The first semi-final of Eurovision 2013 has come to an end, and we can now reveal the 10 qualifiers advancing to the grand finale, and the six acts who will be checking out of their hotel a bit earlier. Brace yourself, people. Here are the semi-final results.
The ten countries advancing to the final are:
MOLDOVA
LITHUANIA
IRELAND
ESTONIA
BELARUS
DENMARK
RUSSIA
BELGIUM
UKRAINE
NETHERLANDS
The six acts going home are:
AUSTRIA
SLOVENIA
CROATIA
MONTENEGRO
CYPRUS
SERBIA
Team Wiwi sat through the qualifiers’ press conference and have now transcribed all of it for you. Read it here.
Quick thoughts on these results from Team Wiwi.
1. It was really touching to see Lithuania go through. The Wiwi Jury backed him really strongly earlier this year and everyone thought we were crazy. He likely benefitted from the camera effects—it went all blurry, remember—which reminds us of the Anastasiya Petryk effect from Junior Eurovision.
2. In fact, maybe we can add Estonia to that list of countries that benefited from camera tricks. She starts her act out in black and white and made it through…which completely shocked me. But she’s got lots of fans, and a tiny part of me is finally starting to understand why. She looked amazing and her vocals were on point!
3. Sadly that didn’t work for Montenegro, which also used the same effect.
4. Some of us are traumatized that Moje 3 didn’t advance.
5. Anouk is so funny. At her press conference she said she wasn’t nervous about tonight until it got to spot #9 and she still hadn’t been called. You can read more about that in our press conference post. Zlata, on the other hand, said she was a nervous wreck.
6. Inside the Arena Zlata Ognevich didn’t get as big of an applause as we anticipated. This may simply be because her act is geared for the television voting audience, which isn’t a bad thing.
Photo: Thomas Hanses, Sander Hesterman (EBU)
You can read our song reviews on the Wiwi Jury page. Then read the lyrics to this year’s entries on our contestants page. And then vote for your favourite contestants in our various polls.
Let’s go Greece today !
LOVE THE FACT THAT ANDRIUS MADE IT TO THE FINALS.
🙂
That was my favourite song.
And I’m so happy, us Serbs didn’t qualify so I don’t have to cover my eyes and ears again. That Moje 3’s performance was absolutely disturbing.
Freya,just saw video clip,it is very ineresting on the edge,but manage to make an atmosphere of the song,and what is more important to ephesize Anouk voice,her voice is very unuqe just like our Nevena.I think Netherlands deserves to winn this year.If you ask me why,besides my sympathy for 8 years of waiting;Anuk has carisma,uniqe voice,she succeeded to be diffrent from almost 40 countyes.And wish after winning came to Belgrade and present her self to our audience.Whish her good luck 🙂
Dex, I can understand that if you understand the lyrics and hear the song over and over again, that you like the Serb entry. But for non -Serbs, it was absolutely horrible. Don’t underestimate that the rest of Europe can not understand the language. It is no surprise that de Dutch entries that won, a long long time ago, had to do it with not much dutch lyrics but with many , lai-lai-lai-lai and ding-a-dong. Why? Because the rest of Europe can not appreciate our language. If you don’t have a powerfull ballad like Serbia in 2007, but a mediocre… Read more »
Freya yuo can say it is true for bad cloths of Moje 3 i didn t like it ,i thik it was the scandal from beatifull girls to turl to loly pops,hair dress too.We was shocked in Belgrade to see that,but for singing they were great,among the best,Nevena voice is powerfull and uniqe.I didn t know how liberating was for Holland to reach the final.And i m happy for you.And if you ask me i would like to see Anuk as winner more than Denmark..
