I hope you enjoyed the first semi-final. It looked great, didn’t it – and it was all very polished in terms of production and presentation. As always, the rehearsal period that started a week ago last Sunday delivered a fantastic Eurovision spectacle. More of that to come again tomorrow in SF2 (Thursday).
Fifteen songs were reduced to ten and they progress to the grand final. Did you think the right songs made it through? There are some raised eyebrows on the socials that Ireland didn’t progress. I would have liked it to, but I thought the performance I saw at the Monday night preview was a stronger vocal. Same for Malta going out – the reaction to them in the arena on Monday night made it look promising for them, but sadly they join Ireland, Azerbaijan, Latvia and The Netherlands in an early exit from ESC2023..
One of the factors in play this year might be that the professional juries do not split the vote 50/50 with the televote in the semi-finals (they will for the grand final on Saturday). Potentially Ireland might have suffered for that. I thought Serbia was a hot mess on stage (I quite like the song), but the slightly nonsensical staging clearly connected with the viewers. Hey, it’s all subjective at the end of the day, isn’t it. And as the late Terry Wogan used to say, we have to marvel at the glorious unpredictability of it all.
So, what did we learn from the first semi-final?
Alisha Dixon spit some bars (did some very good rapping) to raise the roof in the arena.
The Bucks Fizz standing by the phone box was a delightful surprise – they weren’t at the preview performance on Monday.
Portugal and Finland had the battle of the strictly come backing dancers. Finland won.
We thought that Ireland was tucking great.
Events beyond the ‘euro bubble’ are now at the heart of the ESC (with anti-war songs from Croatia and Switzerland).
According to Israel’s singer Noa, she “has got the power of a unicorn”. Not sure how that works when they don’t exist? 😀
Finland’s Käärijä was brilliantly bonkers, with a performance made “much better” with a few of Baga Chipz dance moves.
All in all – SF1 was sound!
We’re off to the preview final for SF2 tonight (Wednesday) where, in addition to the remaining 16 semi-finalists, we will see the full performance of Spain, Ukraine and The United Kingdom. Oh, and with the UK in mind, my colleague Michael Austin bumped into Mae Muller (the UK singer) and she sent us this message…
Yay Mae – she wrote a song, you know…
Right, more from me soon. Will SF2 solve the problem of “who the hell is Edgar?”…
I have travelled to Liverpool with my euro-buddy Brian Singleton, my travel companion to now nine ESC host cities (and often mentioned on the blog over the years). We have have been welcomed by my dear friend, and our host for the rest of the week in the grounds of Liverpool Anglican Catherdral, Reverend Canon Dr Ellen Loudon. Some colleagues and friends may remember Ellen as a former member of the Performing Arts department, as a Senior Lecturer in Drama. Ellen left EHU in 2006 to train as a priest in the Church of England , and how brilliantly she has done in her career since then to become Director of Social Justice and Canon Chancellor for the Anglican Catherdral. Thanks for hosting us, Ellen!
On Monday evening Brian and I attended the first public preview performance of the first semi-final (SF1). Approaching the arena the now familiar host theme branding is everywhere – signalling the approach to the mothership!
We queued for the VIP hospitality package, and when we arrived it was amazing…
This was a premium experience that came at a premium price – we got what we paid for, and rest assured that this was not on EHU’s dollar! It was a very special start to the evening. We do it all again on Wednesday evening. Like Loreal, we’re worth it…
Following the fabulous food and drinks we took our seats, and in keeping with a very good experience – had a really good view of the stage. The arena and setting as a whole looked stunning…
We had a great view of the green room where the artists take their seats after each performance. Directly in front of us were Malta, Norway, Finland and Ireland.
There are fifteen songs competing in SF1, sixteen in SF2. Thirty seven songs in total including the ‘Big five’ and Ukraine. Slightly lower than in previous years.
The running of SF1 will give you a good flow of tempo and musical textures, although there are very few ballads in SF1. A bit of ethnopop (but not a lot) and the usual Coldplay-lite song in the mix (you will know when you hear it). And there are the generic pop bangers from female singers that you know already even though you have never heard them before. Overall, enough good songs to get ten songs through to the Grand Final on Saturday.
There is more than just a whiff of songs pointing to the reality of the war in Ukraine – see if you pick up on the subtle and not so subtle messaging on this tonight.
