Your information to all 37 Eurovision songs

The 2025 Eurovision Tune Contest pops its cork on Sunday, with a “turquoise carpet” parade that includes rivals from all 37 nations.

However the competitors actually begins on Tuesday, when the primary semi-final will see 5 nations unceremoniously kicked out.

One other six will lose their place on the second semi-final on Thursday, earlier than the Grand Closing takes place in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday, 17 Could.

This yr’s entrants embody two returning contestants, one skilled opera singer, a thinly veiled allusion to sexual emissions and a dance anthem a couple of lifeless house canine.

It is loads to absorb.

That will help you put together, here is a information to all 37 songs within the contest, which I’ve sorted into tough musical classes, primarily for my very own sanity (it did not work).

Win or lose, UK contestants Bear in mind Monday have given headline writers a present with the title of their entry: What The Hell Simply Occurred?

A souped-up, full throttle pop anthem, it cherry-picks one of the best bits of Queen, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Beatles, presumably to remind voters of Britain’s wealthy musical heritage.

With eight tempo adjustments, it might show difficult for voters to know, however the band’s stellar harmonies and glowing personalities ought to carry them by.

Crucially, the music avoids the Eurovision cliches of jackhammer dance anthems and windswept balladry – one thing Bear in mind Monday have in frequent with this yr’s favourites.

Sweating it out on the prime are Swedish representatives KAJ, whose music Bara Bada Bastu is an ode to the restorative powers of the sauna, full with dancers in skimpy towels.

Unreasonably catchy, it is gained the approval of Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus, whose been singing the monitor in his personal personal sauna. As you do.

Stiff competitors comes from Austrian singer JJ, and his operatic ballad Wasted Love.

A timeworn story of unrequited love, it leans on his coaching as a counter-tenor, earlier than exploding into an surprising techno breakdown.

A favorite with the bookies, the music’s solely Achilles heel is its similarity to final yr’s winner, Nemo.

Distinctive otherwise is Eire’s entry, Laika Occasion – a 90s rave monitor a couple of canine who was despatched to house by Russia and left to die there.

Singer Emmy goals for a hopeful spin on a tragic story however, regardless of a peppy efficiency, it is a bit of a downer.

Extra palatable is Luxembourg’s Laura Thorn, whose La Poupée Monte Le Son is a callback to France Gall’s 1965 successful entry, Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son.

The place the unique was a couple of “trend doll” operated by songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, Thorn’s response is all about taking management.

“If you happen to suppose a person like you possibly can manipulate me, return to your mum,” she scolds. Yeouch.

Rome have to be blushing. This yr options not one, however two, songs concerning the vibrant tradition of Il Bel Paese.

The primary comes, not surprisingly, from San Marino – the impartial microstate that nestles inside north-central Italy.

Titled Tutta L’Italia, it celebrates all the things from the county’s soccer group and its vineyards, to the Mona Lisa (underneath her Italian identify Gioconda).

Written by Gabry Ponte – one of many brains behind Eiffel 65’s Blue (Da Ba Dee) – it is a slight, however enjoyable, combination of dance beats, conventional accordion taking part in and the people dances of Calabria.

The staging might be its downfall, although, with Gabry marooned behind his DJ decks whereas the singers, who for some motive want to stay nameless, obscure their faces with masks.

Extra memorable, however undoubtedly extra unhinged, is Estonia’s Espresso Macchiato.

Carried out by Tommy Money (the one Eurovision contestant to have appeared on a Charli XCX document) it is an affectionate-ish caricature of Italian stereotypes, that includes the indelible lyric: “Life is like spaghetti, it is exhausting till you make it“.

I am attempting to surrender sexual innuendo, however Eurovision is making it har… tough.

A trio of artists try to sneak smut previous the censors, led by Malta’s Miriana Conte, with a throbbing membership monitor referred to as Serving.

In its unique type, the music’s refrain revolved across the phrase “serving kant” – the phrase kant being Maltese for “singing” and a homophone for an English time period that undoubtedly does not imply singing.

