It’s the first of the many ex-Soviet countries now and we start with Georgia. Having done well in both last year’s YouTube chart and indeed a good result overall in the grand final, it’s a bit of a plummet to near bottom of the rankings this year. Is it justified? Well, I think it’s safe to say that this entry is quite unlike anything else you will hear this year at Eurovision!

Georgia have never shied away from daring to be different in their short time in Eurovision. It’s reaped some rewards with two top 10 places and 11th last year. It’s also seen them crash out badly in the semi-finals (they came last in their semi-final in 2014). I fear that this may be one of those latter types of years where they crash and burn in their semi. I admit though I actually don’t actively dislike this – it certainly stands apart from anything else this year!

They are in by far the weaker semi-final but they have only Belarus and Ukraine who might give them some neighbourly votes – I wouldn’t expect to see them come the Saturday final.

Random fact: Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz are the first all-male band to represent Georgia.

Live performance:

Georgia at the Eurovision Song Contest:

First entered: 2007

Appearances (excluding this year): 9

Best result: 9th in 2010 and 2011

Last year’s result: 11th