Our runners and riders for this evening are:
01 Norway: Alessandra with Queen of Kings
02 Malta: The Busker with Dance (Our Own Party)
03 Serbia: Luke Black Samo with Mi Se Spava (Само ми се спава)
04 Latvia: Sudden Lights with Aijā
05 Portugal: Mimicat with Ai Coração
06 Ireland: Wild Youth with We Are One
07 Croatia: Let 3 with Mama ŠČ!
08 Switzerland: Remo Forrer with Watergun
09 Israel: Noa Kirel with Unicorn
10 Moldova: Pasha Parfeni Soarele și Luna
11 Sweden: Loreen with Tattoo
12 Azerbaijan: TuralTuranX with Tell Me More
13 Czechia: Vesna with My Sister’s Crown
14 The Netherlands: Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper with Burning Daylight
15 Finland: Käärijä with Cha Cha Cha
Below are a few dodgy pics from me with some observations from what we saw on Monday evening and what you will see tonight (8pm BBC1 in the UK)…
Ireland were left stranded on stage as their performance was preceded by a pre-filmed segment. Worth the wait, and you will see that Elvis is in the building…
Israel give us a very clever optical illusion in the choreo and staging at the start of the performance. Singer Noa is static on stage, but with the optical illusion you’ll think she’s spinning. Very clever, but we have seen this done before – think Sergei at ESC 2016 when he did it on a bigger scale. Ah, the magic of telly!
You will be delighted with the staging of the hot faves: Sweden and Finland. Returning champ from 2012, Loreen is giving an ethereal and impassioned moody performance, with moody lighting and fog. Brillianlty done…
Finland’s Käärijä is the opposite – full throttle, and as he has said “It’s crazy. It’s party!”. Which it is. It’s bonkers. Good bonkers for me, and it’s been a bop on my playlist since I was asked to be on the UK jury voting for the eventual Finnish entry, back in February.
One funny comment that I heard from the row behnd me was when one of the interval acts, Rita Ora, came on stage to do her medley. The chap said, “Does Rita Ora think she’s making a comeback?”. He made me chuckle. She did a good job with an army of dancers.
BTW, the presenters are all really good this year (thankfully), and the script is well written and naturally funny. Hannah Waddingham is especially good after her triumph hosting The Olivier Awards recently. It’s girl power all the way and Graham Norton doesn’t appear until the Grand Final (not really sure why he his needed, but hey…).
So that’s it from me for now. I will report back on Wednesday on what we learnt from SF1. You will enjoy the show – newly promoted (obviously) to BBC1 this year for both of the semi-finals. This will mean that more people will know more of the songs come Saturday night.
Enjoy the show, eurochums! Predict away your ‘napkin of death’ with who you think are the top ten songs going through. I’m less inclined to do that these days, so I probably won’t. We’ll see when the gin and fanta kicks-in tonight! 😉
Oh, and one last thing, what was the view out of your bedroom window this morning? This was mine…
Happy Eurovision week, everyone! In just seven days the next chapter in ESC history will have been written. But before that…
Gosh, what a weekend!
If all things coronation wasn’t your jam this weekend, fair play. For me it was.
My undergraduate degree was BA (Hons) History with Communication Studies. I was a much better student of Communication Studies than I ever was History! That said I feel historical moments that are significant to me. The Coronation resonated for me as an historical moment, and at times I was very moved by it. Mind you, I cried during lockdown when there was that advert for McCain Home Chips, featuring the two dads and their kids. I’m a wee softie!
I realise as a graduate, I became estranged from the history part of my degree, focusing much more on the Communication Studies aspect – which eventually gave me my academic career in media theory related subjects (off the back of Comms Studies). And yet, a major part of being an academic teaching media theory, cultural studies and popular music studies is that they are all underpinned by history!
What I did was leave the study of history behind me, to study the cultural industries and what I needed to know about them, historically. So perhaps you can take the History degree out of the lad, but you can’t take the lad out of history.
Away from the Coronation, it’s time for THE Contest!
And hey, I know the history of Eurovision that’s for sure! Some of which I am sure will be part of my commentary over the coming days – including a post on UK entries. What’s your favourite? Let me know! (email: [email protected]).
Whilst my euro-mojo has waned in recent years (I will not mention that again!), the ESC is important to me. It’s part of my year, it’s part of me, it’s part of me and my history.
