Céline Dion made a rare appearance during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest with a brief, pre-recorded message.
The star won the contest for Switzerland in 1988, and it had been rumoured she would take the stage as the ceremony returns to the country this year.
“I’d love nothing more than to be with you,” she said in a video, apparently ruling out that possibility. “Switzerland will forever hold a special place in my heart. It’s the country that believed in me and gave me the chance to be part of something so extraordinary.”
The semi-final saw 10 acts qualify for Saturday’s grand finale, including Swedish entrants KAJ, whose song Bara Bada Bastu is the runaway favourite.
Their song, an accordion-led comedy number whose title translates to “let’s take a sauna”, has a 40% chance of winning, according to bookmakers.
If the prediction comes true, it would be Sweden’s eighth Eurovision title – making them the most victorious country in the contest’s history (they are currently tied with Ireland, on seven wins each).
Fifteen acts performed at Tuesday’s semi-final in Basel’s St Jakobshalle. These are the ones who made the cut.
- Norway: Kyle Alessandro – Lighter
- Albania: Shkodra Elektronike – Zjerm
- Sweden: KAJ – Bara Bada Bastu
- Iceland: VÆB – RÓA
- Netherlands: Claude – C’est La Vie
- Poland: Justyna Steczkowska – GAJA
- San Marino: Gabry Ponte – Tutta L’Italia
- Estonia: Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato
- Portugal: NAPA – Deslocado
- Ukraine: Ziferblat – Bird of Pray
That means that the Eurovision dreams of Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia and Slovenia have all ended for 2025.
Of those, the biggest surprise was Belgium’s Red Sebastian, whose rave anthem Strobe Lights had been predicted to finish among the top five.
His disqualification came on the day of his 26th birthday.
Ten more acts will progress to the main competition after Thursday’s second semi-final.
The “Big Five” countries, who contribute the most financially to the competition (France, Germany, Spain, the UK and Italy) qualify automatically, as do last year’s winners, Switzerland.
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