It’s Eurovision week, huzzah! But I’m battling an epic cold, zut alors! A head that feels like it’s stuffed full of mashed potatoes, not the best way to start the festivities. or was it? Time for a quick look back ànd a quick look forward.
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen Semi 1
Don’t expect the deepest analysis or the most eloquent poetry today, I can barely scrape myself together to get this blog post online. It was an odd experience, sitting through Semi 1 on Tuesday with a barely functioning brain and ditto set of ears, whilst fighting off the odd coughs and sneezes. Maybe that’s why I felt it wasn’t necessarily the best semi we’d ever been served? Not that SVT can be blamed, the production value was as per usual top notch. Or was it?
The hosts: No Eurovision in Sweden without Petra Mede, it seemed like a given to have the 2013 and 2016 host back back back again. Though the danger of having it feel like history repeating, or the same nudges and winks rather, Miss Mede always manages to make it seem like she’s coming up with the jokes on the spot. And cheesy as those jokes may be from time to time, the self-deprecation is as ever very much in point. Having Malin Åkerman beside her is a nice change of pace: they both share the Swedish dry sense of humor, and Malin brings a(n American) smoothness to the table that evens out Petra’s sharp quips. Malin needed a bit of time to warm up but quickly proved to be a worthy replacement of Måns. Both ladies prove that we really don’t need more than two capable hosts to make the proceedings run smoothly. Oh, and adored the orange and pink suits, I’ll have one of each – tack så mycket.
The stage: The cross-shaped stage (is it an omen for a Swiss win?) felt like a left-field choice at first but is proving to be the right way to go. The flexibility it provides in creating a tailor-made staging for each song is borderline flabbergasting, especially combined with the floating cubes and the giant LED screens. It also feels less gargantuous and overwhelming than stages of the past few years. Douze points for this concept…for now.
The segments & interval acts: It was a bit odd, spending almost ten minutes to three past contestants – all of them podium finishers – as an opening to Eurovision week. Sure, it’s awesome having non-winners there in the spirit of celebrating the Eurovision experience. But it’s setting quite a weird tone, as they’re almost outshining all of the actual participants from the get-go. Johnny Logan’s rendition of Euphoria was touching. Having Benjamin Ingrosso perform a medley of songs that, besides the Swedes in the audience, don’t ring a bell at all was a bit of an odd choice. Much like the segment with Eurovision songs put over Ingmar Bergman movies. And speaking of unexpected: the heartfelt message to Hugo from the iconic duo Nicole & Hugo (pictured above) was as surprising as it was touching. Nicole and Hugo are and always will be immortal legends in the northern part of Belgium and to see them, once again, being put in the spotlights like that…I’m sure it brought a tear to many eyes. I could blame my fierce cold, but I won’t deny it tugged at my heart strings as well.
The result: It felt like it was a done deal before the Semi had even begun, but of course reality had a different kind of check in store for us. Rehearsal footage already promised a couple of surprises in terms of staging concepts (and consequently (non-)eliminations). I’ll keep most of my thoughts on the qualifiers for my final review, but before I get to those that were eliminated I wanted to highlight one qualifier that shook me to my core. One that I had branded as hopeless because of the dreadful execution in its national final performance. But it squashed my negative feelings towards it like a bulldozer with a focused performance that was incredibly thought out and executed, and so fantastically in tune with the song. Bambie Thug, you rock. Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if the witch were crowned and it would be truly deserved. Such a punch in the gut, totally adore it.
But alas, we had to say goodbye to these five on Tuesday:
Poland: Rehearsal footage already made me fear for its chances and the complete performance only solidified that fear. The act didn’t match the vibe of the song, with too much choreography and too little substance. I’d written in my previews that it all gave me Ellie Goulding vibes, too bad Luna’s vocals on Tuesday proved me right. Such a shame, such a missed opportunity.
Iceland: I wasn’t particularly in the best of moods on Tuesday evening, so much so that I had this down as a qualifier in my predictions because the rest of the field felt either too lackluster or far-fetched. Even though this was as flat and cliché as it had been all season, despite Hera’s best foot being put forward and her looking better than she’s ever looked.
Moldova: I know I asked for something to make Natalia stand out a bit more from her clone army in my previews. But leaving her all by herself, that was perhaps taking it a stretch too far. Impressive though the visuals may have been, there just wasn’t happening enough to fill the hall in Malmö and/or our screens. It felt empty, which in turn made Natalia more shrill than ever. Not in the middle, rather at the back of the pack. Shame, she and the song deserved more care and thought.
Azerbaijan: One of the better songs of this semi but what the hell were they thinking pairing it with those visuals and outfits? They all belong to very different universes and were definitely not meant to be happening all at once. A bewildering experience, and not in the best of ways. This was the most obvious NQ of the night, along with Moldova.
Australia: One of my favorite songs of this edition but it was always going to be difficult to qualify, with its distinct Australian vibe that I thought worked for it but it clearly didn’t. Or maybe it was the rather chaotic presentation? Or the wibbly wobbly vocals in the last minute of the song? Either way, I quite adored it in all its queerness and slight clumsiness and I shall miss them dearly in the final.
Ultimately I had predicted 8 qualifiers on the night, leaving out Serbia (which I thought was too sleep-inducing) and Slovenia (which i thought was out-witched by a mile) for Australia and Iceland (I know, I know…). Curious how tonight is gonna go.
Et bonjour à toi, Semi 2
And speaking of tonight… How are we feeling after having seen the first rehearsal videos? As a Belgian I can say: very apprehensive about our chances, even more so than I was in my previews. I think tonight might have a few more surprises in store, as some of the entries I thought were sailing through easily suddenly feel like they might be on a plane back home tomorrow. I’m looking at you, Greece and Netherlands! It probably won’t be this dramatic, but then again…it wouldn’t be Eurovision without a few shock surprises now!
Read you all tomorrow! Or on Saturday, depending on how active my cold-battling-brain behaves. Have fun!
Dimivision 
I too loved the Nicole and Hugo moment, it was slightly odd to do the tribute over a year later (but there was hardly time to squeeze it in in 2023), but I’m so glad Baby Baby finally got the recognition as the root of modern staging concepts. I’d recommend following Hugo on Instagram if you don’t already – he’s obviously devasted at losing Nicole and is navigating his grief, but you can’t keep a good man down for long and he’s still working and performing a lot to keep busy, plus he clearly still loves it and can deliver. It looks like everyone in Belgium wants their picture taken with him. Just a really wholesome dude.
He really is so wholesome and such a lovely person. Everyone over here loves him, it’s really hard not to. The way he’s dealing with Nicole’s passing is so endearing as well. To have Malin address him so personally and, as you rightfully pointed out, to credit him and Nicole as the OG’s of Iconic Eurovision Performances… it just felt so right. Truly a heartwarming moment.