It is a reference to a widely known phrase within the drag / ballroom world; however a number of nations complained it broke broadcasting pointers, prompting a hasty re-write.

If the stunt was meant to generate headlines it labored, however now that Miriana has our consideration, she’s not letting go.

Her efficiency, that includes an enormous disco ball pursed between two purple lips, is gloriously OTT, and he or she has an enviable set of pipes. Too dangerous the music is riddled with Europop cliche.

One other contestant doubling his entendres is Australia’s Go-Jo, who desires us to “take a sip” of milkshake from his “particular cup”. Interpret that the way you need however I might be cautious of hitching a raise in his ice cream van, if I have been you.

With a smattering of Electrical Six’s saucy disco funk, Milkshake Man is tasty sufficient to get Australia again within the finals after solely attaining a semi final yr.

Lastly, we’ve got Finland’s Erika Vikman, whose music Ich Komme is billed as a “joyous message of delight, ecstasy and a state of trance”.

Structured to imitate the pneumatic realities of lovemaking, it remembers iconic homosexual anthems comparable to Kylie’s Your Disco Wants You and Donna Summer time’s Sizzling Stuff – and ends with Erika capturing into the sky astride an enormous gold microphone that is undoubtedly not a stand-in for a phallus.

Little in life is extra devastating than the phrase “I am afraid it is most cancers”.

The illness will have an effect on one in two of us and, though survival charges have dramatically improved, the impression may be devastating.

This yr, three separate Eurovision contestants have been touched by most cancers, inspiring songs of unmatched heartbreak and reflection.

French singer Louane captures it greatest. Her music Maman, is an intimate dialog together with her mom, who died when she was simply 17 years outdated.

Over three verses, Louane describes the “vacancy” she was felt; and the way she stuffed the void with dangerous behaviour and meaningless amorous affairs. However, because the music progresses, she tells her mum she’s settled down and located function… by turning into a mom herself.

She sings it fantastically, with a mix of remorse and energy. And when her daughter’s voice seems within the ultimate moments of the music, it might take a steely coronary heart to not shed a tear.

Over in Norway, 19-year-old Kyle Alessandro shared an identical story, when his mom was identified with most cancers in autumn 2023. Fortunately, she’s now in remission, however one thing she mentioned throughout her therapy impressed his Eurovision entry: “By no means lose your gentle.”

Kyle took that phrase and turned it right into a thumping pop music about surviving adversity. “Nothing can burn me now,” he sings. “I am my very own Lighter.”

Klemen Slakonja, in the meantime, is a comic greatest recognized in Slovenia for his impressions of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – however his ballad, How A lot Time Do We Have Left was written after his spouse, actress Mojca Fatur, was identified with bone marrow most cancers.

As he sings, Klemen’s dancers increase him into the air and maintain him the wrong way up, to symbolize the disorientation the household felt.

“When she learn her prognosis, our world turned the wrong way up and I felt that rush of blood in my head, the identical one I really feel each time I’m the wrong way up within the efficiency,” he informed Eurovision World.

Defying the percentages, Mojca survived, and joins him on stage at Eurovision. It is a deeply intimate and shifting second.

Listening to this yr’s line-up, it is just like the contestants all heard Cascada’s Evacuate the Dancefloor and went, “Nah, we’re good, thanks”.

There are membership bangers all over the place, with Belgium’s Pink Sebastian (named after the crab in The Little Mermaid, bless him) submitting a complete music concerning the loved-up liberation of an all-night rave.

“The place no phrases are wanted to really feel the connection / The place clocks by no means tick and the place love is the ending.”

A favorite with followers, the 90s rave components of Strobe Lights really feel a little bit dated to me, however his meticulously-choreographed efficiency is a deal with.

Denmark’s Sissal takes an identical sound, with a throwback Euro-bop referred to as Hallucination that effortlessly evokes two-time Eurovision winner Loreen.

Sissal mentioned her largest objective was for the viewers to really feel they could not sit down throughout the music. Mission completed.

Germany, in the meantime, have been hoping to reverse their 15-year dropping streak with Baller, a super-catchy trance anthem that would not sound misplaced at Berlin superclub Berghain.

