eurovisionblog.com

As per usual, we like to make predictions as to how Eurovision will turn out, and this year was no exception. Here’s a rundown of where we were spot on and where we slipped up…..

WHAT WE GOT RIGHT

ROMANIA
We said: “We’re not quite sure if it’s strong enough to score the Romanians their first win. But it’s definitely in contention – and we’ll be surprised if it doesn’t land them another top ten placing.”
What happened: Well, Mihai didn’t quite manage to snatch victory from the all-conquering Finns, but he did finish a very respectable fourth, thus securing Romania’s place in the final for the second consecutive year.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
We said: “This is their strongest effort for years, and not only is it a very likely finalist, but it could give them their best result yet.
What happened: Hari Mata Hari managed to finish second in the semi-final and third in the final. Sounds like a pretty good result to us.

IRELAND
We said: “Assuming it qualifies for the final, we can’t help thinking this could do rather well.”
What happened: It did qualify for the final. And gave the Irish their best result in years, so much so they automatically qualify for next year’s final.

LITHUANIA
We said: “Its sheer awfulness may well work in its favour – it’s virtually critic-proof, and novelty tracks have a habit of outperforming expectations.”
What happened: OK, so we didn’t predict it to make the final, but based on what we said in our review this ultimately wasn’t much of a surprise to us. They finished sixth, the same spot occupied by Austrian funnyman Alf Poier in 2003 and Moldova’s drum-banging granny last year. Not bad going considering they’ve never even finished in the top ten before – now they go straight to the final next year.

UKRAINE
We said: “This is so radically different from everything else in the semi-final we reckon it’s got a fighting chance.”
What happened: Ukraine surprised a lot of people by not only making the final but getting a pretty decent result too – Tina Karol’s seventh placing was enough to secure them a place in next year’s final. Just shows how a decent performance can change a song’s fortunes.

MOLDOVA
We said: “It’s a weak song and the fact it’s on second will do it no favours whatsoever. We’re betting that Moldova will find themselves back in the semis next year.
What happened: Apart from the inevitable 12 points from their ‘friends’ Romania, there was very little love in the room for Moldova, who finished 21st with just 22 points. Back to the semi finals, indeed.

WHAT WE GOT WRONG
GERMANY
We said: “This is Germany’s best effort in years, giving them their best shot at victory since Nicole first strummed a guitar in Harrogate.”
What happened: Despite being earmarked as a potential winner (and not just by Team Eurovision), Germany finished 15th with just 36 points. Admittedly, they did rather better than other Big Four countries but it’s still far from a victory. Could it be that it’s the entire Big Four that are suffering at the hands of other entrants, and not just the UK? This really should have done a lot better.

CROATIA
We said: “Silly lyrics aside, we wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised to see this one finish in the top five – and deservedly so.”
What happened: Like Hungary last year, Croatia could only muster up a mid-table finish, coming joint 12th (with FYR Macdedonia) with 56 points. Not a bad result, but hardly an outstanding one, and not enough to rescue them from the semi-final next year. Still, we did acknowledge this was love it or loathe it stuff, and it clearly didn’t appeal across the board.

MALTA
We said: “We’re beginning to think this could be another dark horse that does a lot better than people have predicted.”
What happened: We’re not quite sure, to be honest. OK, so it wasn’t a great song and Fabrizio’s performance was far from brilliant, but there were many worse songs in the contest than this, and they definitely deserved to get more than one point. Like Finland, Malta have been trying to win for ages without success – let’s hope their time comes soon, and they don’t have to suffer any more results like this one.

TURKEY
We said: “We’re going to stick our collective necks out and say that of all the favourites to make the final this is the one that’s most likely to miss out.”
What happened: Well Turkey did make the final, and didn’t do too badly either – although their 11th placing means they just miss out on qualifying for next year. So we were half right – and let’s not forget that if one of next year’s top ten withdraw (as happened with Serbia this year), then they’ll very likely be in.

SWITZERLAND
We said: “It’s a load of manipulative old nonsense. Bet it wins…..”
What happened: It didn’t. But in this instance, we were quite relieved to be wrong.