BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA : Having achieved its best ever Eurovision result in 2006, Bosnia has again chosen an ethnic flavoured ballad for Helsinki, although few will argue that 2007 singer Marija Sestic is a little easier on the eye than Hari Mata Hari was last year. This is Bosnia's first time opening the contest. The only previous time that Bosnia performed in the first three songs was in 2001 when "Hano" finished 14th in Copenhagen. For the second year in a row, following Switzerland in 2006, the final opens with a ballad, but history suggests that if you want to open the show and win the contest, you need an uptempo song. Three winners have come from this draw position "Dinge Dong" in 1975, "Save All Your Kisses For Me" in 1976 and "Diggl-loo, Diggy-lay" in 1984. On a more positive note, the last time an opening song finished in the Top 5, was Croatia's ballad "Neka Mi Ne Svane" in 1998 and this year's Bosnian entry is very much in the same style. However, all in all this is not the best of draws for Bosnia. 

SPAIN : Having finished in the bottom five in the last two years, Spain will be hoping for a reversal of fortune in Helsinki, with boyband Nash carrying Spanish hopes. Spain hasn't had a late draw since televoting becan in 1997 and would have have hoped that the law of averages might favour them with a late slot in 2007. Instead the Spaniards have gotten the worst possible position in the draw. On average the second song performed has taken by far the lowest points over the past three years, and historically, none of the fifty one songs that have been performed in this position has won the contest. Last year Moldove had this draw and finished in the bottom 5. In 2004 another boyband had this draw, and Austria's Tie-Break finished 21st. If there is a tiny cause for hope, then it is that Spain will have the first uptempo song in the show and Cyprus's boyband opened the contest in 2002 with a similar song to this year's Spanish entry, and finished 6th, however realistically, that's the best Spain could hope for after this draw.

QUALIFIER : Perhaps surprisingly four previous winners had this draw position. "Dors Mon Amour" for France in 1958, "Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue" for Monaco in 1971, "Rock'N'Roll Kids" for Ireland in 1994 and in 1969, "Vivo Cantando" became one of the four winners, for Spain. This year this slot will be filled by the first qualifier, and given how difficult it will be to come through the semi-final, it's likely to be a good song, but the happiness of qualifying must be offset by knowing that this is not a good draw position, as Israel discovered in 2006. However a year earlier, Malta finished second from this draw, so anything is possible. 

IRELAND : After two late draws in the final in 2006 and 2004, Ireland returns to one of the early slots in the running order for the first time since Mickey Harte draw #3 in 2003. This will be Ireland's third time performing at #4. In 1965, "Walking The Streets In The Rain", the debut Irish entry had this draw, and likewise "Happy Man"  in 1979. Both of those songs finished in the Top 6, but that was in the era of juries, and in recent years, the advent of telvoting has meant at early draw is not generally an advatage, as Latvia discovered with this draw position in 2006. The only winner to come from this draw was Turkey's "Every Way That I Can" in 2003. Coming before the home entry, is also hardly an advantage, but for Ireland a lot depends on which country is draw before it. If it's a ballad like Serbia or Latvia, then it could be curtains for Dervish, and not just those mentioned in their song's lyrics. 

FINLAND : This is Finland's third time getting this draw slot and in an ironic twist it was this position that saw the first Finnish in 1961 when "Valoa Ikkunassa" finished 10th. Now the first Finnish host entry gets the same draw. Two winners have had this draw "Nocturne" for Norway in 1995 and "Een Beetje" for the Netherlands in 1959. Last year Norway also got this draw, but ended up being relegated, but the year earlier andother Norwegian entry reached the Top 10 with a rock entry in a similar style to this Finnish song. Up to recent years, it has been believed that the host entry has a slight advantage, by gaining more attention, and extra support in the arena, however after Ukraine's poor result in 2005, and Greece's disappointing result after being one of the favourites in 2006, it's doubtful if Finland can come anywhere near last year's success.   

