Two months ago, we asked our readers who they thought should win the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, ahead of rehearsals.

And now we can reveal that their answer was Israel. “Toy” was an instant hit on release and consistent favourite with the bookies. Netta won the poll with 8% of all votes (5336) cast. Israel will perform 22nd on Saturday night.

Her nearest rival was eliminated on Tuesday. Belarus‘ Alekseev placed second with 7% of votes cast (4884). His strong showing in our poll did not translate into success in his semi-final.

Spain‘s Alfred & Amaia round out the top three. Love’s young dream won 7% (4066) of all votes cast. Their tender ballad “Tu canción” has charmed hearts across Europe, but tomorrow night has a tough job of succeeding from second in the running order.

Fourth went to Albania‘s Eugent Bushpepa who sailed through the first semi-final on Tuesday night. He won 5% (3463) of all votes cast in the poll.

The final act in the top 5 was also eliminated. Greece‘s Yianna Terzi impressed in the studio, but found success elusive on stage. She won a further 5% (3394) of votes cast.

Cyprus (5%), Ukraine (5%), Portugal (4%), France (4%) and Bulgaria (4%) round out the top 10. At the opposite end of the spectrum LativaSerbiaSan MarinoGeorgiaMontenegro and Iceland placed in the bottom six. Five out of those six were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Full results for who should win the Eurovision Song Contest 2018:

Israel: Netta “Toy” 5,336 8%
Belarus: Alekseev “Forever” 4,884 7%
Spain: Alfred & Amaia “Tu canción” 4,066 6%
Albania: Eugent Bushpepa “Mall” 3,463 5%
Greece: Yianna Terzi “Oniro Mou” 3,394 5%
Cyprus: Eleni Foureira “Fuego” 3,309 5%
Ukraine: Mélovin “Under The Ladder” 3,163 5%
Portugal: Cláudia Pascoal “O Jardim” 2,802 4%
France: Madame Monsieur “Mercy” 2,784 4%
Bulgaria: Equinox “Bones” 2,663 4%
Estonia: Elina Nechayeva “La Forza” 2,560 4%
Belgium: SENNEK “A Matter Of Time” 2,517 4%
Finland: Saara Aalto “Monsters” 2,486 4%
Italy: Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro “Non mi avete fatto niente” 2,343 3%
Czech Republic: Mikolas Josef “Lie To Me” 1,869 3%
Sweden: Benjamin Ingrosso “Dance You Off” 1,442 2%
Lithuania: Ieva Zasimauskaite “When We’re Old” 1,290 2%
Poland: Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer “Light Me Up” 1,159 2%
The Netherlands: Waylon “Outlaw in ‘Em” 1,154 2%
FYR Macedonia: Eye Cue “Lost And Found” 1,132 2%
Australia: Jessica Mauboy “We Got Love” 1,120 2%
Norway: Alexander Rybak “That’s How You Write a Song” 1,091 2%
Denmark: Rasmussen “Higher Ground” 1,010 1%
Ireland: Ryan O’Shaughnessy “Together” 893 1%
Germany: Michael Schulte “You Let Me Walk Alone” 853 1%
Austria: Cesár Sampson “Nobody But You” 845 1%
Hungary: AWS “Viszlát nyár” 757 1%
Armenia: Sevak Khanagyan “Qami” 659 1%
United Kingdom: SuRie “Storm” 651 1%
Malta: Christabelle “Taboo” 618 1%
Moldova: DoReDos “My Lucky Day” 615 1%
Switzerland: Zibbz “Stones” 598 1%
Romania: The Humans “Goodbye” 559 1%
Croatia: Franka Batelic “Crazy” 551 1%
Slovenia: Lea Sirk “Hvala, ne!” 546 1%
Azerbaijan: Aisel “X My Heart” 464 1%
Russia: Julia Samoylova “I Won’t Break” 461 1%
Latvia: Laura Rizzotto “Funny Girl” 429 1%
Serbia: Sanja Ilic & Balkanika “Nova deca” 416 1%
San Marino: Jessika feat. Jenifer Brening “Who We Are” 196 0%
Georgia: Iriao “For You” 195 0%
Montenegro: Vanja Radovanovic “Inje” 158 0%
Iceland: Ari Ólafsson “Our Choice” 157 0%

A flash poll for who should win will open shortly.

