Douze Points! - The Eurovision Podcast
Eurovision, but not as you know it! Australia's biggest weekly Eurovision podcast, giving you all the dirt, all the drama and all the scathing opinions you love to hear about the Contest we live for!
Douze Points! - The Eurovision Podcast
When Norway Out-Swedes Sweden and San Marino Out-Italians Italy; Semi Final 1 Preview reactions.
The countdown to Eurovision 2025 has begun, and the first semi-final promises a rollercoaster of musical styles, cultural exchanges, and surprising performances. As 15 countries vie for just 10 qualifying spots, clear frontrunners and dark horses are emerging from an eclectic lineup.
Sweden breaks tradition by sending their first Swedish-language entry in years with "Bada Badu Bastu" – ironically performed by Norwegians. This sauna-themed anthem with its infectious choreography has fans worldwide attempting to master the dance routine. Yet history suggests the Eurovision jury may once again prevent a quirky crowd-pleaser from claiming the ultimate prize, despite overwhelming public support.
The night opens with Iceland's Vibroa, twins delivering an unexpected sea shanty pop fusion that sets a high bar from the start. Estonia follows with "Espresso Macchiato," a coffee-themed bop that curiously out-Italians Italy itself, while San Marino continues this theme with "Tutta l'Italiana," a love letter to all things Italian that somehow captures Italian spirit more authentically than Italy's own entry. This curious trend of countries channeling other nations' cultural identities better than the originating countries themselves runs throughout the competition.
The Netherlands' Claude with "C'est la vie" emerges as the first serious contender for the overall crown. This emotionally stirring ballad effortlessly blends French and English lyrics, beginning with soft piano notes before building into something truly special. Its beautiful composition and heartfelt delivery make it a potential winner, exemplifying the best of what Eurovision can offer: unexpected brilliance from unexpected places.
Have you made your predictions yet? Will the twerking goths of Poland survive questionable vocal performances? Can Ukraine's cult-like "Bird of Prey" stand out enough to qualify? Watch the live performances to see if my predictions come true, and join me soon for analysis of semi-final two!
#eurovision
Bonjour. Guten Tag, privet. Hello and welcome back to the Deux Poids podcast.
Speaker 1:As I sit here in my little cave, I am very much aware we are only hours away from the first semi-final of Eurovision 2025. Now, I have to admit, the first semifinal is not the strongest. Just off the top of my head, oh, there are 15 countries standing up going for the vote. Of those, 10 will go through. I honestly I think there's about seven that I think will automatically qualify. I think there are about three spots that are up for grab. Really, it's just all going to come down. We're not sure what's going to happen.
Speaker 1:Now, of course, all of this information. I haven't looked at any of the rehearsals. I like to go in blind. I like to be surprised, I like that little bit of shock when I see it live. I want it all on the line. So this is going essentially just on the official recordings and I have watched the preview videos. So I think who think? So I would say who is definitely going through? Just off the top of my head this year, it's going to be Iceland, estonia, Ukraine, sweden, obviously San Marino, albania and Netherlands. That's seven. Who's going to round up the top three? Let's have a quick look Now for everyone out there who doesn't want any spoilers?
Speaker 1:Look, who doesn't want any spoilers? Look, we are going to touch lightly on the song, so we're not going into massive detail. You may get a comment. That may just be ah, there's an angry Cher. If you're happy with that, listen. If you don't want to hear a word, if you don't want to hear that Sher's going to be there angry, indifferent or otherwise, turn away now. Turn your ears away First, off the bat. And I think Eurovision couldn't have picked off a better way to start Eurovision 2025, because you know what they're starting it off. They're starting it off with the Jedward twins. Well, the Icelandic version, roa, is the song. That's how I'm going to pronounce it. The lads are called Vibroa. Oh, my Lord, okay. So picture two Icelandic fellows looking very reminiscent of Jedward. What are you expecting them to sing? If you said a good, old-fashioned she shanty, you'd be a liar. But this is exactly what it is Meet pop meets a she shanty. This shouldn't work. But you know what? It's catchy, it's fun. This one is going straight through. Well-played Iceland, thank you um foreign?
