After seeing all the semi-finals plus the big 5 performances, the Aussievision team has made predictions on their Top 3 for the Eurovision 2023 Grand Final and a further prediction on the results.
We've gone to the team in a random order:
Hayley
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
2nd - France: La Zarra – 'Évidemment'
3rd - Finland: Käärija - ‘Cha cha cha’
I just do not think anyone can beat the powerhouse that is Mother Loreen. A great song and Loreen is one hell of a performer, but it's the staging here that gets it over the line. I htink she will do a Jamala and get second in tele and jury to bring home the win.
Possibly our jury vote winner here in France. This song is pure bop and I want to be La Zarra when I grow up. I would hate to see another second place/runner up for France - I hope my predictions are wrong.
I love this man and this song so much - the energy and craziness he brings is insane - but I think the juries will can him. Televote winner BY A MILE. It's crazy - it's party - it's Kaarija!
Further prediction:
I expect top tens for Estonia (amazing jury score), Australia and Czechia.
Justin
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Finland: Käärija - ‘Cha cha cha’
2nd - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
3rd - Spain: Blanca Paloma - 'Eaea'
Finland will finish less than 100 points away from Sweden in the jury vote, then storm the televote to overtake Sweden. I'm also more hopeful about a Spain top three finish considering audiences voted for songs like Albania and Moldova's. I do not think the winner will win both the televote and jury vote, but I think the winner will top one of them.
Further prediction:
Croatia will finish with less than 10 points in the juries, but secure 100+ points with the televote. Conversely, Switzerland will secure 100+ points with the juries, but less than 10 in the televote. If all goes well, we won't have an Automatic Qualifier (Big 5 and Ukraine) finish in 26th place. I also predict three of the top five will be sung in a language other than English.
Fleur
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Finland: Käärija - ‘Cha cha cha’
2nd - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
3rd - Israel: Noa Kirel - 'Unicorn'
Further prediction:
Croatia to do a Michal Szpak (Poland 2016). The juries are going to cane this hot mess but the fans are going to ensure that this goes top 10.
Mike
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
2nd - Finland: Käärija - ‘Cha cha cha’
3rd - Italy: Marco Mengoni - 'Due vite'
I have found it very difficult to decide if Sweden or Finland will be taking the crown. I've constantly flip flopped over the last week, but have finally landed on Sweden. It's clear on the ground that Finland will be taking the Televote win here. Even with the popularity of Queen Loreen performing for Sweden. However, she will most likely be 2nd in the Televote category. I can't see the same scenario playing out in Jury vote. Finland should get a decent Jury placing, but Loreen may be far enough in front of him to hold onto a slender victory.
Further prediction:
Although the Big 5 generally sent decent entries this year, I'm predicting we will only see Italy and France in the Top 10. Spain is high quality, but may struggle to resonate with wider Europe. Germany hasn't got the quality of song required, but shouldn't embarrass themselves again due to getting some televotes. I fear the UK may be punished by both the Juries and Televoters if Mae sounds too heavily backed during her performance.
Liv
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
2nd - Italy: Marco Mengoni - 'Due vite'
3rd - Finland: Käärija - ‘Cha cha cha’
I've been team Käärija the whole way (not just as my favourite but in the belief he was a certain winner), since hitting the ground at Liverpool he looks exhausted and the performance has lost some of the spark from the national final. It's also hard to get the crowd to go bananas for 3 minutes when sections of the song are very difficult to sing for non-native Finnish speakers. For me this has dropped off a lot and I am conerned he could even finish as low as fifth.
Marco Mengoni has a song with both jury and televote appeal and he really pops in the running order, on a different day he could be interchanged with Noa Kirel. Both have enough legs to make that Top 3 - it'll just depend on how the juries swing I feel.
Further prediction:
High in the Top 10 will have: Croatia, Belgium and Czechia. Germany will be the lowest of the Big Five and Australia will be in the bottom five. Not for lack of effort or quality - I just worry it'll be liked all round but the numbers just won't come for it hard, ie. the mid-range of death. The big win was making the Grand Final which is key!
