Watched by millions around the world, the Eurovision Song Contest is a musical Pot – love it or hate it – even its fiercest critic can’t call it boring .
This year is of course something special – for the first time two countries (Ukraine and the UK) will jointly host the event which has descended on Liverpool waterfront in all its multicolored glory.
So, as pop fans gear up for Saturday’s 26-act, four-hour marathon, who do we think will take home the iconic Eurovision glass microphone trophy?
The first three
Sweden – the birthplace of Eurovision Abba royalty – is the favorite to win.
Loreen – who won the contest in 2012 with Euphoria – now returns with his new song Tattoo, an electric banger with jaw-dropping vocals.
And science is on its side, with solo female pop artists most likely to win the competition, according to a recent study by digital marketing agency Evoluted.
Winning this year would tie Sweden with Ireland for the most wins (seven) and make Loreen the first woman to win more than once.
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“I want to create something that matters”
The Finnish hyper-pop-rap track Cha Cha Cha is also very popular with bookmakers.
The song is performed by Finnish singer Kaarija – a pro poses on the red carpet with his neon green puffer jacket and bowl haircut.
Kaarija
His name is a clever Finnish pun on the verbs “to wrap / and to rap” and his song is inspired by the feeling of losing inhibitions after a drink or two. The 29-year-old singer described the track to Sky News as follows: “Lots of power, energy and fire”.
Tvorchi
Electronic Duo Tvorchicomposed of producer Andrii Hutsuliak and singer Jeffery Kenny, will compete for Ukraine with their catchy song Heart Of Steel.
With their band name meaning “creative” in Ukrainian, their song is a quiet message of defiance aimed at Russia, the invader of their homeland.
They of course hope to bring the award back to Ukraine, which was unable to host this year’s show due to the war.
Mae Muller. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett
What about the UK?
Mae Muller is Britain’s hopeful this year, with a pop and energetic break-up track called I Wrote A Song.
The dance floor features tongue-in-cheek lyrics about a cheating ex-boyfriend.
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She explained the inspiration for the song on TikTok: “I was really annoyed with this guy. I wanted to do something crazy, maybe burn down his house, I don’t know.
“But instead, I took the high road and wrote a song. And it’s called growth, ladies and gentlemen.”
With an energetic dance routine and an easy-to-sing section of “da dada dada da’s”, he has a good chance of making it into the top 10.
Blanca Paloma
Also in the race
Spaniard Blanca Paloma will sing Eaea which has an authentic Spanish sound, fused with a strong synth line.
Paloma said the song represents a “song to her late grandmother”, which had inspired much of her music.
Norwegian Alessandra will sing Queen Of Kings, a pop sensation with a super catchy chorus. Compared to Lady Gaga, it’s already one of the most streamed songs in the competition.
And France’s La Zarra will sing the sultry torch song Evidemment (which translates to “obviously” in English).
The French-language track was created especially for the contest, co-written by La Zarra herself, and she described it as a true French “song” about love, the importance of loving each other and willpower. to achieve complete happiness in what can often be a complex world.
Teya & Salena
What about novelty songs?
Perhaps more important than the potential winners are the acts everyone will be talking about on Sunday morning.
Austria becomes all literary, with the entry of Teya and Salena Who The Hell Is Edgar?, on the ghost of the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. That, and streaming sites that change artists. Quite an eclectic mix.
Traveler
Croatian shock-rock band Let 3 will sing a track called Mama SC, which includes the lyrics: “Mama bought the tractor”, “Armageddon granny” and “War, war, evil little psychopath”.
While they will perform in brightly colored military gear on the Eurovision stage, they are said to have gotten into trouble in Croatia for stripping in public and performing naked.
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Australian entry – Voyager – is a veteran prog-metal band who said their track was like “Duran Duran, but heavy” – which sounds… interesting.
Sky News will be in Liverpool with updates, a live blog and all the biggest competition news as it happens.
