The 70th Eurovision Song Contest kicks off on May 12 (and I’ll be there!). Here are my preliminary thoughts but, as we know from previous years, the live performance can change everything (my picks are at the very end).

🇦🇱 Albania – Nân by Alis – yay for the orchestra but otherwise…

🇦🇺 Australia – Eclipse by Delta Goodrem – confession: I am not a Delta fan, however, I will totally lock-in when I’m there. It won’t be hard – Eclipse has all the ingredients of a great Eurovision song and if other countries were keen on a non-political vote, it could be our year!

🇦🇲 Armenia – Paloma Rumba by Simó: this year’s Tommy Cash??

🇦🇹 Austria – Tanzschein by Cosmó: it sucks to be the entry for the host country… this one will go off at the Prater Dome after-parties but won’t raise the roof at Wiener Stadthalle.

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan – Just Go by Jiva: not doing well in the polling but I reckon if Jiva pulls out all the stops on the night (and Azerbaijan can fund some decent staging) this could do reasonably well.

🇧🇪 Belgium – Dancing on the Ice by Essyla: basic.

🇧🇬 Bulgaria – Bangaranga by Dara: it’s not Eurovision without a bunch of Beyoncé wannabes…

🇭🇷 Croatia – Andromeda by Lelek: the Handmaid drama! I like this one.

🇨🇾 Cyprus – Jalla by Antigoni: the question is how many costume changes will she achieve on the night?

🇨🇿 Czechia –  Crossroads by Daniel Žižka: hope he tidies up before the final.

🇩🇰 Denmark –  Før vi går hjem by Søren Torpegaard Lund: growing on me.

🇪🇪 Estonia – Too Epic To Be True by Vanilla Ninja: this song has been slaughtered by critics but I LOVE it. Absolute banger. Listen to the opening bars and just wait for that beat to drop… and I challenge you not to dance.

🇫🇮 Finland – Liekinheitin by Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen: all the light-and-shade ingredients for a winning entry with a bonus angry-fiddler, wind machine and flames.

🇫🇷 France – Regarde! by Monroe: Edith Piaf meets Britney Spears. This is actually the first French entry I’ve liked in years.

🇬🇪 Georgia – On Replay by Bzikebi: why do I hate these nonsense lyrics but love Norway’s…?

🇩🇪 Germany – Fire by Sarah Engels: embarrassingly generic.

🇬🇷 Greece – Ferto by Akylas: could Greece steal the win? The televote will be all over this. Bring it.

🇮🇱 Israel – Michelle by Noam Bettan: boring.

🇮🇹 Italy – Per sempre sì by Sal Da Vinci: where do I get a trackie like that? This one is fun. I’ll be dancing.

🇱🇻 Latvia – Ēnā by Atvara: nothing new here.

🇱🇹 Lithuania – Sólo quiero más by Lion Ceccah: the silver paint is distracting me.

🇱🇺 Luxembourg – Mother Nature by Eva Marija: This is catchy. Hope she has the budget to do something fabulous with the costumes and staging.

🇲🇹 Malta –Bella by Aidan: how many male ballads can we have? I don’t think this will be one of them.

🇲🇩 Moldova – Viva, Moldova by Satoshi: I feel like this has been done before (just in other languages….).

🇲🇪 Montenegro – Nova zora by Tamara Živković: there’s a long history of women doing chores on the Eurovision stage. And the last few years there’s been a distinctive lack of props. Bring back the props Montenegro!

🇳🇴 Norway – Ya ya ya by Jonas Lovv: huge 90s Aussie-rock/ dad-rock vibe (just listen, not watch – the Harry Styles homage doesn’t match the sound).

🇵🇱 Poland – Pray by Alicja: ugh. I’m just not into these made-for-X-Factor-anthems. And this song is so messy.

🇵🇹 Portugal – Rosa by Bandidos do Cante: their nanas are going to be so proud.

Romania – Choke Me by Alexandra Căpitănescu: loathe the vibe of this song but recognise that it has the light and shade ingredients that could propel it.

🇸🇲 San Marino – Superstar by Senhit: love the Silver Convention vibe and we’ll be dancing (but it won’t win).

🇷🇸 Serbia – Kraj mene by Lavina: I know they have their place but I’m never into the dark, gothic songs.

🇸🇪 Sweden – My System by Felicia: I can hardly recall a year where I haven’t liked Sweden’s entry… first time for everything.

🇨🇭 Switzerland – Alice by Veronica Fusaro: love the nineties angry-girl vibe of this one. Will be getting votes from me.

🇺🇦 Ukraine –  Ridnym by Leléka: time for the show-off vocals! I like this song (and love those sun ray pleat sleeves).

🇬🇧 United Kingdom – Eins, Zwei, Drei by Look Mum No Computer: it’s not Eurovision without a completely stupid/ gimmicky song. Looks like UK is providing it this year (auf Deutsch!).

The official odds are showing Finland, France, Denmark and Australia as the main contenders.

My favourites are Switzerland, Estonia (note that they are coming last in the polling!), Australia, France, Norway and Ukraine.