I was fuming in 1988 when Switzerland’s representative Celine Dion beat the UK’s Scott Fitzgerald by just one point. And I think Sonia was robbed in 1993 to finish as runner-up – talk of which my Irish friend Brian Singleton will not entertain, as Ireland took the crown that year.
As we eagerly anticipate two semi-finals this week (Tues and Thurs on BBC1 in the UK from 8pm) and then the grand final on Saturday 13 May, as Abba’s lyrics attest ‘the history book on the shelf is always repeating itself’. And so it will again this week, and the rituals of Eurovision will crown a new winner.
I think this year is a really good competitive year for songs (lucky that for a song contest!). There are a few hot faves for us to keep our eyes on: Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, and now France. And others. Let’s see where the week takes us!
I am heading into Liverpool on Monday, and I can’t wait to feel this part of ESC history – and I am sure it will be dead good!
Hello Eurofans! It’s great to be back on the blog and back sharing my thoughts and feelings on all things Eurovision over the next couple of weeks.
I haven’t had much to say about Eurovision over the last few years – which is surprising given everything that we have all been through. My Euro-mojo had waned, and I wasn’t spending much time at all getting to know the songs and performances until the week of the Contest recently, so I really didn’t have much to share with you.
This year we have a home Eurovision, which is brilliant for the UK, and for our region of the North West. And who isn’t buzzing locally that it’s in Liverpool this year?
When Glasgow and Liverpool were the last two cities in the running to host the ESC, I really couldn’t see past Liverpool – not least as a UNESCO world heritage site, but also for the fabulous music legacy that the city has established.
As someone living in Burscough and working in Ormskirk, Liverpool’s Eurovision is on my doorstep, so I need to get involved and have something to say. So I will!
I will be blogging from home, work and Liverpool over the coming days. I didn’t apply for accreditation, so I will not be reporting from the press centre as I have in the past. No bother though, I will be in the arena for the Monday and Wednesday night previews of the semi-finals, so I will be able to share that experience with you, as well as my take on the songs participating this year. I will also be out and about in Liverpool through the week, and have the pleasure of staying with my good friend Canon Ellen Loudon, in her home in the grounds of Liverpool Cathedral. No Airbnb/hotel nightmare prices for me!
As always, I would love for you to comment and get involved. See if you agree with my take on the songs the year. I mean, Sweden are going to win, right… (I always say that!)
I can’t remember that last time I felt genuinely excited about a Grand Final. Today I do! A couple of years ago, when ESC2017 was in Ukraine, I had no Euro-mojo whatsoever. This was partly to do with stuff going on at work, but also due to the fact that I just didn’t get what all the fuss was surrounding the eventual winning song from Portugal. I also found the presenters in 2017 amongst some of the worst we’ve ever had. Perhaps I had no mojo because it was the first year since I was a kid that I’d watched it on my own.
Last year, I found (and still find) Israel’s winning song from Netta highly irritating. I’d hoped that Cyprus would steal the win with Fuego, but they just missed out. How funny that they have sent pretty much the same song this year!
This year my mojo is fully restored, and I will be joined by my Eurovision besties Rachel and Brian. They are heading over to Southport as I type this blog, so lots of Eurovision shenanigans, giggles and gasps await the three of us today. Well, all of us! 🙂
Let’s have a reminder of the line-up for the Grand Final tonight…
Pretty good, huh. Not too much fromage in there. A good range of music genres. The EBU have, once again, worked their (evil) genius to craft a running order that really works. They have placed the songs we need to be exactly where they need to be – you know, for when we need to refresh our drinks and top-up those nibbles. The EBU are restricted by which half of the draw the countries randomly draw. So, this is why both Sweden and The Netherlands are in the first half of the draw, 9th and 12th respectively. This isn’t going to help the cause for Sweden (now drifting in the betting odds), and it really will test whether The Netherlands – still the favourite to win – will be victorious.
Better news for Switzerland and Australia, performing 24th and 25th out of 26 songs, with the Haribo-driven giddiness of Spain closing the show. That’s a brilliant end to the final. Totally benefitting both Switzerland and Oz. I really can’t see past Oz snatching the prize tonight. Or, will my early predication of Switzerland winning, before the rehearsals started a fortnight ago, come true?
