And just like that, 37 has become 32. We lost five plucky hopefuls from last night and as tradition dictates, I failed to hit the full ten. In the end, there just wasn’t enough in the Dutch entry to take the Netherlands through, but otherwise, a flawless set of picks. Still happy with 9/10 though.
But enough of the past, now we must luck to the future. The first semi was tough to predict because of the sheer quality on show. Semi final two is just as hard to call for…different reasons. There are still quality acts on show, perhaps just a few less than on Tuesday.
Let’s start easy enough with the three that I’m sure are safely through. If even part of Joker Out’s charm and appeal translates down the camera lense then Slovenia are in the final. Then if your name begins with “Aus” you’re safe. Australia‘s Voyager and Austria‘s Teya & Salena will make the final a better place with all the keytars & Edgar Allan Poe you could possibly wish for.
Conversely, I only have two surefire non-qualifiers in this bunch. Much as Theodor from Romania is a young lovely lad, who can hopefully blossom from this experience, this isn’t his year. In addition, now is the time to end the thought experiment that is San Marino at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.
That leaves 11 into 7, the reverse of the famous convenience store. I’m going to pick out the ones that I think are likely through, if not guaranteed. Armenia and Georgia are both competent enough to attract sufficient votes to get them over the line with room to spare. Given it’s fun and upbeat nature I’d say the same for Gustaph from Belgium. Lastly, if even a small percentage of Reiley’s TikTok followers pick up the phone to vote then Denmark sails in.
Conversely, there are three by my count that I think need more than a generous push to take them over the line. The song from Greece is nice but feels a tad like Victor has been left out to dry. Iceland‘s Diljá deserves to go through based on the vibrancy of her performance alone, but the song is little more than a demo track to my ear. Lastly Albania…well Albania is there and that’s as much as I can muster.
So much like Tuesday, that leaves four into three – Estonia, Poland, Cyprus and Lithuania. I’m going to let my heart rule my head on this one and nudge Lithuania into the qualifier, Monika is just too good. Same can be said of Andrew from Cyprus so they’re in too.
So Polish disaster bop or Estonian ballad? Oh sod it, I’m going to take the banter option…Poland through, Estonia out.
Oh god.
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