Carried out by Austrian siblings Abor & Tynna, it is languishing in the course of the sphere, after Tynna developed laryngitis, robbing the duo of the possibility to impress followers at Eurovision’s varied pre-parties. However now that she’s recovered, the music might stand up the rankings.

That is much less doubtless for Væb, aka the Icelandic Jedward. Their energetic dance-rap music, Roá, is all about rowing from Iceland to the Faroe Islands, “as a result of it doesn’t matter what occurs in life you simply carry on rowing by the waves”.

Sadly, it is not as deep because it sounds.

Spanish star Melody fares higher with Esa Diva, a pumping home monitor with a sprinkling of flamenco guitar, that paperwork her journey to fame.

And Azerbaijan’s Mamagama go all Maroon 5 on Run With U, a easy pop music elevated by a twinkling riff on the saz – a long-necked plucked instrument much like the lute.

OK, so I’ve stolen that description from Shkodra Elektronike.

They’re an Albanian duo residing in Italy, who fuse the ethnic music of their hometown, Shkodër, to a progressive digital sound.

Their music Zjerm (Fireplace) imagines a time when cross-cultural understanding would result in peace and concord – a world and not using a want for troopers and ambulances, and the place “oil would scent like lilac” (no, me neither).

Greece’s entry, Asteromáta, can be rooted in historical past and reminiscence, as Klavdia describes the unbreakable bond that refugees share with their homeland.

“Even when they cross the seas / They shall always remember the sacred earth they referred to as residence,” she sings, in a haunting ballad that blends conventional Greek and Pontic components with hovering strings.

Taking a extra upbeat strategy is Dutch singer Claude. A refugee from the bloody civil conflict within the Democratic Republic of Congo, he moved to the Netherlands on the age of 9 and fell in love with Eurovision whereas ready within the refugee centre.

His music, C’est La Vie, is a tribute to his mum, who taught him to see the constructive of their state of affairs.

Fizzing with freedom and pleasure, it combines components of chanson and French-Caribbean zouk, and appears set for a prime 10 inserting.

The success of “goth gremlin witch” Bambie Thug finally yr’s Eurovision has conjured a veritable coven of imitators in 2025.

Polish singer Justyna Steczkowska, representing her nation for the second time, even features a Slavic magic spell in her music, Gaja – summoning the spirit of the mom Earth to “cleanse” her of a poisonous relationship.

It is a suitably intense efficiency, with Justyna singing lengthy sustained notes and taking part in a livid violin solo, earlier than being hoiked into the rafters on a pair ropes.

What a time to be alive.

Marko Bošnjak, in the meantime, is cooking up a Poison Cake to feed to his tormentors – mainly the individuals who bombarded him with homophobic hate messages after he was chosen to symbolize Croatia.

The criticism was so intense that he misplaced his voice and could not go away the home for 5 days.

His music is suitably melodramatic, replete with guttural synths and creepy playground chants. It is a little bit overbaked, however ought to nonetheless sail by to the finals.

Taking a extra ethereal strategy are Latvian group Tautumeitas, whose music Bur Man Laimi interprets as “a chant for happiness”.

Paying homage to Bjork and Enya, its overlapping folks harmonies are primarily based on conventional Latvian wedding ceremony songs, making it one in all this yr’s most charming entries. I worry it could be too delicate to attain effectively, although.

Additional thriller is offered by, Theo Evan, Cyprus’s reply to Nick Jonas. The lyrics to his music, Shh, are a riddle, written by former tennis participant Elke Tiel, whose “hidden reality will solely be revealed on the Eurovision stage in Could”.

He opens his efficiency perched between two items of scaffolding in a recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s well-known Vitruvian Man sketch – so there is a clue.

Shh is one in all a lot of gothic pop songs, sung by brooding younger males with attention-grabbing hair.

Among the many greatest is Kiss Kiss Goodbye, by Czechia’s Adonxs, who divebombs from an angelic falsetto to an unsettling baritone as he confronts his absent father.