You can see more polls here

57 Comments
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Not Your Toy
Not Your Toy
5 years ago

It’s time fat people to win, go Israel! I love your message.

James
James
5 years ago

My favs, in no particular order, are:

Spain
Cyprus
Portugal
Estonia
Czech Republic
Sweden
Lithuania
Macedonia
Australia
Norway
Ireland
Armenia
United Kingdom
Iceland

My2Cents
My2Cents
5 years ago

1. Estonia
2. Cyprus
3. Ireland
4. Lithuania
5. Serbia
6. Slovenia
7. Portugal
8. Israel
9. Austria
10. Bulgaria

11. Czech Republic
12. Moldova
13. Albania
14. Germany
15. Sweden
16. Finland
17. France
18. Ukraine
19. The Netherlands
20. Spain

21. Australia
22. Denmark
23. Hungary
24. UK
25. Italy
26. Norway

sue
sue
5 years ago

just wondering..who will you vote for? I am going with Albania and Bulgaria

Nikos
Nikos
5 years ago

Come on guys. She can’t move her hands. She seems lazy on stage.
Eleni is so great performer.
#Fuego

BorisBubbles
BorisBubbles
5 years ago

1. France
2. Cyprus
3. Israel
4. Estonia
5. Sweden

This will be the top five ladies and gentlemen, in that specific order.

Efi
Efi
5 years ago
Reply to  BorisBubbles

France first? No way! 5-12 place. Mediocre song….
Nicosia 2019. Look at the odds. 1/1 Cyprus! The biggest favourite of all time!

melani
melani
5 years ago

Love Netta and TOY! the best this year. so creative, something new and fresh for this competition. good luck!

Onde vai o Gato?
Onde vai o Gato?
5 years ago

The Big Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 is here and Gato’s Eurovision FINAL Poll has just opened! So, what are you waiting for? Go vote, see the results changing LIVE and share with all your friends!!

https://ondevaiogato.blogspot.pt/2018/05/gatos-eurovision-poll-final-2018.html

Leo M
Leo M
5 years ago

WOW! Ireland have shot up to 3rd favourites in the odds. Really hopiing he would get a good result, top 10 would be great. Still think Cyprus is the winner, hopefully the juries pull Israel down

Gtyhygf
Gtyhygf
5 years ago
Reply to  Leo M

How is Sweden’s and Cyprus’ plastic manufactured songs worse than Israel’s plastic manufactured song? Cyprus is inspired by Beyonce, Sweden is inspired by Timberlame and Bieber, Israel is inspired by kpop. Let’s face it, they are all just catchy fun songs, not high art. But at least Cyprus doesn’t pretend something it’s not, and doesn’t have airs and graces Sweden and Israel seem to have.

gili
gili
5 years ago
Reply to  Gtyhygf

You are confused there was never simething like netta before therefore she is the only one deserves winning

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
5 years ago
Reply to  Leo M

Holy smokes! I just looked at the bookies’ boards myself. Is Ireland going to sneak up from behind and steal this thing from out of nowhere? On April 8, a month before the contest started, Ryan O’Shaughnessy was number TWENTY-NINE! Now it looks as if everyone (including me) are paying attention; and it must be that excellent stage setup that did the trick. He played Salvador Sobral’s LESS-IS-MORE playbook to perfection; and tomorrow we might just get a monumental shocker with Ireland’s 8th victory. Don’t be surprised if a lot of people can’t make up their minds. Which is what… Read more »

Efi
Efi
5 years ago
Reply to  Leo M

Cyprus is 1st in Jury and Tele voting of course. All juries vote for Eleni. She is a great performer. Her dance is unique. She will promote the contest all over the world. She can do it! No one else and that’s the truth!
Nicosia 2019

Antonio
Antonio
5 years ago

Non c’è niente da fare, la musica portoghese è sempre la migliore.

