I thoroughly enjoyed watching the first semi-final last night, and we now know the top ten qualifiers for the Grand Final on Saturday. But what else did we learn?
There isn’t an LED wall this year – did you notice?
You could tell the fan favourites, based on a noticeably louder masculine roar from the crowd in the arena
The roar from the bubble didn’t necessarily mean that songs made it to the Grand Final (e.g. Belgium)
Too many of the solo performers seemed abandoned on the stage, without the support of their backing singers (where are they hiding?!)
Bless ‘em – a couple of the performers had a little cry at the end (e.g. Iceland)
Belgium’s singer was an Alannis Moriseette lookalike
As I feared, the Greek entry was too Greek and didn’t make it to the Grand Final
The format of the hashtag of All Aboard in capital letters made it look like ALLA BOARD
The class of 2017 reunited to do a fab cover version of last year’s winning song
There’s a lovely theme to accompany the “All Aboard” logo…
All in all I thought it was a great show. It looked great on the telly, with a great stage and lighting. I had a momentary twinge of “I wish I was there”, but it didn’t last for long and I was glad to be watching from home with a glass of gin and fanta. Yep, really – gin and fanta! It’s a tradition inherited from years of going to the ESC and being in a country where it’s hard to find tonic water! 🙂
I posted my ‘napkin of death’ – I got 8/10. A bit irritated that I left Ireland out and put Greece in. I’d have had 9/10. As for Lithuania, I’d never have put that through, but it made it to the Grand Final.
Here’s the recap of who are now finalists on Saturday night…
Oh, and why the mention of Mr Benn? Do you remember the animated kids television show from the 1970s? Mr Benn went to a shop in every episode, and he would leave the shop via a magic door at the back of the changing room (which sounds a bit dodgy, doesn’t it!). I loved how the postcards introducing each country last night had the participant walk through a magic door! Amazing – made me chuckle all night. Remember the phrase “suddenly, as if by magic, the shopkeeper appeared”? 🙂
Here’s a sneek-peek at Spain’s postcard for Saturday, and you’ll see what I mean. And suddenly, as if by magic, Amaia and Alfred appeared…
And if you have no idea about Mr Benn and the shopkeeper and the magic door, check this out. #childhoodnostalgia …
https://youtu.be/YqpHnrm5dik
I’ll be back soon with all the T on the second semi-final…
🙂