Eurovision song contest: They advanced to semi-final 1

Fifteen countries fought for ten final places when the first semi-final of this year’s Eurovision song contest was decided in the Malmö arena.

Among those who were voted on was Baby Lasagna from Croatia, whose metal pop song “Rim tim tagi dim” gave the artist a top spot on the betting companies’ lists ahead of Saturday night’s final.

– Those are just numbers, he said at the press conference after the broadcast.

– It’s not over until the fat lady sings.

Serbia’s Teya Dora and Ukraine’s Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil also advanced.

– This is an opportunity to say thank you to all the countries that supported Ukraine, said Alyona Alyona.

At the press conference, Finland’s scantily clad Windows95man, who competes with the 90s nostalgic entry “No rules”, was asked which rule in Eurovision he would like to change.

– More naked! was the answer.

Luxembourg, which entered the competition for the first time in 31 years, also got a ticket to the final.

– This is a great event that unites cultures so I hope we can inspire other countries to return to or debut in the competition, said the country’s artist Tali.

The semi-final marked the kick-off for this year’s debated Eurovision, before which protests against Israel’s upcoming participation have been prominent. On Tuesday evening, the focus was above all on the music and the competition, but in the opening number, the Swedish guest artist Eric Saade took the opportunity to show his support for Palestine by wearing a Palestinian shawl wrapped around his wrist.

Earlier this week, Saade criticized the way the Eurovision organizer EBU handled the competition and wrote on Instagram that it felt “more important than ever” for him, who has a Palestinian debt, to perform in Malmö.

However, SVT regretted Saade’s actions in the program, which is supposed to be non-political, and wrote in a comment to DN that “it is sad that he uses his participation in this way”.

Even Ireland’s artist Bambie Thug, who advanced to the final with his witchy contribution “Doomsday blue”, has shown support for Palestine in Malmö. At the genre rehearsals, he had written “ceasefire” and “freedom for Palestine” in the Irish alphabet on his body, but needed to change the text before the live broadcast due to EBU rules.

“I had an out-of-body experience and am proud to be the first non-binary artist to come forward,” Bambie Thug said of his performance.

This year’s competition is led by Eurovision veteran Petra Mede and actor Malin Åkerman. It is the seventh time that Sweden and SVT have organized it, and the fact that the competition is organized on Swedish soil was noticed in the semi-final in both Abba references and a feature where classic scenes from Ingmar Bergman films were set to music with equally classic Eurovision songs.

Among others, Benjamin Ingrosso was responsible for the program’s interludes. Irish artist and double winner Johnny Logan also took his place on stage with a “Euphoria” tribute to Swedish Loreen, who last year made history as the first woman to win Eurovision twice.

New for this year is that even the countries that are directly qualified for the final – Italy, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, France and the host country Sweden – can perform their contributions in the semi-finals. On Tuesday evening, the lot fell on Great Britain’s artist Olly Alexander, Germany’s Isaak and Sweden’s Marcus & Martinus, whose show for the contribution “Unforgettable” was given an upgrade with the help of the Eurovision stage’s five big led cubes.

The second semi-final will be held on Thursday 9 May and the final will be decided on Saturday 11 May. Then a total of 26 countries compete for the win.

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