Currently (13:00 GMT), these are the standings in the betting odds…
Switzerland up to third, Sweden down to fourth. Pretty static in the top ten with the one song that I really don’t want to win in the mix – I will not mention it because I don’t want to tempt fate!
What’s that you say – why is the blog post titled “Say Hey”? Well, because two of the hottest songs this year both start with the word ‘Hey” – Australia and Sweden. It was a perfect blog post title when they were ranked first and second!
I saw this fan-filmed clip from the first semi-final jury rehearsal – gives a fab perspective on what we can’t see watching at home…
It makes me love it even more! Just stunning whichever way you look at it.
Apparently, there will be a lot of familiar former Eurovision faces taking part in the interval bits and pieces tonight. That’s good, because I find that 45-60-minute wait for the voting to start all rather tiresome – that’s why watching at home is good!
Oh, and let’s not forget that Madonna will be performing on the Eurovision stage. I can’t quite figure out why! Well, she’s got a new album to flog, and her fans are ripe for the picking, aren’t they? You might remember that Justin Timberlake was part of the interval act at ESC2016. This was mainly due to the fact that Logo TV in the USA were broadcasting it for the first time, so he was a draw for US viewers. It’s not being broadcast in the US this year, so it really must be all about Madonna’s new album! Now, I’m Madonna ‘till I die, but as I said in 2016 about JT, I really don’t think the participating countries should have attention drawn away from them. But hey, it will get casual viewers tuning-in, so the EBU will be pleased about that.
So, that’s all from me until tomorrow, when we will know who is the winner of ESC2019. Enjoy the show. I think it’s going to be one to remember, and the voting especially exciting because, as we have seen over the last few days, The Netherlands have a few countries more than ready to eclipse it and take the Eurovision crown. And I think the vote is going to be a very close one. ‘Citing.
The automatic qualifiers are the usual countries of the “Big Five”, and host country Israel. I’d say that it’s not a particularly strong year all round for these six songs. As you’ll read below, the most interesting aspect from these six countries is perhaps Bilal for France – but that’s nothing to do with his song!
So here we go, with full performance footage!
Germany
S!sters – Sister
What’s that you say – why don’t we do some staging in the dark, no one else is doing that this year. Erm… I think it’s a bottom five finish for Germany. You know when a country is desperate these days when they use a fire wall at any point. Azerbaijan used is it at ESC2011, and the overall aesthetic at that time gave their performance the wow factor, and they were the winners of the Contest that year. These days its use smacks of desperation, and more importantly, distraction. Stay tuned as Israel also resort to the fire wall.
Israel
Kobi Marimi – Home
The position of this song in the running order was decided some time ago. Placed 14th isn’t going to help this rather leaden ballad. The visuals are attractive, and Kobi and friends give it some welly. It’ll get a home town cheer, but this isn’t going to be in contention.
France
Bilal Hassani – Roi
What’s great about the ESC is that it really does welcome difference and is increasingly a place where artists can change our perceptions and show us their authentic selves, which transcends gender and sexuality barriers, if indeed you identify yourself in those ways. We’ve seen it in the past, most notably first in 1998, when Dana International won the Contest for Israel, and in doing so became the first transgender woman to do so. Since then various acts have acted out in male and female drag, most notably drag queen Conchita, who won with the amazing Rise Like A Phoenix for Austria back in 2014.
This year Bilal, France’s hugely popular social media influencer, is the artist grabbing a lot of attention due to his backstory and his aesthetic. The teenage singer and LGBTQI activist has 801,000 YouTube subscribers to his channel and 414,000 followers on Instagram. There’s some votes in the bag right there!
His song is about self-love and self-acceptance, and is written by Madame Monsieur, who represented France at ESC2018. I read an article in Billboard magazine which pointed out that song isn’t as interesting as his backstory, and I agree with that. He’s a fascinating individual with an interesting message, but for me the song is underwhelming. Will his fans care? Probably not.