LITHUANIA : Having had a pretty poor record in the Eurovision Song Contest, things took a dramatic change for the better for Lithuania in 2006, when the novelty song "We Are The Winners" finished in the Top 10. This year's Lithuanian entry couldn't be a bigger contrast to that song and many for that "Love Or Leave" needed to be late in the draw to be remembered by televoters. Instead this draw position, coming after three qualifiers may make it very difficult to gain a another good result. Lithuania had a similar draw position in 2001, when "You Got Style" was drawn at #8, and finished 13th. On the bright side this is good draw position for producing winners with Switzerland's  "Refrain" winning the first contest in in 1956 being followed by "Un Premier Amour" for France in 1962, "Merci Cherie" for Austria in 1966 and "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" for Switzerland in 1988. Unfortunately four of the last six songs performed at #9 have finished in the Top 10, with Albania in 2004 being the only exception. Lithuania's hopes may depend on which thre songs are performed before it. 

GREECE : This is Greece's fifth time getting this draw, however the only time they've scored a Top 10 hit from it came in 1977 when "Máthema Solfege" finished 5th. Israel is the only winner to come from #10 with "Hallelujah" in 1979. This has been a very good draw position in recent years with Ukraine winning in 2004 and Russia finishing as runner-up in 2006. Bar getting a wildcard and choosing their own position in the draw, Greece could hardly have hoped for better, coming after Lithuania's ballad. However there are two potential problems, were Turkey to qualify and draw #11, both songs would be likely to wipe one another out, and despite the good result of Ukraine in 2006, the country that has hosted he previous yeaar's contest has tended to do badly in the contest.

QUALIFIER : The #11 slot was lucky for Luxembourg in 1973 with "Tu Te Reconnaitras" and for the U.K. in 1967 with "Puppet On A String". In recent years, Israel in 2005 and Russia in 2003, both came close to winning for this slot, but last year Macedonia was relegated. If Turkey qualifies, they will be hoping to avoid this draw next to Greece and none of the rock flavoured semi-finalists are likely to want to come before Sweden. 

SWEDEN : This is Sweden's fourth time getting this draw, and on every previous occasion, they've scored a Top 10 result. Additionally, two formers winners had this draw position, Ireland's "All Kinds Of Everything" in 1970 and and Italy's "No Ho L'eta". However recently this slot has been a graveyard of favourites with Sweden in 2002 and Spain in 2003 both disappointing their supporters. It is virtually impossible to call how good or bad this draw is for Sweden as we don't know the song that come before it. The one good think for The Ark might be that it will probably come immediately before the break which may help it stay in people's minds. which most likely helped Romania's "Tornero" gain a Top 5 result in 2006.

FRANCE : This is France's third time getting this position in the draw and after making a big effort with its national selection, French television will be hoping for a repeat of 1961, when "Tom Pillibi" brought victory. Other winner to come from this draw are "La Det Swinge" for Norway in 1995 and "J'Aime La Vie" for Belgium in 1986. It had been thought that coming after the break, as "L'Amour A La Francais" is likely to do this year, was a disadvantage but last year Bosnia finished 3rd from this draw. Because we don't know who will perform after France it's hard to make a good assessment of this draw, and were Israel to qualify and get #14, it would be very bad news. However being drawn away from Romania's similar multi-lingual song must be a good thing for France.

QUALIFIER : The #14 draw has produced five winners; "Nous Les Amoureux" in 1961, "Un Jour Un Enfant" for France in 1969, "Making Your Mind Up" for the U.K. in 1981, "In Your Eyes" for Ireland in 1993 and "Fly On The Wings Of Love" in 2000. Last year Lithuania gained its best ever result from this draw, but a year earlier it was the position that saw Sweden relegated for the first time. Israel won't want this draw if they qualify, but few other countries will have a complaint.

RUSSIA : This is Russia's first time getting this draw, but in 2004 "Believe Me" was drawn at #14, and this year Russia has a song by the same songwriter. In 2004 Russia finished 11th and Macedonia in 2005 and the U.K. in 2006, actually did worse. This draw position has given us three winners; "Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son" for Luxembourg in 1965, "La La La" for Spain in 1968 and "Take Me To Your Heaven" for Sweden in 1999. Once again, a lot depends on what gets drawn before Russia, but the contrast to the German entry that comes after it should be a help.