Eurovision 2025 Preview Semi 1

Hold on, it’s only one week until Semi 1?  But I haven’t even heard all of the songs yet! Better get cracking…

Hi! Yes, to quote the infamous 2011 Slovakian entry: I’m still alive! I moved house last week and the weeks leading up to it have been crazy, so I’ve been a bit silent here. No room for multi-tasking when you’re boxing everything up and simultaneously organizing a slight renovation at the new place. But I managed, I’ve arrived, I’ve unboxed about 80% of my stuff… and suddenly realized we’ve only got one week to go until Semi 1 starts when I write this. Odd. Very odd.

And not that odd. Because the Eurovision 2024 Hangover is still real. When Eurovision season started in January, I was just not feeling it. Like, at all. That’s the first time in over 25 years. Quite the bizarre experience, and it continued throughout the season. I watched the odd NF with my besties because it’s our yearly tradition. But artist announcements, song announcements, entries being picked through NF’s I hadn’t seen – they all flew under the radar. The radar didn’t even exist. Besides my usual hiding place in the ESC universe – the ESCNation message board – the Eurovision part of my brain had simply put itself in stasis.

So there were no preview posts this season, no elaborate scrutiny, no looking into Madame Soleil’s crystal ball to try and predict the outcome. And I’m sorry if you’ve been missing them. But now that we’re one week away from Semi 1 and pictures of rehearsals are popping up, I do feel a slight tingle. Curiosity never killed this cat, so I decided to sit down and listen to the songs. Only listen. Only once this afternoon, and now while I’m typing this preview. No visuals. I think I had only heard a third of the songs during the season, and only a handful managed to sneak into my Spotify list.

So here are my almost unfiltered first impressions for Semi 1. Will follow up on Thursday with Semi 2. Då kör vi, I guess. Follow along with the Spotify playlist.

Iceland – Væb – RÓA

The autotune is strong in this one. Moose bar væbes. Good opener to the show. Reminds me of Woki Mit Deim Popo, which I liked. Could live without the fiddle. Oh, and the key change. I’ve seen pics of them, they look like the good kind of nuts. Not really for me, but could be qualifying.

Poland – Justyna Steczkowska – Gaja

Oh yay, Justyna! Sama is such a legendary entry in my book. Too bad she traded her sound in for some generic, mid-nillies drum driven pop song. I still love the girl power oozing from it, but come on. All form, not that much substance. Impressive long notes though. Not really sure if this will work in 2025. Come on Justyna, prove me wrong – for 1995 sake!

Slovenia – Klemen – How Much Time Do We Have Left

Having seen Klemen pull some funny tricks throughout the years as the Slovenian NF host, I was expecting a lot, but not this. NOT THIS *cue dramatic look*. No seriously, just how touching is this? Quite touching, from where I’m sitting. Genuine emotions, look at that! I actually like how they manage to keep the production quite contained instead of going all schmalzy. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I can totally see this going top five.

Estonia – Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato 

Of course I’ve heard OF this, but only now do I get to experience it in full. And I get that it’s supposed to be experienced WITH the stage show, but that’s not what we’re doing this year. And I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of what the song is doing. Those dated verses and then that lazy chorus that could use a shot of caffeine… I get that it’s probably the point, and i also get that this is probably this year’s Käärijä or Baby Lasagna, but make my Hazelnut Oatmeal Iced Frappé a double when I sit through this.

Spain – Melody – Esa Diva

Watched the Spanish final and I desperately didn’t want this to win because it has G:son written all over it. Melody tries very hard to be a diva indeed, but alas. What’s Spanish for ‘average’?

Ukraine – Ziferblat – Bird Of Pray

LOL at the word pun, I guess? This has a cute ’70s rock vibe to it which I kinda digg, but it could have worked with a smoother production. Not too sure if I’m into the choir vibes, but I’ll happily get lost in this potpourri of styles. Obviously qualifying, even on merits alone.

Sweden- KAJ – Bara Bada Bastu

Sauna. Also bringing Moose Bar vibes to the table, and it’s insanely catchy. I’d only heard it in its MF heat and it haunted my brain all frikkin’ week. It’s been stuck there ever since, and I don’t even particularly like it. They do know how to bring the party, this will go top 5 easily. The live version works better than the studio  one. Bonus points for name dropping Arja Saijonmaa. 

