The EBU has today revealed the running order of the two semi-finals of Eurovision 2021 and we’re one step closer to the big shows in May.
Both the semi-finals open with a band. Lithuania’s The Roop will open the first semi-final with “Discoteque”. Over in semi-final two San Marino’s “Freaky Queen” Senhit will open with her song “Adrenalina”.
At the other end of the show, Malta’s Destiny will close semi-final one with “Je me casse”, while semi-final two will close with Denmark’s synth-pop duo Fyr & Flamme and their song “Øve os på hinanden”.
As well, fans have noted that Cyprus’ “El Diablo” is followed by Norway’s “Fallen Angel” — sticking to a theme!
Each semi-final will have two breaks for ads or non-commercial content, which can also affect the flow of the performances.
Eurovision 2021 – Semi-final one running order
- Lithuania: The Roop – “Discoteque”
- Slovenia: Ana Soklič – “Amen”
- Russia: Manizha – “Russian Woman”
- Sweden: Tusse – “Voices”
- Australia: Montaigne – “Technicolour”
- North Macedonia: Vasil – “Here I Stand”
- Ireland: Lesley Roy – “Maps”
- Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou – “El diablo”
- Norway: Tix – “Fallen Angel”
- Croatia: Albina – “Tick-Tock”
- Belgium: Hooverphonic – “The Wrong Place”
- Israel: Eden Alene – “Set Me Free”
- Romania: Roxen – “Amnesia”
- Azerbaijan: Efendi – “Mata Hari”
- Ukraine: Go_A – “SHUM”
- Malta: Destiny – “Je me casse”
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Eurovision 2021 – Semi-final two running order
- San Marino: Senhit – “Adrenalina”
- Estonia: Uku Suviste – “The Lucky One”
- Czech Republic: Benny Cristo – “Omaga”
- Greece: Stefania – “Last Dance”
- Austria: Vincent Bueno – “Amen”
- Poland: Rafał – “The Ride”
- Moldova: Natalia Gordienko – “Sugar”
- Iceland: Daði og Gagnamagnið – “10 Years”
- Serbia: Hurricane – “Loco Loco”
- Georgia: Tornike Kipiani – “You”
- Albania: Anxhela Peristeri – “Karma”
- Portugal: The Black Mamba – “Love Is on My Side”
- Bulgaria: Victoria – “Growing Up Is Getting Old”
- Finland: Blind Channel – “Dark Side”
- Latvia: Samanta Tīna – “The Moon Is Rising”
- Switzerland: Gjon’s Tears – “Tout l’univers”
- Denmark: Fyr & Flamme – “Øve os på hinanden”
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How the running order is decided
The running order was decided by the Eurovision 2021 host broadcasters NPO/NOS/AVROTROS, and approved by Eurovision Executive Supervisor Martin Österdahl. Eurovision 2021 Head of Show Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen told wiwibloggs that a lot goes into deciding the running order:
“The meeting to decide the running order included eight people, including the Head of Show, multi-cam directors, someone from the technical production team and other executives. His team also used input from each country about the difficulties they may face on stage and the ideas they hope to convey. It’s not just about the flow of the music. It’s also about matters like moving props quickly and efficiently from one act to the next during the 35-second postcards.”
Eurovision 2021 has stuck with the same semi-final allocations that were originally drawn for Eurovision 2020. The semi-final allocation draw gives broadcasters a head start on their travel plans and budgets for Rotterdam. An act performing in the first half of the first semi-final will need to be in Rotterdam for rehearsals three days before an act performing in the second half of the second semi, meaning three extra days in accommodation, food and other expenses.
The grand final running order will be decided after the second semi-final when all the finalists have been determined. However, as the host country, the Netherlands has randomly drawn their place in the grand final. Jeangu Macrooy will perform 23rd.
What do you think of the semi-final running orders? Do any songs have a better chance at qualifying? Tell us your thoughts below!
I think Lithuania and San Marino are the openers in semi finals, and I hope they will qualify like Armenia and Malta qualified in 2014 as they opened semi finals. Denmark will be a surprise qualifier, though
Take a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2q9ywq75wA
Twan is Head of Contest. Not Head of Show. That is Gerben Bakker.
please tell me if iceland will qualify with 8th in the running order and if yes how you think they will do in the final. i just wanna know what u think.
No need to stress. Iceland will qualify wherever they are in the running order. Even if fans don’t like the song as much as the one from last year, I think it can do a top 5 in final.
u think san marino gonna qulify as well
Will Iceland definitely be a qualifier and will it win the grand final?
What is the Azerbaijani singer’s background? Now I’m curious.