Speaker 1:That is going to be followed up by Poland, justyna Stekiauza with Gaja. Ah, it seems Poland. Well, we all know it has phases. It has milkmaid phase, it has angry rock phase. This is their twerking goth phase. I'm not quite sure how to describe it other than a dance pop version of the Smiths in 2025. Look with the live performances that I have seen of this before. Unfortunately, there has been some very questionable vocal performances that, as much as I love a twerking goth and you think, straight away, this before. Unfortunately, there has been some very questionable vocal performances that, oh, as much as I love a twerking goth and you think, straight away, that's going to go through. This is all going to come down to the vocal performance on the night. I'm just not sure if she can pull it off live. If she can, you know what it might scrape through. Like I said, we're looking for three to round out the drop 10. We'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1:Three minutes later, you are going to be begging for the twerking goths to come back because Slovenia has sent Kaiman with his song. How Much Time Do we have Left? And if you think that sounds depressing, you are 100% spot. The preview video is him for a lot of it nude, with some poor lady who has just found out she's had cancer, and the song is pretty much him lamenting how much time do we have left together? Wow, way to bring down the party mood at Eurovision. I'm not sure if the stage production is just going to be him and someone else nude for the three minutes. Honestly, this wouldn't even be enough to make this an interesting and interesting stage performance. I feel for you. I feel for your situation. This one is just not grabbing me. I'd say this is a great time to go to the bathroom, but we're only song three. Don't break the seal yet. You know what it's like Once you pee. You're not going to stop peeing. Don't break it yet, as much as you attempted force yourself to stay strong. It's going to be a long three minutes but trust me, it is going to pay off.
Speaker 1:With the next song we have Tommy Cash representing Estonia with Espresso Macchiato. That's right. If you thought you know what Eurovision needs a long-haired barista singing about coffee then woo, we have the song and the performance for you. Curiously, this is the second song of the night where Italy is going to be out Italian'd by other countries, both Estonia and wait for it. San Marino this year year we'll get to it are gonna be laying down the Italian thickness harder than Manuscan. Spread their sexy legs of Italy all across the globe. It's random.
Speaker 1:I don't know why this is a song. I also don't know why it's so infectious, but it is that one straight through. But it is that one straight through. It's really interesting how they've set up this first semi-final. It's really high, low, high, low. It's almost like good bad, good bad, or rock soft ballad, rock soft ballad, pop ballad. I'm not sure if that works, as opposed to having a period. Obviously you don't want half an hour of straight ballads. But do we want to go up down, up, down, up down? We'll find out on the night, because, believe me, we'll find out on the night, because, believe me, I'm not sure my heart can take it.
Speaker 1:Next on the list we have Ukraine Zip-A-Blast with Bird of Prey. Woo-hoo, p-r-a-y, not the P-R-E-Y, we're not getting political, it's the Bird of Pre prey. You know what? The only way that I can describe this is being seduced into a cult in the 1970s. This is a very unusual track that Ukraine has taken. It's something that we really haven't seen from them before. But you know what? I actually kind of like it. It's a little bit, it's a refreshing. Is it their greatest? No, is it going to win? No, I don't know. I'm hoping this will go through, as it will stand out as something a little bit different on the night. I don't know. It's cute, it's lovely, but it's 100%. You always ask how do these people get out? You always think to yourself how do these people end up in a cult? Honestly, I think 100%. It's like this. I think the world, after a few cocktails, is going to be lured into the back of Ukraine's van with this one.
Speaker 1:Oh, speaking of highs, undoubtedly what is going to be the absolute high of the first evening let's bring in Sweden. Kaj is bearing their song Bada badu bastu. This is the first time Sweden has sent a song to Eurovision in Swedish for a gazillion, hundred thousand years. You know what makes it even weirder? This is the first song sent by Sweden, sung in Swedish, in a gazillion years. And who's doing it? Norwegians. That's right. That's what it took to get Swedish language back at Eurovision. It took Norway. Honestly, I think Norway is kicking themselves that they don't have this song representing them. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Kaj live, perform, work in Sweden and apparently they do a lot of sauntering, write about what you know they say. Well, sweden has taken it and run with it as they present a three-minute song about sauna, three-minute song about Sona, and not in that weird creepy. I felt kind of pervy watching it Olly Alexander way, where eight men were rolling around on a very dirty gymnasium floor. To be honest, I think that's one of the main reasons the Olly Alexander performance didn't work. You could clearly see that bathroom floor was very dirty and everyone was just like ew, ew, ew, there's poo particles, ew, there's soiled socks. If it was a lovely queen, if it was a lovely queen, if it was a lovely, clean Swedish sauna, I think it would have had a better result. Oh, this song has the world a-flapping. Everyone loves this. It's so ridiculously catchy. It's even got the choreographed dance routine.
