WHEN?: 7pm (UK time) 24/2/18 on SVT (link at the bottom of the page below)
WHERE: Örnsköldsvik
Has this year’s been the worst Melodifestivalen ever?
WHEN?: 7pm (UK time) 17/2/18 on SVT (link at the bottom of the page below)
WHERE: Malmo
Melodifestivalen couldn’t be more split along gender lines with four male acts in the final and four female soloists in Andra Chansen – but we’re hopeful one of Dotter or Jessica Andersson will be going straight to the Friends Arena in Stockholm this weekend.
WHEN?: 3/3/18
We wouldn’t usually cover Finland’s Eurovision selection show, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), but we’re doing so this year because it has chosen UK X Factor runner-up Saara Aalto to sing each of three songs.
Postponed from October due to health reasons, the world’s greatest pop star drops by for two nights at The 02 this month. Her last album Joanne won our monsta for Best Album in 2016. Tickets Her new film A Star Is Born is out in May.
WHEN?: 13/5/17
WHERE: BBC1 8pm (link below)
The quirky charm of Portugal’s Salvador Sobral and hope of his song in his native language stole Tuesday’s first semi as rehearsal footage of Italy’s runaway favourite Francesco Gabbani cast doubt over its ability to win.
We predicted nine of the 10 semi 1 qualifiers with only our favourite, Finland, being the one we got wrong.
The final of the 62nd contest takes place in Kiev, Ukraine, on 13/5 at 8pm on BBC1 and the pre-contest publicity has been dominated by the host country’s banning of Russia’s entry. Check out the search box for our predictions for this year which include the contest’s most surefire winner: Occidentali’s Karma by Francesco Gabbani (pictured above).
WHEN?: 11/5
WHERE: BBC 8pm (link below)
We’ll be throwing our support behind Estonia here, with France, Germany and Ukraine voting of the countries already qualified for the final. Rehearsals started 30/4 and we’ve been updating our semi 2 predictions to reflect them as they progress. Here’s our thoughts on the 18 entries vying for 10 final slots.
WHEN?: 9/5/17
WHERE: BBC 8pm (link below)
The UK, along with Italy and Spain, vote in this first semi final. Rehearsals started 30/4 and we’ve been updating our semi 1 predictions to reflect them as they progress, so here’s our thoughts on the 18 entries vying for 10 final slots.
It’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2016? Over the next fortnight we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 12 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2016.
