The first semi-final of Eurovision 2018 brings us fire, monsters, bones and even a Pikachu. Nineteen countries will sing and, after Bulgaria’s reveal and Albania’s revamp, we now have all of their songs.
With that in mind, it’s time to ask you for your opinions. Who do you think should win Semi-Final One, and who will qualify?
Eurovision 2018: Semi-Final One
The allocation draw in January saw many people comment on just how strong the second semi-final was. The first, on the other hand, was largely written off. But in the two months that have followed, it’s all changed — and now fans worry that several of their favourites will get the chop.
There’s a considerable mix of genres and tempos in the mix. Classic ballad fans may like Iceland and Armenia, whilst drama comes via Belgium‘s Sennek.
Classic Europop enters the frame with Finland, Azerbaijan and others, whilst Greece and Albania serve the native language realness. What’s more, four of the bookies’ favourites all take part in this semi-final: Israel, Estonia, Bulgaria and Czech Republic.
That’s just scratching the surface, too. The deck is stacked high and there’s bound to be some upsets.
Semi-Final One: Participating Countries
- Albania — Eugent Bushpepa, “Mall”
- Armenia — Sevak Khanagyan, “Qami”
- Austria — Cesar Sampson, “Nobody But You”
- Azerbaijan — Aisel, “X My Heart”
- Belarus — Alekseev, “Forever”
- Belgium — Sennek, “A Matter of Time”
- Bulgaria — Equinox, “Bones”
- Croatia — Franka, “Crazy”
- Cyprus — Eleni Foureira, “Fuego”
- Czech Republic — Mikolas Josef, “Lie to Me”
- Estonia — Elina Nechayeva, “La Forza”
- Finland — Saara Aalto, “Monsters”
- Greece — Gianna Terzi, “Oneiro Mou”
- Iceland — Ari Olafsson, “Our Choice”
- Ireland — Ryan O’Shaughnessy, “Together”
- Israel — Netta, “Toy”
- Lithuania — Ieva Zasimauskaite, “When We’re Old”
- FYR Macedonia — Eye Cue, “Lost and Found”
- Switzerland — Zibbz, “Stones”
Those are the 19 competing entries: now, it’s time to have your say. You can vote in our poll below. The same rules as usual apply: you can vote for as many acts as you like, but you can only vote once. Make sure it counts!
Poll: Who should win Semi-Final One of Eurovision 2018?
[polldaddy poll=9957018]We’ll close the poll before the first semi-final on May 8. We’ll bring you updates as we get closer to the show as well.
Make sure to let us know who you voted for in the comments section as well, and let us know who you think will qualify — or who you think might miss out!
IRELAND , THE BEST
You can not believe me but Belarus will win this year. All the songs and productions are similar to each other, only he is special, only he is an obvious leader in everything. His song and staging are so sensitive that you can dissolve in it. He is the best! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jv6fLMs9nY
LITHUANIA
BELGUIM
GREECE
CYPRUS
ISREAL
SWITZERLAND
BULGARIA
ESTONIA
.AUSTRIA
AZERBAÏJAN
Grèce
Belgique
GREECE
ICELAND
ISREAL
CYPRUS
BELGUIM
SWITZERLAND
BULGARIA
VOTE FOR GREECE AND CZECH REPUBLIC
i love so much these songs
GREECE (excellent song, strong vibes mysterious.. and for this sexy girl :))
CROATIA (I LIKE IT)
ISREAL (CATCHY CHICKEN SONG) CLUBBING ALL NIGHT
GREECE!!!!!!!!!
LITHUANIA
GREECE
BELGUIM
CROATIA
CYPRUS
ICELAND
ALBANIA !
1..GREECE
2.AUSTRIA.
3.CZECH REPUBLIC
4.CYPRUS
5.LITHUANIA
6.AZERBAÏJAN
my top5
CROATIA
GREECE
LITHUANIA
CZECH REPUBLIC
ISREAL
BEST LUCK!!!
