ESC2016: great expectations and the cruel mistress…

Last night ESC2016 finally jumped the first of three fences. Semi-final one was a slick show, for sure. I hope you enjoyed it.

Russia and Iceland played with their interactive projections to excellent effect…

I hear that the BBC opted not to show the interval act that I had highlighted yesterday. Pity, as it was a fabulous piece of choreography which symbolised the issue of displacement of people across Europe, and the migrant crisis. Yeah, a brave move given the light entertainment oeuvre that the Eurovision Song Contest occupies. Tackling such an issue in this context seems a bit strange, but better to look at it any capacity than to look away. If you can catch-up online and you’re interested, then see what you think.

We had a great view of the green room as the artists awaited their fate…

Did your favourites make it through to the final? Our predictions weren’t bad last night: eight out of ten correct, only Croatia and Czech Republic off the ‘napkin of death’. The reveal of the top ten became increasingly tense as we were running out of places, with too many countries still in the mix. It was bit of a shock that Greece got the boot, as it ends their run of qualification for the Grand Final.

Perhaps the biggest shock of the night across social media was the exit of Iceland (I’m not biased, but it was my favourite last night!). There was a HUGE outpouring of disappointment on social media that Greta Salome fell at the first hurdle. People can’t fathom why this happened. If we take an objective step back, there was only Sweden voting last night from their Nordic supporters, so that might be a factor. And perhaps the viewers felt that they had already seen an artist interacting with the backdrop projections, like in Sergei’s performance?

Such expectations, such disappointment! Eurovision is a cruel mistress, but Greta’s own reaction shows that she (the mistress) can be tamed…

What a night! It’s a unique feeling knowing you had the performance of your life and a whole stadium shouting out for your country when they were announcing the finalists and still not make it into the finals. I can honestly say that I feel like a winner after tonight’s show and there is nothing I could have done better. And of course my team has been the best I could ever have had. I’ve seen the twitter and Facebook discussions and I am beyond grateful for the support I’ve been getting. I’m just as surprised as you all are, but maybe just not as disappointed, simply for the fact that I am so happy with the performance. I am also so grateful for the great comments we got from the commentators and of course Nickey Byrne (From Westlife saying it was the best performance of the night) The message about the song has been spreading like fire for the last few days and we will take that message and make it ours. I am not sad tonight…..surprised yes but overall grateful especially for all of those messages I’ve been getting from you across Europe and most but not least the people in Iceland.

A classy response from the gracious Greta.

And so, the sting of disappointment may linger for fans and performers this morning, but we have a new day and a new semi-final to turn our attention to. Today I will attend the first dress rehearsal of the second semi-final. More later… 😀