They’re two Scandinavian stars with huge followings back home and increasingly across Europe. And if the bookmakers have it right then Norway’s Alexander Rybak and Sweden’s Benjamin Ingrosso are also the front-runners to win Semi-Final 2 of Eurovision 2018.
Norway, who is currently second favourite to win the grand final behind Cyprus, is the front-runner in this semi-final with odds as low as 5/4.
Over the past two weeks, as other countries have faltered during their rehearsals, Norway has seen its fortunes rise. Its on-screen graphics, which will be familiar to fans of Melodi Grand Prix 2018, looks sharper and more expensive, and Alex’s charisma is squarely in tact.
On top of his strong vocals and charming staging, Alex has another advantage: He’s well known among the Russian diaspora, having placed second on the Russian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.
Sweden’s Benjamin Ingrosso is currently down as second favourite with odds as low as 9/4.
The “Dance You Off” singer, who will perform at the Wiwi Jam this evening, has transplanted his slick staging from Melodifestivalen to Lisbon. It remains polished and somehow vintage, transplanting viewers into an expensive music video.
Moldova — one of the biggest growers of the year — is currently third favourite to win the semi-final, with odds as low as 6/1.
Their infectious sound and inventive staging, which sees them running in and out of a series of doors, mixes pop, folk and slapstick to great effect.
Ukraine, Australia, Latvia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary and Russia round out the top 10 in terms of who will win this semi-final.
SEMI-FINAL 2 ODDS TO WIN (ACCURATE 10:00CET)
SEMI-FINAL 2 ODDS TO QUALIFY (ACCURATE 10:00CET)
For many countries, however, the main priority is making it to the Grand Final. That makes the odds to qualify perhaps more significant than the odds to win this semi.
The bookies believe these 10 acts will qualify for the final: Norway, Sweden, Moldova, Ukraine, Australia, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary and Latvia.
That means Russia, Romania, Malta, Serbia, Georgia, Montenegro, Slovenia and San Marino are out.
The non-qualifiers currently include Russia and Romania. Neither of these countries has ever been eliminated from Eurovision during the semi-finals.
im glad netherlands qualified
So happy for Lea & Slovenia!!!! So well deserved! Her getting through against all odds was the highlight of the night for me 🙂
Proud of my Country well done Serbia! We have one of the best vocalists in this competition. We just nailed it! Jako smo ponosni na vas i samo dalje nije bitan plazman bitno je da se pokazemo a bgm mocni smo!!
I have a single satisfaction: we can now say SHUT UP to all pathetic people that said that Romania is qualifying just with diaspora. It was just proven that we were contenders so many years, diaspora didn’t qualify us. Some will be very happy, as I said, I’ve seen here some pathetic people in the past.
I’m afraid Poland and Netherlands could not reach the final. I start to think that also Moldova could be out. Malta could reach it. Romania is qualifying in my opinion. Still not sure about Hungary, initially I said they won’t, now I’m not that sure. Russia is out, I’m almost sure.
okay, Filomena nailing Euphoria dance won my heart tonight <3
Yeah, that was great.
LIVE part 9
So, as I predicted, not that much worth to vote for in this SF… I’ll vote for Romania, Denmark, Malta, Slovenia
I would like to see Poland, Hungary, Australia…
And the others are not for me this year…
Norway, Serbia, San Marino, Russia, Moldova, Sweden, Ukraine, Montenegro, Latvia, Netherlands, Georgia
This was my original prediction of the second semi based on the rehearsal videos: Norway, Denmark, Russia, Moldova, Australia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Sweden, Ukraine
After the live performances I say Poland is out and the Netherlands are in but it’s still very, very open.
LIVE part 8 Hungary -I want more of that at ESC. Although I felt like on a rock concert, I am dissapointed. Something was missing. Maybe They fullfill it on Saturday 😉 Latvia -Lost on stage. That should be staged darker, smoother, with smoke. I didn’t feel the song. Sweden -Good pop. Good production. Bad temper. Montenegro -For me it’s not enough for 2018. Though I think it would work very well a few years ago… Slovenia -Catchy, but not as good as in EMA or videoclip. Though so far the best moment of suspence 😉 I’ll vote. Ukraine -He’s… Read more »
Slovenia, just pathetic! She tried at least!
