Fever pitch at the Esprit Arena as Düsseldorf gears up for Eurovision final

In the press center of the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf Thursday night the atmosphere could've been cut with a knife. The assembled journalists – many of whom are die-hard Eurovision fans – were on tenterhooks to see if their country would make it to the final.

The Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia and Israel were among the unlucky nine who didn't make it through the selection round, while there were celebrations in the fan camps of Austria, Sweden, Romania and Denmark, four of the ten who will be taking to the stage for the final.

Professional and amateur critics

Düsseldorf is rife with playful speculation as to who will triumph. A popular song with critics is Switzerland's entry, "In Love for a While" by Anna Rossinelli, the country's first appearance in the final since 2006. Boy band heavyweights Blue from the UK are also tipped for success with "I Can" after their recent reformation.

On the streets of Düsseldorf however, while opinions are certainly mixed, one definite candidate is clear. "I'm going with the flow," said one young German man, "It's Ireland for me."

"I think the best song is Lena’s song," added a Swedish woman, "It's very different. Very brave I would say."

"I think Ireland will win it…they've got the best haircuts!" said a Spanish man.

"It's Azerbaijan for me, I want Azerbaijan to win," exclaimed a Danish visitor, "I want to go to Baku next year!"

And one enthusiastic Greek fan said: "It was the UK and France before I came here but now it's Ireland. Jedward are amazing. They are destroying their image on stage. They don’t have good voices, they have a trashy show but they have a Eurovision winning song."

The 20-year-old identical twins John and Edward Grimes, otherwise known as Jedward, are flying the flag this year for their native Ireland. They made a splash in the UK after a string of appearances in the TV music casting show X Factor. While the critics panned their off-key vocal performances, audiences loved their enthusiastic live shows. Their entry for Eurovision, "Lipstick", has so far gone down well with fans.

The music and the show

All eyes in the German camp will of course be on 19-year-old Lena Meyer-Landrut, back at Eurovision again to defend her title after winning last year with "Satellite." This year's entry, the low-key "Taken by a Stranger," has been hailed as a bold move by critics.

Whether she can repeat the winning formula remains to be seen but Alexander Rybak, who took home the trophy for Norway in 2009 with "Fairytale," doesn't think a win for her matters.

"It's good as long as people understand that she will not win a second time," he told Deutsche Welle, "I think she understands that as well. I think it's just a party for her this time. I think it's very good. Very smart."

Famed German engineering

Meyer-Landrut's mentor Stefan Raab is seemingly leaving Lena to get on with her job. He has problems of his own. "This thing cannot work!" he jokingly said at a recent press conference when asked about how much technical work goes into getting the show on air, "I mean, have you seen all the cables here? Anyone who has ever tried to install a stereo at home will know that this thing is not gonna work!"

He'd better be wrong; an audience of around 125 million viewers are expected to tune in on Saturday evening.

Text: Gavin Blackburn

Editor: Rick Fulker