If you haven’t check it out already, please check out Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, and Part IX of the series. Those three blog posts feature songs from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Serbia, Poland, Slovenia, Australia, Belgium, Estonia, and Iceland, Georgia, Portugal, Greece, San Marino, Armenia, Ireland, Moldova, Switzerland, Latvia, Romania, Denmark, Croatia, Sweden, and Austria.

“Chameleon” will be a breath of fresh air for this year’s competition as it is unique and full of energy. It might not be as popular as Netta’s “Toy” (which was last year’s spunky song), but it will be a favorite of mine in this Eurovision as I see it going to the finals with a really unique performance.

Lithuania: Jurij Veklenko – “Run with the Lions”

This Eurovision isn’t the first one for Jurij Veklenko. The Lithuanian singer was part of the backing chorus for the song “This Time” in 2015. Though he has experience in this competition, I don’t think his vocals do. There are parts during “Running With the Lions” where you can see the weakness of Veklenko’s vocals as he is under pitch. I know the technique is trying to employ but it is more weak than strong when he tries to sing those higher notes.

But, I have to say the “Running With the Lions” can be an empowering song depending on how you perceive. In one day, the song is about one partner encouraging the other to open up their feelings and love. Another way — the way I see in — is that you should be yourself: open up and be free.

The song itself is empowering but not Veklenko’s vocal strength. And because of that, I don’t think the Lithuanian singer will make it to the finals.

Russia: Sergey Lazarev – “Scream”

One of the things I love about “Scream” is Lazarev’s vocal quality: it is rich, smooth, and strong. His voice is the center of “Scream” as it entices the listen with its richness.

The song is a basic song as there is not much instrumentation or melodic progressions. However, Lazarev’s vocals make the song enjoyable and the potential to be in the finals if performed right on the semi-finals stage.

So what do you think, which song is your favorite? Comment below!

And, since I have a lot of travel bloggers and readers from the world who visit this blog, what are your favorite memories or sites in these countries? Let me know in the comments below.

Since this is an ongoing series, I am going to share my prediction scorecard at the end of each post. It is a way for me to keep track of my predictions and see if they came true in May.

My Predictions!

Semi-Finals First Round

I have edited the first half’s chart to add Belarus into the finals pool. The reason is that there should be at least 10 finalists in each half of the semi-finals in order to have 20 winners from the semi-finals and 6 pre-qualified contestants to make 26 entries in the finals.

Semi-Finals Second Round