With 42 countries participating in Eurovision 2017, it’s hard to keep track of who’s singing what for whom, and which entries are favorites to win.
According to contest rules, six countries are already guaranteed a place in the May 13 grand final: Ukraine, as last year’s winner, along with the countries that founded Eurovision in 1956 and make the biggest financial contributions to the European Broadcasting Union (also known as the Big Five): France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Another 20 finalists will be selected in the two semi-finals on May 9 and May 11 via a 50/50 vote by a jury comprising of five music industry professionals and telephone voting from all participating countries – with viewers not able to vote for their own country’s entry. Each semi-final will feature 18 contestants, with 10 of them making it to the final.
The Kyiv Post has compiled a guide to the 26 contestants who are most likely to make it to the grand final, according to the latest odds quoted on www.eurovisionworld.com.
Photos by: AFP, eurovision.tv, Sven Mandel, courtesy
Ukraine — O. Torvald
Rock band O.Torvald performs during the contest of Ukrainian Final of Eurovision-2017 in Kiev on February 25, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY
Founded in 2005, rock band O. Torvald is an old-timer act by Ukrainian standards. The band has released five albums, 20 music videos, played hundreds of gigs and performed at more than 20 festivals. The band consists of 33-year-old lead singer Zhenya Halych, guitarist Denys Miziuk, drummer Sasha Solokha, bass guitarist Mykyta Vasyliev and DJ Polarnik. Their Eurovision song “Time” is “about the fact that no one can turn back time,” according to Halych.
United Kingdom — Lucie Jones
Lucie Jones, a 26-year-old singer and model, was a finalist in the “X Factor” talent show in the UK in 2009, losing only to twin duo Jedward, who then went on to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2011-2012. Jones says her Eurovision song “Never Give Up on You” has a personal story behind it, which, however, she refuses to share. Jones says that listeners she spoke to had their own stories of what the song meant to them and she wouldn’t want to “ruin that.”
Armenia — Artsvik
Artsvik Harutyunyan, a 32-year-old Armenian contestant, goes by the name Artsvik, which means “eagle” in Armenian. Having moved to Moscow when she was five, she lived there until last year and participated in a few talent shows, including “The Voice.” The message behind her Eurovision song “Fly With Me” is that “love is one,” the singer says.
Australia — Isaiah
Isaiah Firebrace, 17, who goes by the name Isaiah, comes from a big family of 12 brothers and sisters. Isaiah’s first plane flight was not until “early last year” so going as far as to Kyiv feels “mind-blowing,” he revealed. Isaiah’s Eurovision entry song “Don’t Come Easy” is about “resilience, never giving up and always pushing through.”
France — Alma
Alma, a 28-year-old singer and pianist, will represent France. Her dreamlike song “Requiem,” according to Alma, “reveals her quest for never-ending love” and showcases her strong voice. The song was first written and released in French, but when Alma was selected to represent France in Kyiv, she translated part of it into English.
Greece — Demy
Greece’s Demy, born Dimitra Papadea, is a 25-year-old singer and a musical actress, born and raised in Athens. Her upbeat Eurovision song “This Is Love” expresses all of Demy’s different aspects as an artist. “It combines ballad, emotional vibes with a dancey, positive side,” Demy says.
Denmark — Anja Nissen
Anja Nissen, 21, was born and raised in Australia, but both of her parents are Danish. For Nissen, who won “The Voice” in Australia in 2014, Eurovision has been a dream since she was 11. Her song “Where I Am,” which she co-wrote, is not an easy one to sing because there’s “hardly any time to breathe during it” and because of its many high notes, she says.
Spain — Manel Navarro
Four years ago Manel Navarro won a Catalonian contest for young singers — Catalunya Teen Star — with his acoustic cover of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” This year Navarro, now 21, hopes to win the Eurovision Song Contest with a “cool, fresh and happy” song “Do It For Your Lover.” “It’s like an anthem for love,” Navarro describes the song he wrote, “No words, no fighting. Just love.”
Germany — Levina
Levina will represent Germany with the upbeat song “Perfect Life.” “I hope I can make people dance,” the 25-year-old singer says. Levina was born in Bonn, but now lives in Berlin, splitting her time between the German capital and London, where she studies music management at the London College of Music.
Ireland — Brendan Murray
Brendan Murray plays guitar and has a voice high enough for some people to confuse him for a girl. Murray, 21, who has been a member of an Irish boy band Hometown for two years, is going to Kyiv solo, where he will perform his song “Dying To Try.” The song is about “taking a leap of faith and putting your trust in someone else,” which Murray reckons is “worth trying.”
Macedonia — Jana Burčeska
Jana Burčeska was born in the Macedonian city of Skopje and recorded her first song when she was just 11. Now she is 23, and her Eurovision song “Dance Alone,” which has an electronic sound, is “profound and energetic.” “It is about the chances we miss due to recklessness during our youth,” Burčeska said.
Hungary — Joci Pápai
Being the first Roma contestant to participate in Eurovision means a lot to 35-year-old Joci Pápai from Hungary. His Hungarian-language Eurovision song “Origo” has an original spiritual sound and a rap part, which is “like a prayer,” he says. Pápai says that there is a lot of pain in the song, as he sings about “his own story and his own struggles.”
Italy — Francesco Gabbani
The last time Italy won Eurovision was in 1990, when it was represented by Toto Cutugnio. This year, the bookies predict that the 34-year-old Francesco Gabbani will bring Italy victory once again. His song “Occidentali’s Karma,” or “Westerners’ Karma,” refers to the “oriental culture and the fascination it has on the West.” While lyrically the song appears to be a jumble of random words, there are “some ideas to think about concerning the world today,” Gabbani says.