Craig
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
2nd - Finland: Käärija - ‘Cha cha cha’
3rd - Belgium: Gustaph - 'Because of You'
I think Sweden will finally clinch their seventh Eurovision win this year, despite a strong challenge from Finland. Loreen's staging in Liverpool now looks as good as it did at Melfest, with any losses from the scaled-down LED box far outweighed by how improved the camerawork is. Further, while there has been chatter about Tattoo's televote appeal, Spotify, YouTube and chart data still strongly suggests this is in the top handful of acts with the public.
By contrast, and for better or for worse, I think it would require juries to completely change their voting patterns for Finland to get a big enough jury score to win. As such, I expect Loreen to lift the trophy on Sunday morning, with Finland coming in narrowly behind. In third place, I have (perhaps unexpectedly) selected Belgium, which has been pleasing live audiences this week while also having an impressive enough vocal to get jury points. I can also see arguments for why Israel, Norway or Italy might make the podium.
Further prediction:
My final prediction is that I believe Croatia will make the top 10 - this has been going nuts on YouTube this week (particularly in Eastern Europe) in a way that echoes Konstrakta's performance last year. I think top 5 might be a bit high, but there is definitely potential for a Michal Szpak-esque jury-to-televote moment at the end of the scoring sequence this year.
Colleen
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
2nd - Spain: Blanca Paloma - ‘Eaea’
3rd - Finland: Käärija - ‘Cha cha cha’
I do think Loreen will give Johnny Logan a run for his money by becoming the 2nd performer to win Eurovision more than once. It’s a song that will get high support from both the jury and the televote, and as Loreen did with Euphoria 11 years before, she delivers an out of this world performance that automatically gives off winner vibes.
For Spain, I was initially hesitant about its chances, but Blanca Paloma is such a fantastic performer and you can tell that she believes every word she is singing. It will get wide support from the more artsy Eurovision fans and I think the juries will support her raw emotions and authenticity.
If audience reaction is anything to go by, Finland will do fantastically well in the televote. While I’m in Australia watching Eurovision from my room, even I can tell that the applause for Käärijä in the arena outweighs that for any other act this year. I don’t see Finland storming the jury section at all, but It could pull a Moldova 2017 where they were loved enough by the televote to end up in 3rd place.
Further prediction:
While I personally have Germany in my top 10 finalists, I personally don’t see anyone at all making noise for it, and I do have a suspicion that it will come bottom 5, if not last. With so many rock or rock inspired entries, I see more people picking up their phone, or getting out their credit cards for Slovenia, Croatia, and Finland.
With Croatia being one of my top faves this year I have to do a (maybe biased) prediction for them. That is top 10 in the televote material right there!! Juries will not like it at all and I wouldn’t be surprised Let 3 come last with them, but televote will save them from any kind of bad result.
Emma
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - 'Tattoo'
2nd - Finland: Käärijä – 'Cha Cha Cha'
3rd - Ukraine: Tvorchi - 'Heart of Steel'
Just as the odds are predicting, I think it's definitely between Sweden and Finland for the 2023 Eurovision crown. Finland will likely win the public vote but I can't see a lot of jury points going to Käärijä. This is where Sweden has the advantage...Loreen's vocals and iconic staging should see the juries lapping this up, and we know 'Tattoo' should also score incredibly well with the public. It won Sweden's Melodifestivalen by a mile, receiving over a million more public votes than the song that came runner-up! The 'Loreen' factor plays a small part here...perhaps this song wouldn't be rated quite as highly if we had someone other than a former Eurovision winner singing it. But in saying that, 'Tattoo' is still strong enough to stand up on its own as a worthy Eurovision winner and I think Loreen will have her second victory.
