A later than usual overview of the Nordic countries’ entries in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, with the first semifinal scheduled to take place on Tuesday 12th May and the second on the 14th, followed by the Grand Final on the 16th.
I’m giving my view on the four entries over two nights (Iceland is not taking part this year for political reasons).
The Nordics haven’t done too badly over the last few years with high placings achieved by Sweden (for which Loreen won it for the second time in 2023), Finland and Norway. So what will transpire this year?
This is the second of a two-part article, focusing on Norway and Sweden.
Norway – JONAS LOVV – YA YA YA
Norway has had some half decent entries in recent years, the pick of the bunch for me probably being Alessandra and her mildly erotic ‘Queen of Kings’ in 2023, which managed fifth place in what was the Year of Loreen 2.0. So what does 2026 offer us?
Jonas Lovv (Hellesøy) is a 31-year old rock singer from Bergen.
In 2014, he participated in the auditions for the Norwegian version of Idol. He was the vocalist in the synth-pop trio Shuffle Baby, which released several singles until 2020. In 2025, Lovv participated in season 10 of the Norwegian version of The Voice – Norges beste stemme – where he reached the semi-final.
So, not much in the way of a successful history and not a newcomer either although that’s not any sort of guide to what can happen in this weirdest of all competitions.
Physically he looks a little like the Danish entry, Søren Torpegaard Lund (see Part 1 of this article), with a Freddie Mercury moustache.
He says he sings “for the love of it” and has few expectations although winning the competition would clearly help provide for his family in the future.
He adds that he doesn’t like explaining what his song is about, because he doesn’t want to ruin the listener’s first impression. “They might think it’s a song about heartbreak, something to dance to, or something else entirely. I want people to form their own first impression of the track” he says.
Presumably that’s why he called it ‘YA YA YA’ which means nothing in any language I can think of.
The only take I have on it is that it might be about a wholly dysfunctional relationship which, for some or other reason, neither party wants to end.
And just what “Baby I’m an animal, I got no self control/Left it all over you and your pretty clothes” means is anyone’s guess.
Musically, it rocks for sure, it has a tangible, melodic riff, and beat to it, he’s got a decent voice and it will keep the Euro rock fanatics happy.
Unfortunately that’s all it amounts to and it just fizzles out at the end.
It’s a little like a rock version of those 1970s and 80s Eurovision pop songs that didn’t convey any sort of message and just tried to get along on the tune. Think Lulu’s ‘Boom Bang-a-Bang’ – which jointly won it!
You see, you never know! Try as I might though I’m afraid I can’t see it doing better than 15th-20th although I would like to be proved wrong.
Sweden – Felicia – My system
Electro pop is the name of the game for Felicia (Eriksson), aka the Lady in the Mask. Like the Phantom of the Opera and Orville Peck she never takes it off when on stage. Or at least until now.
At her semifinal performance on 12th May the sparkly mask suddenly disappeared towards the end, to be replaced by an oversized pair of spectacles or a blindfold that covered half her head and made her look like a character in The Muppet Show.
The TV and tabloid newspapers immediately reported it as a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ but as you can see below, a similar change features on the official video.
Even so, it will be fascinating to see how this plays out in the final if Sweden gets through, which it should do.
The premise of the song isn’t dissimilar to The Cure’s ‘Friday, I’m in love’. On Monday she’s “dancing on your grave” but by the end of the week “Friday screams your name”. By then, he/she’s “in my head, my heart, my body parts”. Perhaps she’s coupled up with Jonas Lovv.
It’s a pop power ballad to start off then gravitates rapidly into hard EDM but with what I would consider a repeating instrumental chorus or bridge, depending on how you look at it, which doesn’t really complement the balladic verses. It’s too heavy, harsh and in your face, as well as being tuneless.
It would have been better in my opinion to have something less bass driven and catchy but who am I to say?
I really don’t know how this will get on, on the big night, but the vibes are generally positive enough to earn a #10-15 placing, maybe better.
Who do I think will win it? Allowing for what I said yesterday Finland has to be in with a chance if their dramatic performance on the night is without a hitch.
I haven’t seen all the artists but from what I saw on TV tonight I was impressed by Croatia and Lithuania, both for the song and the staging, while the Polish entry was pretty striking too.
Having said that plenty of observers are predicting that the Nordic countries will do well this year, at least better than my predictions, so I hope they are right!
