Eurovision 2025: 9 Tracks You Should Know Before the Finals
It's been nice having my annual ritual of listening to all the Eurovision songs as they're announced or win their respective national finals competitions, putting my favorites in a playlist to workout to and see how fast I feel compelled to delete them again. In my opinion, this is a lesser year for overall song quality - with many countries not even making a proper music video - but maybe the stage performances in the finals will make up for that.
If you have no idea what the Eurovision Song Contest is, you can check out my guide to the contest from last year.
This article is best read in the browser version (click the banner above), and with SUBTITLES ON in YouTube. (Unfortunately, many entries do not have proper captions this year either.)
Here are my five favorites (that won't win) followed by some interesting cases and the presumptive winners:
#5 - IRELAND - EMMY - "Laika Party"
With a lilting voice, EMMY sings about Laika the canine astronaut whose mission was a one-way trip. But what if Laika's still alive, having a party in the sky? If you ask me, that sounds lonely and insane. But this Irish kawaii pop song suggests otherwise with irrepressible optimism. I wish I liked the Night at the Roxbury retro dance track backing her as much as I liked the effortless way her lyrics flow. The unique subject ought to make this a cult hit in the vein of 2023's Edgar Allen Poe-themed song.
#4 - FINLAND - Erika Vikman - "Ich komme"
Divas selling sexiness are a dime a dozen in Eurovision, so what sets Erika Vikman apart from the rest of them? She's from Finland. Erika Vikman is a feminist icon at home, where Finns - especially women - don't talk about their sexual pleasure. So much so that Erika uses German lyrics for her choral climaxes: the language of porn in her part of the world. This song is not the typical anthem of debauchery, but a rally against repression; one that almost didn't make it to the world finals uncensored.
#3 - LATVIA - Tautumeitas - "Bur man laimi"
A typical folksploitation entry in Eurovision features one folk instrument soloing loudly amidst a more contemporary techno beat. What Tautumeitas have achieved in bridging traditional and modern sounds feels really special. A Latvian wedding song sung by several women, it sounds like it could be sung in rounds and a capella, the girls harmonizing with each other. That's where a modern soundworld picks up and envelops us in something that sounds new. Unfortunately, I think the way this track was produced doesn't properly sell its climax, and I worry that the song will even make the finals.
#2 - GERMANY - Abor & Tynna - "Baller"
The only thing more notable than Germany sending a song that is not completely embarrassing and seemingly written for children, is that they are singing in German and not English. And it rocks. Abor & Tynna are Hungarian-German siblings, so young they looked refreshingly unpolished on the national final stage, but Tynna's husky vocals make German words sinewy and sexy zwischen Abor's electric cello and a catchy, effect-heavy chorus. Baller means to shoot in German, but I think this duo deserves its English slang meaning as well.
#1 - UKRAINE - Ziferblat - "Bird of Pray"
Ukraine has loads of musical talent and interest in Eurovision, so they are always a strong contender in a diverse range of genres. This year, the band Ziferblat uses a distinctly retro '70s rock sound that won't please a lot of the pop-craving Eurovision cultists. Harmonically, the simple proto-punk verses seem to have nothing to do with the soaring prog-rock chorus, or the ethereal siren call that opens the song and hovers above it out of reach. There are no musical "bridges" and one section simply follows the next. The ambiguous lyrics ("Fly, bird / I'm begging you / Please, just live / Share my heart with someone who cares") have largely been interpreted as romantic longing, but I can't help but feel something sadder in the never-resolving harmonies: the bird may be love or hope, but it remains elusive to the singer, out-of-reach, something he hopes someone else will find.
LUXEMBOURG - Laura Thorn - "La Poupée monte le son"
Luxembourg is a small country and can't afford to enter the contest every year. When they do enter, they often field talent from a neighboring country, like France. As they did for their winning entry in 1965, when the 17-year-old France Gall won with "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", about a singing doll made of wax who is naive and doesn't understand the love songs she sings for people. France Gall would later feel that she was that puppet, when she grew up and realized that her songwriter Serge Gainsbourg had sprinkled sexual double meanings into her songs.
Luxembourg's entry 60 years later is supposed to be a "sequel" to that song, giving the 'doll' her agency back. Even better: Laura Thorn is Luxembourgish.
ESTONIA - Tommy Cash - "Espresso Macchiato"
Just as Latvia can be counted on for the artsiest ESC songs, Estonia can always be counted on for an irreverent entry. Tommy Cash is the biggest celebrity in the contest this year, as he's collaborated with big names like Charli XCX. But his song doesn't sound like his typical work and seems more like a Eurovision spoof. The lyrics cycle through Italian stereotypes ("Life is like spaghetti") to a paint-by-numbers Europop track. Maybe parody is the point, but this parody has no teeth, making it feel to me more like playing along for the publicity.
SWEDEN - KAJ - "Bara bada bastu"
No one takes Eurovision more seriously than the birthplace of Eurovision royalty ABBA. And that's why it's all the more shocking that this year they have selected this song by popular vote. KAJ is a Finnish comedy group, and this is their ode to the sauna. I... don't understand the appeal of this song, or how or why KAJ was competing in Sweden in the first place. But this song is sweeping Europe, and now only the humorless Eurovision jury can save us from yet another Swedish victory.
AUSTRIA - JJ - "Wasted Love"
This year's most accomplished power ballad comes with a countertenor operatic vocalist. Where Nemo last year blended opera coloratura with several genres in a complex mixture, JJ is giving us male soprano for the entirety of his song. This style has been undeniably popular in recent years. Coupled with the right staging, a vocal powerhouse can bring in the televote as well as the technically-oriented jury. For that reason, it's my bet to win the competition this year.