The Big Five nations are an interesting lot because they don’t have to go through the Semi Final route of almost all the other entries. Last year, they had the Big Five performers perform in each the semifinals. It was just the boost they needed. After so many of them getting low finishes year after year, the finishes were more respectable. Especially for Germany! Will they be performing during the semifinals like they did last year? I hope so. In the meantime, here are my reviews of the Big Five’s songs:
FRANCE
SONG: “Maman”
PERFORMER: Louane
Isn’t it interesting that while France was the first nation to decide its singer and song for 2024, it’s now the last to reveal for 2025? On March 15th, France finally revealed their entry for Eurovision. It’s singer/actress Anne Paichert who most commonly goes as Louane Emera or simply Louane and her song is “maman.” Louane has had an illustrious career. She first started in singing competitions at age 11, acted in film since she was seventeen and released her first album when she was eighteen. Her music has been popular in French-speaking countries and has achieved three Top 10 hits in France including a #1 song in 2014.
Normally you would think Junior Eurovision would be the place to have a song about one’s mother. Especially since three JESC songs about one’s mother won, including the past entry. There have been songs in the main Eurovision about one’s mother before. This song, which Louane co-wrote with Tristan Salvati, is a song where the singer goes from being the daughter to the companion after she finds the man who wins her heart. Despite the sudden maturity, she looks back and sees how much her mother means to her. It starts softly, but the intensity grows until it reaches its peak at the end. Since this is the youngest of the Eurovision entries, it comes across as a song one will have to acquire a taste for. Not everyone will like it at first and the liking for it will grow with each additional listen. I find it likeable, but not loveable.
ESC Chances: In the 2020’s, France’s two previous ballads achieved their two Top 10 finishes this decade. It’s easy to see why because the songs stood out in both the lyrics and the vocals. This song has a lot of standout qualities of its own, but I don’t find it as arresting as “Voila” or “Mon Amour.” Louane does include emotion in the singing, but sometimes you wonder if it’s too intense. We have had Eurovision songs about the singer’s mother before and some have also had intense singing. Some have been too intense and they would get low results. Listening to it, I can see this song ending up in the top half. Its end result will depend on the staging in Basel and her delivery at the moment. No kidding it will have to be different from her staging at the Stade de France as staging will be much more limited.
GERMANY
SONG: “Baller”
PERFORMER: Abor & Tynna
Once again, German network ARD was in charge of organizing Germany’s entry for Eurovision and they hosted the contest Chefsache ESC 2025 – Wer singt für Deutschland? to do just that. The contest consisted of four rounds involving cover songs and their candidate Eurovision songs. The final was completely decided by popular vote being a mix of televoting, text voting and online voting. With almost 35% of the vote, Austrian brother-sister duo Abor and Tynna won with their song “Baller.” The duo, whose real names are Atilla and Tunde, have been performing music since 2016. They come from a musical background as their Hungarian-born father was a cellist for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
The song is about the end of a hurtful relationship and finding the inner strength inside to move on. “Baller” means to shoot as the song frequently talks of shooting for the stars. The song has a great electrodance feel to it and a lot of danceable energy. Sung almost completely in German, it has a weak part of just a fast bridge, but it is a very likeable song overall. The dancers and the cellist work well for staging but the part where Tynna smashes the cello doesn’t work. I can see this song being a hit on the dance floors. As a Eurovision song, I can see its appeal growing over time.
ESC Chances: If there’s one Big Five country that benefitted from the performing of their song during the semis last year, it’s Germany. After two straight last-place finishes, he placed 12th last year. Let’s hope they do it again in Basel. I can see this song appealing to a lot of people, but it may face tight competition on the stage. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that Eurovision songs that sound like they make great hits on pop radio or on the dancefloor may not go too far in the Eurovision results. Right now in the betting odds, it’s sitting in the middle. Some better staging choices and some minor revamping of the song can work to give it better chances of getting a higher finish.
ITALY
SONG: “Volevo essere un duro”
PERFORMER: Lucio Corsi
Once again, RAI is the host network and once again, the world famous San Remo Song Contest was the arena to decide Italy’s entry for 2025. The winner was decided on February 15th and the winner was originally singer Olly with “Balorda nostalgia.” This was another case where controversy over the winner happened. After he won, it came to light his homophobic comments from the past and for misogynist lyrics in some of his songs. Olly voluntarily withdrew himself as Italy’s entry. Italy’s entry went to the runner-up: Lucio Corsi with his song “Volevo essere un duro.” Hailing from Tuscany, Corsi is known for his glam rock style while mixing pop, blues and folk.
