Tonight's the night

Every now and then I have this gift of waking up on the day of the ESC-final with the winning song playing in my head. Last year I woke up with Molitva and then it won. This morning I woke up with British "Even if" and that only means that my gift is fading dramatically.

So what country will win tonight?

Romania: Latvia got a reasonable result last year with the Il Divo-clones and had Romania got a better draw in the field I would have tipped them as a contender with this opera/popballad. If they make a flawless performance they might sneak into the top 10.

UK: 21th place is a valid guess. Maybe even lower. WHO will have this as their favourite, huh?

Albania: Will benefit from diaspora and neighbourly votes but it won't be enough for top 10.

Germany: If the singing would have been great they could have got a mid-table result but as it is now a failure is coming up - again.

Armenia: Was my tip to win after seeing the previews but wobbly singing and an early draw is holding them back. Still top 10 thanks to a strong song and lots of diaspora votes.

Bosnia: This one will surprise a lot of people by climbing the scoreboard. It is so clever on stage and the feelgood melody will make people happy. Top 10!

Israel: Good voice and OK song. Mid table.

Finland: Heavy fans stick together as we saw in the semi. Don't think it will be enough to break into top 10 but Finland will definitely not come last.

Croatia: High points from the other Balkan countries who understand the lyrics and also points from the rest of the East for the melody. Mid placing.

Poland: Nah, her voice is not strong enough for this Celine-ballad. People will favour the other ballads tonight.

Iceland: Good draw for them and will pick up votes from Scandinavia. Will probably be closer to top 10 than the bottom.

Turkey: A little too anonymous for a high score at the end of the night but diaspora votes will take it a fair bit up the scoreboard.

Portugal: Personally I still don't understand any of this but a lot of people are talking about Portugal's best placing ever could come tonight. Will be disappointing to see a good song lose out to this dramatic ballad but then again I never saw the greatness in "Angel" 2005 either.

Latvia: If there were justice in the world this would come last but fairness is not a synonym to Eurovision. Some people actually think that pirates are fun after a few too many drinks even if they sing like rats on fire.

Sweden: Coming after tuneless pirates could do the trick. Charlotte's performance is so slick and in tune it is silly really. My gut feeling is saying 7th but it could very well be higher too. Good luck Sweden!

Denmark: They shouldn't even be in the final and will no doubt be last of the Scandi-countries.

Georgia: The trick of the dress-change is still very smart and Georgia will pick up average points from a bunch of countries.

Ukraine: Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner. If she nails the singing I can't see how anything could go wrong for Ani Lorak tonight.

France: Is the song too brilliant? Most certainly but the last thing that dies is the hope. I love this song so much. There must be others who have the same excellent taste as me?! One factor that can stop Tellier from entering top 1o is the weird camera work. It is quite disturbing.

Azerbaijan: No I won't even worry about this one.

Greece: Likable popditty with a good draw will go far. Very far.

Spain: Chiki chiki could qualify for the lower parts of the top 10 or just miss out depending on the mood of Europe tonight.

Serbia: Even if we've all heard this before people will still vote for it. Very good draw too.

Russia: The buzz is still out there and I know that a lot of countries will back Russia as always but Dima Bilan is just too much. He will get a very unfair top 5 result but he can't win over Ani, can he?

Norway: I love this entry with all my heart and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Western countries where the chart music sounds like this at the moment should reward Maria with high votes. Top 10 is a must.