Italy – Il Volo – Grande Amore
Currently one of Guy Sebastian’s biggest challengers, Italian boy-band opera trio (bopera?) Il Volo is basically a Homebrand version of Il Divo – their names are even pretty much interchangeable.
This is a stirring ballad, and the boys are pretty good looking, but it’s hard to see why they’re rated so highly. Don’t the bookies know how badly popera does at Eurovision? While they’ll be sure to get the grannies voting, I don’t think they’ll end up on top of the scoreboard on Grand Final night.
Estonia – Elina Born and Stig Rästa – Goodbye to Yesterday
This is one of the Eurovision fans’ favourites, and people seem to be loving the moody, slightly hipster-retro vibe of this duo. Since the unexpected success last year of second-placed Dutch duo The Common Linnets, everyone’s jumped on the bandwagon and there are heaps of duos in this year’s contest.
But I think these two have very little chemistry, and their on-stage performance at the Estonian national final was very static. Plus, and I know it seems weird to be criticising vocal stylings at Eurovision, to me their singing sounds particularly flat and tuneless.
Russia – Polina Gagarina – A Million Voices
Russia's back again to try and convince Europe that they’re nice guys, really. To do so this year, they’ve enlisted an appealing female singer with a huge ballad about peace – which is quite stirring and emotional, but also quite ironic when you consider the country’s recent political behaviour.
Of course, it’s not fair to blame poor old Polina for Putin – indeed, when I was in Copenhagen last year the booing and vitriol directed towards Russia’s teenaged twins seemed incredibly harsh – but it can be hard to look past the politics at Eurovision. Will we be heading back to Moscow in 2016? I don't think so.
