Eurovision Preview 2025: The Big 5 & Switzerland

And so, on the day of the contest, it’s the time for my preview posts to come to a close. Since 2000 the Big 4 (as they were then known) made up of France, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom have had the privileged status of being able to into the contest automatically. When semi finals were introduced in 2004 they went straight to the final, and when Italy reappeared in 2011 they joined them forming the Big 5 the rest of Europe fails to know and love every year. I do wonder sometimes if they realise Italy is part of this grouping or if it’s just the fact we are seduced by Italian music every year… anyway I digress! This is a blog of knowledge, because I’ve seen their performances already in the semi final – so let’s change things up a bit and off we go…

Song 5: Spain
If there is any justice to tonight’s results, it will see Spain in a top ten finish. This is another case of the staging not necessarily working that well – although to be fair I think it’s her dress I’m not a fan of. The song on the other hand is unashamedly Spanish, upbeat and lots of fun. The guitar, the breaks, the chorus – it just works so well. If it wasn’t for similarly upbeat songs I think this would be well up there for favouritism – however at 250/1 I think we can safely say the Euro-gods are not shining on Spain this year. However it is a definite favourite of mine! The reaction from everyone else though is a shame – because I think all we want somewhere nice and hot for Eurovision to go to in 2026… don’t we?

Song 8: United Kingdom
What the hell just happened? It’s basically the question every UK Eurovision fan has been asking themselves every year since 1999 when Precious came 12th. This year Remember Monday are singing off of a chandelier in a bid for Euro-glory. Now, I’ll be honest, I don’t think this song is that bad – I genuinely don’t see the fuss from some sections of the community. The girls are musically trained, they can really belt out a tune, and the changes in tempo, in my humble opinion, work really well. The staging, for the most part, works fairly well – although the blue background of people swimming in a pool – which I kind of get, does not really work and is slightly jarring. The only thing I’m annoyed about with the UK this year is everyone’s reactions – there is no love for the UK at all. A comment on a message board saying if it was any other country people would say it could get top 15 or something, but because it’s the UK people default to bottom 5 really chimed with me. Hard to think we came 2nd just 3 years ago – and even then some of them were still predicting bottom 5. We just aren’t that loved – which is a shame. I’m hopeful the juries will give us some points (after all, they gave the dodgy staging of Olly Alexander 48 points last year!).

Song 14: Italy
Usually I quite like the Italian entries. From ‘Madness of Love’ to ‘Brividi’ and all the way through to ‘Grand Amore’ there has always been something to like. This does not extend to this year however. It’s a bit of a bland entry that doesn’t really hit. The English subtitles across the bottom of the screen almost smack of a song that is desperately trying to drum up support. If you want a real treat go and see the music video. This, I suspect, will be Italy’s worst performance in the contest since their return in 2011.

Song 16: Germany
Hot on the heels of last year’s success comes ‘Baller’. She sits on a big boom box, it’s modern, it’s fresh and it’s well liked. If there’s going to be a surprise decent televote for any big 5 country tonight then it’s headed in Germany’s direction. The song is very catchy too – and the concerns about Tünde’s voice being soothed now, means I think this is well placed. For those not in the know, the first time I heard her sing the song live was when I saw it performed two days ago – playback was used during the preview parties because she had problems with her voice. I hope Germany do well – keeping fingers crossed.

Song 19: Switzerland
I think this works a lot better on stage than it does for the studio version. If the single hand camera hadn’t failed on Tuesday night I think we would have said it was more of a potential winner than it is. Honestly, if Switzerland did the double with this song, it would come as no surprise. It is a touching French ballad, with a hint of drama. It’s very simple in structure and to be fair has given me an opportunity to pinpoint French phrases as I continue to learn the language on Duolingo (634 days and counting…). This will go massive in the hall – and don’t be surprised to see it up there. However… it’s not without competition.

Song 24: France
This is probably France’s best chance of winning since 2021 when they were pipped to the post by Italy. A touching ballad, performed with sand (which in fact is cork) falling onto the stage throughout the song – swirling round as the song builds to a climax, is truly something special. The only slight regret with this song is that I wish the French hadn’t given it such a grand reveal at a Six Nations rugby match where the whole thing was given such a fanfare it has probably taken me ten weeks to appreciate the true simplicity of this. She sings it well. It will do well. And hopefully if they win, the French will pick the South of France to host it in next year instead of Paris… hint hint!