16 May 2025

The second semi final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, arguably gave us one of the best semi finals ever. Particularly if you appreciate stellar vocals, we got a cavalcade of outstanding entries, often one after another, and it was wonderful to see nearly all of them rewarded with a spot in the grand final. Of course, 16 into 10 doesn’t go, so losing a couple was an unfortunate necessity.

Also appreciated from this semi final is that the highly distinctive entries, notably from Lithuania and Latvia, also qualified for the grand final. While I loathe that juries were removed from the semi finals, meaning less artistic styles and artists are encouraged to enter in the first place, it’s pleasing to see that the few entries that do ride the rapids of the joke and trashy entries, do get rewarded. Ironically, their paucity and individuality helps these entries stand out.

In this semi final we saw, again, the new system to reveal the grand finalists, and I think it’s a winner. When you have three lesser entries as the options, it’s nice to know that one will qualify. If there’s two favourites as options, then who will miss out? Of course, early disappointment does not mean game over. The last spot announced can be from any of the remaining entries not yet announced. There were seven left in this semi final and it’s a shame they can’t all be shown together to see the tension and anxiety – or resignation of defeat – build.

The Qualifiers

01 Ineligible Associate Member
02 Montenegro – Nina Zizic – Dobrodosli
03 Ireland – Emmy – Laika Party
04 Latvia – Tautumeitas – Bur Man Laimi
05 Armenia – Parg – Survivor
06 Austria – JJ – Wasted Love
07 Greece – Klavdia – Asteromata
08 Lithuania – Katarsis – Tavo Akys
09 Malta – Miriana Conte – Serving
10 Georgia – Mariam Shengelia – Freedom
11 Denmark – Sissal – Hallucination
12 Czechia – Adonxs – Kiss Kiss Goodbye
13 Luxembourg – Laura Thorn – La Poupee Monte Le Son
14 Israel – Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise
15 Serbia – Princ – Mila
16 Finland – Erika Vikman – Ich komme

Review & Scores

My Top 10

01 Finland – Erika Vikman – Ich komme (9)

I appreciated the subtle changes from the UMK 2025 national final, especially Erika’s varied facial expressions, tighter camera angles, and a softer look (straight hair). I was so entranced with the performance that Erika finished before I was done with her. During a green room segment, good to see Erika baulk at the smell of the fondue and didn’t enjoy eating it. Proud of her. It’s disgusting stuff.

02 Luxembourg – Laura Thorn – La Poupee Monte Le Son (9)

The doll speaks up! This was my favourite performance of the night, and if Laura had a stronger voice, I would have edged her in front of Erika. I was so tempted anyway. The opening in the doll house with the augmented reality was phenomenal, and then Laura laid down a perfectly choreographed routine to depict her song, essentially about a doll (woman) breaking free from men wanting to own and control her.

03 Austria – JJ – Wasted Love (8)

Still trying to digest this presentation. Obviously, impeccable vocals. Overall, I didn’t quite engage with it as expected, and that’s probably due to the visuals.

04 Israel – Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise (8)

Stunning voice and delightfully controlled vocals. The switch to Hebrew was the most powerful and evocative moment for this singer who was at the infamous music festival on 7 October 2023 and survived the terrorist attack from Gaza, notably by laying under dead bodies for 8 hours in a shelter that was attacked with grenades. If not for the slightly disappointing staging, I would have scored Yuval higher.

05 Czechia – Adonxs – Kiss Kiss Goodbye (8)

Excellent vocals, especially the range and the deep voice. Excellent presentation and choreography too. This was the shock non-qualifier out of all the semi finalists.

06 Armenia – Parg – Survivor (8)

Stunning presentation with lighting and graphical effects, especially the body silhouettes as he’s running. Full of energy, and powerful vocals really elevated it. For a song I did not rank highly before Eurovision, this proved to be the biggest surprise of the semi finals.

07 Ireland – Emmy – Laika Party (7)

Mostly in my top 10 because I like the song so much. Surprisingly solid vocals from Emmy considering the airy nature of her voice. The presentation was a bit static and disjointed. The spaceship was too dominant of a feature and the dancers were diminished by the background graphics. Emmy needed to move more too.

08 Lithuania – Katarsis – Tavo Akys (7)

An acquired taste for most and a perfunctory performance. Often that’s all you need from a band, and it obviously resonated wide enough to be a deserved qualifier. Initially I thought it might get overwhelmed by the many superior entries still to come. Thankfully the viewers remembered it.

09 Montenegro – Nina Zizic – Dobrodosli (7)

The outfit was a distraction from the start. Nina powered through the performance, mostly due to her stellar voice, to a super powerful finish. That won me over.

10 Serbia – Princ – Mila (7)

Another excellent vocal display in this classic Balkan ballad. Seeing Princ dragged along the floor by the lower legs of his pants was certainly a novel addition!

Honourable Mentions

Greece – Klavdia – Asteromata (7)

It was a tough decision to split the final three for my tenth spot. Ultimately, I chose the songs I preferred. Despite the stunning vocals and visuals, Asteromata was never the strongest song. Since it’s doubtful that I will spotlight Greece in the grand final review, they deserve some exposure here.

