Eurovision 2019: A guide to songs, favourites to win, and latest betting odds
If Europe is in need of anything right now (don’t mention the B-word), it’s the infectious euphoria and community of Eurovision 2019.
The world’s most famous Song Contest, now in its 64th year, is back – this time in the self-described “Non-stop City” of Tel Aviv in Israel. Eurovision 2019 hosts Bar Refaeli (international supermodel), Erez Tal (producer and host), Assi Azar (TV host and LGBT activist) and Lucy Ayoub (presenter and slam poet) will help judges and viewers to whittle the 41 participating countries down to one single winner in just a matter of days.
To help you prepare, we’ve created a handy guide to the songs, (every single one), favourites to win, latest betting odds, schedule, and everything in between.
When is Eurovision?
Tel Aviv’s International Convention Center will play host to three major Eurovision events next week; two country-split semi-finals and the grand final you’ve all been sweepstaking for.
If you want to catch the semi-finals, the first was held yesterday night (May 14) and the second will be on Thursday (May 16) at 8pm on BBC Four.
The Eurovision final will be televised live on Saturday (May 18) and the show will kick off at 8pm on BBC One in the UK.
How does Eurovision work?
Each year, each of the Eurovision Song Contest’s participating broadcasters chooses a performer (up to a group of six people) and an unreleased song (up to three minutes long) to represent their country.
Traditionally, the “Big Five” and the host country automatically qualify for the Grand Final. Those countries are the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and (this year) the hosts Israel.
The remaining countries take part in one of the two Semi-Finals. In each Semi, the ten top-scoring countries go through. The 26 finalists must then battle it out – singing live – in the Grand Final.
After all performances are complete, a fifteen-minute voting period begins. Viewers can vote (up to twenty times!) by text, phone or through the official app, but cannot submit a vote for their own country.
Each country then gives out two sets of points: one set is given by a jury of five industry professionals and one by Eurovision fans at home. As each country’s spokespeople reveal their collective scores live on air, the winner is revealed.
When all votes are tallied, the winner will perform again and be handed their very own iconic glass microphone trophy.
What songs are the artists performing at Eurovision?
Albania
Jonida Maliqi performing Ktheju tokës
Odds of winning: 200/1
Jonida Maliqi is a force to be reckoned with. The Albanian influencer and fashion icon may not have been the country's most musical choice for representation but her voice, battle-cry song and performance will be sure to take her to the final.
Armenia
Srbuk performing Walking Out
Odds of winning: 200/1
Pop music fans across Europe are bound to fall under Srbuk’s spell during Eurovision 2019. At only 24 years old, the soul singer has already won hearts as a runner-up of both The X Factor and The Voice in Armenia. Her Gaga-esque musicality is a pleasure to watch and hear.
Australia
Kate Miller-Heidke performing Zero Gravity
Odds of winning: 6/1
This has got to be the Eurovision earworm of 2019. Kate Miller-Heidke’s unusual pop-folk is epitomised with Zero Gravity, a song and performance bound for the history books. Get ready for Glinda the Good Witch-cum-Battlestar Galactica operatics (yes, every bit as beautiful and insane as the image in your head).
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi-final
Austria
PÆNDA performing Limits
Odds of winning: 300/1
Though the song is likely to get lost in the crowd without spectacular staging, PÆNDA has written a chaste little masterpiece in Limits. The song, about pushing yourself past limits to the point of exhaustion, is all kinds of Ellie Goulding.
Azerbaijan
Chingiz performing Truth
Odds of winning: 12/1
After moving from Qazax to Baku at the age of 13, Chingiz both entered and won the Azerbaijani version of Pop Idol. He is a beloved representative of the country and his Eurovision entry, Truth, is bound to be as performance-led and seat-shaking as its music video.
Belarus
ZENA performing Like It
Odds of winning: 100/1
My favourite fact about Belarus’s 17-year-old representative, ZENA, is that she was the voice of Moana in the Russian version of the Disney movie. In fact, the young performer wouldn’t be out of place in a room of Disney mouseketeers from decades past. Strong early-Britney/Christina vibes.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi-final
Belgium
Eliot performing Wake Up
Wake Up wouldn’t feel out of place on the Stranger Things soundtrack. Highly underestimated by the bookies, both Belgium’s representative artist (Eliot Vassamillet, who’s currently finishing secondary school) and song (a melancholic pleasure) exceed expectations.
