The event of the year is quickly approaching, so here’s all the trivia, drama and controversy you need to know about the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
As a lame super cool Eurovision fan, I have gone to the effort of keeping up with all the goings on in the lead up to the contest and have condensed it all into this easy list to help you bore impress friends and family with your current Eurovision trivia.
For all the trivia you need on Eurovision 2019, click here.
The contest: what we know about Eurovision 2018
When is Eurovision 2018? The final will be held on the 12 May, with the semi-finals taking place on the 8 May and the 10 May respectively.
1.The first semi-final will be a blood bath
Every year there is talk among fans about which of the two semi-finals is the ‘easiest’. But this year everyone is in agreement: semi final one will be a blood bath. Why? Simply because it has a lot of very strong songs.
In fact, at the time of writing (March 2018), Israel, Estonia, Czech Republic, Belgium and Australia are the favourites to win the contest. All bar Australia are in semi-final one. Azerbaijan is also in this semi-final, who have never failed to qualify since they began participating in 2008.
Every year it sees that one or possibly two fan favourites fail to make the final, but this year it looks like several strong songs from this first semi final might fall victim to partner voting or failing to stand out against a strong group.
2. Australia is back
No-one is really sure why, but at this point it’s probably best to just accept it.
3. Russia is also back
Image courtesy of RFERL
Russia is also back for this year’s contest, after they withdrew last year when their entrant (Julia Samoylova) was banned from entering Ukraine. Much controversy ensued when it was discovered she had performed a concert in Russian-occupied Crimea, earning her a three-year ban on entering Ukraine.
Russia promised to bring Julia back for the 2018 contest and – somewhat surprisingly – they kept their word. Julia will be singing a really boring ballad.
4. This will be the first contest since the passing of Eurovision’s first ever winner
The first ever winner of Eurovision, Lys Assia, sadly passed away in March 2018. She entered Eurovision for Switzerland three times and became a big supporter of the contest. We can probably expect some sort of tribute to her on the night of the final.
5. There will be more songs in native languages
Last year’s winner was a song entirely in Portuguese | Image courtesy of Radio NZ
After Salvador Sobral’s victory last year with his beautiful Portuguese ballad, it was expected that 2018 would see a surge in countries returning to singing in their native languages. But while this year sees 14 songs sung entirely or partially not in English (the highest since 2013), it is still fewer than the 22 foreign-language songs seen the year after Serbia won in 2007 – the last non-English winner.
The countries singing entirely or partly in their native language this year are: Albania, Lithuania, Armenia, Greece, Serbia, Georgia, Hungary, Montenegro, Slovenia, Portugal, France, Spain and Italy. Estonia’s entry is entirely in Italian.
Read more: National languages and the rise of English at Eurovision
6. We can expect more musical diversity
Previous editions of the contest have been criticised for only showcasing pop music or ballads. This year, many fans have noted the impressive array of music diversity on offer; Estonia has entered an Italian-language operatic ballad, Hungary’s entry is post-hardcore screamo (apparently that’s a thing), Montenegro has opted for a Balkan ballad, Israel are sending a techno-queen who uses her own synthesizer and voice looper, while Georgia is sending an ethnic-folk-jazz band. It’s all going on!
7. The pressure is on Cyprus
Portugal’s win last year was akin to Leicester winning the Premier League in 2015/2016 (get me with a sporting reference) as they had entered the contest a staggering 48 times without winning. In fact, they had never cracked the top 5 – their best result was 6th place in 1996.
After Portugal’s win, Cyprus are the unlucky country to inherit the title of ‘most entries without a win’. This year will be Cyprus’ 34th time at the contest, though they have at least managed to enter the top 5, finishing fifth in 1982, 1997 and 2004.
The entries & national selections: Eurovision 2018
This year 43 countries are participating in the contest, with Russia returning after their absence last year.
8. Belarus is really hoping to do well
Ukrainian popstar Alekseev is entering Eurovision for Belarus this year. The 24-year-old singer initially entered the Ukrainian national selection, before pulling out in favour of Belarus (possibly due to the high level of competition in his native Ukraine).
Alekseev is a big name across the former Soviet Union, with his debut single Drunken Sun reaching number one in the charts in Russia and number two in Ukraine. He is currently touring across Russia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Lithuania and Moldova.
However, Alekseev is in the very competitive first semi-final (see above).
9. One of the biggest ever winners is back!
Norway’s Alexander Rybak won the contest by a landslide back in 2009. In fact, he clocked up more points than any other winner under the previous voting system. He’s back this year with the annoying but catchy ‘How to write a song.’
10. Moldova has partnered with a big Russian name
Moldovan trio DoReDos previously attempted to represent Moldova in 2015 and 2016. They finally achieved their aim this year, thanks to an upbeat Balkan track written by Russian musical legend Philip Kirkorov, who is a huge name in the biz and one of Russia’s biggest stars.
The song is sure to get votes from fellow Balkan countries like Romania and Serbia in the second semi-final, and Kirkorov’s name will probably draw some votes from Russia.
11. Bulgaria is in it to win it
Following on from their second place finish last year, Bulgaria were one of the favourites to win –before their super secretive entry was even announced. Their entry is a very slick very radio-friendly dark pop tune, sung by an international group put together by the broadcaster.
The song is a good one, but after its reveal, Bulgaria’s fell in the bookies’ favourites.
12. The success of ‘Despacito’ had a big effect
An increasing number of countries are looking to live X-Factor style national finals to determine their Eurovision entrant – presumably because then the nation is forced to share the blame if they do poorly… coughICELANDcough.
