After the fiasco that was semi 1 things looked a whole lot brighter for semi 2. Except when it came to predictions of course, because who on Earth was going to be the San Marino of the bunch? Here’s a short look back at semi 2 and a short gaze into the old crystal ball for the Grand Final!
Let’s dive straight (or otherwise inclined directions #prideday) into things, much like they did yesterday and review the ones who have fallen into darkness:
- ARMENIA: This was always going be in danger because of its assertive (nay, agressive) nature and being alone on stage really didn’t help in selling this. This begged fors ome intricate choreography or at least something to get the dynamica cross – cutting to an empty hall to get the feeling across only added to rather than distracted from that hollow feeling. I had this in my personal top ten (at ten, mind you), but wasn’t surprised it didn’t make the cut – Armenia really needs to rethink how it’s staging its entries.
- IRELAND: I hated this beforehand because it wasn’t even trying, and I almost love dit yesterday for how hard it was trying while failing miserably at every single level. I’m digging the retro vibe of the staging but poor Sarah just looked lost/panicked throughout – the lying-on-the-bar moment was quite out of place by the way. She reminded me of the blonde one from Glee (Brittany?) but…you know…only less talented. But bless her, this really made me LOL.
- MOLDOVA: So yeah, this really WAS a Ukraine 2011 copy – but, you know, without any actual emotions and without having the drawings actually contributing anything to getting the song across. But that was always going tob e an issue, as it’s so full of dated clichés that it was really hard to sit through. I still had it down as a qualifier in my predictions, because of the sandlady and because it was hard to believe none of the first opening three would qualify. I’m happy to have been proven wrong in this case however.
- LATVIA: Lo-oh-oh-oh-ove. I totally adored this all season and the live performance made me lo-oh-oh-oh-ove it even more, clumsy though it was at times (that mini-walk…). A more elegant dress & hat combo and a nice pair of shoes could have helped a bit, just a bit more sugar and spice to make everything nice as well…but this was my personal silver medal anyway.
- ROMANIA: Just a tad on the theatrical side and it could have worked if the execution hadn’t been so pedestrian. The make up on the dancers was ridiculous, the sofa should have been more Grand with a capital G and the sudden switch to underwater visuals broke the mood that had been set at the beginning. I still loved the drama of course, which is ho wit ended up in my personal top ten any way (in 9th place) but it was obvious this was never going to qualify – too chaotic and random on all levels.
- AUSTRIA: My second of two predictions fails and this one had me fooled into thinking that something quiet and subdued would be able to sneak its way into the final, especially with those fragile vocals – which were at times too fragile indeed. But I should have stuck with my gut feeling that this was and will always be one big pile of snooze.
- CROATIA: Of course every Eurovision needs this kind of cheese but it was too much of everything. The vocals were full on the entire time and were off in the high bits, the song went nowhere and the presentation was…well…can you spell Icarus? I fit hadn’t been for north Macedonia this could have been in with a shot, now the only shot tob e found was the one I wanted to put through my head while being forced to sit through this.
- LITHUANIA: Cute as a button and he tried his best, but this was damn near invisible. So uneventful that I can barely spend two lines on it.
Overall a much better and pleasant semi! In terms of results I had 7 out of my personal top ten and 8 from my predictions – I was fooled into thinking Albania would be too ethnic and Norway too…well…Norwegian to qualify but I’m quite happy that they both made it. How did you do?
Speaking of the final – let’s get our crystal ball going.
The way the running order is set up makes me think that Switzerland and Australia really scored big time in their semis. Netherlands will have undoubtedly scored big as well. But who suffers and who benefits?
Losers: Albania in the second spot is doomed, and Germany is an even bigger contender for last place with that draw. Can’t see Israel making their draw work, and France in between Azerbaijan and Italy might suffer more than we think. I wanted to say that Cyprus was lucky, but it might bet he odd one out in the strong string of top 10 contenders that starts with Sweden and ends with Greece.
Winners: There are several combo’s that work for both songs (Russia – Denmark; Sweden – Slovenia; Netherlands – Greece). Norway and Iceland are in excellent positions as well, considering what’s up around them. Czechia coming up after Albania can’t hurt them either. The biggest lucky star has to be Spain however.
All-in all it seems it’s gonna be a battle between Netherlands, Australia & Switzerland with possibly Russia & Sweden challenging them. Outsiders could be France, Slovenia and Iceland but all of those have more elements working against them than the big favorites.
Who do you think will win? Do check out the running order recap below!
Dimivision 