As there’s over 21 female solo performers in this year’s competition I’ve extended this list to feature Top 10 ladies (as there’s some excellent entries which may fail to qualify due to the abundance of ladies on stage).
10. Portugal – Filipa Sousa – “Vida Minha”
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Portuguese entries and this year’s Fado inspired entry is worth highlighting. Expect lots of hand grasps and the use of one powerful wind machine at one stage. IF there’s a costume reveal she’ll have achieved the trifecta. As Portugal’s qualification beyond the Semi-Final has been patchy in recent years Filipa Sousa will struggle to qualify but this is a great example of where Eurovision can highlight a unique musical styling of a particular slice of Europe.
9. Greece – Elftheria Elftheriou - “Aphrodisiac”
With Greece’s phenomenal track record in recent years I would expect this entry to qualify for the final – although it’s not the best track Greece have sent to the competition. It’s a decent enough pop song with the right amount of bouncing and hair flicks from the performer but sadly the song does not really go anywhere. She’ll be saved by stripping down her backing dancers to bare a bit of male flesh whilst she cavorts around the stage.
8. Ukraine – Gaitana - “Be My Guest”
Another formidable participant the Ukraine’s recent Eurovision history would suggest that this entry will sail through to the final. It’s an anthemic pop/ dance track performed by the very booby Gaitana. On the upside she’ll have the audience dancing around on the downside she’ll need to watch her vocals as her performance at the national selection was not the best and in a year which includes some incredible singers this could be the difference between a Top 10 or Top 20 finish.
7. Bosnia & Herzegovina – Maya Sar – “Korake Ti Znam”
There was a bit of early money on Maya Sar’s entry which is a soft jazzy piano driven number. Using last year’s 6th placed Dino Merlin’s band will also go a long way to helping her qualify for the final but she’ll be pushed to replicate Merlin’s result from last year. One of the big positives for Maya Sar is that she goes on stage 2nd to last in the second Semi and is the only female solo artist in the last 6 acts (the others are all male soloists). Staging will go a long way to securing a finals birth too – expect a stark, stripped back performance with few bells and whistles.
6. France – Anggun – “Echo (You and I)”
South East Asian superstar and French national Anggun is a terrific choice to represent France. Her ethno-Asia-pop is perfect for a competition such as Eurovision and let’s hope she adopts the same staging as she has in her videoclip. Military lads, wearing only their Y-Fronts, moving down conveyer belts is surely worth Douze Points from several countries. The whistling in the chorus is cute and catchy and this is yet another strong entry from France, in recent years, have taken their participation in this competition seriously.
5. Cyrpus – Ivi Adamou – “La La Love”
A perky little pop entry which is very on trend at the moment and the best thing that Cyprus have entered in the competition in years. Fresh faced 18 year old Ivi Adamou is no stranger to singing contests having been a contestant on Greece’s X Factor 2 (so expect 12 points from Greece to go Cyprus’ way) so she won’t be concerned about performing. She’s also fortunately performing directly after the worst song in the competition (entry from San Marino) in Semi Final 1 which will make her performance look award-winning.
4. Albania – Rona Nishliu – “Suus”
My favourite ballad in this year’s contest the Rona Nishliu’s vocals are going to blow the roof off the Crystal Hall in Baku. This is a powerful ballad drenched with pathos and a forlorn acceptance of love lost. The dreadlock beehived Rona Nishliu will make a very striking figure on stage and she’ll have the audience on their feet come the end of this entry. She’s in the weaker Semi (Semi Final 1) and given a good place in the Final she may see herself creeping up the leaderboard during the final.
3. Denmark – Soluna Samay – “Should’ve Known Better”
Now we get to potential Top 5 finishers. Soluna Samay’s little Indie Pop track is currently well regarded by bookies and experts alike. Dressed in Marching Band regalia Samay strums her guitar lamenting that she “Should’ve Known Better” in a cute English/Danish twang. Channelling a little bit of Jewel and a little bit of Natalie Imbruglia this entry should get a lot of “middle of the road” votes. Pretty song, pretty girl and should place pretty high in the final.
2. Italy – Nina Zilli – “L’Amore E’Femmina (Out of Love)”
Another serious contender for this year’s top prize – my guess is she’ll take the Silver medal. Zilli has emerged in recent weeks, with Serbia, as the two entries that could actually beat Sweden’s Loreen. Taking the best parts of Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Ray Zilli’s funky ditty will be well received on the night. The only disadvantage she’ll have is that she’ll only be performing once (in the final) and may find the momentum behind the Swedish, Serbian or Russian entries to much to overcome.
