There were no surprises in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest: Nothing unexpected happened, either musically or politically. The co-favorites and former mega sellers get on, the war doesn’t matter.
The final of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is complete: Thursday evening, in the second semi-final, ten other countries qualified for the show on Saturday, including Sweden, one of the favorites, with singer Cornelia Jakobs. The Polish singer Ochman, who was also highly regarded, made it into the final, as did the Finnish alternative rockers The Rasmus, who have won multiple medals.
On Saturday evening, a total of 25 countries will compete against each other for the glass microphone. With more than 200 million TV viewers, the ESC final is the most watched music event in the world. With the exception of the five major sponsors of the competition – Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Italy and France – all other countries must first qualify for the final.
In addition to Sweden, Poland and Finland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Serbia, Romania and Australia also made it into the final. Australia has been allowed to take part in the competition as a non-European country since 2015 because it is a member of the European Broadcasting Union. How many points the 20 countries received from the two preliminary rounds was not announced in order not to influence the final.
Cyprus, Georgia, Ireland, Israel, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro and San Marino were eliminated on Thursday. The first ten countries had already qualified on Tuesday – including the Kalush Orchestra from the Ukraine, which is considered the top favorite in the betting shops.
In the second semi-final show, the German starter Malik Harris also had a short appearance to present his song “Rockstars”. Harris said he was so excited – performing in the ESC final on Saturday is what he currently lives for. In the betting shops, Harris is given no chance of a front placement. Germany could be in the same situation as in most previous years, when the German starters ended up far behind in one of the last places.
Harris, who comes from Landsberg am Lech in Bavaria, performed his song “Rockstars” at a reception at the German embassy in Turin before the second semi-final in Turin.
The Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra also performed at the reception. With “Stefania” the group is the clear favorite in the final. Russia was excluded from the competition because of the attack on Ukraine. However, the war played no role in the two semi-final shows – the participants are not allowed to send political messages.
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