Switzerland. According to many, one of the strongest voices of the festival. Still, the song may soumd a little too much like “Arcade” to be a winner. Also a top song, possibly even a winner, is Iceland. Would it give Daði og Gagnamagnið sympathy votes that they are not allowed to be present live? The Icelandics are in any case followed by the not too strong entry from Spain, although, to be honest, it must be said that the singing of Blas Cantó improves with each rehearsal. Moldova will then take office. But it is still doubtful whether the name of Filipp Kirkorov (composer) will be good for a high score. Germany is a “love it or hate it” entry that can go in any direction. And after a song about a middle finger, the director has chosen to put the other middle finger song right after it. The song from Finland turned out to have a lot of fans yesterday. Whether it helps them on the scoreboard? We’ll know tomorrow night.

And then we see Edsilia Rombley at the top of the comment booths to chitchat with various commentators. Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit refer to the time when there was still a live orchestra. They promise an orchestra with a top DJ.

In the meantime, Bulgaria is ready with Victoria on her rock. Another strong entry. Then we see Lithuania again. At the bookies, the yellow-clad men have fallen somewhat; not because they are not good, perhaps because a large number of countries have an even stronger entry.

And then Chantal Janzen announces Duncan Laurence, who speaks to the viewer in a video. Why so soon? Well, it gives the crew time to prepare the scenery of Ukraine.

A trip, as Dutch commentator Sander Lantinga called the entry. of Ukraine We can imagine why. It would not surprise anyone if Ukraine ends up in the top of the rankings. Immediately after that, another top favorite follows: France. Take a good look, because this could well be the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. To be honest, the entry from Azerbaijan is fairly insignificant. Anyway, the King’s Commissioner in Friesland Arno Brok and Mayor of Leeuwarden Sybrand Buma give a voting advice: stim Azerbaijan (vote Azerbaijan, but in Frisian language). It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence, but after Azerbaijan, Norway will perform. All week, something seems to be going on between the Azerbaijani Efendi and the Norwegian TIX. It is very worthy to lsearch for #efentix.

Then NikkieTutorials and Edsilia Rombley take the floor and announce some entre-acts and… the entry of the Netherlands. Jeangu Macrooy is praised for his cast-iron voice. He seems to slightly do better among bookmakers. But after the Netherlands, another top favorite (there are quite a lot this year) follows: Italy. Would the glam rock-leaning group win the Eurovision song contest? We do not consider it impossible. Sweden is not one of this year’s top favorites. The entry is just not strong enough for a top score. Finally we see San Marino. And then the rule of applies: world stars do NOT win the Eurovision song contest. Whether it’s Cliff Richard, t.A.T.u., DJ Bobo or Bonnie Tyler, it doesn’t work. A high position is definitely not impossible, San Marino will break its own record for sure.

Then a spectacular entre act:follows: a classical orchestra of toung people and Afrojack accompany Wulf and Glennis Grace while they sing under the title “Music binds us”. We see images of people in Rotterdam, but the song and music come from the Erasmus Bridge.

NikkieTutorials comes again with a section of Eurovision Tutorials about the voting. Then she shows us images of how the festival in Ahoy is structured and how it works behind the scenes. Edsilia Rombley then meets several Eurovision winners, a film that was already shot before the Corona crisis. That is why Edsilia explicitly announces that she is hugging the former winners and not keeping a one and a half meter distance. Then we see a video in which Chantal Janzen explains how the audience has changed over the years.

And then we’re going to look at Teach In, Lenny Kuhr, Måns Zelmerlöw and Lordi. They sing from different rooftops in Rotterdam. Duncan Laurence then sings his hit “Arcade” and a new song. Not live, because he is at home with Corona, but a previously recorded rehearsal of his performance. And then…. The producers have even turned the countdown moment into something beautiful with dancers. The voting goes pretty smoothly. Of course something can go wrong, but there is no useless waiting. The scoreboard, with a lot of white, is easy to read. Edsilia and Nikkie are present in the greenroom while Jan and Chantal do the voting. Who is going to win remains uncertain for a long time, longer than ever. The bookmakers do not state a clear winner.

