Eurovision 2025 is set to kick off in Basel, Switzerland, on May 17. With the contest just over a month away, it's time to break down the competition's history, the favourites, the best bets, and the buzz surrounding this year's competition.
The Eurovision Song Contest, more commonly known as "Eurovision," is a prestigious international song contest. Countries, primarily from Europe, send artists to perform original songs live on TV. In 1956, the European Broadcasting Union saw a need to unite post-war Europe and decided to start Eurovision to bring countries together through art, music and culture. Today, it's a global phenomenon with over 150 million annual viewers.
The process starts with each country picking an act; it could be a solo singer, band, musical group, etc. Those acts compete nationally for the right to represent their country. The best acts from each country then compete in one of two semi-finals, and the top 10 acts from each semi-final make it to the Grand Final. The host country, the previous year's winning, gets an automatic entry, as do the "Big Five" countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). Then, at the finals, each act performs live, and the winner is decided by a mix of public televotes (people texting or calling in) and points from professional juries in each participating country. The country with the most points wins, and they usually host the following year's contest.
It's not only about music; it's a spectacle. Wild costumes, over-the-top staging, and songs ranging from pop bangers to ballads, folk mashups, and even heavy metal.
Make no mistake: political factors play a massive role in deciding the winner. Voting blocs like Scandinavia or the Balkans often trade points, and lyrics sometimes carry subtle insults and sass toward fellow contestants. Notable winners include ABBA for Sweden in 1974 and Céline Dion for Switzerland in 1988, despite the fact that she's Canadian.

Make no mistake: political factors play a massive role in deciding the winner. Voting blocs like Scandinavia or the Balkans often trade points, and lyrics sometimes carry subtle insults and sass toward fellow contestants. Notable winners include ABBA for Sweden in 1974 and Céline Dion for Switzerland in 1988, despite the fact that she's Canadian.

Australia’s next federal election is scheduled to occur on or before May 17, 2025, and there are two main contenders that will be vying for votes over the next month and a half.

Representing incumbent Labor Party, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. His primary opponent, the Liberal-National Coalition, and Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton.

The last election down under, in May 2022, saw Labor secure a narrow majority with 77 seats in the House of Representatives, while the Coalition won 58 seats. Other parties made up the final 16 seats.

Leading up to the 2025 election, polls are much tighter. A YouGov poll from mid-March 2025 showed that a 50-50 split between Labor and the Coalition suggests a hung parliament is a real possibility. However, a Roy Morgan survey from mid-March 2025 gave Labor a more substantial lead at 54.5% to the Coalition’s 45.5%, boosted by the public response to events like Cyclone Alfred and perceived Coalition missteps, such as Peter Dutton’s retracted pledge to end remote work for public servants.

Historically, Australian polls are not to be trusted, so anything could happen. In 2019, the Coalition pulled off an upset win against the probability of the projected polls. Now, with the election still weeks away, and potential dates like May 3 or May 10 speculated, both parties have time to implement policies and adjust their respective strategies to gain a late advantage. The key for the Labor will be their ability to leverage its incumbency. At the same time, the Coalition’s success will be primarily due to capitalizing on discontent with the current regime. The smaller parties, like the Greens and Independents, could also play a massive role in strategic voting to turn the tide in favour of the Labor or Coalition.

This bet seems like a complete coin toss and is a pick ‘em on most platforms. Albanese is currently -120 to retain his office, and in a time of international uncertainty, many Aussies may elect to go with the safety of the status quo.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced President Donald Trump for launching a trade war with his country, saying that he won’t back down from a tariff fight with the United States.

“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin — a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” Trudeau said in Ottawa.

“Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well being of everyone in it is at stake.”

Trudeau pledged relief to Canadian workers caught in the trade war’s crosshairs, and told the American people that his quarrel was not with them.

“We don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally, and we don’t want to see you hurt either, but your government has chosen to do this to you,” he said.

Trudeau reserved his bluntest remarks for the president.

“It’s not in my habit to agree with The Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” Trudeau said. “We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see.”

The prime minister lauded his at-times productive partnership with Trump dating to 2016 — including a renegotiated free-trade deal that Trump once called the “fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law.”

Still speaking directly to Trump, Trudeau urged a different tack:

“We have done big things together on the world stage, as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations, and now we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world.”

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