1. Sweden – Loreen – “Euphoria”
It’s going to be hard topple Loreen from taking the crown in Baku. Her brilliant dance infused entry is the highlight of this year’s competition. She’s kooky – her pseudo Karate dancing will have the audience mesmerised – and her vocals are fabulous. Only Denmark’s chorus gets close to beating the anthemic “up, up, up, up, up, uuuuup….Euphoria!” of this entry. Already charting well across Europe (and even available on iTunes as a single here in Oz) she’s got a massive career ahead of her and this will propel her onto the world stage. Stockholm in 2013 then.
After coming in 8th at last year’s competition, with the high octane “Lipstick”, those Irish Ritalin requiring twin gnomes Jedward are back for another crack (sorry, this is not Austria) at the title. However, even with a songwriter who’s written for boy bands like The Wanted, the song’s just not as good as last year. That said, expect high hair, high jumps and dodgy vocals on the night. They’ll qualify, due to their huge popularity across Europe, but they had a better shot at winning with last year’s entry. The staging will need to be flash to give them any chance of beating their placing last year but there’s a lot more in this year’s competition for the voting public to get excited about. They’ll finish in the bottom (Austria again!) half of the final.
Now it gets interesting…this is a 7 piece Romanian Cuban inspired entry and will stand out due to its unique blend of sounds. Sung in Romanian and in English this is a toe-tapper and will have the Crystal Hall in Baku swinging. Romania deserves a win and this could be one of those lurking dark horses that snare enough votes to rattle the standout entries from Sweden, Denmark and Russia. This is one of the few entries which won both the jury and public vote at its national final so it should qualify easily and may surprise by placing inside the Top 10 in the final. 
Now here’s a dark dirge from the depths of Iceland that no-one’s going to forget on the night. Originally qualifying from Iceland’s national final in its native tongue composer, songwriter and performer Greta Salome has opted to take an English version to the competition. And it’s all the better for it. Greta and Jonsi are the competitions most attractive couple and look like they’ve stepped off of an H&M billboard. Expect lots of drama in the staging – wind machines, some floating materials and strings on-stage will be the bare minimum. Jonsi’s been here before, having already represented Iceland in the 2004 final, so when Greta cracks out the violin half way through this ditty he’ll be cracking some decent Abercrombie & Fitch style poses to accompany her fiddling. There’s nothing like this number in the competition and it will be remembered for, at least, it’s uniqueness. Iceland, criminally, have never taken home top prize and this year they’ll give the leaderboard another solid nudge and this could even go Top 5 dependent on where they perform in the final. I’m going to invest in some knitwear just in case we’ll be in Reykjavik next year.
Beware a Babushki bearing gifts. Seriously, don’t take anything from them. This is a serious contender for the top prize this year. It’ll take a lot to beat Sweden’s Loreen but this group of 6 Russian grannies could just see us returning to Moscow in 2013. Having formed in 2008 the Buranovskiye Babushki, who’s eldest member is 77, have performed all over Europe covering songs from Queen and the Beatles and shared the stage with the likes of Jose Carreras. The song’s catchy, they’re as cute as kittens and they I’ve already shocked many when they took out former Eurovision winner Dima Bilan at their national final to win the chance to represent Russia in Baku. Block country voting aside, this entry will take home either Silver or Gold and it will probably come down to where Sweden and Russia perform in the final. If either country is drawn in the top quarter (with the UK’s Mr Humperdinck) that’ll be enough to relegate them to second – that’s how close it is this year.
Pros: One of the “biggest” songs of the year there’s a lot going on in this song. It’ll stand head and shoulders above all the ballads. It’ll get good support in voting from Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, the UK and Ireland which will see it sail into the final. He’s hot so the girls will be dialling in big time.
Well, finally, after months of anticipation the contestants for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 have almost all been decided on. And, post this weekend, the frontrunners are emerging.
Arriving late into Inverness we found our B&B and after a short stroll and dinner bunked down for the night. With a big drive ahead of us the next day we made a quick sideline trip to Fort George, a working military fort approximately 10 mile out of Inverness on the way to Nairn. The fort contains fascinating memorabilia of the Scots Guard and Regiment (the Highlanders) but is very much a working military base; the chorus of practice gunfire that became our ambient music for the visit very much a testament to its “active” nature. 
With the Dusseldorf stage already being graced with the disappearing handkerchiefs, shattering glass, glitter bombs and waving flags of practicing nations here’s the skinny on who’s who, who’ll finish top 5 and who will be likely to face the dreaded NUL POINT?
Estonia – Getter Jaani – “Rockerfeller Street” 
