Good evening Europe, Bonsoir L’Europe , Gudden Owend Europe! Tonight , the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg will choose who will follow in the foosteps of last year’s representative , Tali , who competed for the nation last year in Malmö with her song “Fighter “.

Seven acts will be battling for the golden ticket to Basel, Switzerland , in May , they are as follows :

1. Rafa Ela – “No, thank you “
2. Rhythmic Soulwave – “Stronger“
3. Luzac – “Je danse”
4. One Last Time – “Gambler’s Song”
5. MÄNA – “Human Eyes”
6. Laura Thorn – “La Poupée monte le son “
7. Zero Point Five – “Ride”

This year’s show will be hosted by Raoul Roos and Loïc Juchem, who also hosted last year’s show , along with two other presenters ,and takes place in Rockhal , Esch -sur Alzette. The winner will be chosen by 50% public vote and the remaining 50% of points decided by an international jury . There will be no Superfinal this year.

As always, we at Eurovision Ireland will be bringing you our thoughts on the events in the Grand Duchy by way of our LIVE BLOG, so please join us at 20.00 CET . Those of you who are regular readers will know the drill by now, follow the blog by REFRESHING THIS PAGE .

You can follow the show live HERE

As always, please do feel free to make any comments you wish about the show in our comments box below .It’s always interesting to see how different our opinions can be about the performances .

LIVE BLOG STARTS HERE

You’re a bit early but we will be here at 20.00 CET to bring you our thoughts on the fun and excitement in Luxembourg

Welcome back !

In a few minutes , we’ll be going to the live stream to join the evening’s proceedings at the Rockhale in Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg .In the meantime, while we’re waiting, here’s a reminder of last year’s Luxembourg entry “Fighter”, by Tali . She’ll be making an appearance in tonight’s show .

So here goes !We are just warming up by seeing past Luxembourg entries in last year’s Luxembourg song contest .

Starting off with a group of lively dancers

Followed by a song from Anne Marie David, who won for Luxembourg in 1973 .

She’s looking good for her years !

We get to meet the artists from last year now, a bit like the flag parade at Eurovision…..without the flags !

Please note that it is only a warm up it’s not the actual show tonight !

Now it’s onto the real show and we start with a reprise of last year’s entry “Fighter” sung by all the contestants and Tali herself !

We are told to expect a surprise host tonight . Now introducing Raoul and Loic, your hosts tonight .

Interval guests tonight , we are told are Tali, Conchita Wurst and DJ Nosli . We’re getting an explanation of proceedings tonight in Luxembourgish , now English .It’s impressive that they are including some presentation in English too as well as their national language .

Our acts tonight :

So…rather than go straight into the contest itself, we start off with a performance of Rise like a Phoenix by Conchita Wurst , who as you know, won the Eurovision Song contest for Austria in Copenhagen in 2014 . It seems a bit strange to start with an interval act….I hope this doesn’t mean we’re in for a long night of proceedings !

Have to say that Conchita never seems to age ! Raoul and Loic are interviewing Conchita now and asking about Luxembourg’s chances this year .

We now get to know the mystery host……which is ……CONCHITA ! ( Quelle surprise !).

Voting starts now !!! Voting procedure explained .

At last we are getting down to business ! The contest is finally beginning !Starting with Rafa Ela.

1. Rafa Ela – “No, thank you “

Black is the dress theme tonight, with Rafa dressed in a rather short, tight black dress with sequins , with backing dancers who look like they have raided the local stores for black bin liners ! Not so sure about Rafa Ela’s dress , it’s very tight !! Also backing dancers in very shiny trousers with tight black tops . It’s a lively number and a good one to open with . Blue backdrop with the backing dancers in silhouettes against blue rectangles . A good first song .

Rhythmic Soulwave – “Stronger“

The band say they want to make us fall in love with them tonight. Judging by this performance they may well do ! It’s again a very dark colour theme staging . Blue and black , but it kind of goes with the mood of the song . Lead singer has a reasonable voice and the song kind of reminds me of those the late Amy Winehouse used to produce . It went down well with the audience .Could be a contender, although vocals could be a bit more polished .

We have a load of past Eurovision stars now , including Baby Lasagna , Iolanda and Charlotte Perrelli wishing tonight’s performers the best of luck .

Back with the hosts now , who tell us that the next act’s song . one of the composers also wrote last year’s winning Eurovision song “The Code “. Could this be a good omen for Luzac ?

Luzac – “Je danse”

This is a big dance number !Sung in French . Dark staging with green lighting reflecting a cube shape where Luzac stands within . The green strobe lighting then splits into two squares with the words “Je danse ” in them . Luzac is then joined by four backing dancers, with their faces covered and dressed in dark outfits. Luzac himself dressed in casual gear, green and black.As the song proceeds, the backing dancers perform a routine around Luzac.It’s a lively number and with the semi finals being now a public vote only, may stand a good chance of qualifying from the semi finals in Basel .

One Last Time – “Gambler’s Song”

Another band performance. Once again dark themed staging . I’d actually like to see some more colourful staging tonight at some point !The stage backdrop changes throughout the song , including , fire, numbers, which presumably refers to gambling !This might appeal to lovers of rock music but it’s a very tame version of rock for me, in comparison to other rock songs we have seen at Eurovision . Would need some polishing up if this goes to Basel .

