Guys it's time. Yes, we've already arrived at the Grand Final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. The semis have been BRUTAL with fan favourites dying horrible premature deaths (forever lost in Verona </3). But we now have our 26 finalists, ready to compete for the win! For the majority of the season, Italy has been the firm runaway favourite, however, hot on his heels from the semis are Bulgaria and Portugal. Is one of these going to do the unthinkable and actually WIN Eurovision? And more importantly, is Germany going to come last for the THIRD year in a row? As ever, the Eurovision season has been a blast. Enjoy the next 48 hours guys, before the dreaded P.E.D consumes us all.

 

01 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Israel_zpsyievgvoi.png Israel:

02 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Poland_zpsjexo9jyj.png Poland:

03 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Belarus_zps0zigzyi1.png Belarus:

04 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Austria_zpscoqaobgf.png Austria:

05 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Armenia_zpsjiyrkjce.png Armenia:

06 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/The%20Netherlands_zpswvdcz8wq.png The Netherlands:

07 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Moldova_zpskrmsiqs0.png Moldova:

08 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Hungary_zpsecmt8vsa.png Hungary:

09 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Italy_zpsnjxj2ot2.png Italy:

10 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Denmark_zps6s4bn5ae.png Denmark:

11 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Portugal_zps7vkbxaog.png Portugal:

12 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Azerbaijan_zpssqath9zp.png Azerbaijan:

13 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Croatia_zpsdc9ptlqf.png Croatia:

14 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Australia_zps5o2nr036.png Australia:

15 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Greece_zpsantwlpxn.png Greece:

16 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Spain_zpsit1m3ddt.png Spain:

17 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Norway_zpsgrplia4j.png Norway:

18 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/United%20Kingdom_zpspagh5abp.png United Kingdom:

19 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Cyprus_zpswtpv5guj.png Cyprus:

20 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Romania_zpsltozjcj6.png Romania:

21 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Germany_zps1nqxwi7u.png Germany:

22 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Ukraine_zps6omaoenc.png Ukraine:

23 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Belgium_zpsgqlbvvca.png Belgium:

24 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Sweden_zpsnezpmv8t.png Sweden:

25 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/Bulgaria_zpsk1esazjf.png Bulgaria:

26 http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z369/RC741/Flag%20Icons/France_zpsifpoaeg1.png France:

 

Exciting! Portugal performing in the position Conchita won from in 2014. Bulgaria also a nice slot in 25th. Italy 9th, allegedly Francesco Gabbani's lucky number. These are the three I expect to compete for victory.

 

Spain are 1000/1 to win Eurovision, the 25th favourite is 300/1 so if Spain don't come last who will? :lol: I therefore don't expect Germany to do it. I think Norway will also be a challenger for that spot!

Great draw for the UK - this is our best chance of a respectable result in years

THAT OPENER AND CLOSER *.*

Romania has a strong slot, might squeeze into top 5/6

Spain are 1000/1 to win Eurovision, the 25th favourite is 300/1 so if Spain don't come last who will? :lol:

Even to those who don't know him from the national final he comes off as an utter douche.

 

Last with 0 points is the only deserving result for that turd

18th is a great position for the UK.

They are basically doing with Imri what they did with Laura last year - close the semi, open the final! I can see this scraping top 10.

I'm GUTTED for France, surely performing in last position is bad? :(

I'm GUTTED for France, surely performing in last position is bad? :(

Italy came 3rd from performing last in 2015

Italy came 3rd from performing last in 2015

 

Oh okay, I guess she isn't going to win anyway but a top 5 would be a huge thing for her :wub:

Last can be really mixed, if you're not offering anything new then it can kill a song off but if it's strong it can really flourish. I'm not sure which France is going to come across as but I hope it's the latter, this is the best French entry for years and I've been quite the French fan lately.

 

I am mixed on the possible winners, I've wanted Portugal and Bulgaria to be in contention and win forever as some of the competition's most mistreated underdogs but I don't particularly like either song, although the idea of them as a winner is starting to come around to me. Italy wouldn't be a new winner but I like Occidentali's Karma much better as a song, although I don't know if it would feel as momentous as a winner. This could all be solved if My Friend wins.

They have indeed inserted a break between Norway & UK to clear any question of that up.

I think Bulgaria is really in with a shot with that draw and the performance! Italy is the only of the 3 realistic contenders I properly like, Beautiful Mess is ok but would be a Running Scared type meh winner for me. Portugal's "song" is an absolute horror. I do like the fact we'll probably have a new winner though, or at least one who hasn't won in nearly 30 years in Italy.

They have indeed inserted a break between Norway & UK to clear any question of that up.

 

And the first fully fledged advert break is between Australia and Greece (I guess since they've both got fairly complicated props that makes sense as well).

Yeah, as much as I'd be happy for Portugal to win as a COUNTRY, it's one of my least favourite songs of the year (though I've grown to like him more), so I'd much rather it be Bulgaria or Italy. Having finally heard the latter last night, I really don't mind which but I'm probably leaning towards Bulgaria.

I've listened to Portugal's (yawn) and Italy's (tune!) entries so far but what other ones would people recommend that are must-hear tracks before the final tomorrow ? :o

part of me wants a foreign language winner (portugal or italy) but i prefer bulgaria as a total package. can we call it a tie plz :(

Some interesting Geekery/speculation about the potential host cities next year.

 

Bulgaria and Portugal are pretty straight forward and it's likely they'd be in their capital cities. Lisbon have the 20,000 seater MEO Arena and Bulgaria have the 12,000 seater "Arena Armeec" in Sofia which hosted Junior Eurovision in 2015 (And Destiny who won for Malta there will be old enough to compete in grown up Eurovision from next year - could she be ready to come back to Sofia and do the double?).

 

Italy is a bit more interesting since they've got a handful of options. Rome does technically have an arena but it's only a 10,000 seater and hasn't really been updated since the 60s so that's probably a no-go for them. The option that seems to be the obvious choice (and the one that it's widely believed they'd prefer) is Turin with their 18,000 seater. Other than that their arena tend to be in places that aren't the most well known cities and towns. There's Pesaro on the Adriatic coast, Assago which is not-Milan but close enough or Cassalechio di Reno which is not-Bologna but close enough but all of those three are smaller than Turin's arena and would require the leap of faith of using Italian public transport to get to the venue which is probably best to avoid.

Some interesting Geekery/speculation about the potential host cities next year.

 

Bulgaria and Portugal are pretty straight forward and it's likely they'd be in their capital cities. Lisbon have the 20,000 seater MEO Arena and Bulgaria have the 12,000 seater "Arena Armeec" in Sofia which hosted Junior Eurovision in 2015 (And Destiny who won for Malta there will be old enough to compete in grown up Eurovision from next year - could she be ready to come back to Sofia and do the double?).

 

Italy is a bit more interesting since they've got a handful of options. Rome does technically have an arena but it's only a 10,000 seater and hasn't really been updated since the 60s so that's probably a no-go for them. The option that seems to be the obvious choice (and the one that it's widely believed they'd prefer) is Turin with their 18,000 seater. Other than that their arena tend to be in places that aren't the most well known cities and towns. There's Pesaro on the Adriatic coast, Assago which is not-Milan but close enough or Cassalechio di Reno which is not-Bologna but close enough but all of those three are smaller than Turin's arena and would require the leap of faith of using Italian public transport to get to the venue which is probably best to avoid.

 

That's close to where I live, would be cool !