Eurovision 2025 Reviews: Part 1

Welcome to the first of what will hopefully be seven Eurovision 2025 review blogs! It's fairly self-explanatory, and every Eurovision blogger worth their salt is doing something similar at the moment but to summarise: I will be taking five or six countries at a time, and discussing their selected artists and songs. I'm planning to focus more on the selection processes and songs themselves rather than how I think they might do at Eurovision; I'll leave that to my prediction blogs a little bit later on when we have more information about staging etc. 

To finish off each review, I will be giving every song a score out of 10 - again, this is for the song alone, I've tried to separate the songs from their performances and stagings as much as possible (which was easier said than done in some cases) to give a more concrete idea of which songs I am favouring heading in to the contest, and allow me to award my douze points once we have looked at all the songs.

You'll see as we progress through these review blogs that each individual post will feature a range of songs, and a range of opinions from me - I've tried to distribute the songs so that we have a variation of genres, performers... and obviously perceived quality, although that is clearly subjective. Hopefully that will give a more well-rounded reading experience. With all that being said, let's begin our musical journey by looking at Australia, Cyprus, France, Iceland, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Iceland: Væb - "Róa"

Where better to start than the country chosen to kick off this year's Eurovision Song Contest: Iceland. This year they are sending brothers Hálfdán Helgi and Matthías Davíð, whose seemingly boundless energy has earned them the nickname of "the Icelandic Jedward". The song they are bringing to Eurovision is "Róa", a bouncy number about rowing and a life at sea. We saw Væb in Söngvakeppnin, the Icelandic national selection, last year, performing "Biomynd" - I think that purely in terms of the songs, "Róa" is my favourite of the two (and it's certainly better than what Iceland ended up sending to Malmö) but "Biomynd" feels like a stronger overall package for Væb, who don't seem to connect to "Róa" quite as naturally. This year's song feels a bit more like a means to an end for Væb rather than an end itself in that it has provided a way for Væb to get to Eurovision and increase their social media presence, but this promotion of their image seems to be a greater objective than sharing their song with a larger audience. This is, of course, a completely valid strategy - different artists choose to do Eurovision for all manner of reasons, but in this case, particularly having seen their performance last year, I think it does harm the experience of "Róa" somewhat.

I would be lying, however, if I said that I didn't enjoy this song. It's incredibly catchy and that chorus is one of the biggest earworms of the year. The verses aren't quite as strong but I think the song does well to come straight out with the chorus which will hopefully keep first-time listeners entertained. It's also nice to hear the Icelandic language in Eurovision for the first time in a few years, and I applaud Væb for their authenticity in this regard - being the only act last year to keep their song in Icelandic for the Söngvakeppnin final, and one of only two this year. One benefit of not being an Icelandic speaker was that I could initially let the lyrics wash over me and just enjoy the melody; however, I have since read an English translation of the lyrics, and considering the themes of the song, I get the feeling that I would find "Róa" considerably more irritating if it was in English. This does cloud my judgement slightly, but of course it is the Icelandic version that will be performed at Eurovision, and the memory that I keep coming back to with this song is hearing it for the first time in the week of the Söngvakeppnin final, and having it on loop (call me Sarah Bonnici) for several days as it wedged itself firmly in my brain. It's a happy, carefree song, the importance of which cannot be understated in times like these.

My Score: 7

Ireland: Emmy - "Laika Party"

2024 was a fantastic year for Irish Eurofans. Bambie Thug, performing "Doomsday Blue", took the country to the final for the first time since 2018 and, with an incredible stage show, finished sixth overall. The burning question then was whether or not Ireland would be able to maintain this newfound success. To their credit, the Irish national selection show Eurosong, despite still trying to squeeze on to that tiny stage in the Late Late Show studio, did have several credible options for Eurovision, and it was Norwegian singer Emmy that was successful after winning both the national jury vote and the televote. Hardcore Eurofans may remember Emmy's entry in Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix, "Witch Woods", from 2021. I can't help but compare this to the song that she is now taking to Eurovision, "Laika Party", as it feels like, a bit like Væb, her previous effort was a bit more authentic to who she is as an artist. "Laika Party" feels very much like a product of the TikTok-dominated music industry of 2025. For all intents and purposes, it's a fairly standard dance track with a drop that I have no doubt will become a regular feature at any Eurovision club night, but there's several things about this song that don't allow me to fully relax into it.

