Cyprus, Albania, Israel, Belgium, Russia, Malta, Portugal, Serbia, United Kingdom, Greece, Switzerland, Iceland, Spain, Moldova, Germany, Finland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Ukraine, France, Azerbaijan, Norway, The Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, San Marino.
Now for the 13 countries which failed to reach the final, but which will still vote tomorrow night:
Australia, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Ireland, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia.
N.B. Any use of "Tuesday" throughout this post means Tuesday 18 May 2021. Any use of "Thursday", "yesterday evening" or "last night" means Thursday 20 May 2021. Any use of "tomorrow" means Saturday 22 May 2021.
Now let's look at some country groups:
Baltic States (Ex-USSR)
IN: Lithuania. OUT: Estonia, Latvia.Only one member of this trio made it to the final this year, that being Lithuania. I’m glad Lithuania qualified that night; because “Discoteque” is a lively catchy song; I particularly like the chorus, and it was one of the songs I most wanted to qualify Tuesday evening. On the other hand, I’m glad Estonia and Latvia failed to qualify yesterday evening as I didn’t like either of their entries. So, Estonia and Latvia will both be able to give 12 jury points and 12 televoting points to Lithuania tomorrow evening, but who will Lithuania give its 12 points to? Lithuania can’t give any points to Estonia or Latvia. Perhaps Lithuania might give its 12 jury points and 12 televoting points to Finland, as Lithuania also favours Finland.
Nordic area
IN: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. OUT: Denmark.The Nordic area did well this year, with four of the five Nordic countries qualifying to the final. I’m glad Norway and Sweden qualified Tuesday evening, and Iceland qualified yesterday evening; they were among the countries I most wanted to qualify on the said evenings. I would have preferred Finland’s hard rock / heavy metal entry to have not qualified yesterday evening, as I don’t like hard rock / heavy metal generally, but I appreciate many people enjoy that genre and accept that Finland is in the final (in fact even I would have been shocked if it hadn’t qualified). I’m disappointed that Denmark didn’t qualify last night as their song “Øve Os På Hinanden” is lively and catchy, and one of several songs on my “Definitely want to qualify” list yesterday evening. The upshot of all this is that Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden will all be able to give high jury points and high televote points to each other, and Denmark will be able to give their high jury points and high televote points to Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden tomorrow night.
Benelux
IN: Belgium, The Netherlands. (Luxembourg didn't enter yet again)I was disappointed with Belgium’s song this year, which is why I put Belgium on my “Definitely don't want to qualify” list Tuesday evening. Against my wishes, Belgium qualified. The Netherlands, as this year’s host country, are automatically in the Grand Final this year. Mind you, having seen the preview video of "Birth Of A New Age", I doubt if the Netherlands would have qualified if they had to go through one of this year’s semi-finals. So, Belgium and The Netherlands are both in the Grand Final this year. The upshot of this is, Belgium and the Netherlands will be able to give each other 12 jury points and 12 televoting points tomorrow evening.
Central Europe
IN: Germany, Switzerland. OUT: Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia. (Hungary and Slovakia didn't enter this year)This is a tricky group, it’s more difficult to spot trends here, and voting between these countries tends to be unpredictable. This group hasn’t had much success this year, because Switzerland was the only member of this group which reached the Grand Final via one of the semi-finals (Germany is automatically guaranteed a place in the final every year as a Big Five member). Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia all failed to qualify, but they will still be able to vote for Germany or Switzerland. Germany and Switzerland will be able to vote for each other, but they won’t be able to vote for Austria, Czech Republic, Poland or Slovenia. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in this group.
Greece and Cyprus
IN: Cyprus, Greece.Cyprus was in the First Semi-Final on Tuesday evening, whereas Greece was in the Second Semi-Final yesterday evening, therefore they weren’t able to vote for each other during the semi-finals. Nonetheless, both managed to qualify without each other’s help. I had mixed opinions on “El Diablo”, and my dislikes outweighed my likes enough for me to put it on my “Prefer not to qualify” list on Tuesday evening. In contrast, Greece’s “Last Dance” was one of the songs I most wanted to qualify, and which I predicted was one of those most likely to qualify yesterday evening, so I’m glad it qualified. That now means Greece and Cyprus will be able to give each other 12 jury points and 12 televoting points tomorrow evening.
Romania and Moldova
IN: Moldova. OUT: Romania.Another pair of countries which tend to favour each other at Eurovision, and which also happened to be in separate semi-finals (Romania on Tuesday and Moldova on Thursday), so they too were unable to vote for each other either evening. Romania failed to qualify Tuesday evening. Although Roxen has a good voice, and “Amnesia” is quite a nice song, it was one of my borderline preferences and ended up on my “Wouldn't mind qualifying” list Tuesday evening, so I don’t mind it not being in the final. Against my wishes, Moldova qualified yesterday evening; it was one of the countries on my “Definitely don't want to qualify” list, as I thought Natalia’s voice was a bit flat on the verses yesterday evening. Anyway, this means that Romania will be able to give 12 jury points and 12 televoting points to Moldova tomorrow evening, but Moldova won’t be able to give any points to Romania.
Former Yugoslavia
IN: Serbia. OUT: Croatia, North Macedonia, Slovenia. (Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro didn't enter this year).This has been a bad year for the former Yugoslavia, with just one of the four ex-Yugoslav countries taking part this year reaching the final. This is a somewhat ironic situation, because Croatia, North Macedonia, Slovenia all had the ability to vote for each other in the First Semi-Final on Tuesday evening, yet they all failed to qualify that night. On the other hand, Serbia was the only ex-Yugoslav country taking part in the Second Semi-Final yesterday evening, and it qualified despite not being able to have any help from Croatia, North Macedonia or Slovenia. After all that, non-qualifying countries vote in the Grand Final, therefore Croatia, North Macedonia, Slovenia will all be able to give 12 jury points and 12 televoting points to Serbia tomorrow evening, but who will Serbia give its points to? Serbia won’t be able to vote for Croatia, North Macedonia, Slovenia, as they have all been eliminated.
Founding Seven
By this I mean the seven countries which appeared in the very first Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano in 1956:IN: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands. (Luxembourg didn't enter yet again)
It’s been a good year for the seven countries which participated in the first ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. The only country missing this year’s final, from this group, is Luxembourg which last took part in 1993. Mind you, the only two countries from this group which needed to battle their way through the semi-finals this year were Belgium and Switzerland, and both managed to qualify. The Netherlands were automatically in the Grand Final this year as the host country and France, Germany and Italy are automatic finalists every year as Big Five members.
And Finally
Tomorrow evening's Grand Final certainly looks set to be a spectacular one, and I'm really looking forward to it. Most of the countries I wanted to qualify are in. There were just a few “Definitely don't want to qualify” countries which went through against my wishes both evenings (Russia and Belgium on Tuesday, Moldova on Thursday). I would have preferred two out of Australia, Croatia and North Macedonia to have qualified instead of Russia and Belgium on Tuesday evening, and Denmark to have qualified in place of Moldova yesterday evening. At the end of the day, different people have different musical tastes to me and I cannot expect to have all my desired countries qualify.Back to the top
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