Albania Artist: Albina and Familja Kelmendi Song: Duje As usual, Albania made an early claim for Eurovision glory after Albina and Familja Kelmendi won the televote at Festivali i Këngës 61, the country's national annual music competition, just before Christmas last year. Their song is Duje (Love It) which they will perform in the second half of the second semi-final on May 11. In many ways, Duje is what we have come to expect from Albania. With a couple of notable exceptions, the country tends to provide angst-ridden vocals by a female artist seemingly on the verge of a nervous ..read more

Let's take a look at ten of the first semi-finalists for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest and some personal thoughts on what might and might not qualify for the Grand Final on May 22. 1. Lithuania: The Roop - Discoteque Like many of the artists this year, The Roop return and this, their 2021 effort, was one of the early favourites but has recently faded in the face of more supposedly-popular entries. The whole concept showcases the quirkiness that the modern day Contest demands: crazy choreography and staging, bright costumes and a song that worms its way into your head whether you want it ..read more

Austria Artist: Victor Bueno Song: Amen Semi Final 2: First Half It's been a bumpy few years for Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest since Conchita Wurst's victory in 2014. This year, Victor Bueno has been given a second opportunity to improve the country's fortunes with the song Amen which is a completely different proposition to his 2020 cancelled effort, Alive.  Where the latter took on a funky Bruno Mars/Justin Timberlake vibe, Amen gives Victor the chance to show off his accomplished vocals on a respectable breakup ballad. The lyrics are fairly repetitive, bog standard, he ..read more

Albania Artist: Anxhela Peristeri Song: Karma Semi Final 2: Second Half Eurovision wouldn't be Eurovision without a dramatic ballad or ten, preferably sung at top volume by a woman accompanied by a dance troupe of worryingly clad beefcake. On that front, the highly attractive Anxhela Peristeri and her Festivali i Këngës staging more than delivered back in December. Albania's song is called Karma and our buxom Anxhela manages to belt out the high notes with all the subtlety of a police siren on a council estate.   However, the song is cleverly constructed around some big moments - bo ..read more

United Kingdom Artist: James Newman Song: My Last Breath Automatic Finalist These days the announcement of the United Kingdom's Eurovision songs comes with a large serving of trepidation and so it was with mixed feelings that I awaited the arrival of 2020's offering, James Newman's My Last Breath. To find this year's hopeful, the British public was bypassed in favour of a collaboration between the BBC and a major record label. This change was a concerted effort to prise the UK out of the bottom five and lift the nation onto the left hand side of the scoreboard. The task was taken on by B ..read more

Armenia   Srbuk: Walking Out  Strong chorus, weaker middle section. Srbuk gives a dynamic performance. Likely to be one of the casualties from semi-final 2, though. Listen here Austria Pænda: Limits Kate Bush meets Ellie Goulding. In any other environment, this would do well - but the Eurovision Song Contest doesn't feel like its natural home. Perhaps too delicate for the competition and another entry that could fail to qualify. Listen here Azerbaijan Chingiz: Truth Contemporary, catchy and radio-friendly. Combines ethnic flavours with modern Western sounds. Likel ..read more

One night in Tel Aviv: Carousel travel to Israel As one of the Contest's most incessantly under performing countries, Latvia's Eurovision entries are prone to fluctuate between pleasantly dodgy and thoroughly awkward. In essence, the Latvian's have been accountable for some enjoyable entries but, over the last few years, the votes have not come their way. Their last final was in 2016 when Justs managed a lowly 15th place, hot on the heels of one one their best entries, Animata's 6th placed Love Injected. It's natural when nations experience an unusually bad run of results that urge ..read more

Mahmood will perform Soldi in Tel Aviv Over the years, particularly since their return to the Contest in 2011, it has been Italy’s undaunted attitude in sending entries which feel as if they refuse to cater to a Eurovision audience which has been the country's strength. It has also helped that they have delivered respected, proven acts with a genuine ability to perform live; big shoes newcomer Mahmood will have to fill when he takes to the stage in Tel Aviv. He'll be performing Soldi (Money), a song which has already proved popular on streaming services such as Spotify and iTunes ..read more

D-Moll: Heaven or hell for Montenegro in Tel Aviv? In early February, Montenegro chose its latest Eurovision participants through a televised national final, Montevizija. The selection, which had five songs in the running, saw D-Moll win both voting rounds with their entry Heaven - ultimately winning with a 24% televote difference over the second placed act. Like San Marino, Montenegro enjoyed their first Eurovision finals as an independent country five years ago and they have generally proven over succeeding contests that it wasn’t by accident. With the choice of Heaven, that obse ..read more

Kate Miller-Heidke: Tel Aviv bound Kate Miller-Heidke topped the scoreboard at Australia's first Eurovision national final with the pop-opera song Zero Gravity. Quite frankly, the whole thing is a shambles. Juries are likely to shun it and, from a Eurovision perspective, it is likely to follow in the footsteps of Sweden's 2009 effort or Romania's entry from 2013, rather than the more successful path enjoyed by Estonia 2018 (whose presentation Miller-Heidke looks to be emulating). Both of the former entries ended up outside of the Top 10 and, quite honestly, each of those countries ..read more