Alessio
Alessio
5 years ago

albania in top 5 for shure

James
James
5 years ago

Portugal is a small country (and already won last year) so we don’t talk to much about it but has a huge potential! And the portuguese tongue is magnificent. One of the favourite to win for sure

Netta is a feminist, bad bad. Im not a toy.
Netta is a feminist, bad bad. Im not a toy.
5 years ago
Reply to  James

Not a chance. So boring and it have no refrain. Will be in the bottom. Probably 20-26th place.

Mobili
Mobili
5 years ago

That’s what you think. Portugal song is magical

AAGS
AAGS
5 years ago

20-26….are you jocking?
Last year the was boring too.
Ok, i think you don’t like Savador, but don’t underestimate the Portuguese song.
I think many surprises surprises will happen saturday.

Netta is a feminist, bad bad. Im not a toy.
Netta is a feminist, bad bad. Im not a toy.
5 years ago
Reply to  AAGS

I actually love Salvador and his song. But this song is much worser. And it will probably be at 20-26.

Stefan
Stefan
5 years ago

Could agree more! I am pretty sure Portugal will give you some surprise. The song is magical! The singer’s mesmerizing voice conveys sucha great emotion and portuguese language is so amazing! This is so beautiful! The winner for me is Portugal

Kyna
Kyna
5 years ago

Sorry to burst your bubble, but nobody in my family nor friends liked it, and that came from their initial listening (except for one who has listened to some before). Even kids, to my surprise, were left confused and were entertained by Czechia instead. The reactions were direct opposite, mostly found it too “in your face”, is rough and has negative influence (calling ~stupid~ boy). They didn’t found her that pleasant, I even tried to explain that she’s actually sweet person but hey, that was their initial impression. For us having subtitles highlighted how poor the lyrics actually are, regardless… Read more »

gili
gili
5 years ago
Reply to  Kyna

When you are left confused it meens you just watcbed something origal and creative that you didnt expecexpecNetta is where it is…

Kyna
Kyna
5 years ago
Reply to  gili

No, the kids (not me, I obviously know the song before) were confused and found it weird, that’s it.

Aags
Aags
5 years ago

Ok. I understand you love the song.
But a masterpiece…are you serious?

Aags
Aags
5 years ago

I still think Portugal is one of the favourite to win.

Efi
Efi
5 years ago
Reply to  Aags

No way. NICOSIA 2019. Portugal goes for 20-26 places

Sylvain
Sylvain
5 years ago
Reply to  Efi

And so what? It doesn’t mean anything. I agree Portugal one of the favourite to win. as it won last year bookmakers only think Portugal can’t make it again… no so sure we’ll see. I love portuguese song

Denise
Denise
5 years ago
Reply to  Sylvain

It’s not good in front of fuego. It’s mediocre.
Nicosia 2019

Huur
Huur
5 years ago
Reply to  Denise

It’s just best in front of fuego which has no soul just fireworks like a video of shakiyoncé.

Aags
Aags
5 years ago

Remember Italia, last year.
Same thing will happen with this song….

Ern
Ern
5 years ago

I’m betting Netta will NOT win. She’s much like Italy’s entry last year, expected to win but ended-up in 6th place. She’s top 10 for sure though.

I’m 100% certain Cyprus will win. The song is awful, but Eleni will impress.

Aags
Aags
5 years ago
Reply to  Ern

i agree with you, but don’t forget portugal song.

gili
gili
5 years ago
Reply to  Ern

Totally agree..moves and sex should not win eurovision..it will return eurovision ti be trash

Edgar
Edgar
5 years ago

If not a winner, but at least Ireland will get 2nd place.

hvala ja
hvala ja
5 years ago

I might be delusional because I love this song to bits but I do think that Mall has a shot at top5 this year

Gtyhygf
Gtyhygf
5 years ago

Or loking at it differently: it’s got random japanease elements thrown into it, like why? What has Japan to do with Europe, Israel, the message of the song, Eurovision? I would say they added those Japanease elements just to make it look cool for teenagers who like asian culture. They are there because asian culture is trendy for young people now. They added a ‘message’ to the song just like most of the countries, so that they can talk about it in the interviews and pretend that ESC is something more than a cheesy, political, corrupt song contest (that has… Read more »

Matan
Matan
5 years ago

Also eleni’s dancers are swedish, netta’s are israeli

Gtyhygf
Gtyhygf
5 years ago
Reply to  Matan

Yeah, but what of it? Isn’ Eurovision supposed to be about love love peace peace between countries? What’s wrong with collaborations between nations? Most of the songs are written / produced/ staged by multinational teams. Same with backing vocalists and dancers.