Sorry darling! She tried & she made it 😉
LIVE part 7 Moldova -New idea to use a wardrobe. In the end it’s boring and stupid 😛 but well sung. That’s the trash that Sobral would say a bit about 😉 Netherlands -Potential has been lost. Australia -Unpleasant plesentation. But I like the song. I don’t like this exposed thighs… What for is that? Georgia -What should be a vocal performance, was… not. I waited for the harmonies. Barelly reached. Poland -Messy, but audience had fun at least. I would not show that much DJ. Malta -What a staging! Wow. Good job with that. Learn from that! Got my… Read more »
LIVE part 6
Norway -It won’t be a fairytale at all. Boooring.
Romania -What a positive surprise! Got my vote.
Serbia -Staging looked well untill they turned it into red. The song is to weak for me, though I like balkan rhythms.
San Marino -I hear Mans’s “Heroes” in the chorus. No comment.
Denmark -Wow! First goosebumps on this ESC. I’ll Vote!
Although the snow was better done by Loreen.
It could be amazing if that one would be used here.
Russia -I won’t comment.
m I the only one thinking Sweden and Slovenia are in the same category songwise? They just have a similar feel to it, so there may not be room for both songs in the final. If it comes down to personality I think Lea Sirk is more likeable but I think Ingrosso has more fans (if he hasn’t scared them off with bad behaviour). But I really hope there will be room for both because I want to see Slovenia go through.
My prediction before the show, the 10 qualifiers:
Norway, Romania, Denmark, Russia, Moldova , Australia, Poland, Latvia, Sweden, Ukraine.
Something tells me that Netherlands will not qualify, even though I totally want it in the final, but from what I’ve seen he will have a quite strange show. Also I am not sure at all about Moldova, if I wold bet right now, Hungary and Moldova have very high odds in not qualifying and I don’t see Hungary qualifying at all to be sincere.
On my opinion, Netherlands have more chance than Hungary, but sometimes I think that They countries will be not qualifying, cause music style is so hard. Maybe Romania or Malta have pretty chance.
I’m rooting for the underdog (who shouldn’t even be the underdog). Go Lea! Shame I cannot vote for Slovenia from Brussels… hope she’ll be the Ireland of this semi & she qualifies! <3
I’m not going to say Norway will win. But I also won’t say they won’t win. They have a pretty big chance to become the second performer to win twice. That’s all.
Same with Sweden. Not saying it will win but not counting it out either. It has a big chance to tie Ireland’s record
Not Sweden and not Norway.
Denmark has just appeared my favourite tonight.
Georgia > Montenegro >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Serbia
I think Montenegro and Georgia (especially Georgia) may surprise us and qualify. Russia has chances to qualify as well, considering how weak this semi final is.
And I would like to see Romanus instead of Poland in grand final.
In general, it’s a pity that we will miss a lot of great songs from semi 1 in grand final…instead, we will have less deserving songs from semi 2 in grand final.
Only Norway, Sweden., and a bit Australia, Netherlands, Ukraine are deserving acts for the grand final.
Isnt strange that Norway sweden and Denmark compete on the 2nd semifinal?
This 2nd makes them hace more chances ti win…………………………
Was IT PREARANGED TO MAKE THEM CUALIFY?……………….
I wish you would abandon old-fashioned odds, and replaces them with decimal odds.
Norway next win for Alexander Rybak 2009/2018
The next Johnny Logan
Who’s pushing Norway so blatantly ? Oh, wait …..
ALFRED Y AMAIA MEET AND GREET TODAY 17.00 EUROVILLAGE.
FANS DE ALFRED Y AMAIA A LAS 17.00 MEET AND GREET EN EL EUROVISION VILLAGE
wiwiblogs Howmuch did you make kirkorov . MOLDOVA realy bad song?