Italy
Mahmood – Soldi
There’s a cool cachet surrounding this song. Lots of early interest in the early betting odds, but it’s slipped back this week. It’s on for a top ten finish. Mahmood’s vocal gets a bit Shaggy in places (mr bombastic!), and he looks a little bit grumpy. We saw the backdrop text and emotive images being used like this last year, so a there’s a bit or Italian recycling this year. That said, it was highly effective and gave Italy a surprising fifth place last year. Hey, if it ain’t broke! BTW, you’ll be clapping along by the end…
Spain
Miki – La Venda
Well, the sun will certainly come out when Miki takes to the stage. His catchy up-tempo slice of summer is a bit infectious, but not as much as his wee face! His grin is everything. There are few performers in the whole Contest this year who will charm the audience – Miki will. And closing the Grand Final won’t harm its chances at all. Although some people might think it’s all a bit “extra” and children’s telly – which it is! How many bags of Haribo do you think they’ve had? 🙂
United Kingdom
Michael Rice – Bigger Than Us
Bless him. Lovely guy. Great song – which is written by Sweden’s singer this year, John Lundvik. You’ll see there’s a similarity between the two songs – bombastic ballads with a big finish. Sweden’s is the better of the two – why would John give the better song away?! Thankfully this is a UK entry that we do not need to be ashamed of. In fact, Michael will give it some welly and give us a great vocal. He has previous telly experience, having won the first series of All Together Now last year, and he’s popped-up on X-Factor auditions.
The question is, is our staging going to work well with the performance? Let’s see… Oh no, well we can’t actually …
According to Eurovision.tv, “due to technical issues, the full rehearsal performance from Michael Rice of the United Kingdom is unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
So we’ll just have to do with the clip from the show last night…
Ok, so a bit pitchy at the start, but when it kicks-up a gear, wow. I mean all of it – wow. Some actual effort to give an impressive visual to the performance. I like how the b-vox singers appear – looks like they’ve been beamed-down from space. Long-live the backing singers – working it like their rent is due tomorrow!
I’m pleasantly surprised, and with Michael leaping up to 17th in the betting odds (from the low 20s) it look encouraging for him. What’s that you say – will we make it to the left hand side of the leader board? That would be like him winning, so let’s just see.
Overall, it’s 50/50 with these six songs, with Italy, Spain and the UK the best of the six. So a not so super six after all…
There was no messing about last night. Less than five minutes into the broadcast the first act was on stage. 18 songs this time around.
I know I’ve joked about the lesser-spotted backing singers, but I would question why this happens. There were loads of performances where they were absent from the stage (Albania, Ireland, Croatia, Russia, Azerbaijan…). Why it is more interesting to have only the performer on stage unsupported and not interacting with anyone? Some of the performances were a bit boring as a result.
I don’t know what rehearsal footage I was watching for Malta, because what was on stage last night looked really different. I didn’t like the wee box she was in front of – it looked odd set against the impressive expanse of a backdrop.
They did tweak Denmark’s performance, having Leonora climb the ladder rather than just float onto the big chair. Loved it, but I thought they’d killed it off!
Somehow I managed to get 9/10 on my napkin of death (damn you North Macedonia!). How did you do – did your favourites make it through? I thought there was something missing from Sweden. The first time I haven’t had the wow factor from it – I think perhaps the camera shot’s aren’t as good as the Melodifestivalen, and it’s all a bit too dark in terms of lighting. It’s dropped back in the betting, and Australia now replaces it as second favourite. Somehow The Netherlands clings on, after what is a very dull performance. That said, it is a great song.
So what did we learn form the second semi-final? …
There was a lot of spider-cam action again, as in the first semi-final (some peeps think it’s being over-used)
What the sand artist was doing on the backdrop for Moldova didn’t match what she was doing on the stage
Romania used every inch of the stage, not that it helped
Poor Ireland’s performance was a hot mess, wasn’t it
Some angel wings and a key change was a step too far for Croatia
Russia’s Sergei looked like a Ken doll trapped in that box
There was an appearance of the lesser-spotted wind machine (I loves me some wind machine action)
The interval act was inspired (did you have a little tear?)
Latvia’s singer Sabine’s eye makeup was so on fleek…
Overall another well-paced and well-produced show.