Belgium — Blanche
Blanche, born Ellie Delvaux, is a 17-year-old Belgian singer who started her career by posting online her covers of songs by artists like Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber and Adele. Blanche has a low voice, resembling Hanna Reid’s from the British band London Grammar. In Kyiv she will perform an indie folk song called “City Lights.”
Iceland — Svala
Svala, 40, is a member of an Icelandic electronic synth-pop band Steed Lord, which is famous for their eccentric music videos and performances. In 2009 the band relocated to Los Angeles, but being a current judge on “The Voice” in Iceland, Svala visits her home country often. Her self-written Eurovision song “Paper” is “about a very personal experience,” Svala says, as she admits to dealing with anxiety, which makes her feel fragile — like paper.
Romania — Ilinca and Alex Florea
The Romanian duo of Ilinca and Alex Florea stands out with some impressive yodelling by Ilinca, 18, combined with rapping from Florea, 25. Their song “Yodel It!” is an upbeat song that praises freedom. Ilinca, who was told as a child that singing was not for her, learned yodeling completely on her own in just a week after she saw an inspiring yodeling performance on “America’s Got Talent.”
Bulgaria — Kristian Kostov
Kristian Kostov is the youngest Eurovision representative this year, having just turned 17 in March. He was born in Moscow to a Bulgarian father and a Kazakh mother. Kostov got to the finals of the first season of the kids version of “The Voice” in Russia in 2014 and came second in “The X Factor” in Bulgaria. Kostov says that his Eurovision song “Beautiful Mess” is his “first song with a deeper meaning.
Sweden — Robin Bengtsson
Sweden is one of the most successful countries in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest having won the contest six times. It also landed in top five contestants in five out of the six last contests. This year, the 27-year-old singer Robin Bengtsson hopes to continue this line of success with his song “I Can’t Go On,” which he says is “upbeat, funky and engaging in a different way.”
Poland — Kasia Moś
Kasia Moś, a 30-year-old Polish native, was a member of The Pussycat Dolls Burlesque Revue in 2011 and 2012, where she had a chance to collaborate with singers like Kelly Osbourne and Carmen Electra. Moś says she dedicates her powerful Eurovision song “Flashlight,” which she co-wrote, to animal rights, a cause she feels very passionate about.
Netherlands — O’G3NE
Dutch pop band O’G3NE consists of three sisters: 22-year-old Lisa Vol and 21-year-old twins Amy Vol and Shelley Vol. Ten years ago the girls took part in Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, where they finished 11th. The girls co-wrote their Eurovision song “Lights and Shadows” with their father and another author. The song is a message for the girls’ mother, who is battling cancer.
Portugal — Salvador Sobral
Salvador Sobral will represent Portugal with a song “Amar Pelos Dois,” (“Love For Both”) written by his sister Luisa. Luisa says that her 27-year-old brother has a “perfect timbre that goes straight to your heart.” The song is about a woman losing feelings for her partner. Sobral, however, says he has never been in such situation.
Azerbaijan — Dihaj
The vocalist from the Azerbaijani Eurovision entry, electronic band Dihaj, Diana Hajiyeva, graduated from London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. While in London, Hajiyeva, who is now 27, became a member of a progressive trance trio Looper & Mancus. She later created her own electronic music band Dihaj, whose Eurovision song “Skeletons” is about a woman who falls in love with a bad guy, but is “strong enough to survive the experience.”
Israel — Imri Ziv
This year’s song contest will mark the third time the 25-year-old Imri Ziv has taken part in Eurovision — but his first time as a solo artist. In 2015 and 2016, Ziv was a backing vocalist for contestants Nadav Guedj and Hovi Star — and both times Israel finished in top five. This year Ziv, who is of Romanian, Ukrainian, and Jewish descent, is “coming fresh” and solo with an upbeat song called “I Feel Alive.”
Serbia — Tijana Bogićević,
Tijana Bogićević, 35, has lived in the United States for two years, where she owns an entertainment company together with her husband. Unlike most of the competing countries, Serbia chose its song “In Too Deep” first, and then a singer to sing it. Bogićević describes the catchy tune as a “complete love song” that would make for a great R’n’B hit in the United States.
Estonia — Koit Toome and Laura
Koit Toome and Laura, the duo representing Estonia, have both already participated in Eurovision. Laura, 28, aimed for the victory as a part of a girl group Suntribe in 2005 in Kyiv, where the band failed to qualify for the final. Toome, 38, competed solo in 1998 and came 12th. The duo’s Eurovision song “Verona” reiterates the story of Romeo and Juliet, emphasizing their love rather than the unhappy ending.
Finland — Norma John
Leena Tirronen and Lasse Piirainen are long-time friends. In 2008, they formed a band called Norma John, which will now represent Finland in Kyiv. The name Norma John comes from Marilyn Monroe’s birth name Norma Jeane Mortenson combined with John F. Kennedy’ name, as the pair were rumored to have had an affair. Norma John’s slightly spine-chilling song “Blackbird” is about “splitting up” and “the way you feel when every single thing reminds you of the past.”
Here are another 16 Eurovision 2017 contestants who will also present their songs in Kyiv:
Georgia – Tamara Gachechiladze
Albania – Lindita
Montenegro – Slavko Kalezić
Moldova – Sunstroke Project
Czech Republic – Martina Bárta
Cyprus – Hovig
Slovenia – Omar Naber
Latvia – Triana Park
Austria – Nathan Trent
Malta – Claudia Faniello
San Marino – Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson
Croatia – Jacques Houdek
Norway – JOWST
Switzerland – Timebelle
Belarus – Naviband
Lithuania – Fusedmarc
