Your guide to this year’s Eurovision
The Eurovision final is kicking off tomorrow night.
The international song competition is held once a year where the public can vote for their favourite country through the song they perform.
After Ukraine won last year, the public are super excited to see who the winner might be out of the 26 countries in the line up.
It’s important to know who you’re voting for as well as why so here is a breakdown of the different countries in the contest.
Albania
Albania will be represented by Albina & Familja Kelmendi who will be performing their song Duje.
The song will be performed by Albina and her family which will include her mum and dad.
Albania won back in 2011 so it will be a huge accomplishment after 12 years if they win this year.
The song will be performed in Albanian and is about the separation of a family.
This brings in why they decided to include her family within the performance which is a heartwarming touch.
Armenia
Representing Armenia will be 22-year-old Elen Yeremyan also known as Brunette.
She is one of the youngest singers in this year’s Eurovision and will be performing a song she wrote: Future lovers.
The song is about a lover that she hasn’t met yet and that she is putting her best foot forward everyday.
The song is in English up until the outro where she sings in Armenian for her country.
Armenia has never won the Eurovision song contest so this would be a huge achievement for the 22-year-old.
Australia
The band Voyager has been put through as Australia’s Eurovision entry.
Performing their song Promise, members of the band play guitar, drums and bass onstage with their lead singer.
Their song is lively and is bound to get people up on their feet with it’s upbeat chorus.
Despite not being a part of Europe, Australia has been invited to every Eurovision since 2015 which is also why Armenia and Cyprus are included.
Austria
This year’s contest entry for Austria is a duo called Teya & Salena with their song ‘Who the hell is Edgar?’
Both artists have been in the Eurovision before on separate occasions before they met and began performing together.
Teya performed in Eurovision back in 2020 and Salena the previous year in 2019.
They met in an Austrian talent show called Starmania 21 where they bonded over their love of Eurovision.
The song they are performing tomorrow night is about how women in the industry are overlooked and aren’t given enough credit.
Belgium
Belgium hasn’t won since 1986 so this year it would be a huge accomplishment for this country if they won.
Their singer, Gustaph, will be performing his song Because Of You tomorrow night.
This upbeat song about the positive impact people can have on another’s life.
It carries the meaning that support from a loved one can give you the strength to carry on.
Croatia
This year, Let 3 will be representing Croatia with a fun and creative performance.
The five man band will be performing their song Mama ŠC.
The band have said their song is a metaphor for the Russian Federation.
As an anti-war song, they are mocking dictators such as Vladimir Putin within their lyrics.
The band have been around since 1987 and have been known to advocate for women’s and LGBT+ rights.
Cyprus
Andrew Lambrou will be performing for Cyrus this year with a song called Break A Broken Heart.
This can be expected to be a very heartfelt and emotional performance from the 24-year-old.
Last year, he performed with Australian band Voyager but will be representing his parent’s homeland this year.
Czechia
The band, Vesna, will be performing their song My Sister’s Crown this year which is an upbeat pop song.
The group of six wrote the song about sisterhood, respect, support and cooperation.
The song can be sung in English, Ukrainian, Czech and Bulgarian.
At Eurovision they will be singing the song in both Czech and English.
Estonia
Estonia’s representative Alika will be performing tomorrow night as the youngest person competing at 20 years old.
Her ballad Bridges is about positive changed within ourselves which brings the public a heartwarming performance.
Estonia have only been participating in the Eurovision since 1994 and won for their first and only time back in 2001.
Finland
Tomorrow a very lively and creative performance can be expected from Finland’s entry, Käärijä.
Their song Cha Cha Cha will be sung in Finnish with an enthusiastic dance accompanying it.
The Finnish singer, rapper and songwriter, told the BBC that the song is about freedom.
He describes himself as crazy and that he doesn’t care what other people are thinking.
A unique and entertaining performance can definitely be expected from Finland this year.
France
Fatima-Zahra Hafdi, also known as La Zarra, will be performing for France in the competition tomorrow night.
Originally a Canadian singer, she is based in France and will be performing her song Évidemment.
Évidemment, meaning obviously in English, is a sad song about heartbreak and the inability to find love.
She will be the second Canadian to represent France since 2001.
