Eurovision 2024: These are the ten finalists of the Second Semi-Final!

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest has officially started and the Second Semi-Final was just concluded.

Tonight’s show was hosted by Malin Åkerman and Petra Mede. Sixteen countries performed tonight competing for ten tickets to Saturday’s Grand Final.

These were tonight’s contestants:

  1. Malta: Sarah Bonnici – “Loop
  2. Albania: Besa – “Titan
  3. Greece: Marina Satti – “Zari
  4. Switzerland: Nemo – “The Code
  5. Czechia: Aiko – “Pedestal
  6. Austria: Kaleen – “We Will Rave
  7. Denmark: SABA – “Sand
  8. Armenia: Ladaniva – “Jako
  9. Latvia: Dons – “Hollow”
  10. San Marino: Megara – “11:11”
  11. Georgia: Nutsa Buzaladze – “Firefighter”
  12. Belgium: Mustii – “Before The Party’s Over”
  13. Estonia: 5miinust and Puuluup – “(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
  14. Israel: Eden Golan – “Hurricane”
  15. Norway: Gåte – “Ulveham”
  16. The Netherlands: Joost – “Europapa”

The results were determined exclusively by public voting and tonight’s ten qualifiers are the following:

  • Latvia
  • Austria
  • The Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Israel
  • Greece
  • Estonia
  • Switzerland
  • Georgia
  • Armenia

A few words about tonight’s show

Tonight’s show started with the two hostesses singing their own version of Sweden’s winning entry “Tattoo“.

 

For the first time, the BIG 5 and the host country performed live in the semi-finals. Hence, tonight the following countries performed:

  1. France: Slimane – “Mon Amour
  2. Spain: Nebulossa – “Zorra
  3. Italy: Angelina Mango – “La Noia

Following the conclusion of the participants’ performances, three Eurovision divas took the stage for a Eurovision Sing-A-Long. Helena Paparizou, Charlotte Perrelli and Sertab Erener sang their Eurovision winning entries, making the crowd go crazy.

 

However, the intervals did not stop there. Charlotte Perreli took the stage along with Petra Mede, while the Eurovision 2023 runner-up, Käärijä, performed his song “Cha Cha Cha” for one more time.

 

The show was finished with a performance of Herreys, Sweden’s winners in 1984, who sang their all time classic “Diggy Loo Diggy Lei”.

The allocation regarding in which half will the qualifiers perform in the Grand Final, comes next, so stay tuned…


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Belgium: VRT interrupts Semi Final broadcast with call for ceasefire in Israel!

Trade union VRT briefly interrupts broadcast semifinal Eurovision with call for ceasefire in Israel. The VRT union also supports journalists in the war zone:

“Moreover, the state of Israel is destroying the freedom of the press. That’s why we’re interrupting the image for a while.” Finally, the union calls for a ceasefire and “stop genocide”.

The socialist trade union ACOD-VRT defends the action.

“We have been watching the events in the Middle East with horror for months now. We are convinced that the State of Israel is committing a genocide and that is why it is outrageous that there is an Israeli entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Doing nothing, just watching, is no longer an option.”

ACOD-VRT points the finger at the umbrella of public broadcasters that organizes the Eurovision Song Contest.

“Unfortunately, the EBU has made the Israeli entry possible and therefore we have decided to interrupt the broadcast. We hope to send a signal to the Israeli government to stop the fighting and killings, allow international observers and the press to enter and sit down for a negotiated solution.”

VRT management informed

 VRT spokesperson Yasmine Van der Borght told the editors of hln.be:

“It is indeed a trade union action. We were informed it was going to happen. Trade unions have the right to take action and do not need permission to do so. I can only say that we have taken note of the action.”

Before the start of the broadcast, there was a small-scale protest at the premises of the VRT and the French-language broadcaster RTBF. About 70 activists denounced the broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest, because Israel is allowed to participate.

In the center of the Swedish city of Malmö, where the Eurovision Song Contest takes place, protests are still taking place against Israel‘s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, Swedish media report. So far, nine people have been arrested. Starting at 4 p.m., more than 10,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Malmö. According to the police, this was largely uneventful.

N-VA MP Michael Freilich responds:

“We live in a free country and so everyone is free to protest. The fact that the unions disrupt a TV broadcast for millions of viewers is their choice. Anyone who claims to want to tackle injustice, but does not say a word about the terrorist acts of Hamas and the more than 100 hostages, undermines their own credibility. That’s a missed opportunity.”

Source: hln.be

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Eurovision 2024: SVT will reportedly not censor sound from the audience in the arena tonight!

