I listened to all of the 2026 entrants for Eurovision and I'm hoping to do so for Eurovision Asia this year too.
LOVE (no particular order):
Serbia: It's really intense heavy metal and full of emotion. I find the band really convincing
Denmark: If this won I would be super happy. It's super gay, in Danish, and the guy's vocal ability is excellent. Granted, he is a musical theatre actor and they have absolutely insane vocal talent in general. He's not an exception.
Albania: A song about a mother waiting for her son to return back to his country does get to people. It got to me.
Romania: Not the most feminist choice but it does remind me of The Pretty Reckless. I like it. This should do well.
Moldova: Moldova is on duty indeed.
Montenegro: Honestly, slay. It goes hard.
Croatia: Feminist anthem with heavy emphasis on the vocals? Sign me up. I hope they pull it off live.
UK: This is what we needed from the UK. I am so excited to see how this guy pulls off his staging. I feel good about this one.
Latvia: Really beautiful entry. This will do well.
Malta: I'm surprised this isn't considered a contender to win. It's more simple than a lot of the songs this year and we can never underestimate a good looking guy with a ballad. I think this is going to do really well.
Israel: Not something I would go out of my way to listen to but still good. I get the appeal.
Ukraine: Same with Israel and I expect Ukraine to elevate this one a lot.
Portugal: This is charming. Portugal has been very good with their performances these past few years so I expect good things from them regarding this.
Armenia: I think this will be absolutely fun to watch live. I am looking forward to seeing what it's like on stage.
Cyprus: This is a fun pleasure. Not something I would go out of my way to listen to but again, I like it and I'm rooting for it.
Finland: It's well performed but imo that violin does a lot of heavy lifting. This is the current contender to win the contest by a mile.
Italy: Like Portugal, this is charming and a nice throwback. I loved their 2025 entry a lot, so it is really hard to live up to. But I find Ukraine, Italy, Sweden, and Portugal are the countries that send what they think reflects them as people most often.
Overall, I think it's a pretty average year. 2024 was great and 2025 I didn't like the entries as much (the bad entries last year were terrible). I find this year somewhat better and more consistent.