Outside the big five, it was another busy week for national selection activity, with Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and Ukraine all moving one step closer to choosing their entries. Here's a brief rundown of events...
Estonia
The first semi final of Eesti Laul saw
Goodbye to Yesterday singer Elina Born progressing to the finals with
In or Out, co-written by her 2015 duet partner Stig Rästa. Also qualifying were former Vanilla Ninja singer and frequent Eesti Laul competitor
Lenna,
Ariadne,
Ivo Linna and
Karl-Kristjan & Whogaux feat. Maian.
Hungary
The lineup for Hungary's grand final next Saturday was completed with back-to-back semi finals on Friday and Saturday night. Expected frontrunners include
Gabi Toth,
Joci Pápai and
Gina Kanizsa, who all scored top marks in their respective semi finals.
Kállay Saunders Band also qualified to the finals, but had to rely on a televote lifeline after failing to reach the top 3 with the juries.
Israel
Israel's catchily titled "The Next Star for Eurovision 2017" ended on Monday night with Imri Ziv securing a ticket to Kyiv in May. The photogenic singer has form with the Contest, having provided backing vocals for both Nadav Guedj and Hovi Star in 2015 and 2016. Ziv's song for Eurovision will be released at a later date.
Latvia
With Aminata flogging her wares in neighbouring Lithuania this year (see below), Latvia continued to search for a final-worthy entry without her as the second heat of Supernova took place on Sunday night. Four more qualifiers advanced to the semi final, with
My Radiant You and
Triana Park winning the public televote, while
The Ludvig and
Santa Danelevica were selected by the jury.
Lithuania
Lithuania's seemingly endless national selection continues to rumble on with Aistė Pilvelytė's Aminata-penned
I'm Like a Wolf winning the seventh heat convincingly. Fan favourites
Greta Zazza,
Mia and
Sasha Song also progressed, as did the
Queens of Roses and their disco-tinged ode to fishing.
Sweden
After a slightly listless opening show last week, the second semi final of Melodifestivalen was a significant improvement, with several memorable performances and a
showstopping interval act from co-host David Lindgren, who proved that no Swedish man is too straight to rip off his clothes and straddle a neon mic stand in the name of entertainment.
After Charlotte Perrelli's early exit last week, it was the turn of two-time Melfest winner Roger Pontare to fall foul of the cruel indifference of the app vote. Performing what looked and sounded like a sort of viking funeral for the Schlager genre, Roger did manage to claw his way into the final five with
Himmel och hav, but youth once again prevailed when the final votes came in. Mariette and Benjamin Ingrosso went straight to the finals, while
Lisa Ajax and
Dismissed were sent to the second chance round.
Ukraine
In the host country's refreshingly straightforward national selection, two more songs qualified for the grand final, due to take place on 25th February. Mixing classic Eurovision ballad with strong folk elements, Illaria's
Thank You For My Way was the public favourite, while the juries selected Rozhden and his more danceable effort
Saturn.
