Eurovision 2025 was one of the most diverse years in the contest’s history. More than half of the songs were sung at least partially in a different language, and the genre mixes were as varied as ever. The winning song, “Wasted Love” by JJ, is an operatic lament with a sudden shift towards rave in the last thirty seconds.
Therefore, national finals should expect a bunch of opera-influenced songs amongst their midst. With the juries impressed by powerful vocals, shown in the two most recent heroes, national broadcasters could be tempted to leap onto that trend. However, a warning against it would be the absolute glut of songs fighting for few spots, which would ultimately cancel it out either during the selection process, or on the night of the contest.
On the other hand, folk-influenced music garnered a slight renaissance. Most notably, KAJ’s “Bara Bada Bastu,” which was Sweden’s first Swedish-language song since the language rule was dropped, placed into the top five and became a major hit before the contest, as well as topping both the Swedish and Finnish charts. Meanwhile, “Zjerm” got Albania’s first top ten placing since 2012 with an experimental folktronica piece, and “Asteromata” snagged Greece’s best placing since 2013, coincidentally also in Greek.
Language diversity was a major talking point for this year’s contest, and the results showcased their success. Notably, in semi-final one, all the songs with non-English lyrics made it to the grand final. “Bur man laimi” became the first Latvian-language song to qualify for the final, coming in second in its semi-final; and ended up on the left-hand side. However, with a third straight winner in English, the continued climb of non-English songs in the 2026 edition might stall, or even start declining a bit. It would depend on whether the broadcasters are looking at the top three or the top ten for their inspiration. Nevertheless, based on the results of this year’s contest, non-English songs have made a thorough mark.
“Wasted Love” is a morose and introspective song about love, but streams and views on YouTube indicate the need for something more upbeat. Despite coming in fifteenth place, Abor and Tynna’s “Baller” has climbed the charts all across Europe, topped them in Lithuania and Latvia, and even made Billboard’s Global 200 at #80. Meanwhile, “Espresso Macchiato” by Tommy Cash garnered over 20 million streams on Spotify throughout the month of May.
When looking at future trends for the 2026 contest, high tempo and folkloric might be the way to go. Operatic vocals could pop up from different national selections; however, there might be a bigger incentive to find vocalists who could impress the crowd without resulting to falsettos or dramatic ranges. With the current tensions of the world, higher tempo and more lighthearted songs may reign the day, in spite of the ballads rewarded by the jury.