Is gonna be a post about Spotify results? Czech Republic is winning at the moment followed by Israel and Cyprus.
Men have dominated the world for so long! That 4 women are hosting the Eurovision isn’t a big deal, it’s time that women and non men take some place in this world!
Yes. You can go to the war and not us. You can also clean the streets, drive trucks, build buildings, be an active police (not in offices),… In my country the 90% of deads in workplaces are men. Why the most dangerous works are made by us? It’s your time.
If Denmark 2016 didn’t qualify I would be shocked to see Poland qualfy.
How are they even similar?
Yesterday I also accidentally bumped into Lea Sirk in the shopping mall cafetearia. She was super sweet and warm and wonderful (love her). I was going down the hall and saw a few folks with Slovenian flags. I approached them to share my admiration for Lea and it turned out to be Lea’s brother and dad. They are a very cool family and were so friendly! So after accidentally meeting Ieva’s mum I now had a pleasure of meeting Lea’s lovely family. I think our perceptions change when we get some personal experience with artists, it’s like they are not… Read more »
I’d say that sure qualifiers are Norway, Sweden, Ukraine and, unfortunately, Moldova. Then I think that probable qualifiers are Australia, Poland, Hungary, Denmark and the Netherlands. It means that there is one spot left for any of the rest of the countries. Slovenia, maybe? Malta?
This is my prediction of the second semi final having seen all rehearsal videos: Qualifiers: Norway, Denmark, Russia, Moldova, Australia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Sweden, Ukraine Non-qualifiers: Romania, Serbia, San Marino, Netherlands, Georgia, Malta, Montenegro, Slovenia My personal favourites to qualify (based on the studio versions of the songs) would be (in descending order): Netherlands, Latvia, Hungary, Montenegro, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Norway and Russia I think Waylon has ruined his chances to score high with his strange performance and the weird outfit he chose. Based on the rehearsal videos, I think it’ll be very hard to get the distinctive feel… Read more »
Netherlands will 100% qualify, Latvia will stay in the semi for sure.
Thats uncertain if Latvia qualifies or not. You cant be sure. Nobody knows. It is 50/50 chances.
Well, actually it’s even a 56/44 chance that Latvia will qualify as 10 out of 18 countries will make it to the final. 🙂
I HOPE the Netherlands will qualify because, again, this is my favourite studio track in the second semi final. However, I have serious doubts if he will make it. Maybe I’ll change my mind after the live performance.
If Russia qualifies its only because of the disapora voting.
The song is weak and her vocals hurts my ears
wiwiblogs Howmuch did you make kirkorov . MOLDOVA realy bad song?
Sweden will win this semi. His song is so good!
I really want Australia, Malta and Denmark to go through
I think Montenegro will qualify instead of Latvia.
I hope Russia go through. She seems like such a sweet soul with such a positive message – don’t break, don’t give up, in adversity, in tough times. Go Yulia. Europe loves you
Ari from Iceland also seems to be a sweet soul with a positive message, yet he hasn’t qualified.
It is a song contest and points should not be awarded for personality traits.
Well if we considered personality traits last year we wouldn’t now have a reigning champion (Salvador) spouting hate towards other genres of music that aren’t like his own. Do we really want that again this year? The artist and the message of their song should definitely be considered.
Yet, should we overlook bad staging and very shaky vocals solely due to her personality and the message behind the song?
I’m predicting Russia will not qualify this year. Her story might not be enough to compensate for the lack of musicality.
Russia and Romania will follow Azerbaijan..
My qualifiers are (in random order) :
1- Denmark
2- Serbia
3- Sweden
4- Slovenia
5- Georgia
6- Montenegro
7- Romania
8- Moldova
9- Ukraine
10- Malta
Deserved qualifiers:
Poland
Malta
Montenegro
Ukraine
Romania
Sweden
Netherlands (Love it!)
Hungary
Denmark (Love it!)
Latvia (Love it!)
I think Slovenia will quality, it’s a dark horse for sure.
