A month has passed since the end of the semifinal season, and in that time, esctoday.com members have been busy voting in the Big poll to predict the outcome of the qualifier round in Athens. Now it is time to take stock of the first round of votes, and see exactly who features in the top ten of the collective esctoday.com readership!
So far, over 1500 of you have had your say in the poll. Not surprisingly, the top two are bookies' favourites Kate Ryan for Belgium, followed very closely by third-time Eurovision Song Contest participant Carola of Sweden. Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet earlier reported that Kate, described as “Kylie Minogue meets Shania Twain”, is considered Carola's biggest threat in Athens, and it appears that esctoday.com members agree with that!
In a rather distant third place is Bosnia-Herzegovina, seemingly poised for the kind of success granted to its composer, �eljko Joksimović, when he represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 contest, winning the semifinal and coming second overall in the international final.
The all-important top ten
The full top ten, as predicted so far by esctoday.com members to top the qualifier round on 18th May, are as follows:
1. Belgium
2. Sweden
3. Bosnia-Herzegovina
4. Russia
5. Poland
6. Turkey
7. Estonia
8. Armenia
9. FYR Macedonia
10. Finland
Languishing in 23rd position, and so far the fans' tip for the bottom, is the ironically named We are the winners for Lithuania, suggesting that the group has quite some convincing to do before Europe grants its wish!
You can view the full results at this link.
Previous Big polls
The two previous years' polls to predict the qualifying ten have met with varying success, with five out of ten qualifiers correctly predicted in 2005, and an impressive seven in 2004 (with the eventual top three in the top three positions, although in a different order). You can compare the results at the 2004 Big poll page and the 2005 Big poll page, both of which also include details of the final predictions for those years.
You can still register and change your votes, so if you want to add your voice you can do so at the Big poll 2006 page. In doing so, you may be helping this year's poll to be the most accurate yet, beating the 2004 record!