Firstly, and this is entirely personal preference, I find Emmy's high-pitched vocals irritating and have no desire to listen to this song again once it's finished for that reason. The song also clearly doesn't think outside the box in any way, and feels like it could come from a multitude of different countries across the continent (in fact, learning that this song was rejected by Norwegian MGP made it all make a lot more sense - it does seem to lean into the "My AI"-style theme park vibe that Norway have entertained over the past few years). However, my main issue with this song lies within the lyrics, or to be more precise, the themes present in the lyrics. I think it's fairly clear that the title of this song is designed to be a play on words as it sounds like Emmy is saying "like a party in the sky", and listening to the song, and the nonsensical nature of it all, it really does feel like the title came first and everything else is the result of some impressive reverse engineering. The song claims to be a tribute to Laika, the dog sent into space by the Soviet Union, who died of hyperthermia during the flight. That may well be the case, but if so then I believe it completely misses the mark. Emmy sings that she hopes Laika is still alive, and having a party in space. Well, at the risk of sounding boring, we know that's not the case. We know that Laika died whilst in space, and the theme of this young dog's tragic death is therefore completely at odds with the manufactured dance beat, and takes me out of the moment whenever I stop to think about it. It's an unexpected moment of sadness that we as the audience are asked to forget about and continue dancing away merrily - this doesn't sit well with me, and unfortunately I can't get behind this song.

My Score: 4.5

Australia: Go-Jo - "Milkshake Man"

This is one of several songs in this year's Eurovision that can be fairly accurately described using the adjective smutty. This year Australia have chosen Marty Zambotto through (presumably) the same internal selection process that gave us Voyager and Electric Fields. For me, this song doesn't come close to matching either of those. If Go-Jo can pull this off vocally, it won't sound particularly out of place musically, but the innuendo throughout this song is so thinly veiled that it can't reasonably be described as a double entendre - I don’t think there’s much room for alternative interpretation here. Ostensibly this is a 'fun' song, but it lacks the subtlety required for some of these lyrics to come across as anything other than overtly sexual, and isn't delivered with the same level of finesse as other songs with similar themes, such as Finland's "Ich Komme". I also don't think this ages particularly well; it's fun the first time in its own 'in your face' kind of way, but becomes annoying quite quickly and I wonder if it might not stand up to the other songs in the semi-final by the time the recap comes around.

One thing that is interesting to me about this is that it will be opening the second semi-final, implying that the staging will be playing into the 'child-friendly' ice cream van elements of the music video, rather than... the other stuff. I do think that the staging will be crucial to the success of this song as it's the sort of thing that could easily put off a fairly large proportion of the viewing audience. Given Australia's record with the televote, this will need to look good on stage. Personally, I don't like this song. Maybe I'm a frightful prude, but I don't want to hear about Go-Jo's milk, and the fact that Australia have given up all pretence of this being in any way a sensible song doesn't sit right with me. Is this what modern Eurovision is? I do fear that this is a knee-jerk reaction from SBS after their non-qualification last year, but I would say that this isn't the way to go. I am of the opinion that Electric Fields failed to qualify because the live performance didn't come together. All the individual elements did their jobs perfectly but it didn't add up to the sum of its parts, and could easily have got to the final with a better execution on the night. I get the impression that Australia are now trying desperately and unashamedly to appeal to the televote with this one, and have lost all dignity in the process.

My Score: 3

Cyprus: Theo Evan - "Shh"

Can you think back all the way to last September when it was announced that Theo Evan (or to give him his full name, Evangelos Theodorou) would be representing Cyprus in Eurovision this year? It seems like another time, and we subsequently had one of the longest waits I can remember for the song release in March. It's another departure from Cyprus' tried and tested formula of sending girlbops year in, year out but I for one welcome this change, even if "Shh" doesn't majorly push the envelope - particularly when you note that Dimitris Kontopoulos, credited as a songwriter, is one of the so-called 'Dream Team' and therefore no stranger to writing for Eurovision, having been involved with several entries from countries such as Greece, Moldova and Russia, and even last year's Cypriot entry "Liar". However, to me, this doesn't have the immediate impact, or indeed the conviction, of previous entries like "Fuego", or even "Replay" and "El Diablo", all songs that received a much more favourable response among the fans.

Having said that I would stick to discussion of the songs, I do here feel the need to deviate from this as we still really don't know very much about what this is going to look like at Eurovision. Theo seems to be keeping his cards very close to his chest, and I don't believe we've heard him performing the song live yet. Much was made in the fan community about this being chosen to close the first semi-final, as opposed to seemingly more obvious choices such as San Marino or the Netherlands; and it is also worth noting that Cyprus this year are working with Sergio Jaén, the creative director behind Bambie Thug's stage show in Malmö, so it may be the case that we haven't seen the best of this package so far. Sticking, however, with the song, this does feel very much like Cyprus have once again gone to Panik Records asking for a Eurovision song, except this time written for a man, please. It isn't as emphatic as some of the other uptempo songs this year and I also don't think it gets itself off to a good start with lines that come across like spoken word about being famous for your own beauty and overconfidence. The verses to me read like more of a stream of consciousness and feel disconnected from the chorus, which is more akin to what we are used to seeing from Cyprus at Eurovision, and will hopefully allow Theo to show off his vocals. I don't want to come down too harshly on this, as I remain intrigued by what they have planned on stage, but I'm not convinced as yet.