If you'd asked me last week who my third place prediction was, I most likely would have answered Austria, Norway or France. But fast forward a week and Austria's staging has landed a bit flat, France is also very early in the running order and Norway may be struggling a bit vocally. I'm going out on a limb and predicting Tvorchi's 'Heart of Steel', a song that didn't even crack my Top 20 based on the studio version. Ukraine’s entry has flown under the radar a bit this year as host entries often do. Tvorchi has a great slot in the running order at 19 and ‘Heart of Steel’ is a contemporary radio friendly song inspired by the Ukrainians struggle to protect their steel works during the war. The colour palette of the staging just pops with blue and yellow absolutely everywhere and they've used every inch of the LED screens and floor beautifully. This looks and sounds amazing down the camera and I think there's still a strong public desire for people to show their support for Ukraine in any way they can.
Voting for Ukraine might just be one of them.
Further prediction:
I always had Australia finishing somewhere between 10th and 15th but I reckon they could crack the Top 10. By all accounts they smashed their jury final performance and were extremely popular with the non-Australians in their semi-final performance too. We know what experienced performers they are - their Grand Final performance will be on another level and I think they could pleasantly surprise us for a higher than expected finish.
Cooper
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - 'Tattoo'
2nd - Finland: Käärijä – 'Cha Cha Cha'
3rd - Israel: Noa Kirel - 'Unicorn'
If we look back on Jury results of the past ten years, it’s almost guaranteed that Sweden and ’Tattoo’ will win the professional jury votes. Sweden have been very successful in the Jury in past, making top three a whopping eight times in the past ten editions of Eurovision. What makes me think it is Loreen who will be holding the trophy this year is that the song will also be receiving a respectable public score as well. Whilst it’s most likely not winning the public, it will have enough appeal to garner enough points to keep her on top.
Further prediction:
I’m not confident in Italy impressing the public very much. With so much quality and spectacle in this years final, when I see Italy in the mix it gets shadowed by everything around it. My prediction is that it will be bottom half of the tele-vote.
Dale
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - 'Tattoo'
2nd - Finland: Käärijä – 'Cha Cha Cha'
3rd - Italy: Marco Mengoni - 'Due vite'
Loreen will become the first woman to win the Contest twice and the first in the televote era. This will storm the jury vote and, although, she won't win the public vote she will finish high enough to win. Finland will struggle in the jury but win the televote and Italy will do well on both sides for a sneaky 3rd place.
Further prediction:
Switzerland will do very well with the jury around the Top 5 mark and could get a sneaky top 10 because of it. Israel and Israel have great running orders and should pop for a big public score.
Kyriakos
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - ‘Tattoo'
2nd - Finland: Käärijä - ‘Cha cha cha’
3rd - Armenia: Brunette - ‘Future Lover’
I love how this is year has become the battle between Sweden and Finland. But this really is Loreen's year to make history!! I also will not be disappointed at all if Käärijä takes the crown either!
Further prediction:
Top three for Armenia, top 5 for Croatia, top 10 for Australia and Cyprus
Kiel
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Finland: Käärijä – ‘Cha Cha Cha’
2nd - Sweden: Loreen – ‘Tattoo’
3rd - France: La Zarra – 'Évidemment'
It's crazy, it's time to party, and it's time to go to Helsinki in 2024. Käärijä has won my heart ever since his landslide win in UMK in February. Not since Franz Ferdinand's 'Take Me Out' have I heard a song change gears so well midway through, and 'Cha Cha Cha' has the potential to be this decade's 'Gangnam Style' if he prevails. Having said that, Loreen is a deserved favourite with the bookies with her own stellar track, and it will be a well deserved and stunning moment if she becomes the first woman to win Eurovision twice.
I have France in third due to La Zarra's great potential to be both a televote and jury fave. But don't be surprised if Noa Kirel puts in a dynamite performance to finish top three for Israel, as she is well placed in the running order away from the stacked first half of favourites.
Further prediction:
Wildcard predicton: Croatia, Slovenia and possibly Belgium to snag a top 10 spot. See also for Alessandra from Norway who is also in the second half of the show, and if everything aligns for her, she could go top five or even create an all-Scandi top three. Spain's Blanca Paloma could even throw a curveball with everything if she wows the public as much as I think she will wow the juries.
