Eurovision expert predicts that operatic pop trio Il Volo will win the song contest this year.
Forget Google ask Reynir Þór Eggertsson a.k.a. “Eurovision Reynir”, at least when it comes to everything related to the Eurovision song contest for he seems to know all there is to know about it, hence the nickname. Every year he’s asked to predict the winner and he’s been right more often than not.
So who’s going to win the Eurovision song contest this year?
“Italy,” says Reynir. “They have a good song that both the public and the judges can agree upon. It has a great build-up to half explosion towards the end.”
The explosive song is called Grande Amore and is performed by the Italian operatic pop trio Il Volo, that consist of three young tenors. “Italy is on a roll and has been doing great after the return to the contest a few years ago,” says Reynir.
On the other hand, what about us, will Iceland stand a change?
“I think María Ólafsdóttir is magnificent and the song is catchy so I’m pretty confident that she’ll charm her way to top 6 and be the only female singer at the top along with Polina Gagarina from Russia.”
Reynir says he put Russia at the top after seeing Polina perform at rehearsals that started a few days ago. “Sometimes you don’t notice how good the performers are until they hit the stage and the music videos often don’t do them justice.”
“Last year it wasn’t until the last-minute that I realised Austria was going to win, when I saw the crowds and the applauds.”
So are the predictions constantly changing?
“Of course,” says Reynir, although he stays firm on his opinion that Italy will lead the contest this year. “Last year it wasn’t until the last-minute that I realised Austria was going to win, when I saw the crowds and the applauds. Or maybe I just didn’t believe it.”
Although the winning song last year was a huge hit the judges in many countries contradicted the popular vote by putting Austria at the bottom seat or not giving it any points at all to try to keep it from winning.
“Well you never know what the judges are thinking,” Reynir says. “It’s easy to figure out what songs are popular among the public but the mind of a judge is a whole different story.”
This year Reynir will be close to the action since he’s already in Vienna. “I haven’t been to see the Eurovision song contest live in years and I’m pretty excited.”
What he’s not excited about though, is the end. “The whole Eurovision song contest is like the story of Cinderella. For a brief moment we get to put on the glass slippers and the dress and ride in the beautiful carriage but as soon as the winner is announced the clock strikes twelve and the fairytale is over.”
Luckily we’re far away from that moment and the Eurovision Fairy Godmother is warming up her wand and we still have time to make our own predictions and see if we agree with Reynir that Italy will be the belle of the ball this year.
Main photo: Il Volo. Photo (at bottom): Polina Gagarina (top left), Conchita Wurst and María Ólafsdóttir.