Eurovision 2024 contestants: Full list of singers vying for the final

Singing cyber-witches, Switzerland’s answer to Freddie Mercury and Olly Alexander crooning from inside a Rubik’s Cube-shaped spaceship. Either the new season of Doctor Who is a lot wilder than anyone expected or it’s the Eurovision Song Contest (it’s the Eurovision Song Contest).

The semi-finals are now over and Israel’s Eden Golan sailed through, amid much controversy. Ahead of the final on May 11, broadcast at 8pm on BBC One, we count down the frontrunners, the rest of the finalists, plus the ones who fell by the wayside.

The Frontrunners

Croatia
Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim

Bookies favourite Marko Purišić – you’ll be shocked to learn Baby Lasagna is a stage name – brings the fun to Eurovision with a rock-techno crossover in which the narrator gives up a life of milking cows on the farm and sets their heart on rock’n’roll success. It’s fun but low-key political, too –  Purišić explains that the lyrics are about the mass youth emigration from Croatia and the consequent brain drain.

Switzerland

Nemo – The Code

Second favourite according to the bookmakers and a song that stands immediately out from the pack. Nemo – a non-binary, rapper, singer and violinist –  combines Freddie Mercury-style operatics, gothic piano and decent lyrics by Eurovision standards (“I went to hell and back to get myself on track”). It’s great and could be a winner.

Israel

Eden Golan – Hurricane

Regardless of the quality of Golan’s performance in the final, it will be overshadowed by controversy over Israel’s participation in the contest. She’s already been forced to change the name of her lush power ballad after its original title, October Rain, was interpreted as referencing the Hamas attack on October 7, thus breaching the EBU’s no politics rule.

Netherlands

Joost Klein – Europapa

Who’s the daddy? Not Europapa singer Klein whose “happy hardcore” banger isn’t all that bothered about setting dance-floors ablaze. The lyrics are actually about the death of his parents while he was a child and the lifelong shadow cast by grief.

Italy

Angelina Mango – La noia

Singing in Italian, singer-songwriter Mango delivers a decent impersonation of Shakira doing battle with an aggressive acoustic guitar. It’s great fun with a zinging sense of irreverence – but does it have that Eurovision oomph? Yes, say the bookmakers who have marked it out as a frontrunner.

Ukraine

Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria

Given what’s happening in Ukraine, it’s no surprise the country has not arrived at Malmö with a party tune. Instead, it’s an intense ballad addressed to Mother Theresa and the Virgin Mary, full of the pain you can only know if you’ve experienced war firsthand.

The Rest

Armenia

Ladaniva – Jako

The Caucuses meet Latin America in this explosive mash-up of influences from a French-Arminian duo who started out on the Paris jazz scene. The title references singer Jaklin Baghdasaryan’s nickname and celebrates artistic freedom and self-confidence. “Growing up I have always been told that girls should behave, be humble, dress normally, not talk too much, not do crazy things,” she said.

Austria

Kaleen – We Will Rave

Huge house beats and wispy vocals collide on an energetic song – but is it too generically Eurovision? And why does it sound a bit like Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance meets Fat of the Land-era Prodigy?

Cyprus

Silia Kapsis – Liar

Eurovision wouldn’t be Eurovision without a cut-and-paste Britney Spears homage with wonky lyrics, and that’s what Silia Kapsis delivers with the Liar (“I’m feeling like ooh-la-la”). It’s got energy, however – and a compelling performance in the semi-finals could get it over the line.

Estonia

5MIINUST x Puuluup – (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi

Why send one entrant when you can submit two? That’s Estonia’s big idea for this mash-up between hip-hop crew 5MIINUST and lyre-playing techno group Puuluup. The lyrics are about a narcotics bust and translate as: “We don’t really know anything about these drugs”. We don’t really know anything about them making the final, either.

Finland

Windows95Man – No Rules!

How wacky do you like your Eurovision? If the answer is lots, you’ll appreciate this “zany” Euro-pop belter that sounds like Right Said Fred meets Faithless. The live performance features exploding trousers – which is just as well because, without the pyrotechnics, the song is pure pants. Window95Man isn’t the singer’s real name, you’ll be stunned to hear. By day, Teemu Keisteri is a visual artist known for his witty, subversive imagery. They’ve only packed the Finnish Banksy off to Eurovision.

