By Neil Durham

WHEN?: Tuesday 13 May 2025

WHERE?: St Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland

HOW DO I WATCH?: BBC1 at 8pm in the UK or eurovision.tv or SVT

Rather too many men in this easier of the 2 semi finals with the much tougher and saucier semi 2 taking place on the following Thursday.

• Read on for reasons including who are the 10 entrants we think will make the 17 May final

1. ICELAND Væb (Vibe) Róa (Row) (Gunnar Björn Gunnarsson, Hálfdán Helgi Matthíasson, Ingi Þór Garðarsson, Matthías Davíð Matthíasson) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

Norway’s Kyle Alessandro (see below) tried to represent his country in 2023 as part of group Umami Tsunami where it’s impossible to separate group from backing dancers, and that reminds us of this Bacofoil-wrapped entry by Icelandic brothers Væb. Like Alessandro’s 2025 entry (below), there’s oddly a bit of Irish jig and fiddle in the mix but this national final winning entry felt a bit shouty and amateurish to progress further.

2. POLAND: Justyna Steczkowska Gaja (Gaia) (Justyna Steczkowska; Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek; Patryk Kumór; Emilian Waluchowski) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Like Spain’s entry this year, there’s at least half a dozen things too many going on in the national final performance (see above) but it is anchored by a terrific powerhouse vocal. This Polish singer, songwriter and photographer represented Poland 30 years ago with the song Sama (Alone), finishing 18th. She’s almost entirely alone as a woman in this semi and could well give Poland its best result since Michal Szpak finished 8th in 2016.

3. SLOVENIA Klemen How Much Time Do We Have Left? (Klemen Slakonja, Maja Slatinšek, Ryan Small) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

A real-life story and ballad about this Slovenian actor, comedian, television host, and musician and how his wife, actress Mojca Fatur, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare form of cancer from which she later managed to recover. Heartfelt but way too on the nose for us.

4. ESTONIA Tommy Cash Espresso Macchiato (Tomas, Tammemets, Johannes Naukkarinen) PREDICTION: Qualifier

In a semi final where pre-qualified finalists Italy vote alongside Spain and Switzerland it seems curious for Estonia to have chosen a comedy novelty entry with stereotypical lyrics including: ‘Mi like to fly privati with twenty-four carati, Also mi casa very grandioso’ and ‘Mi money numeroso, I work around the clocko, That’s why I’m sweating like a mafioso.’ We had some sympathy with disqualified Eurovision contestant Joost last year although that evaporated with his charmless duet with Cash, bizarrely, in response to the EBU. Sailing through to the final nevertheless.

5. UKRAINE: Ziferblat Bird Of Prey (Valentyn Leshchynskyi, Daniil Leshchynskyi, Fedir Hodakov) PREDICTION: Qualifier

We’re sure Ukraine wouldn’t want to win Eurovision on the wave of a sympathy vote following US President Donald Trump’s handling of the war with Russia. This is a melodic, alternative indie rock band with pleasing elements that would do well to qualify.

6. SWEDEN KAJ Bara Badu Bastu (Let’s Just Sauna) (Anderz Wrethov, Axel Åhman, Jakob Norrgård, Kevin Holmström, Kristoffer Strandberg, Robert Skowronski) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Sweden’s last entry in its own language in Eurovision was in 1998 when Jill Johnson sang the gorgeous Kärleken är (Love is). Presented with the choice between a potential winner, the revolutionary return of 2015 Eurovision winner Måns Zelmerlöw and a song about 3 men deciding to just have a sauna together instead, the Swedes went for … A comedy entry in a niche Swedish/Finnish dialect. Always going to be difficult to judge for a non-Swedish speaker how this might land and there are no juries here. More interval act than serious entry we’ve upgraded our expectations for it on the basis of its surprise Melfest win. Surely Eurovision’s serious final juries won’t let this jolly romp anywhere near winning the whole thing outright though?

