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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70 years of Eurovision: politics and heart problems

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. 2016 Måns Zelmerlöw hosted the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest together with the inevitable Petra Meede. The contest was held at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine returned. Portugal and Romania did not participate. The songs Bojan Jovović of the Montenegrin group No Name returned in a different band, Highway. Greta Salomé took the stage for Iceland for the second time. The Bosnian Deen also participated for a second time. Kaliopi was once again the Macedonian candidate. Bulgaria sent Poli Genova again, who was much more successful with “If Love Was A Crime” than during her first participation. Poli managed to achieve a record for Bulgaria: a fourth place. Donny Montell tried for a second time for Lithuania, and Ira Losco took the stage for Malta again. The latter set aside her winning national final song in search of a better track, and found it in “Walk on Water”. All in all, a festival with a lot of experience. There were famous names as well. Ireland sent Nicky Byrne, former member of the boy band Westlife. In vain; he did not make it to the final. Sergey Lazarev was already a huge star in Russia and the surrounding countries. The fact that he participated was therefore remarkable. He was also considered the favorite for the final victory. The images on the LED screens made it seem as if Sergey was in a kind of music video. While singing “You Are The Only One,” it looked as if he was sitting on boulders and jumping from one block to another. The Belarusian Ivan attracted attention. He wanted to appear on stage naked and with a wolf. The EBU did not allow that. Eventually, the wolf appeared on the LED screen. Ivan did too, naked, but neatly covered. Mental health issues plagued the Norwegian singer Agnete: she did not appear at press conferences. And perhaps she didn’t mind too much that she didn’t make it to the final. She called her performance a victory in itself. The final The final was opened by Laura Tesoro from Belgium. No one in Belgium had any confidence in a good outcome for Laura. That is, until they saw Laura’s act and confident performance in Stockholm. Laura achieved a respectable tenth place. The Dutchman Douwe Bob did something special during his performance. In the song “Slow Down,” he inserted a ten-second silence to emphasize the lyrics. Swedish participant Frans managed to score a modest European hit with his song “If I Were Sorry.” The Pole Michał Szpak scored surprisingly high with the televoter, something that caused much grumbling about the Polish diaspora. South Korean-born Dami Im represented Australia, where she had lived for almost her entire life. “Sound of Silence” was in contention for the final victory right up to the very end. Zoë also stood out; this Austrian sang her song “Loin d’Ici” entirely in French. Final Battle The EBU had decided to change the voting method. Those exciting ‘twelve points’ were now the points from the professional jury. The televoter points were added together and announced by the presenters from bottom to top. This kept the festival exciting until the very last moment. The Australian Dami Im was the favorite with the professional jury, but the Russian Sergey Lazarev won with the televoter. Ultimately, the country that came second with both juries won: Ukraine. Jamala The Ukrainian Jamala had previously participated in the national final. With her song “1944”, she won for the first time. This song was about the deportation and murder of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin in 1944. “When strangers are coming, they come to your house, they kill you all and say: we’re not guilty”. Ukraines song was about a historical fact but could hardly be viewed separately from the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014. The Russians were of course not amused that this particular song prevented them from achieving a second victory. 2017 Eurovision went to Kyiv again. The event was held at the International Exhibition Centre. For the first time, three men hosted it: Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk, and Timur Miroshnychenko. Portugal and Romania participated again, but Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew. Russia was going to participate, but Ukraine presented a list of Russian artists who had performed in Crimea. By doing so, they had violated Ukrainian law and were not allowed into the country. It took some searching, but eventually the Russians found someone who *had* performed in Crimea but was not on the list. The singer was the severely physically disabled Julia Samoylova. It was thought that the Ukrainians would not refuse someone in a wheelchair at the border. However, Samoylova was not allowed into the country. The Russians subsequently withdrew. The songs Tamara Gachechiladze had almost participated before, as a member of the group 3G. At the time, she sang “We Don’t Wanna Put In”. Now she was allowed to participate. Omar Naber already competed for Slovenia in 2005, and now again. And for the second time, he failed to reach the final. Valentina Monetta participated for San Marino for no less than the fourth time. The Estonian duo had also participated before, but not together: Koit Toome in 1998, Laura Põldvere in 2005. The ‘epic sax guy’ also competed once again as a member of The Sunstroke Project. With a 4th place finish, the group was very successful this time. Francesco Gabbani from Italy was number 1 in the odds for a long time. His “Occidentali’s Karma” and the monkey act were perhaps starting to wear thin. He finished only sixth. There was another country with an animal (or part of an animal) on stage. The Azerbaijani Dihaj was accompanied by a dancer with a

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April 25, 2026 No Comments
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