Lithuanian band Katarsis are an attention-grabbing experiment, with a intentionally downbeat rock music that declares “the foundations of all the things have begun to rot”.

Titled Tavo Akys (your eyes), it builds to a compelling climax, but it surely’s exhausting to see it being a vote-winner, until Eurovision all of the sudden attracts an viewers of depressed emo teenagers.

Rounding out the sphere are Armenian singer Parg, with the Think about Dragons-inspired Survivor and Serbia’s Princ, whose overwrought ballad known as Mila.

Each performers give it their all, however the songs do not feel sturdy sufficient to outlive the semi-finals.

4 years after Måneskin’s victory, Eurovision’s rock revival continues apace.

Italy are again at it once more, because of Lucio Corsi – suppose David Bowie as Pierrot – and his glam rock ballad Volevo Essere Un Duro (I needed to be robust).

A fragile anthem for individuals who really feel they do not slot in, it remembers how Lucio was bullied as a child, and the way he is grown to embrace his fragility. At one level, he sings: “As a substitute of a star, [I’m] only a sneeze.”

It is a timeless little bit of songwriting that pulls off that essential Eurovision trick of sounding new and acquainted .

Portuguese indie band Napa even have a 70s vibe, channelling Paul McCartney’s Wings on the comfortable rock tear-jerker Deslocado (misplaced).

It is one other music about migration, written after the band have been pressured to relocate from Madeira to the Portuguese mainland because of the financial disaster.

“Although we have been right here for just a few years we all the time have that need to return, and that anguish of claiming goodbye to household,” mentioned singer Guilherme Gomes.

Final however not least are Ukraine’s Ziferblat, who proceed the nation’s astonishing run of high-quality entries within the midst of a conflict with Russia.

Their music, Chicken Of Pray, is an surprising mixture of 70s new wave band Vehicles, birdsong and the guitar riff from Rachel Stevens’ Candy Goals My LA Ex – whereas the lyrics are stuffed with hope for a peaceable reunion with their family members.

It is higher than that makes it sound.

The place would Eurovision be and not using a raven-haired girl bellowing right into a wind machine set to “hurricane”?

Israel has sturdy type on this class, and units the bar once more with New Day Will Rise, a melancholy piano ballad sung in a mix of English, French and Hebrew.

The music’s carried out by Yuval Raphael, a 24-year-old who narrowly escaped together with her life on the 2023 Nova music competition, the place an assault by Hamas claimed the lives of 378 folks and triggered Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza.

It is exhausting to not interpret her lyrics as a response to these occasions – “everybody cries, do not cry alone”. In consequence, her participation hasn’t obtained the identical degree of criticism as Eden Golan, who represented Israel final yr.

That may’t be mentioned for Georgia’s contestant, Mariam Shengelia, who has been booed throughout pre-Eurovision appearances for her alleged assist of the nation’s authoritarian, pro-Russian, anti-LGBT ruling occasion, Georgian Dream.

Shengelia has denied the accusations, declaring that her music – a stirring, quasi-militaristic ballad referred to as Freedom – is about “freedom of selection, freedom to like, freedom to reside as you need to reside”.

“No quantity of manufactured hate will change that,” she informed the Eurovision fan website Wiwibloggs.

Montenegro’s Nina Žižić tackles home abuse in Dobrodošli, a brooding and refined orchestral ballad.

The singer, who beforehand entered Eurovision in 2015 with the cyborg pop oddity Igranka, delivers her lyrics with ardour and sincerity, however in some way the music by no means fairly takes off.

Final however not least, we’ve got defending champions Switzerland, represented by 24-year-old Zoë Më, who describes herself as a “little fairy”.

Appropriately sufficient, her self-penned music, Voyage is delicate as a fairy’s wings, fluttering with a soft-spoken plea to deal with one another with kindness.

Robotically qualifying for the ultimate, it is a welcome oasis of calm amidst the steamy sauna classes, moody goth haircuts and thrusting innuendo.

However that is Eurovision for you. All human life is right here. See you in Basel!