My predicted qualifiers:
Sweden, Norway, Australia, Moldova, Denmark, Netherlands, Georgia, Poland, Latvia and Slovenia
I don’t predict Ukraine either – tryhard ~dark~ performances like that rarely do well.
My qualifiers:
Ukraine, Hungary, Netherlands- top 3
Denmark- nice concept and performance
Georgia, Serbia, Montenegro- interesting ethnic sounds, beautiful voices
Poland, Sweden, Slovenia- good dance tracks.
Same qualifiers 🙂
Australia / Jessica’s performance was a red hot mess. She is pretty undisciplined at the best of times when she’s on stage. However, giving her no dancers or back up singers on stage for support was a big mistake. She should have focused solely on vocals. If you look at past live performances she does much better with on stage back up. I really cannot understand why the ‘professionals’ (manager, stylist, stage designer, choreographer, SONY team….) set her up to fail knowing her obvious limitations. It’s annoying and a let down. She’s a likeable performer but this was very badly… Read more »
Australia could improve considerably when the cameras are live. In this semi she could stand out.
Imagine Russia, Georgia and Ukraine don’t qualify!
The 12 points from ALL the former Soviet block countries are up for grabs! One can dream
Estonia and Lithuania are former Sovjet countries and they are in soooo.
They don’t count lol. They’re 100% Europe and they don’t associate themselves with the Soviets.
Georgia and Ukraine don’t associate themselves with the Soviets anymore. Only Russia, Belarus and Armenia remained.
Yet Estonia always vote Nordic, they are culturally closer to the North, their language is close to Finnish and people seem to forget that they were part of the Swedish kingdom for centuries and have a Swedish minority.
If Russia qualifies it would be very unfair. Im sorry for the girl and her condition makes me sad. But she seems to be very strong person, then I must focus on song, ok song is good, but her vocals and backvocals…I dont know which is worse… Who would like to listen to it again in the FInal??? Not even Russia!
Norway the new Johnny Logan
Its not a matter of if Sweden will qualify or not. It is if Benjamin will win the semi or come a “low” second or third in the semi.
I think he will likely easily win it.
Go Malta , such a shame the U.K. Can’t vote for you .
Have just returned from the arena and the jury show. Jessica’s vocals were not on par today and the recap showed her off-key moment. It doesn’t mean that she would not qualify, but she is not winning the semi in my opinion. Something else about recaps. There was a green room interview with Yulia where she talked about her materialised dream of seeing an ocean. And then after all performances there was like a recap of postcards with various (mostly funny) moments. And the recap ended on a long and sentimental shot of Yulia and her husband hugging while watching… Read more »
That doesnt change the fact that Julias song is crap and she can not sing a tone right
Agree. After all , this is a Eurovision SONG Contest.
Cyprus’s fans should remember that.
I still think Russia will qualify…i mean c’mon..it’s Russia!!! Although they really don’t deserve too. This semi is not as good as Semi 1. The only real shock would be a Russian NQ. Sweden, Norway and Ukraine are the only countries in this semi that I like, but let she face it, I don’t be have to worry about them going in.
Sweden, Norway, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Australia , Russia, Netherlands will be the qualifiers Id say. Hardly surprising.
Imagine an ESC where Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia failed to qualify. That would be so weird
Russia should be 18th in the jury vote if they are real professionals.
Don’t be to sure. Azerbiajan and Greece used to be sure qualifiers until Tuesday. Russia has a small chance of making it it but wll most likely be sent home and spend the entire year debating what Went wrong
Russia is very much on the edge of NQ, along with Romania. Both don’t have many friends in this final if you research historical voting patterns. I do believe one of the former Yugoslav nations will qualify–Slovenia, Serbia or Montenegro (would be happy with any of them!) Georgia, Malta, Latvia will also struggle to qualify given semi 2 participants. Overall, be prepared for a couple surprises!
I love Georgia’s and Serbia’s entry!! would love to see them on the final!
Anyways I don’t think any of this songs will win the final
Aye! Both of them belong in the final.