Eurovision: Will a song about a dog be best in show?

A song about a mutt that was flown into space may sound a bit niche - but Irish Eurovision fans will be hoping it finishes top dog when the annual contest takes place next week.

The singer Emmy will be performing Laika Party in the second semi-final of the contest on Thursday, hoping to qualify for next Saturday’s grand final in Basel, Switzerland.

Both the semi-finals of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest - the first is on Tuesday - are live on RTÉ2 at 8pm.

Emmy, who is from Norway, will be the third song up of the 16 acts on Thursday, with the top ten songs as voted by the public going through to the final.

Emmy also co-wrote Laika Party, which is a tribute to Laika, the Soviet dog who in 1957 became the first mammal in space, but died in the process.

The idea for the lyrics came after Emmy discovered the dog’s story, prompting her to imagine an alternative fate in which the animal, instead of dying, experiences an endless party in space.

However, the bookies are unconvinced that the Irish entry will lap up the votes, placing it as a 100-1 outsider to win, although they reckon it might sneak through its semi-final.

The strong favourites this year are Sweden, whose song, Bara Bada Bastu, by the Finnish band KAJ, is a comedic celebration of sauna culture. If it does prevail, it will move Sweden one ahead of Ireland with the most Eurovision wins - eight.

Prolific winners in the late 20th century, Ireland has not won the contest since 1996. In contrast, Sweden has won Eurovision three times since 2012.

Ireland’s dismal run in recent decades was somewhat ended last year when Cork singer Bambie Thug not only reached the final but ended up sixth, behind the winner from Switzerland, The Code, sung by Nemo

Austria, France, the Netherlands and Israel are also fancied to do well this year - the latter would be a controversial victory, given the current situation in Gaza.

The ten winners voted through from each semi-final will join the big five pre-qualifiers - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom - and hosts Switzerland in the final next weekend.

This year, the big five will perform in the semi-finals as part of the show, although there will be no votes allocated to them.

The UK entry is What The Hell Just Happened? by female country-pop trio Remember Monday, who are a fairly distant 80-1 in the betting.

The winning act will get to host next year’s Eurovision - the 70th.