More banter from the hosts . Talking about Marie Myriam who won for France in 1977.And here she is on stage singing her winning song “L’oiseau et l’enfant.” She’s another of our past acts who has aged well !

Apologies every one , I am having some problems with the live stream link due to my internet connection , will be back as soon as I can !

Back now and the hosts are still chatting . We’re now getting onto the next act…. MANA .

MÄNA – “Human Eyes”

Mana and her backing singers are in all white with Mana wearing some kind of beaded hat . The backing singers have their faces covered in white beads . It reminds me a lot of Iolanda’s performance for Portugal last year , as the outfits are very similar !Staging again dark with backdrop graphics which look like pillars and there’s stars and a white circle . I am not sure this would be the one to go to Basel, I couldn’t really get into it. For me, it doesn’t have the charm that Iolanda had.

Laura Thorn – “La Poupée monte le son “

This is rated as a possible winner tonight and the song title is a kind of ode to a well known winning song for Luxembourg back in 1965! The opening actually sounds like the opening of” Poupee de cire , Poupee de son” too !It’s actually the most polished performance we have seen so far and Laura knows how to work the stage . She’s dressed as expected in a short . pink dress, thigh length boots and looks rather like a doll. She starts off with three male backing singers in red velvet suits dancing around her , the song progresses with a very polished dance routine , at the end Laura loses the bottom of her dress and is joined by two scantily clad backing female dancers . Her vocals are sound .This is the best performance so far , in my view .Good response from the audience too.

Conchita in the audience and looks like we’ve just seen a marriage proposal ! She said “Yes” by the way ! ( not Conchita, the woman audience member who received the proposal !)

Zero Point Five – “Ride”

We’re finally onto the last act !The group describe themselves as “Pop funk ” .The three band members are on stage , playing various instruments .Stage backdrop is dark but then you see what looks like road signs with various messages on them .It kind of reminds me of something you would expect to see in the Norwegian MGP rather than Luxembourg, with the violin included . It’s a lively number and is designed to make you sing along to it ( if you know the words!) . A good one to finish on, it might go down well with older voters .

So that’s it ! We’ve seen and heard them all ! I don’t normally like to predict winners but think out of those 7, likely contenders will be Luzac and Laura Thorn , although Zero Point Five could be a surprise .

We now have a commercial break in Luxembourg .Be back soon.

We are back . It’s 60 years since the late France Gall won for Luxembourg with “Poupee de cire,Poupee de son “and we’re getting a modern day tribute by Nosi and a school choir with an electro performance of the song .

Wonder what France herself would think of this updated version if she had been here to see this .

We now see the hosts chatting with the contenders , I bet the nerves are well and truly there now .Looking at Laura Thorn’s outfit at a closer view , it lookes like she’s got hospital TED stockings on held on by bicycle trouser clips and not boots ! I don’t understand a word of Luxembourgish , so can’t tell you what they are saying .We are getting another recap of the performances now .

We are introduced to Tali now, who of course , represented Luxembourg she’s just telling us all how Eurovision has changed her life . She’s also giving wise words to whoever wins tonight.She goes on stage to sing her new song “Dear Parents”. I can’t help but feel she us actually the best act we have seen tonight , even though she’s not actually competing !

Now we seem to be going through a “how to spin this contest out as long as possible ” time, with interviews with the nervous contestants .

And we have yet another, but according to the hosts , the final ( thankfully!) recap ! How many recaps can you fit into one contest ? Voting hasn’t closed yet, hopefully it will at some point and we might have a result ! Time for a toilet break, me thinks !

Looking through social media and Laura seems to be a clear favourite with a lot of folk out there ! Let’s see if the juries and voters agree! VOTING HAS NOW CLOSED !.

The contestants now telling us who their favourite past Eurovision performers are. Hopefully we’ll get a result before too long !

Yet another interval act! This time from Conchita , singing “Waters run deep “! Much as I like Conchita, I would really like to see some results now .

Looks like we’re getting the jury results now ……finally !

The acts are coming on stage to learn their fate !

Votes will be given with only 12 points being announced and rest of points displayed on scoreboard .

Netherlands -12 to Laura Thorn

Poland -12 to Laura Thorn

Ireland -12 to Laura Thorn

Not a great shock so far but Mana in second place is a bit of a surprise .

Malta -12 to Laura Thorn

Finland -12 to Laura Thorn , Luzac now in second place

Spain -12 to Laura Thorn, she’s walking this so far !

Estonia -12 to Luzac, a shock that we have a change !

Switzerland- 12 to Laura Thorn

How it stands after the Jury votes :

Remember though, this is only 50% of the votes , the public vote is to come and can change everything !

Conchita will give the result of the public vote BUT ……how annoying ! we have a commercial break now, just at a major point of the contest!

Results -110 to Zero point five

17 to RAFA ELA

20 to Mena

39 points to One last Time

29 to Rhythmic Soulwave

31 to Luzac , he won’t win

It’s Laura or Zero Point 5

Laura gets 90 points and is the winner !

Final Score board :

So Laura Thorn will go to Basel to represent Luxembourg at a semi final, yet to be decided, in May .We’ll find that out on 28th January when the allocation draw takes place in Basel. Congratulations to her !

What do you think? Did Luxembourg choose wisely tonight?

We’ll leave the blog here now . Thank you for staying with us tonight , it’s been a pleasure to be with you all.

Goodnight Europe ! Goodnight rest of the world .

Author : Sarah Rudman

Source : RTL