Banks, are you serious? We had no clue what those 3 badly dressed girls from Serbia were screaming about. Once, after many years in the final and allso a recent winner in 2007, Serbia did not qualify. Now, boo hoo. It was a bad song sung by girls with a bad taste in clothing. The Netherlands were not in the final the last 9 years, an all time high record. Finally, they are in. With a song, that is the least to be qualified as special. You like it or you don’t like it at all. But finally, Netherlands in… Read more »
Please ANOUK LISTEN!!! During her SECOND rehearsal she did such a beautiful twist in her song. After the second CHORUS but before the break she just sings BIRDS……. anyone go back and listen to when she does this because during the actual Semi final she didnt do this and replaced it with some common whaling. PLEASE anouk do exacly what you did in the second rehearsal video and you will wing the whole show. And make the stage a bit more dark and melancholy and some more wind in the hair……you are already by costume so toned down. Make it… Read more »
Macedonia should not go to the final,no ex yu votes ,and song is bad, with the singer who should go to some folk music contest.No regret.
I don’t think the Ex-Yu entries were so much strong for final , but i really hope that we (Macedonia) will pass when all of the others didn’t. Guys vote please! 😀
@Thorsten: If you ask me, the short shirt didn’t hurt. 😉 Diaspora voting probably plays a role with Lithuania, plus he just seems such a sweet guy. The song is nothing special, but at the same time very accessible, you can easily sing along at the first listen. And he has the single line “I’m in love with you” which he belts at the camera, that’s so endearing. Frankly, I don’t know. I always liked this song but didn’t think it would have enough general appeal. I’m glad to see him and his short shirt again in the final. Some… Read more »
Can anyone plaese tell me why Lithuania qualified? Is it “because of his shoes” or beacuse of his short shirt?
Everyone, I know that spirits are high and that some of you are understandably upset that your (and in some cases our) favourites did not make it, but please let’s keep it civil. We do not want to ban anyone, so don’t make us. Thank you.
It is a contest and someone had to lose. It’s like a game. It is definitely not the end of the world. And we shall find out soon what happened to those jury votes and televotes. We’ll get to the bottom of this, don’t you worry!
And could someone please relieve us from some of the atrocious and pejorative comments below?
@Connie: You are so right about “that cheesy synth track” on the Croatian entry – it totally spoilt it, made the song sound like something generic that would be bubbling from the sound system at an inexpensive Adriatic hotel. Of course the six guys are superb singers, but the classiness of the act was destroyed by the production. And I agree that Moje 3 sung well on the night. But the performance wasn’t understandable for the casual viewer, the outfits were mindblowing (and not in a good way), and the song wasn’t more than mediocre. @dex: You should wait for… Read more »
No i think you are retarded,we dom have to speak english it is additional education i m not bad with to speak but red it is bit more difficult,and you don have to insult anyone who is not speak or read perfect.i m never been to a english speking country,anyway i m communicate ok,thas mean i m not retarded,And stop insult retarde people you may have it in your familly ,life is not predictible.Stop insult gay people.Are you on some drugs or what??
Banks,my english is not perfect,so i m not sure is your text is ironic or not,anyway i m apologise for my respond if i get you wrong,it is becouse of foreign launguauge.i m confused with your last sentence about gay people is it a jocke or…i mean i dont understant your point ,gay community is very respectable on esc and they are lovely people supported Moje 3.
@Dex, you are retarded!! I am not insulting MY OWN COUNTRY, you moron, please, learn english and read again what I just stated… or don’t since there’s a HUGE LACK OF EDUCATION SHOWED IN YOUR ENGLISH KNOWLEDGE ITSELF and you probably fail [as it’s obvious] to understand the more complicated words written in english!! I am from one of the EX YUGOSLAVIAN countries and I have no clue what you’re talking about, so stop making a retard out of yourself!!
@Dex, you are retarded!! I am not insulting MY OWN COUNTRY, you moron, please, learn english and read again what I just stated!! I am from one of the EX YUGOSLAVIAN countries and I have no clue what you’re talking about so lay off my pussy!!
Banks, you are obviosly sick.Just tell me where you from,and i can tell that for your country too.We on the south ex yu have more tradition and history,confidence that we are not offended at all ,not from you :),We in Europe knows very well about each other country so much ,and enough that we respect all.I didin t say that south eropeans songs are the best this year it is not true,but WHERE ARE VOTES FROM EX YU +AUSTRIA+CYPRUS GONNE,VANISHED! It is about corruption.
