But alas, my predictions this year will severely lack a good deal of enthusiasm. Since the end of February, my excitement for Eurovision has drastically dropped. I was still looking forward to it and still tried to attend it live but I wasn't feeling very happy.
What happened to cause this dreadful emotion? Simple. I frankly just wasn't enjoying the songs or selections at the same level as previous years. Some of the early fan favorites were okay at best and suffered from immense cringe or and/or dodgy live vocals. Then Sweden decided to have their most blandest Melodifestivalen in some time, complete with the most pathetic Second Chance round of all time and a winner that while competently made was truly bleh.
Now after listening to the entire album, pouring through a lot of podcasts while at work, and checking out the official rehearsal footage, I'm now back in the groove for the most part. With that being said, let's get to my predictions!
But before I do, here are my top ten favorite songs from this year's contest pre-rehearsals, in alphabetical order:
Australia
Austria
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
France
Ireland
Lithuania
Slovenia
Switzerland
SEMI-FINAL 1 COUNTRIES THAT WILL QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL
Australia - Great to see Electric Fields at Eurovision. And they brought another fine tune with some easy audience participation.
Croatia - They have a great story with Baby Lasagna. The song sounds great on the album. It would be great for Croatia to win or get a high placement. Baby Lasagna's real singing voice? Not so great. It will do well with the audience but it needs to be on point in order to steal votes away from the other meme-worthy fan favorites aka the weird little guys of Eurovision 2024.
Cyprus - All I want is for there to be a kickass girl pop song. Cyprus brought it to me again. I am however afraid of it being the very first song of the event but the constant song recaps will refresh everyone's mind.
Finland - I don't loathe "No Rules!" but it was such a terrible selection, a huge drop from "Cha Cha Cha". It will either easily make it through the semi-final thanks to the televote only to then die on Saturday or it will die a quick death on Tuesday. And no, it will not win.
Ireland - They have a 50/50 chance at advancing with "Doomsday Blue". The rehearsal footage so far makes it look it will finally break Ireland's non-qualifying streak.
Lithuania - My absolute favorite song of the entire contest. I really wish it does well, giving Lithuania another top ten placement.
Luxembourg - Expecting to qualify solely as a thank you for coming back. Very meh song.
Portugal - Okay song that appears to be enhanced greatly with the staging. Portugal being Portugal.
Slovenia - I like Raiven and "Veronika" is really cool and unique but all of her artistic screaming at the end of the song might kill its chances or cause it to drop to the lower 13 come the Grand Final.
Ukraine - I love Ukraine but this selection is very bland. Good enough to qualify though. And what the hell is going to happen with that paper mache hill?
SEMI-FINAL 1 COUNTRIES THAT WILL BE ELIMINATED
Azerbaijan - Wait, they are competing this year? Really? Are you sure? I know their song came out right before the deadline but it so unbelievably forgettable.
Iceland - Oh Iceland. Even with the nice return of Hera Bjork, you chose poorly.
Moldova - I actually enjoy "In The Middle" and was one of the few people happy that it won the national selection over yet another meme pop tune. However, it looks to potentially be swallowed up by the big stage.
Poland - Like the song but my god, they ruined it thanks to the expected staging and costumes.
Serbia - Somber and quickly washes away from your mind. Why Serbia?
SEMI-FINAL 2 COUNTRIES THAT WILL QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL
Armenia - A total dark horse and total folk fun.
Austria - Could fall apart live but the rehearsal footage seem to show Kaleen ready to make "We Will Rave" a blast on stage.
Belgium - Remember when many people though this would win? It's good but not too stellar.
Czechia - It was either this or Greece. I think Aiko and her fun but still Olivia Rodrigo wannabe song will do well in the arena.
Denmark - What a glow-up! Not the most original song but Saba looks like a total diva commanding the stage. This will do very well with the juries.
Estonia - Really hoping this becomes the Moldova spot of the evening. I love these guys and their song so much over the other folk pop dance tracks.
The Netherlands - No, this will not win Eurovision. Second place at best, even with a big televote. Though "Europapa" is pretty catchy, it is also a bit lame if you take a step back and look at it as a whole. And that depressing ending is so odd.
Norway - The live performance version is far and away better than the song version. Still a lot of wailing and screaming though. Still wish Keiino or Super Rob the giant robot were here.
San Marino - Holy crap! Megara and their song "11:11" were a total mess at the national final but they seemed to finally put the pieces together for Thursday and possibly Saturday.
Switzerland - We finally have a POTENTIAL WINNER. Nemo appears ready and able to do all of the vocal theatrics necessary to make "The Code" shine live and the expecting staging looks to complement it.
SEMI-FINAL 2 COUNTRIES THAT WILL BE ELIMINATED
Albania - I don't hate the revamp with a passion like everybody else but yeah, it's pretty questionable and dire. Should have sticked with the original version and the metal bikini top.
Georgia - Can Georgia just get a break please?
Greece - I enjoy "Zari" but I don't think it will translate well live in a big arena.
Israel - Remember, the semi-final qualifiers are determined via the public.
Latvia - Dons can sing and "Hollow" is pretty fine, especially if you're a fan of Hozier's "Take Me To Church", but the expected staging looks to ruin Latvia's chances to break the streak of non-qualifying.
Malta - Yes, it's just a lame "SlowMo". At least it's better than that monkey song. Moving on.
COUNTRIES THAT AUTO-QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL
France - The second POTENTIAL WINNER. It is so very French but Slimane has shown that he has the pipes and is ready to unleash everything for another win for France.
Germany - Love that elephant roar! Has potential to do okay compared to Germany's previous entries ("Blood and Glitter" deserved better!) but it also could be another unmemorable flop.
Italy - This was a potential winner at one point, especially after Sanremo, but somewhere along the way, "La Noia" lost a lot of steam. Still expected to do well enough and be top ten worthy.
Spain - Good throwback to 80's synthpop but doesn't stick with me at all. Don't expect the same to happen with juries and televoters save for maybe Portugal.
Sweden - Last year, I was so happy Marcus & Martinus didn't win Melodifestivalen. They did it win this year however with a lesser song called "Unforgettable". It's the first song on Saturday. Even with the recap videos, non-jury people will forget it.
The United Kingdom - "Dizzy" is great when listening to it on the radio or a playlist. It's a breezy tune of simple synths but it doesn't hang well as a stand alone track. I liked Years & Years but Oily Alexander needs to do something to stand out. Their solution so far? Dancers in boxing gear doing very homoerotic routines. It's Can't Stop The Music all over again!
The semi-finals take place on May 7 and 9, both starting at 3 PM EST. The Grand Final will take place on May 11 at the exact same time. All three events can be watched here in America via Peacock if they have a paid subscription to the streaming service. No word yet on whether Johnny Weir will show up to host again but viewers will able to follow along with the event's presenters, Swedish expert entertainer Petra Mede and Hollywood actress Malin Akerman.