France

Slimane – Mon Amour

A French Eurovision entry called Mon Amour could only ever be one thing: a tepid piano ballad with a string section so rich you can feel your cholesterol shoot up while listening. Slimane won series five of The Voice France and has released four chart-topping LPs.

Georgia

Nutsa Buzaladze – Firefighter

No stranger to a big occasion, Buzaladze performed on American Idol 2023, where she duetted with Kylie Minogue. After that, Eurovision is almost a comedown – and she should be so lucky to reach the final with a catchy yet unremarkable chunk of mid-tempo pop.

Germany

Isaak – Always On The Run

Having flopped badly at recent Eurovisions, Germany has come up with the clever solution of sending a song that sounds like Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. Risin’ up, back on the street they may be, but can Germany improve on 2023’s humiliating last-place finish? Isaak seems up for the challenge. Then again, when your career highlights include belting out Wonderwall on X Factor Germany, as he did in 2011, the only way is up.

Greece

Marina Satti – Zari

It’s all happening on Satti’s perky blend of reggaeton, Euro-grooves, and – well, we’ve all been waiting for one – a solo on an ancient Persian pipe called the Zurna.

Ireland

Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue

It’s already been a big year for Cork, with Cillian Murphy winning the Oscar for Best Actor. Can Bambie Thug, from the market town of Macroom, equal that success with their “Ouija pop” epic Doomsday Blue? Shrieking hellishly and cavorting with demonic forces is a bit of a departure for Eurovision – but not for Ireland, which has sent Jedward on two separate occasions.

Latvia

Dons – Hollow

The influence of Olly Murs has reached the Baltics via a generic man-ballad from a former DJ and reality TV star who, when living in London, went by the stage-name “Art Singer”.

Lithuania

Silvester Belt – Luktelk

One of those by-the-numbers Eurovision tunes that seems to erase itself from your memory even as you listen. It has a middle-of-the-road tempo and trite lyrics about putting on a sunny face to the outside world. Belt is a graduate of the University of Westminster and placed sixth in X Factor Lithuania. He’ll do well to match that performance in Sweden.

Luxembourg

Tali Golergant – Fighter

Luxembourg is staging a spectacular Eurovision comeback as the five-time winner returns for the first time in 31 years. It’s a plucky comeback, featuring expressive French-language vocals, a twitchy guitar hook and a nice “hahah-oh-haah” chorus.

Norway

Gåte – Ulveham

Pagan popsters Heilung are an audible influence on “progressive folk” outfit Gåte, whose song tells the tale of a young woman banished to the woods where she goes wild. Despite the gory subject, the tune is surprisingly mannered – and will do well to reach the final.

Portugal

Iolanda – Grito

A graduate of the songwriting program at BIMM Sussex, Iolanda Costa is a former contestant on The Voice Portugal. “Grito” translates to shout, but it’s a tender ballad that rarely raises its voice, which may be a problem when it comes to wooing voters.

Serbia

Teya Dora – Ramonda

A song that wears its politics on its sleeve – but that’s okay because the context is historical rather than contemporary. The title refers to the Ramonda flower Serbians wear in remembrance of those who died in the First World War. It’s a big, blustering ballad delivered to perfection by Dora, who had a big TikTok hit last year with Džanum.

Slovenia

Raiven – Veronika

The spirit of Florence and the Machine stalks Raiven’s pile-driver weepie – though the song surprises in the final 30 seconds by turning into a heavy metal Taylor Swift. It won’t win, but her shrieking fade-out certainly sets it apart from the pack. It isn’t the 28 year-old’s first Eurovision experience: she placed second in Slovenia’s national contests in 2016 and 2019.

Spain

Nebulossa – Zorra

There’s been controversy in Spain over “Zorra”, which can be translated as either “vixen” or “bitch”, and is regarded by some as a sexist slur. His’n’Hers duo Nebulossa say they are reclaiming the word and have chosen to storm the barricades via a perky electro bopper that sounds like the Pet Shop Boys’s lost Balearic album.