Eden Golan faced boos from the audience during a rehearsal, as you have read in one of our previous articles, the Israeli broadcaster Kan filed a formal complaint with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ahead of tonight’s broadcast.

During rehearsals, where the arena audience was limited, there was both imposed applause and a sound carpet added to the broadcast in the press center. This sound carpet created the illusion of a large audience in the arena, even though it wasn’t the case.

Eden Golan, Photo: Andreas Papagiannakis

Eden Golan, Photo: Andreas Papagiannakis

In previous years, Russian artists in the Eurovision contest experienced loud protests and boos during their performances. In 2015, the Austrian TV channel that produced Eurovision in Vienna chose to censor the boos by adding fake shouts during the broadcast.

Aftonbladet‘s Tobbe Ek reached out to SVT’s executive producer, Ebba Adielsson, with a detailed question and she clarified the situation:

As with any major TV production with an audience, we work with broadcast audio to level the playing field for the TV audience. It is only to get as balanced a soundscape as possible for the viewers, we do not censor sound from the audience in the arena. It’s the same principle for all competing entries, including opening and intermediate acts.

Let’s see what will happen at tonight’s Second Semi Final which is already on-air!

Source: Schlagerbloggen/Tobbe Ek/Aftonbladet

Stay tuned for more regarding this year’s Eurovision Song Contest that is held in Malmö Arena, in Malmö, Sweden.

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Portugal: Mimicat to announce Portugal’s 12 points!

Mimicat has been revealed as the Portuguese spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, has revealed that Mimicat will announce the points of the Portuguese jury during the Grand Final of Eurovision 2024.

Mimika represented Portugal at Eurovision 2023 and finished 23rd in the final with “Ai Coração”. This will be the fourth year in a row that the Portuguese spokesperson will be the previous year’s Portuguese entrant.

The spokespersons that have already unveiled are:

  • Azerbaijan – Aisel
  • Belgium – Livia Dushkoff
  • Georgia  – Sopho Khalvashi
  • Switzerland – Jennifer Bosshard
  • Spain – Soraya
  • Luxembourg – Désirée Nosbusch
  • Slovenia – Lorella Flego
  • Greece – Helena Paparizou
  • Italy – Mario Acampa
  • Germany – Ina Müller
  • Denmark – Stéphanie Surrugue
  • Malta – Matt Blxck
  • The Netherlands – Nikkie de Jagger
  • Ukraine  – Jamala
  • United Kingdom – Joanna Lumley
  • Cyprus – Loukas Hamatsos
  • Estonia – Birgit
  • Portugal – Mimicat

Source: Festival da Canção

Stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for all the upcoming news.!

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Estonia 2024: Birgit to announce Estonian points!

Birgit will be Estonia’s spokesperson for Eurovision 2024.

Estonian broadcaster ERR announced it on the Instagram of the news show Ringvaade.  Ringvaade, which airs tonight on ETV at 19:00 Estonian time, will go over further details about this announcement.

Birgit represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 which was also hosted in Malmö.  Now Birgit will be in charge of announcing the 12 points from Estonia during the Grand Final of Eurovision 2024.

Birgit represented Estonia in Eurovision 2013 with the song “Et uus saaks alguse”.  She finished in 20th position in the Grand Final.

Source: Ringvaade

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for more news about Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024!


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Eurovision 2024: The results of the fourth day of the Press Poll!

The 2024 Press Poll is underway, as we have previously informed you. Now that all countries have had their rehearsals, it’s time for the accredited journalists to cast their votes for the countries that they believe will qualify from the second semi-final and the country that will win the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.

Those are the results of the second semi-final and the final, as of May 9th, at 21:00:

Second Semi-Final 

When it comes to the winner, the results are the following:

In voting for the winner, Croatia is in first place, Switzerland is second and Cyprus is third! It is worth noting that among the fans Cyprus is in the first place!

We would like to remind you that the results that were made public online in the last few days are invalid. Accredited journalists were never contacted to cast their votes.


Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates regarding the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest!


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Israel: Eden Golan in her first interview before the Second Semi-Final!

Just before the beginning of the second Semi-Final of today, Israel’s representative Eden Golan gave us an exclusive interview, as she only interviewd in Israeli media.

Eden is very happy and ready for her performance today, after two amazing rehearsals. Of course, she waits Greek people to vote for her and support her!

Watch in the following video the interview of Eden:

Israel will perform in place 14 today in the Second Semi-Final with the song “Hurricane”, having great chances of qualifying.

We wanna thank KAN, Eden’s manager and our colleagues from Euromix for the interview.

