So tonight is the first semi final of Eurovision 2011 and I’ve not written up my traditional top five. There are some great songs this year (and even our own entry by Blue has grown on me), but the five I’ll be cheering for are…

First, Popular by Sweden’s Eric Saade. Try and ignore those dodgy first two lines (and the fact that in his rehearsals the glass in his box has sometimes not been breaking, thus trapping him in the cube). The only trouble is, it might just be a bit too mainstream to be memorable. Still, we like it, and I can’t deny it sounds like Rasputin at the beginning:

Belarus, with I Love Belarus. If we re-wrote our national anthem along these lines we’d all know the lyrics and we’d all sing along. Let’s start a campaign:

Russia’s song reminds me of Lessons in Love by Level 42. Despite that, it ought to do well as it was written by the same guy as Lady Gaga’s Poker Face. Even so, I’d like to see the contest heading somewhere other than Russia so soon after they last hosted it.

Hungary’s What About My Dreams reminds me a lot of a couple of trips to Hungary a few years ago as you see so much of Budapest in the video. The song’s not bad, either. It’ll be interesting to see how well it holds up on stage when there’s no scenery to look at.

And finally Emmy, singing Boom Boom for Armenia. What’s not to like? A stereotypical old-school Eurovision lyric to which we can all sing along, and a song that sounds like two tunes stitched together. If you get it stuck in your head, go back and have another listen to Belarus.