Samuel
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen – ‘Tattoo’
2nd - Finland: Käärijä – ‘Cha Cha Cha’
3rd - Israel: Noa – ‘Unicorn’
I am sticking to what the bookies are saying because they have pretty much been spot on in the semi-finals (except for Albania qualifying over Georgia). I do think it is Loreen’s to lose. Eurovision World are giving her a 52% chance of winning which is huge. With those odds if she loses it will be the biggest boilover since 2016 when Russia’s Sergey Lazarev was tipped to win. Like many I envisage Sweden will take out the jury, whilst Finland will win the televote. However, I think the commercial appeal of an infectious tune like ‘Tattoo’ will be enough to win enough tele-voters for Sweden to get over the line. I predict a narrow win for Loreen, rather than her landslide in 2012.
Third-place for me was a tricky toss-up between Ukraine and Israel, but I’m giving the latter the edge. Noa has been given a clear, late run at number 23 and is not surrounded by any favourites. In the second half slots 21 to 24 have been the winning position since 2014, meaning the producers are lining Noa up for a good finish.
Further prediction:
· Italy to finish top 5 overall
· Spain will not finish in the top 5 but still on the left-hand side of the scoreboard
· Croatia will finish top 10 overall, likely top 5 in the tele-vote
· Australia to finish around mid-table in the final
· The last-placed country will not be a Big 5 country, instead likely Portugal or Lithuania
Leith
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - 'Tattoo'
2nd - Austria: Teya & Salena - 'Who The Hell Is Edgar?'
3rd - Finland: Käärijä - 'Cha Cha Cha'
The vocals, the staging, the likeability of Loreen herself, and of course the good news story of the first female artist to win twice - I'm hoping Loreen takes home the trophy again. Comparing it to 'Euphoria' is silly, they aren't competing, but when you put her beside the other artists she's on another level. I may not get my wish if people at home have the mentality "Oh but she's won before, let someone else have a turn". Finland has been a hot favourite but on TV his vocals have been a bit up and down for me, whereas I feel like Austria has enough novelty to get the casual viewer interested and remember it at voting time without it being a turn off. Both women can sing live too, so it might be down to whether Grand Final nerves take over.
Further prediction:
Australia not only finishes on the left side of the board, but an easy top ten. The crowd were loving them, and they've got a hard edge that won't scare off the grandmas at home. The United Kingdom won't do terribly but it'll bring home a lower result than they are expecting.
Tim
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Finland: Käärijä - 'Cha Cha Cha'
2nd - Sweden: Loreen - 'Tattoo'
3rd - Belgium: Gustaph - 'Because of You'
I think Finland has got a bit of momentum behind it and I think it has the legs to go the whole way. I do think it’ll be very close between Finland and Sweden and should be less then 20 points in it.
Further prediction:
I think Slovenia will get its best result ever in the top 5 and sadly I think Portugal may be lining up for a bottom 5 result. I’m also of the opinion that Poland will be in the top 10 of the televote.
Hugo
Top 3 prediction:
1st - Sweden: Loreen - 'Tattoo'
2nd - Finland: Käärijä - 'Cha cha cha'
3rd - Israel: Noa Kirel - 'Unicorn'
Sweden will do great with the juries and well enough with the televote, Finland will storm the televote but the jury will let it down. I think Israel will finish 3rd to 5th. It has a good running order for televote, combined with the performance. I think this has much better jury appeal than at first thought, Noa is a great vocalist and overall impression is great. This jumping out as the best of the rest outside the obvious top two
Further prediction:
I also think that out of Estonia, Switzerland, Cyprus and Lithuania, the more jury friendly songs, not all of them will do well. Estonia and Switzerland are my pick to be top 10 with the juries.
Last one! Czechia is dead. Sandwiched between Finland and Australia, limited jury appeal (jury tends not to go for eastern songs), and will just be overshadowed by two big televote songs around it.
Check out our video on our thoughts on the Grand Final including predictions here:
Watch the Eurovision Grand Final live on May 14 at 5:00am (AEST) on SBS and SBS On Demand.
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