This year, Spanish-language Latino songs cropped up across the continent, undoubtedly thanks to the universal success of Despacito. Countries as far apart as Norway, Romania and Armenia featured songs entirely in Spanish in their national selections, while Cyprus opted for an English song with a Spanish title.
I think we can all agree that Armenia’s Spanish entry, Puerto Rico by drag queen Kamil Show, is the best song to miss out on Eurovision this year.
13. Czech Republic can be sure of their best ever result
This year, Prague is sending Mikolas Josef (a very good looking model and singer) with a very radio-friendly pop song, Lie to Me, that isn’t a whole away from Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You. It’s probably the song in the contest with the best chance of actually being heard on the radio after the contest is over. The original even included – gasp – swearing and sexual content.
Czechia have only qualified for the final once in their six appearances, where they finished second to last. Mikolas is one of the favourites to win, so Prague can be pretty much sure of a new record in Lisbon.
Controversies and drama: Eurovision 2018
14. The Greek selection
The Greek selection process didn’t exactly go to plan this year.
The Greek broadcaster initially announced they would host a national final to selection their entrant, stipulating that submitted songs must be in Greek with a ‘Greek feel’. Five songs were shortlisted, before two were quickly disqualified for lacking said ‘Greek feel’.
The national final was scheduled for 22 February. The hosts were announced on 14 February. The show was then cancelled on the 15 February, after two of the three remaining songs were disqualified. The reason? The record companies did not stump up the €20,000 guarantee required by the broadcaster…
15. Moldova’s got talent… maybe?
Moldova held an open submission for any Eurovision hopefuls… but ultimately received just 28. They then intended to host two live semi-finals and a national final to find the lucky winner, but we were forced to cancel a semi-final after deciding only 16 had what it took to compete.
Despite an apparent lack of Eurovision talent in the country, their entry for the 2018 contest is pretty good.
16. Ireland vs. Russia?
For this to make sense, it’s important to check out Ireland’s Eurovision video (below).
Basically, Ireland premiered the music video for their Eurovision entry, which featured a gay couple dancing through the streets of Dublin. Nothing too controversial there, right? Eurovision is known for its popularity amongst the LGBT community (coughGAYMENcough).
Nothing too controversial, at all. Until Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Ireland’s entrant (who is straight, incidently), then tweeted that Russia had threatened to ban the video for its depiction of a gay couple. Unsurprisingly, this stirred up a lot of emotions from gay fans.
However, it then transpired that no such ban had been threatened. Instead, it was suggested by fans (see comments in linked article) that O’Shaughnessy was simply trying to stir up support for his song by pitting himself against Russia. If that was the plan, it seems to have backfired judging by forum comments.
In my personal opinion as a gay man, Ireland’s music video is simply the exploitation of gay culture for a cheap shot at votes. It’s nil points from me.
16. Saara Aalto turned down the UK for her native Finland
In early November 2017 it was revealed X Factor runner-up and native Finn Saara Aalto was in talks to represent the UK at Eurovision… but just days later she was announced as Finland’s entry.
She will perform in the first semi-final and will be hoping to score some points from the UK.
17. Macedonia were almost banned
In November it was announced that Macedonia would not be participating in the contest due to debts owed by the broadcaster to the EBU (Romania were disqualified from the contest in 2016 for the same reason). However, 10 days later it was announced that Macedonia and the EBU had come to an agreement allowing for Macedonia to participate once more.
Predictions for Eurovision 2018
Here are some of my predictions for Eurovision 2018. Despite my clear expertise, I am still often wrong, as proven by my predictions for 2016. However I did accurately predicted four of the top 5 in 2015 (although I didn’t write it down so you’ll have to take my word for it).
18. Israel will do very well
Israel are currently the favourites to win the contest, thanks to the genre-busting electro-pop song from talent show winner Netta. The song is certainly something not heard at Eurovision before, featuring a backing track made of the singer’s looped vocals.
The song has been a sensation with fans since its release but has yet to be seen live. Israel is favourite to win, but I’m personally not sure how a song like this would go down with the juries.
19. Iceland will be last in their semi-final
A lot of people have compared Iceland’s entry to the Eurovision of the early 90s, where slow-tempo ballads with reaffirming messages were commonplace… and yet this entry would probably still have come last.
Iceland have not qualified since 2014 and would need something spectacular to survive the battle of the first semi-final… which they definitely do not have.
20. Russia will struggle to qualify
They might be in the ‘easier’ semi-final, but Russia’s very drab entry will struggle to stand out as it lacks the punch of their previous entries.
Additionally, due to the semi-final allocation, Russia has been separated from many of its traditional voting partners like Belarus, Estonia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, who will all perform and vote in the first semi-final.
21. Ireland, Switzerland, San Marino and Malta certain non-qualifiers
Very formulaic songs that have been almost entirely forgotten since they were released.
22. Spain or France to top the ‘Big Five’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-5UnMdKg70
After a stellar national selection, France went with the popular eletro-pop duo Madame Monsieur (who are also a married couple). The French-language song tells the real-life story of a baby born in the middle of the Mediterranean to a migrant mother trying to reach Europe. The lyrics are powerful… but all in French. Even so, the electro-pop seems to appeal to a lot of fans.
Meanwhile Spain are sending a young duo with a super sweet love song, who have reportedly since fallen in love – awwwwww. Despite myself I really like this song and think it could do well with audience who like a classic melody and love story.
23. UK to be in bottom five
The UK national selection has been getting better and better of late, but I was pretty disappointed with our very safe choice of SuRie and her song Storm. The lyrics are a bit weak, but she sings well. Ultimately, I think we will do well with juries, but I doubt the song will stand out enough to bring in points from the televote. I am predicting a final place starting with twenty-something.
What do you think? Any Eurovision predictions of your own to share?
Comment below!