What to look out for from the music at Eurovision 2025

Behind every Eurovision banger there's a team of unsung heroes

- writes music industry expert Samuel Murray.

This year’s Eurovision embraces linguistic diversity like never before, with over half of the songs featuring lyrics not in English

One of the joys of Eurovision is hearing songs in different languages and different musical styles. Of the 37 entries in this year’s contest, 23 songs include languages other than English (13 per cent more than in 2024), and 17 of those are entirely sung in languages other than English (14 per cent more than in 2024).

With more than half of the entries now featuring languages other than English, the chances of a non-English song winning have increased. Among these entries, there are some particularly interesting language choices.

One of the biggest controversies regarding language this year has been the Maltese entry Serving, performed by Miriana Conte. The song was originally titled Serving Kant. Kant is the Maltese word for singing but is pronounced in the same way as the English swear word.

It is a knowing reference to the phrase “serving ****”. Drawn from black queer ballroom culture, popularised through shows like Rupaul’s Drag Race, it means to do something in a powerfully feminine manner.