1.GREECE
2.BULGARIA
3.ISREAL
4.CZECH REPUBLIC
5.LITHUANIA
6.AZERBAÏJAN
7.BELGUIM
8 ESTONIA
9.AUSTRIA
10.CROATIA
RANDOM ORDER
Bulgaria
Estonia
greece
Belguim
Croatia
iceland
cyprus
switzerland
isreal
lithuania
Grèce, Belgique, Estonie, Israël, Chypre, Azerbaïdjan, Autriche, Bulgarie, la République tchèque, Croatie
My top 10 for Semi 1: 1) Lithuania 2) FYR Macedonia 3) Belgium 4) Israel 5) Belarus 6) Cyprus 7) Finland 8) Azerbaijan 9) Czech Republic 10) Greece Would also love to see Bulgaria, Estonia and Armenia make it, but they’re just outside my top 10 for me. Absolutely love Lithuania! Really want it to make it through, but I think it’ll struggle to get the votes. Such a beautiful song. My favourite for the year with my Australia!!! FYR Macedonia is the most underrated song of the year in my opinion. Grows on me every time I listen to… Read more »
With semi 1 being so competitive, if Russia qualifies, Eurovision will not be worth watching.
There’re at least 13 songs here worth to be in the finals.
Eugent’s LIVE Performance at The Voice Kids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDRByA_vEVw&t=2s
Hey everybody go listen to Eugent’s live performance on the voice kids of albania.Im sure you will all vote for him to go to the final after you see that performance of the new rewamp.Please we need to do well this time
As a rock fan, I would be truly grateful to see Albania in the final. It is the only rock song on the first semi, so please support it! It would be a shame for a troll act to qualify while a masterpiece such as “Mall” to fall into obscurity. Let’s be fair for once! Vote for talent, not for props!
Couldn’t agree more with you! Albania rocksss this year!
1. ??
2. ??
3. ??
4. ??
5. ??
6. ??
7. ??
8. ??
9. ??
10. ??
1. Macedonia
2. Israel
3. Czech Republic
4. Cyprus
5. Austria
6. Croatia
7. Bulgaria
8. Azerbaijan
9. Ireland
10. Belarus
its Skopje not macedonia.. Macedonia is greek
Israel, Bulgaria and Cyprus will qualify 100%, while Belarus, Switzerland, Iceland and Ireland are 100% non-qualifying countries this year. And all the rest have equal chance to qualify. However, I really want to see Macedonia and Croatia qualifying! Love both songs!
I think Albania will qualify 100% because Eugent is brilliant live singer.
1st semifinal has a lot of “great songs” but some of them will fail at live such as: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Israel, Macedonia.
This group will have a lot of surprises.
The problem is that there are only 3 places left in SF1 because there are 7 sure qualifiers: Israel, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Czeck Republic, Estonia (I don’t get the hype), Cyprus. And that’s why I am afraid for Albania – I try to encourage people to vote! I can’t, what’s very annoying – rules need to change, but maybe we can motivate some lazy listeners?!
Tibor – Do you still believe in Netta’s vocal capacities?! Go and check what a huge mess her live performance was!
Can we pick all songs from second semifinal? Because this one is just a joke. I don’t see any of these songs in final unless they want to fight for last place.
The second semi is a joke lmao. Can it be cancelled? Cause at least 14 songs here are better than every song in the second semi except for Australia and Ukraine.
I see Croatia as a dark horse, trust me… each show she partcipaded, she won. And her voice is magical! We will see her on stage…
My Top10
Albania — Eugent Bushpepa, “Mall”
Armenia — Sevak Khanagyan, “Qami”
Austria — Cesar Sampson, “Nobody But You”
Belarus — Alekseev, “Forever”
Bulgaria — Equinox, “Bones”
Cyprus — Eleni Foureira, “Fuego”
Czech Republic — Mikolas Josef, “Lie to Me”
Greece — Gianna Terzi, “Oneiro Mou”
Ireland — Ryan O’Shaughnessy, “Together”
Switzerland — Zibbz, “Stones”
You won’ get Albania, Armenia, Austria and Belarus through – because there are already 7 sure qualifiers. So I recommend not to devide your votes.
Semi final 1 is so much stronger than semi final 2. I have 12 favorites in Semi-final 1 and only 3 favorites in semi-final 2.
I hope Belgium goes to the final and if we do. Do not mention us as the 10th country like the last 3 times. The tension is not good for my heart :p.