However, team Eurovision Universe has tried to predict the top 10. In a little more than 24 hours we know how right (or wrong) we are:

1.France
2.Italy
3.Malta
4.Switzerland
5.Ukraine
6.Bulgaria
7.Iceland
8.Portugal
9.Norway
10.Finland

photo credits: EBU

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Martijn

70 years of Eurovision: An audio selection and a hit

The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1996 Thirty countries wanted to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. That did not happen. All countries, except host country Norway, therefore had to fight for a spot. This took place via an audio selection round. Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Israel, debuting Macedonia, Romania, and Russia did not make it through. The contest was presented by Ingvild Bryn and the famous Morten Harkett, singer of A-ha. During the broadcast, extensive use was made of virtual reality, allowing Ingvild Bryn to easily walk between the sections of the scoreboard, or even through it. The songs Marianna Efstratou participated for Greece for the second time. Elisabeth Andreassen performed for no less than the fourth time, but for the first time solo. Notable was Lúcia Moniz, who represented Portugal. Her “O meu coração não tem cor” finished sixth, which for a long time was the best score ever for the Portuguese. Maarja-Liis Illus and Ivo Linna really caught the eye of Estonia. She was 15, he 46. The duo sang a sweet song titled “Kaelakee hääl”. And what Finland failed to achieve in all those years, Estonia did effortlessly: walking straight into the top 5 with a song in a Finno-Ugric language. There was also a major difference between the two Dutch duo partners, Maxine and Franklin Brown. However, in this case, it concerned the length. The Dutch entry “De eerste keer” is one of the few that rose in the rankings áfter the Eurovision Song Contest. The Spanish jury had, or so people thought, said “Poland, 6 points”. But the somewhat nasal-speaking jury chairwoman had said “Holland, 6 points”. People only found out about that later. It is not for nothing that this country ought to be called The Netherlands. Austria (“Weil’s dr guat got” in Vorarlberg) and France “Diwanit bugale” in Breton both sang in a minority language. The new generation after ABBA was also making its appearance. Peter Grönvall was one of the members of the group One More Time. And he was the son of Benny Andersson of ABBA. The group had already had a major hit in Europe with “Highland”. Singer Nanne Grönvall would participate in the Swedish Melodifestivalen a number of times, and even once in the British national final. Eimear Quinn Around this time, the Belgian documentary filmmaker Herman Molle made a documentary titled “How do I win the Eurovision Song Contest?”. Molle’s main recommendation: become Irish. Because Ireland won again. Eimear Quinn had sung with Anúna, the choir that accompanied River Dance. With her song “The Voice”, she effortlessly secured the seventh victory for Ireland. “You’re bringing it back too soon,” Morten Harkett grumbled briefly. But the party in Ireland was no less big for it. Nor was the nervous breakdown among the people at the Irish broadcaster RTÉ. 1997 The Eurovision Song Contest practically resided in the Point Theatre in Dublin. However, the audio pre-selection had been scrapped. The relegation zone was back, so a number of countries swapped places again. Italy returned after a three-year absence. Also new: televoting. In five countries, the public was allowed to cast their vote. The Eurovision Song Contest was presented by Carrie Crowley and, once again, someone from a boy band: Ronan Keating of Boyzone. The songs Şebnem Parker participated for Turkey for the second consecutive time. Her “Dinle” was roughly at the bottom in the odds, but surprisingly finished third in the final ranking. Celebrations in Turkey, which now finally dared to dream of a victory. Young Maarja-Liis Illus from Estonia also returned after a year, this time solo. And Alma Čardžić from Bosnia and Herzegovina also took a second try. Tor Endresen participated for Norway. He had competed in the Norwegian national final almost every year and had finally won. How disappointing that he finished with zero points. The duo Jalisse competed for Italy. The two finished fourth. It didn’t really help: Italy dropped out immediately afterwards. Bianca Shomburg had won the Soundmixshow in Germany, where she imitated Celine Dion. However, she did not do that in terms of the result at the Eurovision Song Contest. Russia sent the country’s biggest star. For years, Alla Pugacheva had been unmatched. There was no sign of that at the Eurovision Song Contest. The rest of Europe appreciated her with a fifteenth place. And then there was Paul Oscar. He represented Iceland. Lying on a sofa, surrounded by female beauty (which he had no eye for in real life), he sang his song. At the end of the song, he made a ‘gun gesture’ with his hand, shooting himself in the mouth. It was striking that Oscar received points exclusively from televoting countries. Katrina & The Waves An unwritten rule is that when an established name participates, they can finish very high but do not win. Katrina & The Waves did not adhere to this. In the 80s, they had a big hit with “Walking On Sunshine”. The song “Love Shine A Light” was originally intended as an anthem for Samaritans in recognition of the thirtieth anniversary of the Swindon branch of that organization. Nevertheless, it ended up at the Eurovision Song Contest, where it won effortlessly. Katrina & The Waves had an international hit with it. The song remains a Eurovision classic to this day. In 2020, it took center stage in the replacement broadcast for the canceled Song Contest: Eurovision Shine A Light.

Read More »
April 15, 2026 No Comments
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