Voted out during the first semi-final
Croatia
Roko performing The Dream
Odds of winning: 300/1
Roko might just have a dark horse in The Dream. The nationally-adored singer has an exceptional voice, expert command of the ivory keys, lyrics with universal emotion and a beautifully delivered Croatian section which rather makes you wish the rest of it wasn’t sung in English.
Cyprus
Tamta performing Replay
Odds of winning: 50/1
Tamta is not only used to being judged, but judging. Between 2014 and 2018 the artist was one of the judges in both the Georgian and Greek versions of X Factor. Replay is, without a doubt, going to be played in every beach bar across Europe for the next couple of years.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi-final
Czech Republic
Lake Malawi performing Friend of a Friend
Odds of winning: 66/1
Indie-pop bands rarely do well in Eurovision, but Lake Malawai might have a shot. The Czech trio (named after a Bon Iver song, natch) have a funky little number in Friend of a Friend – a song clearly intended for English-speaking European millennials en masse.
Denmark
Leonora performing Love Is Forever
Odds of winning: 150/1
A fan favourite in the making here. Leonora, a three-time Danish championship figure-skater, has both the charisma and chorus of a career-changing Eurovision champion. Love Is Forever is also sung in four languages: it’s mainly in English, but with changes in the third verse to French, then her mother tongue Danish, followed by a line in German.
Estonia
Victor Crone performing Storm
Odds of winning: 100/1
Though no-one seems to expect Estonia to get into the Top 10 this year, Victor Crone’s guitar and bass-pinned party ballad Storm is likely to find its way into many a European club this summer. His last hit, Coming Up, has already been streamed over 18 million times on Spotify.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi-final
Finland
Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman performing Look Away
Meme-makers at the ready. Darude (yes, the ones who created milestone Noughties single Sandstorm) already managed to create one of the biggest selling dance singles in the history of electronic pop and he (Ville Virtanen) isn’t stopping there. The staging is next-level.
Voted out during the first semi-final
France
Bilal Hassani performing Roi
Odds of winning: 9/1
This flamboyant 15-year-old isn’t messing around. At his age, most of us were only starting to develop a musical palate, but Bilal Hassani is representing his country with a dual-language song of self-acceptance and strength. His incredibly vibrant YouTube videos and covers have garnered international attention – even Janet Jackson’s.
Automatically qualifies for the final competition
Georgia
Oto Nemsadze performing Keep on Going
Looking a bit like he’s escaped from the set of Game of Thrones, Oto Nemsadze is best known for winning the fifth season of Geostar (the Georgian Idol franchise) in 2010, receiving the most points from the audience. He went on to win Georgian Idol this year and his Eurovision participation is part of the prize.
Voted out during the first semi-final
Germany
S!sters performing Sister
Odds of winning: 250/1
Ironically, S!sters – a duo singing a song about being sisters – are not related. In actuality, Carlotta Truman and Laurita Kästel have long had singing careers in their own right. Truman won the German Rock and Pop Prize for the Best Singer in Germany at the age of 12, and Kästel won ZDF’s Kiddy Contest at the age of 10.
Automatically qualifies for the final competition
Greece
Katerine Duska performing Better Love
Odds of winning: 40/1
The soulful dulcet tones of Katerine Duska are second to none in this competition. Her dark, supersonic timbre is positioned to perfection with the super-catchy Better Love (which she both wrote and composed). A deserving front-runner.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi-final
Hungary
Joci Pápai performing Az én apám
After coming eighth in Eurovision 2017 with Origo, Joci Pápai returns with an all-Hungarian ode to his father and roots, stressing the importance of family with the aide of some fireside guitar and finger-snapping. Az én apám is a real pleasure to listen to.