7. PORTUGAL Napa Deslocado (Displaced) (João Lourenço Gomes, João Rodrigues, Diogo Góis, Francisco Sousa, André Santos, Guilherme Gomes) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

Neither won the jury nor public vote. We admire the Portuguese selection show Festival da Canção for doing its own thing and appearing to care little for international juries and the success at Eurovision of their selected songs. That perhaps explain the big hit or big miss nature of the country’s results there. Musically, if the goal was to remind of everything dreary about 70s middle-of-the-road music, it’s job done.

8. NORWAY: Kyle Alessandro Lighter (Adam Woods, Kyle Alessandro) PREDICTION: Qualifier

We normally love Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix but after losing Laika Party by Emmy to Ireland and then under-producing Bobbysocks’ return, it was left to the song with all the bangs and whistles and a decent performance but a fairly tame lyric at its heart to walk the show. Benefits from the Revolution that Mans Zelmerlow was promising not quite making it to Basel.

9. BELGIUM: Red Sebastian Strobe Lights (Astrid Roelants, Billie Simonne, Lea Bentein, Seppe Guido Yvonne Herreman, Willem Vanderstichele) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Taught singing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent by Eurovision royalty Flemish singer Gustaph who finished 7th in the 2023 Eurovision we attended in Liverpool. This is Red Sebastian’s tribute to Belgian rave culture and there’s a strong 90s falsetto vocal coupled with a banging soundtrack.

10. AZERBAIJAN Mamagama Run With U (Hasan Hayadar, Roman Zee, Sefael Mishiyev) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Azerbaijan have in recent years rejected the ploy to commission Swedish writers to capitalise on their 2011 win and instead plump for something a little more reflective of their own culture. This opens like a 90s house banger and ticks boxes marked pleasant and catchy. The video, also, marks an unexpected sense of humour.

11. SAN MARINO Gabry Ponte Tutta l’Italia (All Of Italy) (Gabry Ponte, Andrea Bonomo, Edwyn Roberts) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

Once again San Marino’s entry feels like Italy’s reserve choice. In many ways a balance to the casual stereotyping of Estonia’s entry but at the same time feeling a little removed from the country it’s supposed to be representing.

12. ALBANIA: Shkodra Elektronike Zjerm (Fire) (Beatriçe Gjergji) PREDICTION: Qualifier

1 of the 1st songs to be selected and this is folktronica where the central motif of the song is Fire, Zjerm, symbolizing power, purification, and renewal. It is described as drawing on tribal dances, a link between tradition and change, calling for spiritual and social healing, and a recognition of the dignity of all people, even those who may be forgotten or marginalized. Likely to stand out in its present male company.

13. NETHERLANDS: Claude (Arno Krabman, Claude Kiambe, Joren van der Voort, Léon Palmen) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Congolese-born Dutch singer-songwriter Claude had a number 1 single in the Netherlands in 2022, Ladada (Mon dernier mot) (My Last Word). Reminding of some of the more melodic and beautiful French entries of recent times. Sung well, this could be 1 to watch.

14. CROATIA: Marko Bošnjak Poison Cake (Bas Wissink, Ben Pyne, Emma Gale, Filip Majdak, Marko Bošnjak) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

Baby Lasagna won the televote in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with Rim Tim Tagi Dim but could only finish 2nd after the juries had their say. Hopes were perhaps high then for a follow up but broadcaster HRT perhaps once again displayed the naivety which left Baby Lasagna as a last-minute fill-in for a contestant who dropped out with the selection of this odd dish. Once seen, not a cake we want a slice of again. Combining sacharine with goth – inedible.

15. CYPRUS: Theo Evan (Dimitris Kontopoulos, Elsa Søllesvik, Lasse Nymann, Linda Dale) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Cypriot singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor with co-writer Kontopoulos behind a dozen entries including runners up Shady Lady for Ukraine in 2008 and Hold Me for Azerbaijan in 2013. The vocal’s a bit thin but it’s a banger similar but outshone by Red Sebastian.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Red Sebastian Tickets
• Have you seen a Eurovision semi final before and what do you think of this 1? Tickets
• Let us know what you thought in the comments below. Our predictions for the pre-qualified 2024 Eurovision Song Contest finalists. Semi 2 predictions Updated final predictions
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