The song’s title translates to ‘I wanted to be a tough guy.’ This song is where the singer first laments he could never be the tough guy he wanted to be, but learns to embrace his artistic sensitive self. Listening to this song does kind of feel like you’re taken back to the 1970’s. It has that feel. It’s rather surprising to hear a 70’s-sounding song come from a glam rocker. It could come across to some as boring compared Italy’s previous entries. A song like this will have to be an acquired taste.
ESC Chances: It seems as though Sweden, Ukraine and Italy are now the envy of the Contest. Italy joins Ukraine as the only other nation to have all their entries in the 2020’s achieve a Top 10 finish. This time around, I think this could be their first miss. This song risks being compared to Italy’s entries of the past and Italy has been known to deliver excitement. This song, however, comes across as rather underwhelming. Italy will need to improve its staging or even Lucio could add in an idea or two to help boost its chances.
SPAIN
SONG: “Esa Diva”
PERFORMER: Melody
Benidorm 2025 is what decided Spain’s entry into Eurovision. The semifinals and finals all took place within a five-day period with two semifinals to decide the eight finalists. The winner was decided by a 50/50 split of national and international jury and popular vote consisting of telephone voting, SMS and app voting. After the jury vote reveal, the Top 3 entries had a four-point separation between them and it was up to the popular vote to decide. The popular vote winner did win: Melody with “Esa Diva.” Melody hails from a suburb of Seville and is a showbiz veteran having recorded hit records since she was ten. She was even nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2002.
The song is all about being a diva. She describes what it takes to be a diva which means all women are divas. The song stars slow and dramatic and leads into its danceable energy which continues until the end. The cultural elements of the song add to the song’s character while the ‘diva’ attitude owns the character. I find it to be a catchy song that can be a big hit on dance floors. The staging and dancing during Benidorm worked mostly well, but it had one bad move around the first course and another before it ended. Hopefully it will be worked on before Basel.
ESC Chances: Spain is one of the Big Five nations that has had its struggles to get good results. 2022’s SloMo proved it’s still possible to aim high. This songs offers a lot to like, but she faces a lot of competition. The success of this song at Eurovision will have to depend on the staging. For those that saw Benidorm, some will notice some bad staging ideas. It started on an impressive enough note but the parts near the ending had some bad ideas. This song can do well as long as it has the right staging and Melody delivers her performance well.
UNITED KINGDOM
SONG: “What The Hell Just Happened?”
PERFORMER: Remember Monday
For this year, the United Kingdom decided on an internal selection for their Eurovision entry. They decided on a relatively unknown vocal trio from Farmborough named Remember Monday. Their song is ‘What The Hell Just Happened?” Remember Monday consists of three women: Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele. They first formed in 2013 when they met during college and they appeared in the 2019 edition of The Voice UK. Their style is country-pop with some rock mixed in. Their Eurovision song is a good example of that. Most interesting thing about this song is it has eight songwriters! Three of them are the Remember Monday members themselves, three others are British and two are Swedish!
This is the song about the morning after a crazy party. Only this is the most fun she’s had since she broke up with her boyfriend! North Americans could mistake this song like this for waking up in Las Vegas. It has an interesting melody as it starts slow, goes slow and bold during the chorus, then picks up the tempo during the second verse and returns to slow and bold during the second chorus. The bridge is a return to up-tempo with the end chorus returning to slow and bold. A lot of changes in this song. The song does a good job of keeping its fun vibe. Also the three sings song great both together and with their solo parts. For those that want a song that doesn’t take itself too seriously, this is a good choice.
ESC Chances: The UK has had a so-so 2020’s. It had one song finish runner-up but also two low finishes and last year’s entry didn’t get a single televoter point. I’ve come to see the UK as an all-or-nothing nation at Eurovision. They can win as long as they deliver an entry that has the winning stuff. Anything less and it will get a low finish. I can see a lot of people liking this song, but a song like that will need staging that’s spectacular and fits the song. Also the song makes it obvious the trio can sing, but they will have to be on during the Grand Final. Especially since the last two British entries had noticeably off vocals in the Final.
And there you go! That’s my look at this year’s Big Five entries. It would be interesting to see how they fare this year. They are usually the hardest to predict.
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