Germany
Lord of the Lost will be representing Germany in this year’s Eurovision contest.
The gender-fluid gothic metal band will be performing their song Blood & Glitter.
Their band consists of five members, who each play guitar, drums or the keyboard within their performance.
Germany has won twice in previous years and has also come second four times over the course of the 80’s.
Israel
After not making it into the finals last year, Israel’s performer Noa Kirel has stepped up to the mark to try and win this year’s competition.
The 22-year-old will be singing a song called Unicorn in the show tomorrow night.
Israel has won four times over the last 50 years.
Their most recent win was five years ago back in 2018.
Italy
Many Italians may already know the name Marco Mengoni from an Italian music festival which he won.
He was the winner of the Sanremo Music Festival 2023 and was then announced to have earned the right to represent Italy in this year’s Eurovision.
With his song Due Vite, he will get the audience to hold up their torches as they listen to his soft and slow song.
Lithuania
Monika Linkyté will be performing on behalf of Lithuania in tomorrow’s contest.
She will be performing a song called Stay is a bilingual ballad which is a song about pain and healing.
Lithuania have never won the Eurovision and remains the only Baltic country to have not won.
This song with a powerful message could be their ticket to winning.
Moldova
Moldova’s nominee, Pasha Perfeni, is performing a song which is classed as a traditional Moldovan folk song.
The performance to the song, Soarele si Luna, is a high energy song which includes lots of dancing on the stage.
Pasha Perfeni also performed at the Eurovision back in 2012.
Moldova have been in the final on nine separate occasions but have never won.
Norway
With the rise of social media, Norway’s entry is TikTok star Alessandra.
She will be performing Queen of Kings which is her original song.
She is a Norwegian-Italian singer-songwriter that had over 25 million streams for the song she’s going to perform.
Due to her large following and likes on TikTok she has already had her song widely spread across social media.
Poland
For Poland, the singer Blanka will be performing an original song called Solo.
This catchy pop song has dancers on stage and also likely in the audience.
Polands most success they received in the Eurovision was in 1994 when they finished second place.
Portugal
Ai Coração is a song which will be performed at the Eurovision by Portuguese singer Mimicat.
She is a pop and soul singer widely known across Portugal.
This fun and upbeat song could give them their first win since 2017.
Eurovision in 2017 was the first time Portugal won the competition.
Serbia
Luke Black will be performing on behalf of Serbia in the Eurovision this year.
The song, Samo Mi Se Spava tells a story of a chaotic world filled with conflict and struggle.
Throughout the performance, you will see the singer go through a range of emotions as the song goes on.
The last time Serbia won was in 2007.
That means it’s been 16 years since they last won the contest.
Slovenia
Slovenia have another band representing them this year.
The Slovenian band Joker Out will be performing their song Carpe Diem which is a catchy, upbeat song they wrote themselves
Slovenia have never won the Eurovision song contest.
Spain
Blanca Paloma, a singer from Barcelona, will be representing Spain this year.
She will be performing her song EAEA, which is something that means a lot to her as it comes from her grandmothers culture in Spain.
Spain has won the Eurovision twice back in the late 60’s so this would be a huge achievement if they win tomorrow after 50 years.
Sweden
Sweden will be represented by singer Loreen this year with the song Tattoo.
She only released this song in February this year.
Sweden has the strongest track record for Eurovision with six wins over the years they have performed there.
Switzerland
Switzerland has Remo Forrer, a 21-year-old singer, to represent them this year.
His song Watergun looks at the issue of men in their childhood are taught to embrace violence.
This song has an insightful message which he expresses well within his song.
Switzerland has participated within Eurovision 63 times and has only one once back in 1956.
Ukraine
After their win last year, Ukraine are back to try and win for a second time in a row.
An electronic pop style due, TVORCHI, will be performing their song Heart of Steel.
Ukraine have won a total of three times, could this be their fourth?
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom are hosting the Eurovision this year in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine due to the war.
There is high expectation for this years contestant, Mae Muller who will be performing her original song, I Wrote A Song.
The UK have won five times over the course of the Eurovision.
They have also come second 16 times across the years and have the longest run of consecutive performances in the Grand Finale over any other country.
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