Eurovision 2007: Who Escapes The Qualifier of Death?

"Tonight" the Czech Republic and Portugal decided (the latter with a webcast that was very shaky over here, to be honest), leaving only Hungary left to show their goods, if you will.

At the risk of jumping the gun, I'm going to issue the first of several speculations about who's going to get out of the Qualifier and who is going to stay.

Now there are 10 slots open for the Qualifier entries in the final and 28 entries in the Qualifier. All this adds up to a virtual bloodbath.

Let's get the likely contenders over with.

Probably going to get through, provided everything goes alright:

1. Serbia (I don't care for it, but it will go through)
2. Cyprus
3. Switzerland
4. Andorra
5. Belarus
6. Belgium

Next, the shaky ones that have perhaps a less than 50% chance of getting through:

• Macedonia (yes, I put Macedonia down as shaky because the competition is that rough)
• Poland
• Georgia

That final slot will be filled--by the skin of their teeth--with one of these six.

• Netherlands
• Turkey
• Bulgaria
• Estonia
• Israel (controversy is good, very good, for an entry)
• Portugal (yes, primarily because I'm viewing it in the context of the others, but if it doesn't get a strong makeover expect Slovenia, Montenegro, or the Czechs to take their place)

Personally, I think the Final is going to be even more vicious, with Spain the likely winner in a photo finish.