Sweden

Marcus & Martinus – Unforgettable

Sweden is going for a record-breaking eighth win. However, identical twins Marcus & Martinus – actually from Norway – play it safe with a squelchy electro ditty that lands like a Troye Sivan b-side. Pre-Eurovision their claim to notoriety was winning Sweden’s version of Masked Singer.

UK

Olly Alexander – Dizzy

Poor Olly Alexander. Until last year, he’d been outstanding in everything he had done, whether fronting early Years & Years or delivering a searing lead performance in Russell T Davies’s AIDs-era drama It’s A Sin.

Sadly, Dizzy – a soggy mash-up of Pet Shop Boys and Gloria Gaynor – just can’t get off the ground, though his inventive sci-fi staging may help Alexander belatedly achieve lift-off at Saturday’s grand final.

Eliminated in the semi-finals

Albania

Besa – Titan

Albania hits Eurovision at full pelt with a big, buoyant euro-bopper. Besa is the daughter of a prominent millionaire and spent some of her childhood in London. Not that this has any bearing on Titan, an Ariana Grande-style power ballad that mooches along before kicking off properly in its final minute.

Belgium

Mustii – Before The Party’s Over

Hercules and Love Affair meets Harry Styles and Troye Sivan on a bittersweet party anthem that asks, “Are we sure the kids are alright or just playing it cool?”. The boring answer is that the kids probably spend too long on TikTok, but that doesn’t bother Mustii, who dashes towards a crashing chorus.

Czechia

Aiko – Pedestal

A few years ago at Eurovision, you couldn’t swing a tiny flag without hitting another Billie Eilish clone. Now, every second artist reminds you of Olivia Rodrigo’s Good 4 U. A case in point is Czech’s Aiko, whose song Pedestal was co-written by Steve Ansell of landfill indie stalwarts Blood Red Shoes.

Denmark

Saba – Sand

You can’t go wrong with a house piano intro – yet Saba (a sometime actress and the first black queer woman to represent Denmark) almost manages to ruin the fun with this dull Dua Lipa-style dance workout.

Malta

Sarah Bonnici – Loop

One of the smaller Eurovision nations, Malta has always acquitted itself respectably (though it hasn’t reached the final since 2016). Alas, it’s at the back of the back with this listless Euro-thumper, which sounds like something you might have encountered on a sun holiday but which evaporated along with your hangover. Bonnici is the daughter of a prominent Maltese businessman and was previously a dancer at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Moldova

Natalia Barbu – In the Middle

Barbu scores a full house of Eurovision bingo – an Arabic-style chorus, swooning strings and hollow lyrics (“raise your wings… don’t be afraid”). It’s a second Eurovision for the artist, who also represented Moldova in 2007.

Iceland

Hera Björk – Scared Of Heights

No relation to the former Sugarcubes singer, the Icelandic entry delivers a traditional hair-dryer belter that hits like Bonnie Tyler for Generation TikTok. It’s not necessarily a bad idea, but Hera never convinces you that it’s a good one either. It’s her second Eurovision, following on from a 19th place finish in Oslo in 2010.

San Marino

Megara  – 11:11

The Italian-speaking micro-state will never better the year it sent rapper Flo Rida.  This year, rock band Megara – actually from Madrid – stakes their hopes on a 90s-esque pop banger that sounds like a distant cousin of the Spice Girls’ Spice Up Your Life with bonus guitars. It’s Megara’s third rodeo, following two unsuccessful bids to represent Spain in the contest.

Australia

Electric Fields – One Milkali

Dance duo One Milkali created history by incorporating Yankunytjatjara, one of the languages of Australia’s First Peoples, into their entry. It’s a shame they didn’t bring the same spirit of innovation to a listless dancefloor workout.

Poland

Luna – The Tower

With its “Alone, alone, alone…” chorus and wonky beats, Luna does her best Dua Lipa impersonation. Whether that’s enough to woo voters remains to be seen. Björk is an influence.

Azerbaijan

Fahree – Özünlə Apar

Singer Ilkin Dovlatov uses traditional Azeri lyrics for the chorus but otherwise, this sounds like a 10-year-old Justin Timberlake b-side. There is a lot of howling – one of those recent Eurovision trends that seems set to stick around for a while longer.

The Eurovision final is on May 11, 8pm, on BBC One