The initial results of the Eurovision Song Contest were announced after the first of the three live broadcasts of the competition were conducted.
They saw 10 countries move forward to the grand final scheduled to take place on May 11th, Saturday, while five countries went home.
The results
Luxembourg is the most notable amongst the 10 winning countries, as it returned to the pan-European competition after an absence of 31 years.
Ireland is also one of the final contestants, which holds the record for most wins at seven times, along with Sweden.
However, since the introduction of the semifinals back in 2005, there have been 11 times that Ireland has failed to qualify for the grand final.
That spell was broken by Bambie Thug with an ‘electro-metal breakdown’ called ‘Doomsday Blue’. Thug’s real name is Bambie Ray Robinson and is the first nonbinary artist representing Ireland in the competition.
Thug is also the first contestant from Ireland to participate after Ryan O’Shaugnessy in 2018, who stood 16th place with the song ‘Together’.
Thug is expected to take a high position in the rankings in the grand final. If they do end up in the top five, it will be the biggest success for Ireland in Eurovision in 1997.
That year saw Marc Roberts finish second with ‘Mysterious Ways’, while Katrina & the Waves won from the UK with ‘Love Shine a Light’.
The countries
Luxembourg is the world’s only grand duchy currently. This means it is a country that is ruled by a monarch with the title of grand duke or duchess.
The first person to compete from this small European country is Talia, a singer born in Israel. It was in 1993 that Modern Times from Luxembourg participated in the Eurovision and earned the 20th spot.
There are eight more countries that also qualified for Eurovision’s grand final and these include Portugal, Lithuania, Croatia, Finland, Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia, and Cyprus.
During the live broadcast, the public voted to relegate five countries, which were Australia, Iceland, Poland, Moldova, and Azerbaijan.
The possibilities
According to oddmakers, the chances of Croatia taking the title are high. It would be the first victory of the country in 30 attempts.
In 1990, a band from Croatia named Riva won the Eurovision, but the country had still been part of Yugoslavia.
On Thursday, May 9th, a second semifinal will be broadcast live and a total of 16 countries will be competing for a spot in the grand final.
These include Switzerland, Malta, Albania, San Marino, Norway, the Netherlands, Latvia, Israel, Greece, Georgia, Estonia, Denmark, Czechia, Austria, Belgium and Armenia.
Sweden, the host country, is able to skip the semifinals because it is prequalified. Likewise, the five countries that contribute the biggest amount of the production budget can also skip.
These include the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. These countries are referred to as the ‘Big Five’.
No comments:
Post a Comment