{"id":1523,"date":"2017-05-10T17:57:51","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T16:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/?p=1523"},"modified":"2017-05-10T21:57:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T20:57:49","slug":"1523kyiv-is-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/2017\/05\/10\/1523kyiv-is-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"ESC2017: Kyiv is calling…"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an entertaining evening, what did we learn from the first semi-final?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Key changes are back, b-a-c-k, B-A-C-K!<\/em><\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s Blanche looked petrified<\/em><\/p>\n

Azerbaijan\u2019s Dihaj was basically doing Lady Gaga<\/em><\/p>\n

Finland was robbed (but perhaps a little too simple in terms of staging?)<\/em><\/p>\n

Men without socks were quite popular<\/em><\/p>\n

There was a man with a horse head on<\/em><\/p>\n

There was a man with a horse head on standing on a ladder<\/em><\/p>\n

The presenters were just awful!<\/em><\/p>\n

These are the ten qualifiers\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Moldova<\/strong>: Hey Mamma<\/em> by Sunstroke Project<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan<\/strong>: Skeletons<\/em> by Dihaj<\/p>\n

Greece<\/strong>: This Is Love<\/em> by Demy<\/p>\n

Sweden<\/strong>: I Can\u2019t Go On<\/em> by Robin Bengtsson<\/p>\n

Portugal<\/strong>: Amar Pelos Dois<\/em> by Salvador Sobral<\/p>\n

Poland<\/strong>: Flashlight<\/em> by Kasia Mo\u015b<\/p>\n

Armenia<\/strong>: Fly With Me<\/em> by Artsvik<\/p>\n

Australia<\/strong>: Don\u2019t Come Easy<\/em> by Isaiah<\/p>\n

Cyprus<\/strong>: Gravity<\/em> by Hovig<\/p>\n

Belgium<\/strong>: City Lights<\/em> by Blanche<\/p>\n

I got 7\/10 on my napkin of death. How did you do? I\u2019d have had more if I hadn\u2019t taken out Greece and Poland after I\u2019d seen them performed on the ESC stage. I thought Georgia sounded a lot better with the ESC performance, and was * gutted * when Finland didn\u2019t get through, and slightly surprised Belgium did with that performance (although I like the song).<\/p>\n

My Eurovision companion for many years, Brian Singleton, has popped over to Kyiv for the semi-finals. I asked for some photies of the scene in the venue, and he has obliged\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> The stage looks amazing \u2013 the only thing I am missing about not going this year is that I don\u2019t see the stage in person. Still, it looks fab on the telly. Brian informs me that the venue is actually quite small. By the magic of telly it doesn’t look tiny, does it?!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also very cute that on his first night in Kyiv he had chicken Kiev for dinner! When in Kyiv, and all that… \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

No major changes in the betting odds. The UK has advanced a couple of places, but Italy are still the bookies fave.<\/p>\n

And so, next thing for me to do is to review the second semi-final. Back soon\u2026<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After an entertaining evening, what did we learn from the first semi-final? Key changes are back, b-a-c-k, B-A-C-K! Belgium\u2019s Blanche looked petrified Azerbaijan\u2019s Dihaj was basically doing Lady Gaga Finland was robbed (but perhaps a little too simple in terms of staging?) Men without socks were quite popular There was a man with a horse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nESC2017: Kyiv is calling... - Phil Jackson's Eurovision Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/2017\/05\/10\/1523kyiv-is-calling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ESC2017: Kyiv is calling... - Phil Jackson's Eurovision Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After an entertaining evening, what did we learn from the first semi-final? 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