The ten countries progressing to the Grand Final are…
North Macedonia – Tamara Todevska with Proud
The Netherlands – Duncan Laurence with Arcade
Albania – Jonida Maliqi with Ktheju tokës
Sweden – John Lundvik with Too Late For Love
Russia – Sergey Lazarev with Scream
Azerbaijan – Chingiz with Truth
Denmark – Leonora with Love Is Forever
Norway – KEiiNO with Spirit In The Sky
Switzerland – Luca Hänni with She Got Me
Malta – Michela with Chameleon
I watched the BBC 4 broadcast last night, suffering through the cringe-inducing commentary from Rylan and Scott Mills. They added very little in terms of additional information about the artists and their songs. It seemed like they were amusing themselves – that thing when you laugh at what you’ve just said really show’s that you’re not actually funny, right? Thankfully we have Graham Norton on Saturday night – although depending on who has done his research and written his script, he can be off point at times.
The EBU have published the running order for the Grand Final (more of that to come on the blog on Saturday) and let’s just say it’s playing into the hands and favour of Australia and Switzerland, whilst perhaps killing-off Sweden’s chances. It’s going to make it a really exciting final. Bring it on!
I’m back next with a preview of the Big 5 and Israel.
After a marvelous first semi-final, let’s see if the songs on offer tonight are Abba-dabba-do’s, or Abba-dabba-don’ts…
01 Armenia
Srbuk – Walking Out
This wouldn’t have been my first choice to open this semi-final. The staging looks a bit dull, even with the pyrotechnics. It’s not often that a song opening a semi-final doesn’t make it – but I think, like Azerbaijan last year, this opener won’t make the cut.
02 Ireland
Sarah McTernan – 22
I have been a huge fan of this song since I first heard it when it was released a couple of months ago. Based on this short clip it looks like a bit of a hot mess. Does the track really imbue that 50s malt shop era? Sarah is singing about being 22, not 1952! It all seems a bit disconnected between song and staging. A pity, as it’s a nice song. Probs not going through to the final. Perhaps the juries will save it?
03 Moldova
Anna Odobescu – Stay
Blimey, Anna gives it some welly. It’s not a terrible song, but what I can’t get beyond is the daylight robbery from Ukraine’s performance from ESC2011…
O-M-G, the cheek! I don’t mind an homage or a cheeky nod to something, but this is lazy, and a bit insulting to Eurofans who will know this is a bit of a rip-off. Perhaps for those who are not familiar, the backdrop will sell the song? Hmmm
And now, may the fourth be with you…
04 Switzerland
Luca Hänni – She Got Me
For me, this semi-final starts here. Prior to the Contest and seeing the rehearsal footage, I thought Switzerland were going to win, even ahead of the long time favourite from The Netherlands. You will hear shades of Cyprus’s Fuego from last year, as well as a whiff of Tamta’s Replay from the first semi-final this year. The Swiss staging looks good, but not as great as the music video. Kudos that they haven’t just duplicated the music video on stage, but it’s a shame that they haven’t done so…
I had to do a double take – I thought I saw Strictly’s Vincent and Flavia! Fab song.
05 Latvia
Carousel – That Night
Now you know that the juries are going to love this song – will the voting public? I don’t mind it – it washes over me, in a good way. Shades of Norah Jones and Lilly Allen to the vocal and vibe. Simple staging, not a bad place in the draw. Things might just go Latvia’s way.
06 Romania
Ester Peony – On A Sunday
For many years Romania were an ESC banker, seemingly guaranteed a place in the Grand Final. Recently it’s gone a bit Pete Tong. And I’m not entirely sure how it will go this year. The song is OK, not particularly memorable, but it’s hard to judge on such a small rehearsal clip on how this will translate tonight.
07 Denmark
Leonora – Love Is Forever
Je t’aime! Je t’aime! Je t’aime! This is in my top five, and it was an immediate early favourite of mine. The song may be a little too sweet and Doris Day (RIP, lovely) for some, but for me the real genius of this entry is the staging. And what do most Eurovision winners have these days (?) – a performance tailored to the television viewer, and this does just that. Watch the national final performance and be charmed…
I really hope they don’t mess with the format too much. They have added a couple of additional b-vox peeps. I hope this is a sleeper and makes it through. C’mon Europe – and Australia!
