SuRie impressed the crowds at Eurovision In Concert (Picture: Monty Moncrieff)

Eurovision In Concert, the annual Eurovision preview party in The Netherlands took place this weekend and predictions about how songs will do at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest are starting to firm up.

The show gives some idea of how songs will go down in the Eurovision arena, with 3,500 fans packed into the hall and stage effects being used for the first time on the road to Eurovision.

35 of the 43 Eurovision entries took to the stage but Norway, Italy and Russia were absent.

Saara Aalto gave one of the biggest performances of the night, getting the audience going with her entry Monsters. The live vocal showed that if anything, Saara Aalto has improved as a performing artist since coming second on The X Factor UK.

Hot favourite Netta Barzilai’s performance of the Israel entry Toy was also noteworthy for the incredible audience reaction.

Toy has been breaking records on social media streaming since it’s release and the live show isn’t disappointing. This is Israel’s best chance of a win since Shiri Maimon came fourth in 2005.

Australia’s Jessica Mauboy’s star continues to rise. We Got Love is increasingly seen as a serious contender for the Eurovision crown and a first win for Australia.

They’ve only been competing for three years and took second place in 2016. Don’t rule this one out.

Moldova’s Do Re Dos will sing My Lucky Day in Lisbon and every performance seems to be lucky for them.

Yet again, the audience went crazy for the trio and after coming third last year, Moldova look set for at least a top 10 result this Eurovision.

Ukraine’s Melovin might not be so lucky with his entry Under The Ladder.

But superstition aside, he gave a strong performance and the crowd enjoyed it. Last year’s host country should safely qualify for the Eurovision finals again this year.

Spain’s Amaia and Alfred could well be the highest scoring ballad this year. This got a huge reaction from the Dutch crowd.

Spain are one of the serious dark horses this year after finishing in last place last time around.

The big surprise of the night came from Albania. Eugent Bushpepa’s performance of Mall went down very well with the audience in Amsterdam.

It was one of the first songs to be selected but it’s coming up on the rails.

The Netherlands are represented by Waylon, a leading country music star back home.

He was one half of The Common Linnets, who came second at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest and scored a top 10 UK hit. He’s back with Outlaw In ‘Em and the home crowd lapped it up.

Serbia’s Sanja Ilić & Balkanika could be the best of the Balkan nations this year. The ethnic undertones of Nova Deca are strong and likely to pull in the votes.

The live performance shows that this song has potential to become a dark horse if the Eurovision staging supports the song.

Bulgaria’s Equinox are also gaining fans and they helped their cause with special guest Kristian Kostov, who landed the country’s best ever Eurovision result last year by taking second place.

Denmark’s Rasmussen has been an ever-present on the main Eurovision tour and his fan base continues to grow.

Higher Ground is a sing-along entry that works well in an arena. Denmark look set to make it to the Eurovision final again this year.

Poland’s Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer was another one that went big in the arena at Eurovision In Concert. The up-tempo electro-pop song is one of the more popular Poland entries and could hit the top 10 this year. There’s shades of Norway’s 2017 entry about this style and it’s proven to do well in the voting.

Czech Republic’s Mikolas is making a serious play for the youth vote and this energetic entry works the audience well. Czech Republic made it to the Eurovision final for the only time in 2016    but finished 25th out of 26. This is going to smash that record.

Sweden should be safely through to the Eurovision final again this year and pushing for a typical top six finish. Benjamin Ingrosso’s Dance You Off ticked all the boxes on his latest performance.

Switzerland’s Zibbz was on form again after impressing at Israel Calling. Despite a soar throat, the performance of Stones rocked the Amsterdam concert. Switzerland should be on the qualifiers list again this year.

Macedonia’s Eye Cue have one of the big crowd pleasers of 2018. The pop-reggae-rock entry has been under the radar but the live performances at the preview events have impressed. They should be looking at a place in the Euroviison Grand Final.

The United Kingdom’s SuRie had a very busy night. As well as performing Storm, she stepped in for the unwell Emilie to perform the French entry along with Jean Karl. Ensuring that the French song wasn’t dropped from the line-up, they performed Mercy in English, delighting the Dutch crowd.

SuRie’s latest performance of Storm leaves no doubt that she deserves a great result at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

It’s widely accepted that this is the strongest Eurovision for many years and a top 10 result would be a phenomenal achievement. It would be well deserved.

The Eurovision Song Contest takes place at 8pm on Saturday 12 May. It will be broadcast live on BBC One with Graham Norton commentating.

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