Voted out during the first semi-final
Iceland
Hatari performing Hatrið mun sigra
Odds of winning: 14/1
Hatari are an award-winning, anti-capitalist, BDSM, techno-dystopian performance art collective. Enough said? Not quite. Part Icelandic scream-o and part bouncy ballad, these Eurovision 2019 favourites are expected to deliver one of the most memorable performances of the year.
Ireland
Sarah McTernan performing 22
Odds of winning: 250/1
Last year, Sarah McTernan competed to represent San Marino at Eurovision 2018 in Lisbon with a song called Eye of the Storm. This year, The Voice Ireland alumni is competing for Ireland with some nostalgic, feel-good love pop. Expect super retro staging.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi-final
Israel
Kobi Marimi performing Home
Odds of winning: 200/1
There’s no question about it; Kobi Marimi has an unbelievable voice. The 27-year-old, representing Eurovision’s host country for 2019, decided to try his luck at the Song Contest with no professional experience – though when you see Home performed live, you’ll find that hard to believe. He has since become the nation’s sweetheart.
Automatically qualifies for the final competition
Italy
Mahmood performing Soldi
Odds of winning: 16/1
Alessandro Mahmoud, aka Mahmood, is a veritable genius. Sung in Italian and Arabic, Soldi (Money) is as much about the meaning as it is the music. It’s a banger with something to say, then – and it has already reached platinum status in Mahmood’s homeland.
Automatically qualifies for the final competition
Latvia
Carousel performing That Night
Odds of winning: 500/1
Indie pop band Carousel are currently tied for last place with Lithuania, according to the bookies. In a sense, it’s easy to see why; they’re stripped back, romantic and not all that Eurovision. They are, nonetheless, the writers and performers of a truly beautiful song.
Lithuania
Jurij Veklenko performing Run With The Lions
Odds of winning: 500/1
Jurij Veklenko is no stranger to televised singing competitions; over the last few years he has participated in Lithuania’s Got Talent and The Voice of Lithuania, and even won the country’s popular We Are One Blood. He is not a Eurovision 2019 favourite, but he has certainly earned his place.
Malta
Michela performing Chameleon
Odds of winning: 28/1
The highest-ranking female favourite on the list has some real Dua Lipa vibes to offer the Eurovision-loving masses. At 18 years old, Michela’s voice is unusual, her performance powerful and her promise massive; she’s signed to Sony Music and has already worked with Rihanna’s producer.
Moldova
Anna Odobescu performing Stay
Odds of winning: 400/1
Moldova, somehow, has managed to find Celine Dion 2.0 in the body of a twenty-something vocal coach. Anna Odobescu and her song, Stay, are both highly emotive.
Montenegro
D mol performing Heaven
This young Montenegrin vocal group features six mixed-gender singers who were put together at the private music school of Daniel Alibabic. Alibabic is a former member of No Name (Montenegro’s participant for the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest) and now acts as the group’s mentor.
Voted out during the first semi-final
The Netherlands
Duncan Laurence performing Arcade
Odds of winning: 2/1
This vocally-led song is the current favourite to win Eurovision 2019, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a broken-hearted lullaby that grasps your shoulder and never really lets go. If Duncan wins, it will be the Netherlands’ first win in 44 years.
North Macedonia
Tamara Todevska performing Proud
Odds of winning: 150/1
While she has yet to make a name for herself in the UK, Tamara Todevska (one of North Macedonia’s best-selling female artists) has all the making of a favourite. Expect goosebumps from her ballad of female empowerment, Proud.
Norway
KEiiNO performing Spirit in the Sky
Odds of winning: 100/1
This is as Eurovision as it gets. With Spirit in the Sky, KEiiNO’s electro-heavy pop trio use joik (the traditional form of song of the Sami people) to represent their heritage while power-performing one of the campest songs in the Eurovision 2019 roster.
Poland
Tulia performing Fire of Love (Pali się)
Tulia began to build their international fan base in 2017 when their śpiewokrzyk (Polish folk translated as “screaming sing”) cover of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence was shared by the band themselves. Since then, their debut album has already gone platinum in Poland and their Eurovision entry Fire of Love is sure to follow suit.