I don’t know why Belgium and Iceland are usually announced last. That’s very odd.
Most of my favorite songs are in this semi-final. I am a big fan of classical crossover, so Elina is the first in my top-songs.However, I am sure that Netta will win this semi-final, as there are a lot of fans of hers. Also, I wish Armenia a big success. Regards from Tajikistan.
I notice on the forums Greeks endlessly favor their song, it really does not cost anything. Unobtrusive Balkan without any modern.
Absolutely not a final.
Half of the best for the final are Israel, Bulgaria, Estonia and the Czech Republic!
This year there are many songs I like so it’s difficult to choose some songs over other songs. I think Estonia, Armenia and Greece will do well with the juries. As an overall winner of the semi, I would bet on Estonia.
Semi- Final 1 will be like this:
1. Austria
2. Azerbaijan
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Czech Republic
6. Estonia
7. Finland
8. Greece
9. Israel
10. Lithuania
These songs/countries will be in the final, just wait to see it 🙂
You noted so many mediocre performances. Oh my God. I do not even want to think about it.
Running order – how it can go:
SEMI-FINAL 1
1. Azerbaijan
2. Iceland
3. Israel
4. Bulgaria
5. Lithuania
6. Czech Republic
7. Estonia
8. Belarus
9. Albania
10. Belgium
11. Austria
12. Macedonia
13. Finland
14. Ireland
15. Greece
16. Croatia
17. Switzerland
18. Armenia
19. Cyprus
It can.. of it could.. in some other reality))
I fell in love with Armenia’s entry at first hearing. I also want Albania to make it.
Armenian Holocost Armenian Diaspora in USA Armenian Diaspora in Russia Armenian Diaspora in European Zone ask the world for Hayastan to win Eurovision. Hayastan is the best Hayastan 2019
Huh?
He is drunk, ignore him )
He is not drunk.. it is worse. He is braindead azer who pretends to be Armenian.
My personal Top 10 for Semi Final 1:
1. Bulgaria
2. Greece
3. Belarus
4. FYR Macedonia
5. Lithuania
6. Estonia
7. Israel
8. Czech Republic
9. Austria
10. Armenia
Entries that I see as possible surprise qualifiers: Albania, Croatia, Lithuania, Belarus, (which is very high in my personal Top 10)
Entries that I see as surprise non-qualifiers: Belgium, Finland, Estonia, FYRoM
Non-deserved qualifiers (in MY opinion): Azerbaijan, Cyprus
Worst Lyrics Award: Azerbaijan
Idiot, Hayastan is number 1 Bulgaria is number 10
Aram, my dear, you belong to the stadium, not to wiwibloggs.
No go take your obnoxious sense of nationalism somewhere else.
P.S: Armenia will not even qualify.
You wish Belgium will not qualify. In your dreams. haha
He is not Armenian you idiot.
I’m thinking that Ireland could be a surprise qualifier. It all depends on the live performance.
Israel’s song is not my cup of tea. I chose Belgium and Estonia.
I have a feeling that this is the year where Armenia and Azerbaijan’s zero point to each other will pretty much harm their chances for qualification.
Very good point.
On a side note, I know allocation for the semis should and is random, but when two countries mutually blacklist each other due a technically ongoing war, you should put them in different semis.
Estonia
Belgium
Armenia
Greece
Cyprus
Albania
Belarus
BS qualyfiers
Finland
Israel
Czechia
MY TEN QUALIFIERS ARE
ALBANIA. AUSTRIA .BULLGARIA KROACIA FINLAND GREECE CYPRUS ISRAEL CZECH REPUBLIC SWTZERLAND
My qualifiers are
Bulgaria
Armenia
Czech Republic
Belgium
Switzerland
Estonia
Greece
Israel
Austria
Cyprus
my favorites: #Israel is my homeland, and I really wish #Netta the trophy!
