As usual the punters weren't (almost) wrong. Ten of the 15 countries that will compete in the first semi-final of Eurovision 2024 on Tuesday evening have won tickets to the final in Malmö (Sweden) this Saturday. They are Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland and Luxembourg.
Despite their strong performances, Poland, Iceland, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Australia failed to qualify for the finals, bidding farewell to their dreams of this year's Eurovision title. Of the ten qualifiers, Croatia and Baby Lasagna are among the biggest favorites to win on Saturday. Alongside her, unsurprisingly, are Ukraine's Alyona Alyona and Gerry Haye, along with Ireland's Bambi Thug, who are well placed among the bookies.
A star-studded comeback for Johnny Logan
Greek Eleni Foureira, who finished second for Cyprus in 2018, Sweden's Eric Zadeh, who finished third in 2011, Spanish bronze medalist Chanel in 2022, and the trio of “United” in 2022 started the show off in style. Through music”, as the motto of the contest, they performed the best hits of the Eurovision ranking “Fugo”, “Popular” and “Slomo”.
But the most anticipated was definitely “Mr Eurovision”, Johnny Logan. The Irishman, a double winner of the competition in 1980 and 1987, had won the title until last year. Thanks to Laure's second win, he's no longer alone. Sweden allowed his country to equal the record number of Eurovision wins, previously held by Ireland, who have won seven times.
The occasion was too good not to pay tribute to him, so the “Hold Me Now” singer returned to the Malmo stage to cover Lorin's “Euphoria.”
Another native from the stage attended the intervals, in the person of Benjamin Ingrosso. The 26-year-old singer won third place in the 2018 competition with the song “Dance You Off”.
For the first time, non-competitive performances
While they qualified directly for the final on Saturday evening, without going through the semi-finals, the representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden performed their song in live conditions, just like their rivals in the competition.
The first to allow the public to have a real review of the services. So far, only a short 30-second extract has been broadcast during the semi-finals, a real change for the “Big 5” countries and the host nation, which are the biggest financial contributors to the competition.
To see France, you have to wait another 48 hours, as Slimane will also perform in Thursday's second semi-final. At the moment, the Frenchman is best placed among the punters, in seventh place. See you now on Thursday at 9 pm, where 16 candidates will compete for the last ten spots in the finale.
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