Speaker 1:This is 100% the year of the quirky song. It is the judges' ultimate nightmare. Now, as much as there are a lot of people who want Sweden to win, it's like have you never been to Eurovision 2025? The jury is going to shut this down. The jury will never let a novelty song win Eurovision. We've seen it how many years in a row. Courage. Finland, you should have won Cha cha, cha, cha, cha, cha cha jewelry. Shut it down. Baby lasagna should have won Jewelry shut it down.
Speaker 1:I honestly think this year the jury is going to shut down all of the novelty acts. They're going to put all their effort into just Nick Sneh on the party, and I think the winner this year is going to be a song more that offends the jury the least and offends the public the least. It's not going to be what we want, it's going to be what we get. Thank you. After that, absolute high Eurovision had decided to slip in Portugal, napa, with their song Desilicado. Nope, nope. Believe me, it's kind of good. Any song that was following after Sweden was not going to have a chance. So this is probably a good opportunity to sit a bit of a in under the radar. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Honestly, I just find this to be a beige performance song and if it's anything from what I've seen in the preview videos, it is going to be a brown, beige, matching pinstripe two-piece outfit of a song, but this is probably the best place for it to go. Like I said, this is a great time to refill all of your drinks, because you've either shot them all down or you've been so busy doing the dance. Your alcohol, your drinks are flying everywhere. You're a bit knackered. You didn't realize how out of shape you were when you tried to dance routine for three minutes and you're like, oh, is this it? Is this the end? Am I having a stroke? You know what? Do it through the Portugal song. This is probably the best time to do it. Well played.
Speaker 1:After that, we have Norway disappointing us again by not sending Kano. I don't care, they weren't competing this year. They shouldn't have to just send them. Instead, they've said Kyle, alessandro with a lighter, I'm gonna be my own lighter. Oh bless, lighter, oh bless. He's like 12. He's finding self-empowering. This is great. You go, little fella, don't let the world shove you down.
Speaker 1:I don't particularly like this song, but you know what? I think it's a good little message Be strong, don't let people put you down. Be your own damn light in the world. And you know what? We're going to try and round out the top 10 and maybe I'll put it there on the possibility list. After this, we have Belgium Red Sebastian with strobe lights. You know what I got. To be honest, I think this song is about 25 years too late. There was a time when people were house party dancing with strobe lights and big industrial elevators. I think, thankfully, that time has passed.
Speaker 1:This one's a bit of a. It's not offensive, it's not bad, it's just like it's not giving me a seizure but it's not bringing me to life. Thank you. Following that will be Azerbaijan with Mama Gama with Run With you. Look, the first thing I'm going to say is, when this song begins and he starts singing, your first thought is going to be that is not the note I would have predicted this was going to be in. Uh, look, this is a bit in the middle for me. I kind of. I think it's lucky, because I go into Eurovision wanting to like all the songs. It's not offensive, uh, but it's nothing spectacular. I think it actually benefits, though after following strobe lights, it has a catchier beat. So I think the running order will help push it through to the next round.
Speaker 1:But as soon as we get to the grand final it's just going to be lost by much superior songs, like our next act, gabriponte with Tutta l'Italiana. It is a love note to Italy and all things Italian Pasta, coffee, nunnas, sent by San Marino. What, again, second song of the night out, italian, italy. And my word, once we get to the Italy song, you will not understand why, out of all the songs, let alone the two songs that are praising and loving everything Italian and are remarkable, catchy, why Italy went with the absolute burn. That is the act they're sending. The world will never know. Meanwhile, san Marino, it's going to go through, obviously, italy, it's a catchyuce poir, it's a catchy, fun little number. It's everything that I want at Eurovision and it makes me think of pasta and yum, yum, yum, yum yum. This is going to be followed up by a very angry looking shirt Albania, skoda, elektronika with germ. She's probably angry because she doesn't realize why the song. It's not a bad song, it's actually. There's bits of it that are really quite good. There are some questionable choices in it, like the white guy in the do-rag I don't know what that is about, but anything that gives us a taste of Cher, you know, is going straight through to the next round at Eurovision.
Speaker 1:Speaking of going through to the next round, let's talk about the Netherlands. They've sent Claude C'est la vie. C'est la vie Again. This is another example of the French being out-Frenched by another country. This seems to be a real thing lately. Let's not forget 2002, when Monica from Lithuania, with, was Frenchier than the French had been in 10 years.
Speaker 1:When I listen to all of these songs, I actually listen to them in the running order of the semi-finals. This is the first song of the night that genuinely strikes me as a song that has the potential to win the Eurovision Song Contest. Is it perfect? No. Is it one of the greatest? No. But when you listen to it for the first time, oh, chills. He has such a lovely voice. I really hope this translates to the live production.