Will you think Israel can qualify in the Grand Final?

Stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for all the upcoming news of the contest.!

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Moldova: “The contest is very political”, claims Natalia Barbu!

Natalia Barbu returned to the contest after seventeen years with “In The Middle“. However, her second attempt was nowhere near as successful as her first one and she did not make it to the finals.

Barbu expressed her disappointment on the result claiming that the reasons behind her non qualification was of political nature:

It’s very political and it doesn’t matter because my piece is about light, it’s about beauty and I’m convinced that I connected with a lot of people, but this contest probably isn’t just about that.

However, she feels thankful having lived the experience once again:

I thank God for this experience itself. It was nice and I think that if I got here, in this competition, I didn’t get there for nothing, because from now on a new and beautiful stage begins in my career and in my life.


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Eurovision 2024: Family Show of the Second Semifinal- Live Commentary (Updated Live)

The family show of the Second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 has just begun. The family show is the afternoon show before the live broadcast that starts at 21:00 CET, where the artists perform once again their entries. The Family Show is more financially convenient, identical to the live one for families and takes place earlier on the same day of the Semifinal. EurovisionFun will be watching all the shows live both at the on-site press centre in Malmö and at the online press centre and will be commenting on the full performances of the 16 participating countries and France, Spain, and Italy. 

This year we will watch the automatic qualifiers perform their entire songs as part of the Semifinal.

This article gets updated in real time, all you need to do is hit the refresh button on your browser!

So stay tuned to this article as we update it with all the details, preparing you for what you will see in the Semi-Final today May 9th, at 21:00 CEST.

The Show

A video shows us the presenters in the dressing rooms and then they start singing Tattoo, with slightly changed lyrics, lying on tanning beds. They then come on stage in a different outfit from the First Semi-Final and welcome us to the Second Semi-Final. We see the board with the 16 competing countries and the phone numbers.

The competition part

Malta

The first to take the stage today is Malta! Sarah is the best to open the Semi Final! An amazing show and perfect vocals! Malta has many possibilities to be the suprising qualifier!

Albania

Next is Albania. Besa is on the stage! A totally elegant performance but with a weak song! No possibilities for qualifying!

Greece

MARINA is here! The best performance for Greece so far! Marina was on fire with the best vocals! A sure qualification for Greece.

Switzerland

Nemo keeps the new outfit from yesterday’s rehearsal. They climb up their platform in the beginning of the song. During the rap part they get up and down the platform. Minimal lighting and visuals. Vocally they are really good despite the song being very demanding.

Czechia

The staging is full of red colours, and Aiko alongside with her five dancers represent the 5 stages of grief in a breakup. Lots of pyro during the whole performance and before the bridge, we see on the screen behind her a video of couple fighting before we get to the last part of the song. Vocally she was really good.

 

BREAK

France (not competing country)

A very chic performance with excellent vocals. He starts laying down on the floor as the camera approaches him. The lights are light blue and after the bridge they turn white with lots of smoke on stage. Slimane is having his signature vocal moment far away from the microphone.

Austria

A performance full of energy that takes us back somehow to the sounds of the 90’s.  Intense rave photorhythms throughout the song for Kaleen. Kaleen tries to combine intense dancing and vocals.

Denmark

Saba starts on a podium and scatters shiny sand. The light focuses on her eye and, as the camera pans out, we see her white outfit. The fog on the floor can also be seen in the chorus. In the second chorus, it looks like that the sand is being scattered from her hands and a figure identical to the singer appears on the LED screen. On the bridge, the leds go dark, the spotlight marks her heart and it beats with her rhythm.

Armenia

There is a whistle in the beginning of the performance. Afterwards she approaches a staircase-like structure which is placed in the middle of the stage and where the orchestra is standing. During the song she is going up and down.

BREAK

Latvia

Dons starts behind the round structure with the blue armor. Very stable vocally as if you were listening to the audio, but the appearance is equally static. There are LEDs on the floor as if he is walking on a ladder, while a tree forms behind. Purple lights. Nothing more, nothing less.

Spain (not competing country)

We start with the familiar staging from Benidorm but on a larger scale.  The dancers take off their clothes just like in the national final. We also have fireworks in the second chorus. In the final chorus, everyone climbs onto the sofa structure and there is a shot from above and at the end the singer climbs to the top. Big applause for Spain.

San Marino

It’s the second consecutive entry in the Spanish language in this semi-final. The lead singer appeared without make-up. We start with a close-up of the singer, led in pink and black and paintings like a forest with trees and wolves. On the bridge the dancers have a skeleton outfit that glows pink.