Luis
Luis
5 years ago

#MeToo movement VS another gay Diva. Let’s see who wins!

Matan
Matan
5 years ago

Why do people favor cyprus over israel? Eleni’s preformance abilities are amazing but the song is so generic and forgettable (mark my words in 4-5 months no one will be listening to it). Plus her dance routine is basically beyonce, nothing we haven’t seen before.

Gtyhygf
Gtyhygf
5 years ago
Reply to  Matan

For me personally: I got tired and bored of Isreal’s songs after a few listenings, live performance is not that great, it pretends to be more than it really is (a nice upbeat song), they created some hype in the media saying it is about metoo movement, but then they chickened out of it and now they are saying it is about empowerment. Plus Israel is much more influential in EBU than Cyprus, hosting preparties and all. Also Israel has already won 3 times. So ‘m rooting for Cyprus as it is an underdog, a poor country, and a song… Read more »

Gtyhygf
Gtyhygf
5 years ago
Reply to  Gtyhygf

Well in the interviews with Netta what i have watched, she was speaking about empowerment message, not about metoo movement.. So it’s like they like the hype they get from press mentioning metoo, but they don’t actually adress it in the interviews, because it is a touchy subject.. at least that’s my impression. As for Cyprus song being a colaboration beteen different nations – I think that’s great and fitting the spirit of Eurovision. I don’t see anything wrong with it. If anything, it shows how a modern Europe really is – a vocalist that has ties to 3 countries,… Read more »

Gtyhygf
Gtyhygf
5 years ago
Reply to  Gtyhygf

Honey, almost everyone at Eurovision is working in multinational teams: writers, composers, producers, singers, directors, dancers, backing vocalists. It’s not just Cyprus – should we ban all of them then? The notion that everyone working on the song should be nationally pure is somehow.. wrong, limiting and sort of xenophobic in this day and age?

Efi
Efi
5 years ago

Netta and Toy will be in places 3-8 and 100-200pts behind Eleni and Fuego!
Nicosia 2019

gili
gili
5 years ago
Reply to  Efi

Whatever happens, people with good taste will favor the originality and creativity and will vote for netta., not fir cheap copy if beyonce that sells sex and moves and nothing more

A S
A S
5 years ago

Who is team Netta? Lets vote guys and support!

Bigpecs
Bigpecs
5 years ago

For me our Netta already won. I love many songs in the competition including Cyprus, Hungary, Denmark, France, Lithuania, Italy, Germany Albania to mention a few and they all could be great winners. Netta did what no artist did. Few months ago no one in Israel knew who she was and now hundreds of millions know and love her. With over 45,000,000 views to her video she inspired millions of heavy boys and girls to be and love who they are and for that only she is my winner no matter who will actually wins. I adore you Netta!

Dan
Dan
5 years ago
Reply to  Bigpecs

Aw, love your attitude 🙂

Peter T
Peter T
5 years ago

Israel seems to have got old quickly ; it’s lost its shine and novelty …the first 30 seconds kills interest in it and sets it up as a bizarre novelty act IMO

#GOSPAIN
#GOSPAIN
5 years ago

Im gonna vote for spain as many times as posible, from every cellphone in my house

Danny
Danny
5 years ago
Reply to  #GOSPAIN

yeah, it will be enough to drag them to the 23d place

#GOSPAIN
#GOSPAIN
5 years ago
Reply to  Danny

Or the 3rd place, SPAIN WINNERS OF EUROVISION 2018!!!

Gtyhygf
Gtyhygf
5 years ago

Pre-rehearsals doesn’t mean anything, as semi final results have shown

sevzch
sevzch
5 years ago
Reply to  Gtyhygf

We havent seen the full results tho

M_K
M_K
5 years ago

I remember voting for Iceland out of spite.