This may be the most dramatic week in Eurovision in years. Today we’ll go over the winners and “winners” of the national finals.

Azerbaijan and Latvia

It’s Nadir Rustemil for Azerbaijan. In a fun “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” spoof, Nadir was asked who was going to represent Azerbaijan in Eurovision with one of the answers being himself. After choosing his own name, it is revealed as the right answer. Nadir won the Azerbaijan version of The Voice. Latvia has made their choice and… ugh. Apparently, they are looking for another no qualification with a song about vegan diets that is hard to digest. Even when presented with Aminata, the woman who guided them to their highest place in years, they went with…”Eat your Salad”. See you in 2023 I guess Latvia.

Lithuania and Australia

Lithuania has chosen their second ever Lithuanian language entry with “Sentimentai” by Monika Liu. It’s a timeless song that melds classic sounds with a modern twist. Australia has released all but one of their National final entries and they are… just ok. there are some standouts such as Voyager with the song “Dreamer” and Sheldon Riley with the song “Not the Same”. the TikTok Wildcard has yet to release their song but posted a snippet on their page.

Ukraine

Oh boy… where do we start with Ukraine. Just when the world was happy with Alina Pash’s “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”, a beautiful homage to Ukrainian culture, Ukraine pulled a 2019 and began an “investigation” on the artist. in 2019 this resulted in the winner, MARUV, withdrawing due to being told she was not allowed to do concerts in Russia anymore. This investigation has ended with the same result. Alina Pash has withdrawn as the Ukrainian representative after being investigated due to a 2015 trip to Crimea for a wedding. Eurovision fans are in an uproar as this is the third winner of the Ukranian national final who has not gone to Eurovision. It looks as though Ukraine must change its rules, or else see a dip in quality at the contest.