Norway 2026: Jonas Lovv with - YA YA YA
In maybe the biggest odds upset of the year, Jonas Lovv powered to the win in Norway and is off to Vienna:
Norway have been on some hard times the last couple of years after experimenting with expanding their MGP and now being firmly back to a one night show, without any jury component. Part of that is self inflicted and a seeming lack of depth (just look at the wildcard round filled with returnees as well as Mr.Rybak himself appearing again) but credit where it's due they escaped last year with Kyle Alessandro doing very respectably and Jonas as well as the level of competition and second half semi final draw offer them a shot at qualification again.
The Pros and Cons are simple here.
Pro- Jonas performs the pants off this song with one of the best live performances and improvements of the year.
Con- It's a pants song. OK, that's a bit harsh, Freddie Mercury cosplay as this may be, it is cooking something until we get to the totally uninspiring 'Ya Ya Ya Ya' refrain for me - and it's definitely 4 Ya's, not the 3 in the title 🧐. Its a simple hook and works for that but really does lack a punch.
We are purely discussing this one in terms of qualifying chances where it looks quite good in my opinion before delving into the maths. This will have an easier time picking up stray Televote points than many others on the borderline (Luxembourg, Latvia, Switzerland) who are the indirect competition to try and sneak in and the overall impression is potentially far more professional than the likes of Armenia, Romania and Bulgaria could prove. Norway is provisionally getting a 9th/10th place with both the juries and televote in this semi final and would need some unfortunate swings to miss out. If it is in the final that's where this sinks as by far the weakest of the Nordic offering and where the strength of the performance alone just isn't enough for more than some 3s or 4s here and there. Good moustache tho.
Personal Rating: 8/20
Televote Potential: 11/20
Jury Potential: 10/20
Staging Potential: 13/20
Track Record: 13/20
Overall Rating: 55/100
Early Prediction: Semi Two 8th-11th, 19th-23rd if in the final.
Volatility Factor: 1/5. Too many better options for higher and too good to really struggle or be left out of the Q conversation. I was going to suggest Top15 could be a dark horse play (4+) but seeing it was odds on there, warranting the second 🧐.