The Eurovision Song Contest returns on Saturday for the 60th edition, an annual celebration of cheesy music that is equally loved and loathed.
Held this time in Austria — the host country each year is that of the previous year’s winning act — the much-loved (and equally derided) television talent competition will showcase performances from 20 countries which, if the past 59 years are anything to go by, will range from the dazzling to the downright bizarre.
Check out our photo gallery of early contenders at this year’s at Eurovision
It also raises some interesting questions: will the United Kingdom, despite its musical dominance commercially, finally break its near two-decade drought and win the competition (the last time it managed to do so was in 1997, when Katrina and the Waves won with the song Love Shine a Light)? Will the secret judging panels from each competing country base their votes on talent or, as has become increasingly obvious in recent years, along cultural and political lines? And will France make up for the abomination that was last year's last-placed Moustache by the French trio Twin Twin?
The top 10 finishers from each of two semi-finals (held on Tuesday and tonight) will be joined in Saturday’s final by the entrants from host country Austria, special guest Australia and the main sponsoring countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom (the so-called “Big Five”).
Here are a few entries to look out for in particular during the epic three-hour broadcast.
Special guest Australia
To celebrate the landmark 60th anniversary, Eurovision has invited long-term supporting nation Australia to take part.
It would have a been a major publicity coup had the Aussies taken it all very seriously and convinced Kylie Minogue to perform, or perhaps get Savage Garden to reform for the event. Instead, pop star Guy Sebastian is making the flight to Vienna. The 33-year-old has form with TV singing competitions, as the inaugural Australian Idol winner in 2003. His entry, Tonight Again, is another one of his slick R&B tunes. While his stuff may work in the Australian charts, it will be interesting to see whether the Europeans are quite so enthusiastic.
Punks with a message
Until now, it has mostly been down to Moldova to shake things up with some punk energy, courtesy of two-time entrants Zdob si Zdub (2005 and 2011). This time it’s Finland flying the tattered punk flag with the anticipated finals appearance of Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät.
All of the members of the four-piece have a learning disability, and their energetic song Aina Mun Pitää — complete with growling vocals — aims to raise awareness about Down syndrome. The band gave three reasons why they had chosen to enter the contest: "First, our fans want us to be in Vienna, secondly, we're going to win, thirdly, the audience likes us and that's the reason we're going to fly to Vienna. And someone will film us."
A Dutch highlight
From Abba's Waterloo (1974) to Lordi's faux death-metal fun with Hard Rock Hallelujah (2006), Eurovision winners have mostly been up-tempo and lethally catchy songs. The Dutch have embraced that formula and could have a winner on their hands with Trijntje Oosterhuis's Walk Along. The 42-year-old knows what she's doing, too — she is a judge in her country's version of the TV talent show The Voice, comes from a musical family and her brother has written numerous songs for Eurovision contestants.
Il Volo could be the next Il Divo
For a country appearing in Eurovision for the 40th time, it’s perhaps surprising that a cultural powerhouse such as Italy has won the competition only twice. It’s understandable, therefore, why they have broken out the big guns this year. The operatic duo Il Volo are already a big deal in their homeland and are making a big splash internationally, with albums that topped the United States classical-music charts and sell-out tours, in addition to two nominations in last year’s Latin Billboard Music Awards.
Their Eurovision entry, Grande Amore, has all the vocal pyrotechnics the pop-opera genre requires and even if they don't win, a good performance is sure to strengthen their rising international popularity.
The British hopeful
The UK used to have a great Eurovision pedigree. Previous winners included luminaries such as Sandie Shaw (Puppet on a String, 1967), Lulu (Boom Bang-a-Bang, 1969), Brotherhood of Man (Save Your Kisses for Me, 1976) and Bucks Fizz (Making Your Mind Up, 1981). Since they last won in 1997, the Brits have tried virtually everything to do it again — from resurrecting the recently bankrupt boyband Blue (I Can, 2011), to enlisting legendary crooner Engelbert Humperdinck (Love Will Set You Free, 2012) and gravelly voiced Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler (Believe in Me, 2013). Realising that this air of desperation perhaps worked against them, the UK entry this year is the unassuming pop duo Velvet Electro with the song Still in Love With You. The UK press holds out little hope that they can reverse the country's losing streak. "It's every bad novelty single you bought on cassette 20 years ago come back to haunt you in a horrifying Eurovision-themed remake of Flatliners," according to The Guardian newspaper. Ouch.
How to watch
With no regional broadcasters showing the contest, head to the Eurovision website, which will stream the ceremony live from 11pm. Warning: the online broadcast has no commentary so you will have to come up with your own puns, wisecracks and cutting comments about the quality of some of the acts — which, considering the event, is not too hard.
• For more details, visit www.eurovision.tv
