On Tuesday 8th May, the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place. Nineteen nations will go head to head for the chance to qualify for the final. Two days later, on Thursday 10th May, a further eighteen nations will take part in the second semi-final. Ten countries from each semi-final will join the Big Five and host country Portugal in the Grand Final on Saturday 12th May.
With forty-three countries participating this year, we’ve made this handy guide to knowing who’s representing which country, and with what song.
Albania
The first national final of this season came from Albania, as they held Festivali i Kenges back in December. It was then decided that Eugent Bushpepa would represent his country after winning the show with his song “Mall”.
https://youtu.be/DocjosVM5cU
Read more about him here:
Armenia
Thirty-one-year-old Sevak Khanagyan will be representing Armenia at the contest this year. He was selected after he won Depi Evratesil with his song “Qami”.
Read more about him here:
Australia
Australia’s fourth entry in the Eurovision Song Contest is “We Got Love”, sung by Jessica Mauboy. Jessica was internally selected to represent her country by Australian broadcaster SBS.
Read more about her here:
Austria
Cesár Sampson will be representing Austria at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. He was internally selected by Austrian broadcaster ÖRF, and he will sing “Nobody But You”.
Read more about him here:
Azerbaijan
Twenty-nine-year-old jazz singer Aisel will be representing Azerbaijan this year. Internally selected by Azeri broadcaster ITV, Aisel will be singing “X My Heart”.
Read more about her here:
Belarus
Representing Belarus this year is Alekseev. Selected after winning Eurofest, Alekseev will be singing his song “Forever” on the Eurovision stage in May.
Read more about him here:
Belgium
Belgium was the first country to announce which artist would be representing them at the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Laura Groeseneken (Sennek) was internally selected by Flemish broadcaster VRT with her song “A Matter Of Time”.
Read more about her here:
Bulgaria
Equinox is a collaborative group from Bulgaria, consisting of singers Zhana Bergendorff, Georgi Simeonov, Johnny Manuel, Trey Campbell, and Vlado Mihailov. The group got together specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest this year, and will be singing “Bones”.
Read more about them here:
Croatia
Croatia’s entry for this year’s contest is “Crazy” by Franka Batelić. This is the second time she has attempted to represent her country, the first time being in 2009 where she placed 7th in the national final. This time, however, she was internally selected by Croatian broadcaster HRT.
Read more about her here:
Cyprus
Albanian-born singer Eleni Foureira will represent Cyprus in the contest this year. She was internally selected by Cypriot broadcaster CyBC after she had attempted to represent Greece in the past. She will be singing “Fuego” in May.
Read more about her here:
Czech Republic
Twenty-three-year-old Mikolas Josef will represent the Czech Republic this year. Mikolas took part in the Czech national selection process, which saw the singer face five other artists for the chance to represent their country. In the end, it was decided that Mikolas would be the one to sing his song “Lie To Me” on the Eurovision stage in May.
Read more about him here:
Denmark
Representing Denmark this year is Rasmussen. The Danish singer was selected after he won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in February with his song “Higher Ground”.
Read more about him here:
Estonia
Elina Nechayeva will be representing Estonia this year. She was chosen after she won Eesti Laul 2018 after she hosted the contest the previous year. She will be singing “La Forza”.
Read more about her here:
Finland
Back in November, Finnish broadcaster YLE internally selected Saara Aalto to represent her country this year. Her song “Monsters” was then chosen through Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, a televised national final show consisting of three songs.
Read more about her here:
France
French duo Madame Monsieur will be representing their country at this year’s contest. They were chosen after they won Destination Eurovision, the French national final show. They will sing “Mercy”.
https://youtu.be/c-5UnMdKg70
Read more about them here:
FYR Macedonia
Eye Cue are the Macedonian representatives this year. They are a three piece band, who were internally selected by broadcaster MRT. Their song is “Lost and Found”.
Read more about them here:
Germany
Representing Germany this year is Michael Schulte. Selected after winning Unser Lied für Lissabon, Michael will be singing “You Let Me Walk Alone” on the stage in Portugal this May.
Read more about him here:
Georgia
On New Year’s Eve last year, Georgia announced that they had internally selected the band Iriao to represent them at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. They will be singing “For You”.
Read more about them here:
Greece
Greece’s entry for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is “Oniro Mou” by Gianna Terzi. She was selected after she was shortlisted for the Greek national final, which then became an internal decision by Greek broadcaster ERT.
Find out more about her here:
Hungary
Rock band AWS will represent Hungary at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. They were selected after they won A Dal, Hungary’s selection show, with their song “Vislát Nyár”.
Read more about them here:
Iceland
Nineteen-year-old Ari Ólafsson is one of the youngest participants this year, and he will represent Iceland in May. Ari was chosen to represent his country after he won Songvakeppnin with his song “Our Choice”.