3 definite best qualifiers: #Austria #Finland #Macedonia
also like thease:#Estonia #Greece #Cyprus #Bulgaria
Sure Qualifiers (in parenthesis: my personal ranking): Israel (4) though her “stupid boy” with the looper might sound too aggressive Czechia (1) stands out of mass, refreshing, catchy,J.M. knows to deliver Belgium (2) solid work, good voice Estonia (13) I don´t like it, this is ESC, no competition for octaves Greece (5) Probably qualifying: Albania(12) due to diaspora votes from Montenegro, CH, A, Greece,.. Cyprus (11) a bit cheap, thnx to votes from Greece, Israel and Albania Armenia (14) thnx to Israel, Cyprus, Belarus and Estonia Bulgaria (15) a lot of fans thnx to las successes, too overpacked 4 me… Read more »
This semifinal is so LOW! Most goods songs are in second. I only like Azerbaijan, Cyprus and a little Estonia. Other songs are just cheap and boring.
You’re kidding, right? Anyway sorry for the sarcasm. Everybody has different tastes. To me all the good songs are piled up in the first semi, whereas the bad ones in the second one.
I think these countries will reach the final:
Bulgaria
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Armenia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Greece
Israel
New version of Belarus, after the National Final the song was corrected! It’s much better! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtQWuRPkaPo?
My qualifiers are Bulgaria(I love the song, but I am afraid of staging) Armenia(Great song with great vocals, I think his taging will be great too, and it will be dark horse) Czech Republic(I love the song, and he can sing live) Belgium(Love the song) Switzerland(One of my Big favourites, but I am 90% sure, that they will not qualify) Estonia(Song is good, but I think people love it just because of singer’s vocals) Greece(Love it) Israel(This year’s Ocidentalis karma, I loved it at first, but I am kind of bored) Austria(I love the gospel vibe that the song has)… Read more »
Do you people really think all those bops and bop-wannabes are going to qualify? Have you learnt nothing from the past?
Cyprus, Czech Rep, Finland, Israel, Azerbaijan, Belarus…at least TWO of these won’t qualify.
I guess some can’t distinct reality from personal liking 😛
I agree with you. The most weakest bop(s) among them will fail. For me it would be Azerbaijan based on the studio version.
Azerbaijan and Belarus (since when is that a bop?) and either Finland or Cyprus, I’d say.
I wouldn’t necessarily call them bop too, more like regular pop. I just referenced it since many people consider them as bop. If I had to choose between Finland and Cyprus, then I think Cyprus is a bit stronger than Finland. After all, the staging will determine who’s the strongest. Right now it’s hard to predict (Finland’s performance was messy and we don’t know Cyprus’ live so we can’t really compare between them yet).
That’s why I wrote “wannabes”.
My Prediction: 1. Estonia (wooow, what a voice, a certain Q) 2. Bulgaria (great song, hopefully the staging won’t be a mess) 3. Israel (it feels unique, I love it, the staging could make it look like a joke entry though) 4. Czech Republic (it definitely will stand out, amazing song and he’s such an eye candy) 5. Belgium (lovely song, lovely voice) 6. Greece (beautiful song, but the staging can bring this down I think, they need to be extremely careful) 7. Azerbaijan (catchy pop tune, amazing voice) 8. Cyprus (very catchy just like Azerbaijan, not sure about her… Read more »
A question. Why if the semi-finals are randomly picked, are they limiting the number picked from each? If one semi is strong with more competitive songs or weak without, must you pick 10 from each to pass? Why not 12 from one and 8 from the other etc? I would think it fair to try to get the most competitive songs to the final otherwise, it is not a flexible and reliable process. Thanks.
And how do they decide which semi is the stronger one? Stronger to whom?
It’s all very subjective. So your suggestion doesn’t make much sense.
Because every song, good or bad, from either country, should have the same chance of qualifying as all the others. As Roxy said, they couldn’t just say one semi is stronger than the other because the producers have to stay objective at all times. As you said yourself, the semi-finals are randomly picked so semi final one being by far the strongest is just coincidence. Last year the semi finals were pretty even.
I think israel deserves to win this year!
My top ten from sf1: 1. Belgium – I got winner vibes from it, I think at least top 5 for Belgium this year 2. Czech Republic – I still love this song even 3. Ireland – so underated and I love it – I’m gonna send it all the votes I can 4. Greece – amazing song, I’m looking forward seeing its staging 5. Armenia – I love this song, but there doesn’t seem to be many people who share my opinion 6. Bulgaria – I didn’t love it when I first heard it, but it grew on me… Read more »