Netherlands? Seriously? C’mon guys.
this shouldn’t be called Eurovision,this should be called Politicsvision
Serbia was great last night,all support for Moje 3 😀 <3
I'm very,very disappointed!
Yall make me sick!! You are the same bullshit as your countries… Nobody stopped to wonder why none of the ex Yugoslavian countries made it to the final yet all were ranked pretty good in poles, charts, etc. Look at you being too busy cheering for your loser countries that don’t make it to the final for 10 years BECAUSE THEY ARE SHIT!! and all of a sudden this year all the countries who never qualified to the final make it, yet those who ALWAYS qualify to the final don’t… HMMMM!! AND YES, THAT CONFIRMS THE FACT THAT THE COMPETITION… Read more »
Or is it “because of his shoes”?
And i m sick of favourising Denmark,while we all can see that from nordics Norway and Sweden are far better and know to sing!
Lithuania nad Belgium insted of Serbia and Austria?! Seriously? I’m still waiting for Petra to say that this was the biggest joke in Eurovision history… Heeeeeeeeey! Please tell me one good thing with Luthuania! Was it his stomach?
Oh please,song is ok ,girls sung superb in compare to all others.Just Russia and Ukraine was excellent all others below the common sense,Lithuania?Ireland?Belgium? Denmark ?Shakira from the forest with no voice,i was laugh to them for sure!
I laugh at all those Serbians that spammed the votes on this site for Moje 3 to win the semi, and now that crappy Eurotrash is going home.
good luck malta for the second semi final nice song
alyona but moje3 🙁
love the songs of Croatia and Austria.HOland and Lituania????i hope that second semifinal will be better!!!good luck!!!
Whine, whine, bitch, bitch.
My favorite didn’t win. That means this contest sucks, the vote was rigged, people only vote for their own region, why didn’t Yugoslavia all vote for their fellow countries, I hate you all, and I’m never watching Eurovision again EVER! (And by ever I mean not until Thursday.)
The songs were amazing – all of them. The 10 that won were all world class and deserve to go on (as did a couple of others).
OH I be reall,ex yu countryes did not have had the best songs this year,but when you listen first semi finals, they wasnt the worst at all,IT is almost hard to belive tha all ex yu+austria+cyprus voted for Benelux countryes.Fraud obviously!
Shame Croatia didn’t get through. Lovely song, beautifully sung. Obviously too high quality for Eurovision. Pity they elected to put that cheesy synth track on it, making it sound like lift (elevator) music. They like that sound in Croatia, or at least they appear to as every hotel bar I’ve ever visited in Croatia seems to have that sound playing everywhere you go. Sounds like a Roland organ from the 70s. Spoilt a beautiful song. By the standard of this semi final the other “quality” songs should get worried – ie Holland, Italy and France.
Happy for Estonia she gave her best! But who “voted” for lithuania ,ireland..belgium oko exchanged votes,BUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH EX YU VOTES AND CYPRUS+AUSTRIA WE KNOW THEY ALL EXCHANGED VOTES TOO,WHER THEY ARE????STOLEN!!!
estonia deserves it. I was soooo shocked to see that natalia kelly wasnt in the final. even though some thought it was boring, its nice and not many hate it. oh and for mizerja, their failure is caused by both the song being too boring and the ppl in klapa s mora are ridiculous when it comes to attitude, watch the rehearsals. come on croatia, send six boring men with an average song and average staging will not do. oh and slovenia… they arent so good either, I like the start though. serbia should have qualified, even though theres a… Read more »
Oh yes they dress was awfull really,stylist manage from beautyfull girls to made like they just came from cirkus 🙂 But they sung relly good,like from studio tape,with just 18.of age they was best a live.But we do not talk about wether some people likei it or not,but WHERE ARE EX YU AND SOTHEN EUROPEAN VOTES???
Serbia or Montenegro for Barbara Dex award so far!
