For all the time I spent worrying about this semi-final, the 10 qualifiers ended up being rather predictable. I got 9/10 right, and would have had 10/10 had I followed my gut and replaced Romania with Albania.
I'm actually surprised that televote and jury only agreed on *7* qualifiers, because I was thinking there would be less discrepancy between the juries and public after seeing who got through, so I'm looking forward to the full breakdown.
QUALIFIERS:
🇲🇰 : This was expected, but I was still relieved when it got through. I didn't rate the studio version highly, but the live performance gave a whole new meaning to the song. The dress, the vocals, the visuals. Everything about this worked.
🇳🇱 : Winner of the semi IMO. My only problem with the performance were all the wide shots, but other than that perfection. The final minute gave me goosebumps.
🇦🇱 : God is real. You don't need staging when you have a voice like Jonida Maliqi. I'm so relieved this didn't get drowned out by what was around it in the running order, though I assume Albania barely qualified. Deserved.
🇸🇪 : The song has become kind of sterile in my opinion, but vocally this was perfect. Top 5 in the final.
🇷🇺 : I don't rate the song but Sergey sounded great. The visuals also worked better than I thought they would. Deserved.
🇦🇿 : This was a great show closer, though I do think the press over-hyped the staging. I only liked the first minute of staging. The rest felt kind of lost. However, Chingiz's ethnic wailing toward the end of the song was a moment.
🇩🇰 : I still hate it, but I get why it got through.
🇳🇴 : One of my favourites of the night. I thought Tom was a bit shaky vocally on second listen, but their energy was fantastic. They were clearly feeding off the crowd response. Probably top 5 in the televote.
🇨🇭 : This really stood out in what was a rather drab first half. I wouldn't be surprised if this WON the televote. Switzerland are back in it as a contender IMO.
🇲🇹 : There was no other choice for the tenth qualifier. I think the performance looked stunning and Michela was serving attitude which I was happy to see, but some of the camera angles didn't work in my opinion. But still, deserved qualifier.
NON-QUALIFIERS:
🇦🇲 : Kind of disappointing to see what happened to Armenia this year. They had a good song, but I don't think it was right for Eurovision after all. Performing first also did them no favours. Something about this wasn't clicking for me, and I think it was the (lack of) staging.
🇮🇪 : The song has grown on me a lot and I thought the performance looked great, but Sarah looked really uncomfortable for some reason. A shame, but not a surprise that this didn't make it.
🇲🇩 : At the end of the day, a crap song is a crap song. Deserved non-qualifier.
🇱🇻 : I enjoyed this, but it was clearly doomed. Potential last place of the semi?
🇷🇴 : One of the biggest losses of the semi-final. Granted, the performance was extra AF, but I enjoyed the song.
🇦🇹 : This didn't live up to my expectations, unfortunately. Paenda's voice sounded like it was about to crack at any moment. A shame, but not surprising.
🇭🇷 : This was giving me shock qualifier vibes, but I'm glad it missed out. The performance was interesting I guess, but the song wasn't great.
🇱🇹 : I like the song, but it clearly had no place in the final. Jurij looked great though.
I really think the Netherlands is winning, the staging was beautiful and effective, plus he got a good running spot!
Also can't believe there was a ONE point different?? I feel like it's either Albania or Denmark in 10th with Romania in 11th :)))
Adding onto my last one, people are saying it's Armenia, and if that's true, than my theory about them not qualifying because they were placed with Azerbaijan is true :)))