Read more about him here:
Ireland
Representing Ireland this year is Ryan O’Shaughnessy from Dublin. The singer was internally selected by Irish broadcaster RTÉ and will be singing his song “Together” in Lisbon.
Read more about him here:
Israel
Israeli singer Netta Barzilai will represent her country at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. She was selected after she won The Next Star 2018, and her song “Toy” was then internally produced.
Read more about her here:
Italy
Italian duo Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro were chosen to represent their country on the stage in Lisbon after they won Sanremo. They will be singing “Non mi avete fatto niente” at the contest.
Read more about them here:
Latvia
Representing Latvia this year is Brazilian singer Laura Rizzotto. She was selected after she won Supernova with her song “Funny Girl”.
Read more about her here:
Lithuania
Twenty-five year old Ieva Zasimauskaite will be representing Lithuania this year. Ieva was selected to represent her country after she won the Lithuanian national final show Eurovizijos with her song “When We’re Old”.
Read more about her here:
Malta
Christabelle Borg will represent Malta at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. She was selected to represent her country on her fourth attempt after she won the Maltese national final. She will be singing “Taboo” at the contest in May.
Read more about her here:
Moldova
Representing Moldova on their third attempt is DoReDoS from Ribnita. The trio were selected after they won O Melodi Pentru Europa this year with their song “My Lucky Day”, penned by Philipp Kirkorov.
Read more about them here:
Montenegro
Montenegrin singer Vanja Radovanović will represent his country at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest this May. He was selected after he won Montevizija with his song “Inje”.
Read more about him here:
The Netherlands
Waylon returns to the contest four years after his first attempt as one half of the duo The Common Linnets. He was internally selected as a soloist this time around, and will be singing the song “Outlaw In ‘Em”.
Read more about him here:
Norway
Representing Norway this year is Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak. Alexander was chosen to represent his country again after he won Melodi Grand Prix 2018 by a landslide. He will be singing “That’s How You Write A Song”.
Read more about him here:
Poland
Gromee and Lukas Meijer will be representing Poland at the contest this year. They were selected after they won Krajowe Eliminacje with the song “Light Me Up”.
Read more about them here:
Portugal
Representing the host nation this year is Cláudia Pascoal. Cláudia was chosen to represent Portugal after she won Festival da Canção with her song “O Jardim”.
Read more about her here:
Romania
The Humans band from Bucharest will represent Romania at this year’s contest. The group were selected to represent their country after winning Selectia Nationala with the song “Goodbye”.
Read more about them here:
Russia
Russia returns to the contest this year after a year out. Russian broadcaster Channel One had originally chosen Yulia Samoylova to represent the country in the 2017 contest, but they withdrew a month before the event took place. Yulia was once again selected to sing for Russia, and she will do so with her song “I Won’t Break”.
Read more about her here:
San Marino
Travelling from Malta and Germany to represent San Marino this year is Jessika Muscar and Jenifer Brening. The pair were chosen after winning 1in360 with the song “Who We Are”.
Read more about them here:
Serbia
Sanja Ilić & Balkanika will represent Serbia at the contest this year. They were selected after they won Beovizija with their song “Nova Deca”.
Read more about them here:
Slovenia
Lea Sirk will be representing Slovenia at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. She was selected after she won EMA on her fourth attempt. She will be singing “Hvala, ne” on the stage in May.
Read more about her here:
Spain
Representing Spain this year is couple Alfred and Amaia, who got together while on the TV show Operación Triunfo last year. They were selected after they won the “Gala Eurovisión” section of the show with their song “Tu Canción”.
Read more about them here:
Sweden
Twenty-year-old Benjamin Ingrosso will represent Sweden in Lisbon this year. He was selected after winning Melodifestivalen with his song “Dance You off”.
Read more about him here:
Switzerland
Siblings Corinne and Stee Gfeller aka Zibbz will represent Switzerland at the contest this year. They were selected after they won Entscheidungsshow 2018 with their song “Stones”.
Read more about them here:
Ukraine
Twenty-year-old Mélovin will represent Ukraine at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. He was selected to represent his country on his second attempt after he won the Ukrainian national final Vidbir. He will be singing “Under the Ladder” at the contest in May.
Read more about him here:
United Kingdom
Representing the United Kingdom at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is SuRie. Selected after winning Eurovision: You Decide back in February, she will be singing “Storm” on the stage in Lisbon. This is the third time she will sing on the Eurovision stage, as she was a backing singer for Belgium in both 2015 and 2016.
Read more about her here:
The 63rd Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Lisbon, Portugal this year. The contest has been brought to Portugal following the victory of Salvador Sobral in 2017, and the event is to be held at the Altice Arena. This is the first time Portugal has hosted a Eurovision event.