Voted out during the first semi-final
Portugal
Conan Osiris performing Telemóveis
Get ready. Conan Osiris is about to deliver everything you ever wanted from a Eurovision performance. The self-taught dancer, songwriter, composer and producer has not played it safe: he delivers moves and grooves like no one else this year.
Voted out during the first semi final
Romania
Ester Peony performing On a Sunday
Odds of winning: 250/1
If you’re playing a Eurovision drinking game, you’ll probably want to pour a new drink for the performance of Ester Alexandra Creţu. The Romanian singer, known as Ester Peony, is going to set the stage on fire. Both literally and figuratively.
Russia
Sergey Lazarev performing Scream
Odds of winning: 9/1
As one of the most famous singers, actors and presenters in Russia, it’s no wonder that Sergey Lazarev was asked back to Eurovision for the second time. Scream is a bit like a development tune at the climax of a Disney film – if it were covered by Evanescence.
San Marino
Serhat performing Say Na Na Na
Odds of winning: 250/1
2019 marks Serhat’s second time at the Song Contest. The qualified dentist, who has also built a long-standing career as a singer, songwriter and producer, has entered Eurovision 2019 with Say Na Na Na – an unexplainably catchy song he wrote and composed.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi final
Serbia
Nevena Božović performing Kruna
Odds of winning: 66/1
Kruna is a sure-fire qualifier. Though it’s sung in Serbian, Nevena Božović (who took third place at the 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest) boasts the vocal range, expression and control to make it feel multi-lingual. A very worthy little underdog.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi final
Slovenia
Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl performing Sebi
Odds of winning: 150/1
The super-soft, narrative and natively-written Sebi is rather lovely. As are the Slovenian duo who wrote and composed it. They’re sure to be the front-runners of their genre, but may be a touch demure for Eurovision’s traditionally spectacle-loving fans.
Qualified for the final competition in the first semi final
Spain
Miki performing La Venda
Odds of winning: 100/1
Something tells me that Miki Núñez is the kind of artist you have to see in performance to fall in love with; luckily, Eurovision will offer the entire world that chance. With a well-executed performance, La Venda (The Blindfold) has enough trumpets, drums, guitars and rhythm to send the Spanish singer to the top.
Automatically qualifies for the final competition
Sweden
John Lundvik performing Too Late For Love
Odds of winning: 5/1
John Lundvik is like John Legend’s church-going love child. As a songwriter, he not only wrote and composed Too Late For Love but the UK’s entry (Michael Rice’s Bigger Than Us) as well. He’s pure talent, pure energy and a pure Top 10 shoo-in.
Switzerland
Luca Hänni performing She Got Me
Odds of winning: 22/1
Once the youngest-ever winner of Germany’s Pop Idol, 24-year-old Luca Hänni has started his career as something of a Swiss Justin Bieber. His Eurovision entry, She Got Me, has a real Despacito flair that will likely propel him into the Top 10.
United Kingdom
Michael Rice performing Bigger Than Us
Odds of winning: 150/1
Our babyfaced 21-year-old flag-flier, Michael Rice, is not at the top of the bookies’ lists, but he’s close enough to make his final performance matter most. Fresh off a successful win on All Together Now (his rendition of Proud Mary got every single judge on their feet, including the interminably picky Paulus), he has kept focus almost entirely and expertly vocal with Bigger Than Us.
Automatically qualifies for the final competition
Who’s in the Eurovision final so far?
United Kingdom: Michael Rice performing Bigger Than Us
Spain: Miki performing La Venda
Italy: Mahmood performing Soldi
Germany: S!sters performing Sister
France: Bilal Hassani performing Roi
Israel: Kobi Marimi performing Home
Greece: Katerine Duska performing Better Love
Belarus - ZENA performing Like It
Serbia - Nevene Božović performing Kruna
Cyprus - Tamta performing Replay
Estonia - Victor Crone performing Storm
Czech Republic - Lake Malawi performing Friend Of A Friend
Australia - Kate Miller-Heidke performing Zero Gravity
Iceland - Hatari performing Hatrið mun sigra
San Marino - Serhat performing Say Na Na Na
Slovenia - Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl performing Sebi