Georgia

Nutsa in her gold-orange outfit raises the temperature tremendously in the Malmö Arena. She starts on a pedestal while a circle forms behind her. Four dancers make their appearance with a lot of smoke. In the LEDs we see her face, but also a solar eclipse. Many fires with duration and an impressive dance in the dance break. On the bridge she jumps onto the dancers and they lift her into the air. In the finale, she ascends the podium again and the dancers kneel before her. Georgia is ready to break the elimination streak that began in 2017. 

Belgium

MustIi is dressed in white and walks into a circle of microphones. where dry ice is ejected. On the bridge he comes to the front of the stage and opens his garment to reveal his chest that is covered in gold dust. Vocally he is doing really good.

Estonia

There are a lot of similiarities between the performance on the Eurovision stage and the stage of the Estonian national final. This entry is full of dance and energy something that is conveyed to the audience. Will they manage to bring the Baltic State back to the final?

Italy (not competing country)

Undoubtedly one of the most favourite entries of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest. The LEDs are full of trees tha creat a forest in the shades of gold and red. The Italian representative has all the potentials to bring Italy into the top five again, is vocally flawless and receives a big applause. 

Israel

Eden is surrounded by her four dancers on a circular structure in the middle of the stage. There is a lot of dry ice and on the bridge of the song the lighting changes to gold and on the leds we see a sun that gradually aligns with the circle. Vocally was once again great. There were again mixed reactions from the crowd, both applause and disapproval.

Norway

Norway returns to their native language after 2006 with Gåte and their entry “Ulveham”. The staging is almost identical to the one of the Melodi Grand Prix. Vocally was really good, mysterious atmosphere and nice shot changes. The leds transport us to Norwegian landscapes, with water and scenes from nature, which fit the message of the Norwegian participation perfectly. Big applause in the press centre.

The Netherlands

Now it’s time for the one of the big favourites not only for the first place in this smei-final, but in the the contest overall. Joost is on stage with two dancers and his friends, one of whom is dressed as a blue bird. On the LEDs there are images like a 2000s 3D video game and photos of food and sights from places accross the European Continent. Big applause here from the audience.

A recap of the songs follows

Interval Acts

The biggest sing-along in the world! People from across Europe are on the screen as Helena Paparizou takes the stage to sing her iconic “My Number One”. Petra Mede is in the crowd singing alongside with the audience. Next is Charlotte Perelli who is singing “Take Me To Your Heaven”, followed by Sertab Erener and “Everyway That I Can”.

The second and last recap of the songs.

Now we are seeing an ABBA tribute, considering this year marks 50 years since their victory.

Petra is doing an act, where she is singing about Sweden and Eurovision. Charlotte Perelli joins her.

The results 

These results are neither valid nor real, but they come about in order to serve the rehearsal’s purposes. 

The green room is behind the stage and the LED wall opens so we can see the contestants behind it. Martin Osterdahl executive producer of Eurovision Song Contest 2024, declares that he is happy to see that we now have a valid result!

Here we have a big change, as the 16 competing acts stand on stage, without their delegations, waiting for the result. The camera shows them one by one, as the presenters announce the qualifiers. After the first 5 qualifiers are announced, Alesha interviews them backstage and then we learn the 5 remaining qualifiers.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates around the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest!

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Iceland: Friðrik Ómar revealed as the spokesperson for Eurovision 2024!

RÚV announced that Friðrik Ómar will serve as the spokesperson for the Icelandic votes in Eurovision 2024.

In fact, Friðrik Ómar is no stranger to the Eurovision community. He represented Iceland in Eurovision 2008 as a part of Eurobandið with the song “This Is My Life“, ending up in the fourteenth place with 64 points.

So far, the following countries have revealed their spokespersons for Eurovision 2024:

  • Azerbaijan – Aisel
  • Belgium – Livia Dushkoff
  • Georgia  – Sopho Khalvashi
  • Switzerland – Jennifer Bosshard
  • Spain – Soraya
  • Luxembourg – Désirée Nosbusch
  • Slovenia – Lorella Flego
  • Greece – Helena Paparizou
  • Italy – Mario Acampa
  • Germany – Ina Müller
  • Denmark – Stéphanie Surrugue
  • Malta – Matt Blxck
  • The Netherlands – Nikkie de Jagger
  • Ukraine  – Jamala
  • United Kingdom – Joanna Lumley
  • Cyprus – Loukas Hamatsos

Iceland was represented this year by Hera Björk and her song “Scared Of Heights“, but on Tuesday night it was not announced among the ten finalists for Saturday.


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