One month before the May 17 final in Basel, Switzerland, the Games are still far from being made, but the Kingdom of Sweden has already won the competition seven times only with Ireland, and it is once again the big favorite of bettors with 29% of the chance to win. Austria is 19%, France arrives 3rd with 10%, Israel 6%and the Netherlands 5%.
This year the Swedish selection is Finnish. A first. It was the comic trio Kaj – Kevin, Axel and Jakob – which was chosen to try to win the 8th trophy for the benefit of the kingdom with an unidentified musical object.
“Just swim sauna“(Just have a sauna/let’s go to the sauna), is an improbable praise of the art of the sauna to the rhythm of the accordion, in Swedes, their mother tongue because they belong to the Swedish -speaking community of Finland.
This unusual title to the catchy chorus is in no way resembles those offered by the Scandinavian country in previous years.
“Sweden has accustomed us to something very produced, almost glossy paper, today, I have the impression that the public is a little more sensitive to more roughness, originality, singularity“, Note for AFP Fabien Randanne, journalist with the 20 -minute free media and Eurovision specialist.
His last victory dates back to 2023, with the pop song and more conventional “Tattoo“From the artist Loreen, who had already won the European competition in 2012.
JJ, alias Johannes Pietsch, is an Austro-Philippin 23-year-old countertenor who grew up in Dubai before discovering classical music in Vienna, where he is currently doing his ranges between telecrochets and small roles at the opera.
With “Wasted love“, whose lyrics describe the experience of an unrelated love, he propels his treble of soprano into a title mixing lyrical art and ballad before culminating in techno flight.
His false voice recalls that of the unclassifiable German singer Klaus Nomi, while summoning in the collective imagination the classical heritage which makes Austria shine in the world. The song is reminiscent of “The Code“From the Swiss artist Nemo who won the competition last year.
This mix “Mariah Carey-Anna Netrebko” – His favorite artists – Hope for Austria a third victory in the competition, the latest dating back to the triumph in 2014 of the Barbue Conchita Wurst doll.
Very well known to the general public in France for ten years, the singer and actress Louane, 28, will compete with “Maman“.
“Finally you see, I built my life […] How are you? Do you see everything here?“, Songs Louane, addressing her mother, who died of cancer in 2014.
The interpreter of “Secret“saw his career take off after his participation in 2013 in the program”The Voice“, Musical television on TF1.
She unveiled the song of Eurovision At the Stade de France, during a match of the Six Nations of Rugby, Super Bowl way.
“I will do it for us, I will do it for our dreams: I will represent France at Eurovision“Said the singer, already speaking to her mother.
France, which won the supreme title five times, has not won this song competition since Marie Myriam’s victory in 1977 with “with”Bird and child“.
Yuval Raphael is a survivor of the Nova festival, attacked by Hamas on October 7. She survived by hiding under batteries of corpses in an anti -aircraft shelter.
Raphael, who is 24, only started singing professionally after the attack, to overcome her trauma and she was selected with a cover of “Dancing Queen“D’Abba.
For Eurovision, she performs a walk “new day Will Rise“(A new day will get up), a message in English, Hebrew and French on survival after tragedy.
“A new day will get up, life will continue / everyone cries, cry alone / darkness will fade, all the pain will pass / but we will stay, even if you say goodbye“, Songs Raphaël.
Because of the war waged by Israel in Gaza, the Israeli competitor Eden Golan had been threatened and forced to confine herself in her hotel room last year in Malmö, Sweden.
Israel, who has participated in the competition since 1973, won it four times, the last time in 2018 with “Toy“Interpreted by Netta Barzilai.
Pop artist Claude Kiambe, known as Claude, was born in 2003 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee at the age of 9, in the company of his mother and three brothers and two sisters.
Recognizable for his songs combining Dutch and French, the artist had in 2022 a dazzling commercial success with his title “Ladada (my last word)“.
“That’s life“, Chosen for Eurovision, is interpreted in English and French and the words evoke Claude’s mother and the resilience of her family.
“I like the fact that people sometimes feel my voice as a hot cover. That I can mean something with my instrument“Said the 21 -year -old singer to the Volkskrant daily.
The Netherlands won the song competition five times, the last time in 2019 with the song “Arcade” de Duncan Laurence.