Portugal – NAPA – Deslocado

Oh, Portugal bringing the chill back to Basel. The weeping guitar is really setting my soul on fire, I’m sooo feeling this. The Portuguese language works surprisingly well here. I have no clue if this’ll conquer the hearts of Europe, but I think I just fell in love a bit.

Norway – Kyle Alessandro – Lighter

I watched MGP (partly) and all I can say is: chainmail! Dancing in THAT outfit looked crazy ,and distracted nicely from what is a pretty standard pop song. I was thinking about Tooji all the time, maybe not the most hopeful of references. The verses are quite unexciting, and while the chorus is OK it is rather superficial. This is made for the stage, I presume, and to be fair: Kyle does know how to sell it.

Belgium – Red Sebastian – Strobe Lights

Red…for filth. Clearly the best thing on offer in our NF (Désolé to the Mentissa fans), curious to see this on the grand stage. If he manages to really become one with the song, this could do pretty well. I could have done with one more chorus instead of the long verses, just to really hit the 90s club vibe home. And growing up as a teenager in the 90s in Belgium, this just hits home on several levels. Love it. Red light, green light. No clue how it’ll do.

Italy – Lucio Corsi – Volevo Essere Un Duro

Unmistakably Italian, with a whiff of Carpenters. Again 70s vibes, are they back back back again? Quite un-Eurovisiony, and I love it for that. Perhaps one tempo change too many for my liking. I’ve seen pics of him. Wonder if the look will add to or distract from the song. Will probably go top 10 anyway.

Azerbaijan – Mamagama – Run With U

Oh, electronics – huzzah! Vaguely reminiscing of The Weeknd. Those vocals need to be spot on for this to work. I needed the drop in the chorus to hit harder, just like the beat. But I quite like this. Could have done without the banjo though. Sounds like a right hand table finalist for now.

San Marino – Gabry Ponte – Tutta L’Italia

Fuck no. Those opening bars alone make my skin crawl. Football anthem from ’94. Kill it with fire. And I’m not just saying that because my favorite (Il Giorno Gusto by Luisa Corna) ended last in that waste of an NF. Hate this. It’s going to the final, isn’t it? Urgh.

Albania – Shkodra Elektronika – Zjerm

One of the few that sounds slightly…dare I say it…authentical. Recognizable. Loving the production here. THOSE STRINGS! Oh, and hello mr whispering Demon. The beats make me wanna sway my hips round and round. Love this. Straight to my playlist, and dare I say my fave for now.

Netherlands – Claude – C’est La Vie

J’aime la vie, c’est la vie, dis oui. La mélodie sounds very familiar, tbh. VERY simple lyrics, to the point of patati et patata, but a bit of lalala never hurt anyone(‘s chances) in Eurovision. It’s got piano and beats as well. Dangerous. Very dangerous. It doesn’t hurt either that Claude is a total hottie.

Croatia – Marko Bošnjak – Poison Cake

Another one with a fickle structure. Loving the electronic vibe though. But that chorus… somewhat hard to digest, this poison cake. It doesn’t feel like this will survive the night. (Edit – I originally assumed this was Serbia. Mea culpa. Just goes to show how involved I am this year.)

Switzerland – Zoë Më – Voyage

The contrast with Croatia, hahaha. So soft, so fragile. Very dreamy. Just a whiff of Billie Eilish. Feels like it’s made for the stage too. Not sure if this would work on the radio though. Oh, that bridge is a bit of a letdown. But it’s really cute, all in all. Could we be heading for the first double in over thirty years? 

Cyprus – Theo Evan – Shh

I once got shushed by a German tourist in Thailand, so this is somewhat triggering. But seriously, this just ticks a lot of boxes. Nineties vibes, the beat runs neatly through the song, the adrenaline is REAL. Belgium’s big competition. What are the odds that we get two VERY similar entries in one semi? Could they both make it out? The production in the chorus is VERY ‘Faithless – God Is A DJ’, by the way. Another dangerous one.

Preferences & Predictions

There are seven entries that feel like definite finalists:

• Slovenia
• Estonia
• Ukraine
• Sweden
• Albania
• Netherlands
• Cyprus

The remaining three spots are difficult to predict. San Marino feels like a safe bet, though I’d rather see Azerbaijan in there. Belgium and Portugal are in the mix too.

Curious to see and feel the effect of diving into Eurovision week with a much cleaner slate than the past two decades. I added Albania, Cyprus and Azerbaijan to my playlist. We’ll see if any of the other ones make it after the event.

How about you? How are you surfing the 2025 wave? And who would you predict and/or prefer?