The ever reliable Nordic countries serve up a platter of super strong entries this year with three of them having all the right qualities to have reach beyond the contest in May. 

Callum Rowe ranks the five countries’ entries: 

5. Denmark

Time and time again Denmark seem to hit the post when it comes to selecting their Eurovision act and song, and they’ve done it again with Reddi performing The Show. 

The track’s initial minute or so is a piano-led offering that makes little to no impact at all. The pace change later on is welcome but interest has faded enough by then for it to be entirely forgotten. 

The Show sounds dated by about two decades. I’m all for nostalgic music but this goes a little too far. 

4. Iceland

Any other year I would be ranking Með Hækkandi Sól higher than just fourth but the competition from Iceland’s near neighbours was just too high. 

The band Systur have a sound akin to Swedish duo First Aid Kit and it’s something refreshing to hear at Eurovision. 

Með Hækkandi Sól offers a warm, tender melody which is infectious enough to stay on loop for the rest of the day after you’ve heard it. 

3. Sweden

Copy and paste the Iceland intro but swap in Hold Me Closer for Með Hækkandi Sól and Sweden for Iceland. 

Cornelia Jakobs pitches her anthem of heartbreak perfectly with the right raw emotion that will capture hearts across the world on the night of Eurovision itself. Jakobs herself uses her voice to tell the story of the song too; you can hear the emotional hurt in every line. 

Hold Me Closer will be vying for the victory and rightly so. 

2. Norway

First thing’s first, Subwoolfer’s Give That Wolf a Banana is not a joke entry. 

The track is polished and perfect, and the performance Subwoolfer will give in Turin will be of the same description. 

Watch out, this has everything in its armoury to dominate the public vote. 

1. Finland

Now, I understand this isn’t a popular choice for the best Nordic entry this year but hang on a second. 

I never expected to see The Rasmus performing at Eurovision and certainly not with a track as on the money as Jezebel. The band have ticked all of the right boxes putting together a specially-made rock anthem for Eurovision and that deserves some credit. 

Jezebel isn’t your standard cut and paste rock song either. The band weave whiffs of wondrous pop into the production that make the entire three minutes enjoyable for fans of either genre.