My Score: 5

Netherlands: Claude - "C'est La Vie"

First of all, and I mentioned this in my Eurovision preview, massive plaudits to the Netherlands for coming back this year. After the poorly-handled disqualification of Joost Klein last year, I don't think there are many in the Eurovision community who would have begrudged them backing out entirely, but following talks with the EBU and assurances of the implementation of significant changes to the contest, they eventually decided to continue their participation. Joost was offered the chance to participate once again, but understandably declined, meaning that we have Claude Kiambe representing the Netherlands this year, with the song "C'est La Vie". The song is performed in both English and French, although it has to be said one doesn't need to be a Francophone in any sense of the word to understand what Claude is singing here. Like Cyprus, this isn't breaking any new ground in the Eurovision sphere, and I do think it's the sort of song that a lot of casual viewers here in the UK would regard as a 'typical Eurovision song', but the song in and of itself is pleasant and has a well-told story behind it.

The theme of the song is Claude recalling memories from his childhood of a song his mother used to sing to him, and I think as a result of that it risks coming across as simple in its composition. I would also argue that this song leans more towards French cultural elements than any other influences, and is possibly not crafted for the global market. One thing that has confused me about this song is why it is here, at the Eurovision Song Contest. I'm not sure quite how to explain it in a way that doesn't sound needlessly harsh, but this song, and more widely this sound, I believe is best suited to a non-competitive environment. That's not to say that "C'est La Vie" won't do well at Eurovision or won't be competitive on the night - I think this is a fairly safe bet to finish in the top ten, likely with a bit of a boost from the juries once it gets to the final - but it feels to me like the sort of song that people seem to be so fond of using as an interval act, or indeed as theme music for some international sporting event or another, because it is upbeat and feels like a celebratory anthem. Again, I don't think that will damage its chances at Eurovision particularly, but it was certainly something that caught my attention. However, the bottom line is that this is a nice song with a catchy chorus, competent performer and a country that is fairly reliable when it comes to the staging.

My Score: 6.5

France: Louane - "Maman"

France is a country that is determined to win Eurovision. The last five years have seen very impressive results for both Barbara Pravi and Slimane, as well as three Junior Eurovision champions, so it really does seem like only a matter of time until the sixth victory arrives. This year, Louane was internally selected by the French broadcaster and the song of choice is "Maman". France clearly have faith in this entry, as they made us wait until the middle of March before they premiered the song with Louane suspended on a tiny platform above thousands of rugby fans in the Stade de France. Although this was impressive, personally I don't think that it gave me the best introduction to the song, which feels like it will be much more suited to hopefully being performed in a more intimate setting in Basel, with an audience a fraction of the size. It did take a few listens before "Maman" clicked in my brain, and I think that France will need to stage this effectively if it's going to have any chance of getting near the top of the televote, but apart from that I really do think the sky is the limit for this song.

"Maman" is a heartfelt tribute to Louane's late mother, and a reflection on how Louane's life has changed since her passing, most notably that it is now her that is called 'Maman' by her own daughter. The song has a melody that is very easy on the ear, yet powerful and effective in itself. In a year when so many countries are sending cheap and cheerful televote bait, the quality of songs like this becomes amplified, and it is a testament to the quality of this song that it is currently third in the betting odds. With hints of the melancholy throughout, its traditional elements combined with the slow-burn feeling could create a very special moment when it's performed live. The only thing I think I would change about this song is the very last moment, when Louane's daughter sings the final 'Maman'. For me, it doesn't fit with the rest of the song and I think France would be much better off replacing the sudden childish squeak that only serves to spoil the atmosphere Louane works so hard to create with a final flourish to go out with a bang. Of course I do understand that given the meaning of the song, this isn't particularly likely, but my concern is that first-time listeners who perhaps haven't grasped the lyrics in their entirety might be taken out of the moment and remember the French entry as 'the one with the child'. That's not enough, however, to cloud my judgement hugely on what I believe to be one of the strongest packages of the year.

My Score: 8.5

Well, that's six songs down and only another 31 to go! France take an early lead, followed by Iceland, the Netherlands and Cyprus, with Ireland and Australia bringing up the rear. Of course, as I said earlier, these reviews are purely based on my opinion, rather than any predictions for how they might do in May, but I definitely think that France will be challenging for the victory this year. However, there are still many countries that could overtake them, so it's far from a done deal. More reviews will be coming soon!