08 Sweden
John Lundvik – Too Late for Love
Regular readers will remember that I am slightly obsessed with Sweden’s Melodifestivalen, which is their six week selection process that usually delivers them an excellent song and a great result at the ESC. After the shock of failing to qualify back in 2010, Sweden have been taking no chances, and have placed in the top ten eight times in the last nine years, and in the top five on five occasions, winning it twice. The best recent track record of any participating country. And they will maintain their track record with yet another top five finish. And you will not be surprised to hear me say that this might win ahead of Australia. FYI, during the voting at the Melodifestivalen final back in March, all of the international juries awarded it the maximum douze-points, the first time that had ever happened. Currently second with the bookies, I think it will eclipse The Netherlands tonight, as John and his awesome backing singer, The Mamas, and gonna slay the runway…
09 Austria
PÆNDA – Limits
Hard to get much of a sense of the song in this clip. It gives a melodic and breathy vocal, and songs like this tend to do well with the juries. That said, it’s another darkly staged song, following on from Sweden’s rather dark staging. Looks quite effective, but it might get lost after Sweden’s powerhouse, OR it’s a perfect change of pace.
10 Croatia
Roko – The Dream
Roko certainly gives is some welly, and one of the best male vocals of the whole competition. Not sure if the whole angel wing thing will work for or against him. A bit twee, or visually effective? I think it’ll be on my napkin of death, but I’ll have to see the whole performance to decide.
11 Malta
Michela – Chameleon
The most contemporary song I think Malta have ever sent, this should easily be aiming for a top ten finish. This is a brilliant pop song and the staging is vibrant and highly effective. Love the whole thing, except the rather odd pronouncement of the word chameleon, and how it almost sound like she’s singing karma chameleon. It is very hard for me to not sing karma chameleon, I must say!
12 Lithuania
Jurij Veklenko – Run With The Lions
This feels a bit like Finland in the first semi-final, all a bit dated. Also, when you hear the full track there is a slightly odd falsetto in places. And black is the new black in a lot of the staging tonight, isn’t it!
13 Russia
Sergey Lazarev – Scream
When he competed in ESC2016 Segei actually won the popular vote (televote), but finished in third place. The jury cost him that year. His previous entry, You Are The Only One, had amazing staging, and a bombastic uptempo pop song. It’s only flaw was the cringe-inducing lyric “thunder and lightning it’s getting exciting”. That song is now one of my faves, although it wasn’t at the time. I hope the staging is more impactful than the short clip. I loves me some Sergei, and the thought of nine or ten Segei’s at the same time should be a dream come true, but is it really in this staging? If lightning strikes twice (see what I did there) Sergei will do well, but we’re not heading to Russia next year. Sure to make it through.
14 Albania
Jonida Maliqi – Ktheju tokës
Unlike the first semi-final there aren’t many songs not sung in English, and with that authentic indigenous sound, so Albania will certainly stand out. Not the most immediate songs to my ear, but I look forward to seeing the full performance. If a similar song for Serbia can make it to the final, perhaps this can also…
15 Norway
KEiiNO – Spirit in the Sky
A bit like in the first semi-final, there needs to be a bit of retro Euro-fromage, and we get if from Norway in this semi-final. It’s well-liked and will probably get through to the final, but I have to say I find it all a bit irritating – especially the vocal from the bald guy, which is all a bit like the Chef from The Muppets…
16 The Netherlands
Duncan Laurence – Arcade
And so we’ve made it to the hot favourite. Fans of the music video will be hugely disappointed with this staging. You see, in the music video Duncan is naked throughout (tastefully done), submerged in water – it’s all very moody and ethereal. I know some of you will now be searching for the music video on YouTube! I’m a huge fan of the song, it’s one of the best, and it’s time for The Netherlands to win. The last time they did was back in 1975, with Teach In’s delightfully named Dina-A-Dong (stop laughing at the back!). I think they will be waiting at least another year, because even though the juries will love it, and it will be up there with the best songs in the final, does the staging really do anything to attract the ear of the casual viewer? We shall see…
17 North Macedonia
Tamara Todevska – Proud
Newly named country, North Macedonia (FYROM no more) give us a bit of old-school balladeering, in an old-school gown (yikes). The lesser-spotted b-vox singers are in there somewhere. Doesn’t Tamara look like a young Kim Wilde? Good to have a powerhouse ballad in the mix, but I don’t think it will get through.
18 Azerbaijan
Chingiz – Truth
Another well fancied song that I don’t quite get. I don’t know why the title of the song isn’t ‘shut up’, as it is the major phrase throughout. There’s a total mismatch between the song and the staging, isn’t there? I’m not a fan but I think it will get through if the performance doesn’t look as naff as this short clip makes it.