Speaker 1:C'est la vie, it's just a beautiful song and it has one of those beautiful, just self expressions of love, life, liberty. This song 100%. It goes up, it goes down. So it's in French, it's in English. It starts off with just this very faint caressing of a few piano nights. It's soft, it's heartbreaking, it's love. But then it takes us on a journey Growth, live, love. Oh, can you tell, I really like this one. Oh, especially the beginning bit. It gives you chills, it can reduce you to tears. Beautiful combination between French and English. And then, boom, we drop a little dance beat.
Speaker 1:The only thing I do worry about is in the preview film for this song there is some very weird, awkward, inappropriate people dancing in a bathroom. What is it with dancing in bathrooms? Am I just hanging out in the wrong bathrooms? Am I living a sheltered life? Honestly, I hate public bathrooms. They are the absolute worst. You know what? I have been out, seen a public bathroom and just went. You know what? I've just gone home. I have just gone home rather than use that bathroom. So I don't know, maybe I'm the one, maybe I'm missing out. Let me know if you've ever had a dance party in that bathroom. So I don't know, maybe I'm the one, maybe I'm missing out. Let me know if you've ever had a dance party in a bathroom.
Speaker 1:I also think this is going to be one of these songs that is going to end up randomly, just out of the blue, sometime in the future, going to go viral on TikTok. People are going to pick this up for the beautiful la la la. And of course, all of this is not hurt by the fact that it is being sung by a very handsome man. So let's just lock this. One in Netherlands is taking France to the grand final.
Speaker 1:And you know what, when it comes to love, relationships, breakdowns, life, there are either two ways that you can embrace it. You can either say c'est la vie, it happens, we lived, we loved, we learn, we move on. Or you go the darker route. You embrace the dark side, grace, the dark side. This is what Croatia has done. This is the other side, the other relationship Breakdown reaction.
Speaker 1:They are sending Marko Bozniak with poison cake, thank you. And honestly, in the film he looks like very moody Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith. God damn it, marko. You were supposed to bring order to the Eurovision, not destroy it. Look, I'm not a fan of this one. It's just got a bit of a moody incel on the internet screaming at people. Vibe, I can't get laid, but it's your fault. Look, I'm certainly not saying he's an incel. He's an attractive young man. At Eurovision he's getting more cake than any of us. But I'm just going to suggest if you want people to eat your cake, maybe don't tell them it's poisoned. I mean, certainly, if your cake is poisoned, be very upfront. Don't serve people cake that's poisoned and not tell them oh, that is shameful, hateful, disrespectful and I'm pretty sure you could be sued. And if you think your cake is poisoned, please see a physician immediately. So once again, we very much. We've seen the highs, we've seen the low. How is semifinal one going to round out? It is going to rip out with Cyprus, theo Evan with shh. Thank you.
Speaker 1:This is a very interesting song. Again, when this starts, you are not predicting the note at which it starts. I don't dislike it, but I don't like it, but it has some catchy parts, but it has some very grating parts. The video is very weird. He's running through a corridor, inception style. You know the room is spinning around. Oh, what do we do? How do we fight in zero gravity? He goes through the mystery door, comes out in a world populated by a million Kanye Wests Again. When did the late-night rave industrial elevator in the 2000s come back into season? That seems to be the vibe of the night. Ugh into season. That seems to be the vibe of the night.
Speaker 1:Look, I think this one is going to be sort of largely forgettable. It's a little bit too late. I think people would have already picked out their winners at this stage. Okay, just going on the pre-recordings of the song and the video, I guess I have to pick my top 10 of who I'm going to predict. Obviously, 90% of everything is the live performance, so this could completely change tonight once we see what they have. But this is my prediction we're going to tick it off out of 10. We're going to see how we do, but this is my prediction we're going to tick it off out of 10. We're going to see how we do. I've picked to go through Iceland, estonia, ukraine, sweden, san Marino, albania, netherlands, poland, norway and Azerbaijan. It's so exciting.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I deliberately haven't watched hints of the stage production because I like to get that in person. You only get to get it once and I want to savour it. Ah, will the song you go through? Will the song you love go through tonight? Ah, c'est la vie. It goes up, it goes down, we don't know. I've also recorded a reaction video to the songs of Eurovision, semi-final one. I haven't tried this before. I'm trying something new. Be gentle. So go have a look at that Also. It will be good to have a look after we see the stage production and see if this ranking of the songs still holds up. Coming very soon, we're going to have a quick dive into semi-final two. It's so nerve-wracking. See you at the stage.
