Eurovision is coming home to Switzerland. The small nation hosted and won the very first contest, way back in 1956, but their third victory only came last year when Nemo stormed the stage with The Code.  Balancing precariously on a spinning disk Nemo sang about their journey as non-binary, wowing juries and audiences across the world.

Switzerland’s most famous victory was in 1988 courtesy of Céline Dion. Yes, before My Heart Will Go On, came the Eurowinner, Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, which beat the UK by just one point.  Rumours abound that, following her appearance at last year’s Olympics, Céline might even be part of this year’s interval act.

So Eurovision is back in Switzerland, this time in Basel. 37 countries are competing for the win, including our very own 3 piece girl group, Remember Monday.  Lauren, Holly-Anne and Charlotte met at sixth form college, and appeared on The Voice in 2019. The great news is, with plenty of musical theatre experience, their vocals are perfect, so there’s no worry about them hitting a bum note.

Their song, What The Hell Just Happened? is a lively track about waking up after a raucous night out.  Although it tips its hat to the likes of Queen and The Beatles, it feels like something that wouldn’t be out of place in a musical.  It’s attracted mixed reviews from the Eurovision fan community, but it certainly deserves to pick up points, particularly from the juries who make up half of the final vote and usually reward acts who can actually sing.  Fingers crossed!

The favourites to win are, yet again, Sweden.  Their entry, Bara Bada Bastu, which translates as Let’s Just Sauna, is sung by KAJ, a Finnish Swedish-speaking male comedy trio. Their triumph in Sweden’s national final caused an upset when they beat former Eurovision winner, Måns Zelmerlöw into second place.  The song is totally joyous, and even Björn from ABBA has been singing it on his Instagram feed.  And if they do win, then Sweden will have a record-breaking eight contest victories, edging past Ireland, with whom they currently tie with seven first places.

But Sweden aren’t the only country bringing fun and, shall we say, a little sauce to the competition. Australia’s Go-Jo sings the innuendo-laden Milkshake Man, inviting us to ‘come and take a sip from my special cup’, whilst Finland’s Erika Vikman’s song, Ich Komme, is described as a ‘joyous message of pleasure, ecstasy and a state of trance’.  If you’re in any doubt, once you see Erika astride a massive golden microphone it’s probably clear what kind of pleasure she’s singing about.

Malta’s Mariana Conte is also likely to get pulses racing with her song, Serving.  The original tile was Kant (Maltese for ‘Singing’), but given the word’s similarity to a certain English word that you wouldn’t expect to hear on a prime time TV show, changes were made. Mariana has milked the controversy for all she can, even appearing on BBC2’s Newsnight. An ode to being who you are, this pumping bop is likely to go down a storm in Basel. Expect risqué visuals, and a wonderful sequence at the end when Mariana and her dancers bounce around stage on gym balls. Iconic.

You’d be forgiven for thinking Italy has three entries this year.  Aside from Italy itself, San Marino and Estonia have taken inspiration from the Mediterranean country. Gabry Ponte - one third of Eiffel 65, the band who had a UK Number 1 in 1998 with Blue (Da Ba Dee) – performs Tutta L’Italia for San Marino.  Gabry is a DJ so will be placed behind some big decks whilst the song itself will be performed by two masked singers.  It’s a bit like a football chant so should get the crowd rocking.

And Estonia’s Tommy Cash, who has worked with the likes of Charlie XCX, gives us Espresso Macchiato, a catchy number, which includes lots of words and phrases you might associate with Italy (‘spaghetti’, ‘no stresso’, ‘mi amore’). It’s caused a bit of a stir in Italy, with some saying it perpetuates Italian stereotypes and should be banned from the contest, whilst others are loving it.  I can see juries hating it, but the public voting for it in their millions.

Before you think it’s all jokes and nonsense, there are some strong ballads in the contest. Austria are second favourites to win with Wasted Love sung by JJ, whose operatic voice soars before an unexpected dance break near the end. Will we be in Vienna in 2026? Quite possibly. But France, who haven’t won since 1977, are on a comeback streak. After coming 2nd in 2021 and 4th last year, they have reason to be optimistic with Louane’s heartfelt song about her mother, Maman.

There are also great entries from Albania, the Netherlands and Czechia to mention a few. And don’t miss Iceland’s answer to Jedward, dressed head to foot in silver with their ‘electro-pop sea shanty’ – only at Eurovision, eh?

Eurovision has come a long way from the inaugural 1956 contest which took place on a Thursday night in a small 700 seater theatre and featured only 7 countries. Next year the contest celebrates its 70th edition, and whether we’re in Stockholm, Paris or Birmingham, its continued success looks assured.

The Eurovision Song Contest semi finals are on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 15 May at 8pm. The Grand Final is on Saturday 17 May. All on BBC1.