So, is there a winner in this half of the draw. There are some of the stronger songs in this draw, but overall it feels a bit more beige than the first semi-final. That said, if that was anything to go by it will be another cracking show tonight, which is at 8pm on BBC4 in the UK, which I will be watching. I will post my final napkin of death in the interval, but for now I’m thinking…
Switzerland, Latvia, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Malta, Russia, Norway, The Netherlands, Azerbaijan
Let’s see if my mood changes on any of these (and the other) songs tonight once I, along with you, have seen the full performances.
Wow. What a great first semi-final. I loved it. Brilliant telly!
The whole production was slick, well-paced and the staging was A-MA-ZING!
I have been watching from the comfort of home since 2017, and this is the first time that I wanted to be in the arena. As it was, my front room was my arena and I was watching the action via the euroivision.tv YouTube stream. It was great watching without commentary, but I will watch the BBC4 coverage to see that additional interviews with the various singers. I understand that the Beeb did a knock-off carpool karaoke as one of the segments. Suitably BBC to not have a particularly original idea when it comes to Eurovision!
I thought the presenters did a good job. Bar Refaeli was dressed in Gina G’s outfit from ESC1996. Lucy Ayoub was youthfully energetic. Assi Azar, who was named as one of OUT Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Gay People, made reference to his sexuality within the show, which was nicely done. And the slightly older dude, Erez Tal, came off as a bit creepy. Was I the only one thinking that?
The postcards were really well produced, with all the participants having previously travelled to Israel to film them. Loved how the triangle from the logo was incorporated, and how at the end of each postcard it became part of the stage lighting, in the colours of each nation’s flag. Apparently Australia’s singer Kate was injured during filming. She fell whilst wearing what she admits was a poor choice of footwear – high heels whilst walking on cobbled streets. She has clearly recovered well, because her performance and staging was *everything*, wasn’t it? It’s top three in the betting odds. Don’t panic, if it does win Australia don’t get to host. We’ll be somewhere in Europe.
Here’s the recap from last night…
And the ten countries through to the Grand Final on Saturday are…
Greece – Katerine Duska with Better Love
Belarus – ZENA with Like It
Serbia – Nevena Božović with Kruna
Cyprus – Tamta with Replay
Estonia – Victor Crone with Storm
Czech Republic – Lake Malawi with Friend Of A Friend
Australia – Kate Miller-Heidke with Zero Gravity
Iceland – Hatari with Hatrið mun sigra
San Marino – Serhat with Say Na Na Na
Slovenia – Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl with Sebi
Seriously, San Marino?! Now that was a (pleasant) surprise. Say yes, yes, yes, obvs! Jon Ola Sand – you know, the guy who runs the whole thing – has tweeted that there were just two points between 10th and 11th positions in the overall vote, with the professional juries and televoting public agreeing on 8/10. Seems like Serhat got the benefit of the public vote.
So, overall, what did we take away for the show last night?
We got the first costume reveal, thanks to Cyprus’s Tamta
The man bun is (sadly) not dead in Hungary (although they now are in the competition)
During Slovenia’s performance she did all the work whilst he just stood there. Typical bloke…
Serbia gave us an Angelina Jolie flash of leg
There’s no danger of a stage invasion this year, with the audience being kept away by height if not by distance
Iceland’s BDSM stylings didn’t overshadow what was actually a very well-staged performance
Portugal? No, me neither!
Dana International looked like she was lip-synching
The green room is located in a separate arena, not in with the audience as in previous years
This year, Eurovision really is down with the kids, isn’t it…
I got 7/10 on my napkin of death – how about you? I replaced Serbia with Poland (dammit) and removed Belgium – which was a nervous performance, wasn’t it. I loved how the Estonian guy looked genuinely relieved at the end of his performance and he was buzzing when his place in the final was announced.
One more thing on all things Iceland. It has occurred to me that this isn’t the first time that Iceland have sent a bit of leather to the Eurovision stage. Way back in 1997, when the UK last won, Paul Oscar was the final song of the night, and it got everyone’s attention. Terry Wogan even got in a fluster – so much so that he actually talked over it whilst it was being performed. The land of leather indeed, and we’re not just talking about the sofa…
** escandaloso ** 🙂
I’m back soon with my pre-view of tomorrow’s second semi-final…
