At the Eurovision Song Contest, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom are the so-called Big Five. They are always in the final, no matter what happened to them the year before. The REAL big five however are these nations, that never missed out on on qualification for the grand final, when they took part in the semi finals.
In this article we look at the real Big Five of the Eurovision Song Contest and what they have to offer at the upcoming 2018 contest in Lisbon. Will Australia, Azerbaijan, Romania, Russia or Ukraine lose their magic status in Lisbon, or not?
Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Australia will be represented by Jessica Mauboy, who we all know at Eurovision from her participation as interval act in 2014. Since then, her career took a giant leap and bookmakers predict a good result for her in Lisbon.
Our Australian guest editor Joshua Mayne also thinks Jessica will be in the final and play a major part in that final again. Australia knows how to do that, after Dami Im and Isaiah Firebrace went on from the semi final to earn a place in the top-10 on Saturday as well. But beware, last year Australia almost missed out on their spot in the final, because the televote was not so convincing…
Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Since joining Eurovision in 2008, Azerbaijan has always come out of the envelope at the end of their semi final. Sometimes it was a close call, like with Elnur Hüseynov in 2015. But most of the times they are even in the top-5 or 6 from their semi final. Will this be the case again with Aisel?
Azerbaijan is the opening act of the first semi final, not the worst position to be in. And while their results have been slipping down in recent years, since their last top result in 2013, according to the bookmakers another final spot for Azerbaijan is in the making. Do you agree?
Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
The Humans are a rock group that will perform on behalf of Romania in second place at the second semi final in Lisbon. Not the best starting slot, to say the least. Still, Romania always knows how to win their spot in the grand final, as they also never missed out on qualification.
Romania could be one of the countries in trouble, to lose their 100% qualification track record. Currently, the bookmakers don’t have them listed in their top-10. With the rehearsals coming up next week, The Humans hope to convince them, and the audience at home, to give Romania the result that they have also gotten.
Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Russia is also a country that is always present at the final, if they take part. It would not be a real Eurovision final, without Russia in it, right? But will Yulia Samoylova, now that she finally gets to take part, be the one to erase that track record for Russia?
Odds from the bookmakers still say that Yulia will make it, but her first live gig of ‘I won’t break’ was a vocal carcrash. As of now, the week before the rehearsals begin, Russia seems to be in deep trouble. Their worst result at Eurovision since the 90’s seems to be upcoming.
Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Ukraine is the last member of the real Big Five at the Eurovision Song Contest. It makes sense, when you are almost always in the top half of the scoreboard in the grand final, qualification is just a mere detail. Mélovin is the closing act of the second semi final and has teamed up with the stage designer from winning act Jamala. Who can stop him?
At this point, the only concern with Mélovin is that he does not speak English and thus does not pronounce and understands his own song. A real convincing and believable performance is still in the making. So, he is not in the win-market. But qualification? That should be no problem at all.