Denmark – Sissal – Hallucination (7)

Similarly with Denmark, the song wasn’t the strongest with it being a little repetitive. Beyond that, Sissal always possessed a great voice and delivered again. Choreography was excellent, and Sissal minimised the hideous look of the leotard from the Danish national final by starting the performance wearing a gown, matching the lighting with new blue leotard and wearing high boots, and then using curtains to slowly ease the audience into seeing her in her basic outfit. The audience could actually enjoy the song this time rather than recoil in shock. That’s called learning your lessons and, after four straight years of eliminations, getting a well deserved spot in the grand final in the process. No wonder she was ecstatic with the qualification.

The Rest

Malta (5) threw everything at the staging, as usual for them. Strong vocals simply couldn’t hide a weak song. No surprise they qualified given the publicity they generated by including a vulgarity in the original version of the song. Georgia (5), again, some super vocals. Cossack warrior dancers were good. Staging disjointed, as was always the song. Mariam seemed to have a problem in her left eye. It looked partially closed. I appreciated the ethnic elements and tight bodysuits of the six girls from Latvia (4). Not much else, unfortunately. The song was too repetitive. Not really a surprise qualifier given the entry was so different to anything else, and easily recalled as something to throw a few votes on. That’s probably how they qualified.

Onto the Ineligible Associate Member (Australia), who I boycotted for the second straight year due to the sordid process to get them into Eurovision permanently. A limp performance that had all the hallmarks of a school stage show by grade 3 kids. This is another lesson for SBS (Australia’s broadcaster) to take Eurovision more seriously. For 2 years now they’ve been detached, if not apathetic, and the results show. They threw this entry together to create a joke entry instead of sending a genuine musical talent. They had the noted band, Sheppard, at their call, and preferred to use them to write a joke song for a joke talent pulled from TikTok. When you see Lithuania and Latvia progress with genuine, distinct entries reflective of their countries, it shows how great an opportunity was missed.

Compared to the 5.9 average score from the first semi final, the second one averaged 7.1. This is likely the second highest score for a Eurovision show ever, with the Rotterdam 2021 Grand Final scoring 7.3. The second semi final in Rotterdam scored 6.9, as did the first semi final of Malmö 2013. This year is almost certainly the biggest disparity in scores between the respective semi finals too.

The only change from my top 10 before Eurovision is Armenia in and Greece out. Compared to the actual 10 qualifiers, I preferred Czechia, Ireland, Montenegro and Serbia instead of Latvia, Greece, Malta and Denmark (of course, Greece and Denmark only just got squeezed out). Of my actual predictions, I missed Latvia, Malta and Denmark.

Automatic Grand Finalists

From the six automatically in the grand final, in this semi final we had the United Kingdom (Remember Monday – What The Hell Just Happened?), France (Louane – Maman) and Germany (Abor & Tynna – Baller) perform. Suffice to say, France were the most impressive (of all six), with the UK not far beyond in this semi. Germany were solid. Detailed impressions about all six following the grand final!

An interval act that celebrated four acts that missed Eurovision 2020 due to the Covid19 pandemic strangely featured four artists that all got their shot 2021! They were even interviewed to discuss their sadness. How about we celebrate those artists that never got their Eurovision moment like Arilena Ara from Albania, Ben & Tan from Denmark, Ben Dolic from Germany, Ulrikke from Norway and Alicja from Poland. A good idea ruined by a terrible selection.

Grand Final Preview

The betting marking essentially hasn’t change for the top four since prior to Eurovision starting: Sweden, Austria, France and Netherlands. The only real jump is Finland from a $30 chance to $17 and fifth in the betting. Israel fell from a $15 chance to $25. Czechia and Belgium (Red Sebastian – Strobe Lights) were the only two highly placed songs, both firmly in the top 10, to be eliminated during the semi finals. That probably helped Finland’s odds improve.

The running order is always a good guide as to the mindset of the producers, who set the order and like to position the strong chances well. Finland drew the first half and performs at position 13. That’s the last position in the first half and is as deep as Erika can be put. Ideally, she wanted position 69. Austria starts from position 9, so that’s not too early and offers separation from Finland. Towards the end, Sweden is nice at 23 and then France follows at 24. While Malta is hyped (position 20), I don’t really rate them. It’s actually a bit of a lacklustre second half of the grand final.

Prediction

01 Finland – Erika Vikman – Ich komme
02 Austria – JJ – Wasted Love
03 Netherlands – Claude – C’est la vie
04 France – Louane – Maman

I’m keeping the same songs as in my preview and only flipping the order, and adding France for fourth. She’s coming! Yes, I pushed Finland and Erika Vikman to the top and demoted Austria and Netherlands by one place. Austria is likely the jury’s favourite song this year, Netherlands and France will attract votes from both the jury and the public, while Finland should be the people’s favourite. The sticky situation for Erika is the jury, who actively sabotaged the people’s favourites the last two years. I still think Sweden (Kaj – Bara Bada Bastu) is too much a novelty song for the jury to fall for them, and hope – just hope – they appreciate the artistry and talent of Erika Vikman to give Finland only their second victory, and one that’s been too long in coming.

Basel 2025: Semi Final 1 Review

Basel 2025: Full Preview, Betting Odds & Predictions

Basel 2025: My Top 37 – All Songs Reviewed