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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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. 1968 The Royal Albert Hall in London was the venue, and Cathy Boyle hosted for the third time. The same 17 countries as the previous year participated. And something else was special too: for the first time, the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in color. Oddly enough, the broadcast in the host country, the United Kingdom, was still  in black and white. The British did not see the color version until the other day. The United Kingdom pulled out all the stops in more ways than one: the British participant was none other than Cliff Richard. In fact, no one really expected Cliff, who sang the song “Congratulations,” to win anymore. By then, he was high on the charts in many countries. 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April 2, 2026 No Comments
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Martijn

70 years of Eurovision: what saved the contest?

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. 1968 The Royal Albert Hall in London was the venue, and Cathy Boyle hosted for the third time. The same 17 countries as the previous year participated. And something else was special too: for the first time, the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in color. Oddly enough, the broadcast in the host country, the United Kingdom, was still  in black and white. The British did not see the color version until the other day. The United Kingdom pulled out all the stops in more ways than one: the British participant was none other than Cliff Richard. In fact, no one really expected Cliff, who sang the song “Congratulations,” to win anymore. By then, he was high on the charts in many countries. In that light, what happened in Norway was quite remarkable. The song that won there sounded so terribly similar to Cliff’s “Summer Holiday” that the composer did not want to wait for an investigation into it. He simply withdrew the song. In Norway, people didn’t panic. The runner-up from the national selection was now allowed to go to London. That that song was called “Stress” is probably just a coincidence. Furthermore, former winner Isabelle Aubret participated for France one more time. Massiel In a hall full of screaming teenage girls, the unthinkable happened: Cliff Richard did not win. With a lead of just one point, the Spanish singer Massiel overtook him. Massiel was not the first choice in his own country. The Catalan Joan Manuel Serrat was originally supposed to sing the song “La, la, la.” However, he only wanted to sing the song in Catalan. General Franco’s dictatorial regime did not approve it. Thus, Massiel was pushed forward. Every so often, the story surfaces that General Franco allegedly bought this victory. He wanted to put Spain on the map in a positive light with it. It is an urban legend. No evidence has ever been found for these accusations. 1969 Austria refused to travel to dictatorial Spain. The number of participating countries therefore rose to sixteen. For the same reason, the Netherlands had to look for another conductor. Regular conductor Dolf van der Linden did not want to travel to Spain. Madrid was the setting. Spain had pulled out all the stops to put itself on the map in a positive way. For instance, the contest logo was designed by none other than the famous artist Salvador Dalí. The host was Laurita Valenzuela. The hall in the Teatro Real in Madrid was characterized by a huge organ. It opened the broadcast with the Te Deum. The Belgian Louis Neefs represented his country for the second time. And for the second time, he finished seventh, to disappointment of the Belgians themselves. Simone de Oliveira made a second appearance for Portugal. Siw Malmkvist also participated once again. Kirsti Sparboe even participated for the third time for Norway. Also noteworthy was Jean-Jacques, the French boy who competed for Monaco. This 13-year-old singer was by far the youngest candidate ever and would remain so until 1989. The scoring remained exciting until the very last moment. It was as battle between four countries… and all four won! The defining moment of the broadcast was when a surprised Laurita Valenzuela asked the scruteneer, Clifford Brown, if this meant there were four winners. Brown confirmed it. Four winners Spain won again. Salomé was the singer, “Vivo Cantando” the song. Salomé had a tough time. She wore a leaden blue dress. It was, in fact, made entirely of porcelain! The second winner was Lulu with “Boom Bang A Bang”. Lulu had already had a worldwide hit with the song “Shout”. A British newspaper wrote about Lulu’s entry: ‘It is a rotten song. It will undoubtedly win and be translated into Hungarian and all the dialects of Mongolia, but it is still a rotten song’. Lulu ended her performance in Spain with a loud “Olé”. The Dutch winner, Lenny Kuhr, was devoid of any frills. She had composed her song “De Troubadour” herself and performed it, accompanying herself on the guitar. Kuhr especially impressed Southern Europe. Her career would span more than fifty years. She will perform at Eurovision In Concert this year. Shortly thereafter, she will retire. The French winner, Frida Boccara, also managed to significantly expand her career. Although her song “Un jour, un enfant” didn’t do much in the charts, Boccara, who was born in Cassablanca, would remain a major star until her death in 1996. Her song “Cent mille chansons” became an evergreen. 1970 France and the Netherlands were willing to host the contest. By a draw, the Netherlands was chosen, and Eurovision moved to Amsterdam. A condition set by the Dutch broadcaster was that it would not become a funeral for the Eurovision Song Contest. Yet it almost became that funeral. Mad about the result of the previous year, all Scandinavian countries stayed away, along with Austria and Portugal. Only twelve countries participated. Nonetheless, the Dutch broadcaster NOS pulled out all the stops to make it a success. Director Theo Ordeman had devised a plan to introduce each song via a so-called ‘postcard’. It is a tradition that would never disappear. Stage designer Roland de Groot had designed a beautiful moving stage. The United Kingdom sent another big star: Mary Hopkin. Spain sent a former soccerplayer who had to retire due to an injury, and then started a singing career: Julio Iglesias. It would bring him a great deal of success, but not during the Eurovision Song Contest. David Alexandre Winter did not have much success either. He came from Amsterdam but entered for Luxembourg. He did so in an incomprehensible kind of French. No one was willing to give him any points. The Netherlands itself caused

Read More »
April 2, 2026 No Comments
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