I don’t understand the bad ranking that Croatia gets. Miserjs is a piece of beautiful music which deserved so much to be in the final. The songs from this semi that I will still be listening are: Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia and Moldova.
I’m actually quite happy that none of the ex-Yug countries qualified. First of all – they didn’t deserve it (although I’m a bit surprised that Serbia didn’t make it). And then, these countries ruin the voting in the final every year with their friendly vote. This year – none of that! Of course, we have to see what Macedonia does in the second semi – should it go through to the final, it’s a sure top 10, with all the others giving them 12 points…
I was extremely surprised Belgium made the final – I’m a huge fan of the song, and even I wasn’t convinced by the performance. Hopefully this gives Roberto some confidence going into Saturday night. My 12 points of the night went to Lithuania. This is easily Andrius’s best performance of the song ever, and completely unexpected given how hesitant he was on the other performances. This time around, he was confident and charming all around. It’s a real shame that Austria and Serbia (my 10 and 8 points) didn’t qualify – yes, I just said that, even though I hated… Read more »
I am surprised that no one from the former Yugoslav republics made it to the final. Let’s see what the voting sheet will look like. I am glad that Ireland, Belarus, Belgium and the Netherlands made it. Still don’t understand the fuss about Denmark though.
I love how upset Serbians are that they didn’t qualify, even though they usually do very well at Eurovision. How about being a part of a country that almost never qualifies, like The Netherlands, San Marino, or Bulgaria?
Well it is obvious that everything is set for a fraud.Where are all votes gonne from all south european and ex yu countryes???This mathematicly very eaisy to prove.Quality of direct transsmition was pour,everything looks so cheap.Stage is carefully set with cameras for Denmark ,while Moje 3 are coverd so bad from director an cameras that is unspeakeble.It seems that final not going to be watched in suth europe at all.Nordicvision will stay local,this year.
@Banks: Sorry mate, your country did not make it this year. In my opinion the song was good, maybe the presentation (acting stuff) did the damage? Serbia sent many good songs in the past and for once your country doesn’t survive. Shit happens, right? Next time you’ll be back, so please don’t call the competition fixed. I understand your disappointment but it makes you look like a bad loser. I think for everybody there are some surprises amongst the ten qualifying countries, that is because it’s all a matter of taste. You hate “Birds” (Netherlands), actually one of my favourites.… Read more »
Roberto from Belgium is scoring a HIT! In Moldova hitting number 4 right now in iTunes!!! WOW!!! Anouk is the second best scoring one, after Denmark.
Go Harriet! You rule!!! 🙂
Serbia is always in. This year they aren’t. So what? Now other countries have a chance. I feel sorry for Slovenia and Cyprus: they were the worst singing women. So sad to see the recap including the worst parts of their songs… :-s
Croatia did a nice job btw! Thought they would go to the final instead of Lithuania. Austria: nice girl, very good vocals. The song was very 2007/2008/2009-ish.
@Banks: Learn to read, please. (As in “understand what is meant”.) It’s the Serbian song I didn’t like – I don’t care about Serbia either way, I’ve never been there and don’t know any Serbs personally. And what does Molitva have to do with this year’s ESC? Didn’t I acknowledge just a few moments ago that Serbia usually does very well in this contest? I don’t mind if you hate the German entry (apparently you don’t, but I don’t care) – I’m not my country, I’m just a person who happens to have been born somewhere and to still live… Read more »
Estonia and Belgium did a great job! I voted only for those 2 songs. 3 times both. 🙂
Great songs deserve a vote. That’s why. I’m from The NLs. 🙂 Great to see The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany together in the final! WOW!
SVT was so pranking the Netherlands by letting them fly in as the last butterfly! Did you hear the crowd begging for the Netherlands?!
Those bitches from the SVT to put us in the last enveloppe… I was really touched when the whole ArenA started to yell ‘The Netherlands’… and it helped… I’m SOOOO happy, So fun to see Anouk going crazy. Anouk and Roberto are friends now if you look at the press conference of the winners =)