After the reveal of the running order I have the following assumptions: They did a great job having Lithuania and San Marino opening their semifinals, even though I feel that Moldova should open the 2nd semifinal so that they leave Adrenalina for later, so that the number of viewers rises. We can easily understand why Slovenia and Estonia are performing 2nd (I thought that N. Macedonia would perform 2nd though) Having Cyprus and then Norway is hillarious, if they also had the running order like Slovenia-Norway-Cyprus they should get nominated for Oscar award for comedy. Ireland will really struggle so… Read more »
really not afraid of Ukraine/Azerbaijan non-qualification. Montaigne and Roxen should be worried the most. Tix also might be a shock non-qualifier but I believe he can make it. Like lol, worse entries did qualify in the past, like Jacques Houdek with My Friend.
Who will qualify will depend on the mood of the audience at the evening itself. It can go either way!
VERY TRUE !!!
And the quality of the live performances. Highly anticipated entries could choke while underrated contenders could rise to the top. Anything could happen. Maybe somebody unexpected could win the semifinal. Maybe a contender is out. I feel like this is an open year that anyone can win, Despite Malta and Switzerland being the front runners. We’ll see in May
What is the background of Efendi from Azerbayjan?
I mean, if we can’t have a 100 % running order draw, I want a compromise, it should be divided at least into quarters. Especially with the grand final, the producers just can’t decide 13+13 songs… Quarters please. 1–6, 7–13, 14–20, 21–26. The semis 1–4, 5–8, 9–12, 13–16//13–17, or at least thirds but not halves… It is enough space for producers to solve it still.
It’s a constest then it should equal EQUITY. If no then votes should be opened for the country once it has performed so the songs going to the end won’t be privileged.
I remember there was a year , don’t remember the exact year where the phone lines were opened just at the begining and I think it was still before the producers were rigging the contest according to the betting odds.
I really don’t know who’s gonna win! there’s no even one song that stand out this year!
I don’t even care who’s gonna win. It’s a very weak year. (for my taste)
If you don’t care who’s gonna win, then can I chose a winner please? 😀
Agree
I saw 399 comments and I wanted to leave the 400th, that’s all. Have a nice day, everyone 🙂
They should invite Lil Nas X to perform Montero as a guest just to mess with Cyprian radicals lol.
Why are they pushing Malta so hard lmao. Not even a winning song. So random.
I just looked it up and there have been 6 articles about destiny in total? Very logical ones also like how je me casse got released, 2 articles talking about all countries positions in the odds, 1 article about 5 countries recording a backup performance in Sofia, 1 about controversies and one about co operation with sacha jean baptiste and literally everybody who starts working with her gets an article.
Y’all acting like everything is a conspiracy lmao.
Not what I expected, but then again I didn’t have that many guesses on what the running order would look like. I’m kinda worried about Benny getting third in the semi, but I think Czech Republic already qualified from the same spot.
b.t.w. I have a sneeking suspicion they put Denmark last because they were worried people might leave and miss anything that would play after them – but would stay knowing it’s the last song before voting.
They are very obviously pushing for Malta and Switzerland to win the semis. They aren’t even trying to hide the fact. I’ve got a feeling Australia may be getting its first ever NQ. Russia is probably in danger as well. Ireland and Belgium will need to hope for good staging but they’ve been very hit or miss lately so I’d say they are the borderline two of SF1. I also got a feeling that they’re trying to kill Iceland’s chances a bit with that placement. They’ll probably qualify still but that’s what I think. I feel the same a bit… Read more »
Opening the semifinal is a great spot, remember Sweden 2017 for example. The problem would have been if they had opened the final (see Malta 2019). I mean it wouldn’t ruin their chances for a very good result but it would have harmed their chances for a Top 5 potentially.
The weirdest order is Cyprus-Norway-Croatia. Couldn\’t they find a ballad in between?
I think Ireland is in danger before Cyprus.
I don’t really get the concern about Ireland before Cyprus. Why is Cyprus not in danger being after Ireland? I think we underestimate the voters. They are not goldfish. If they hear a song they like and see a memorable performance, they will not suddenly dislike that song because of another. Staging will obviously be important but audience v voting is so unreliable. Not everyone who likes a song will actually vote so I think it is much more complex than order of performance.
I completely agree with you! If one song is liked by 1000 people (and 100 people vote), and the other song is liked by only 200 people (but 101 of those vote), then it’s obvious who’s winning, despite not being the most popular song
Guys do you think Greece could be in danger from #4? Its my favourite but many people say its forgettable so appearing so early may hurt her chances?
Luca Hanni got a great result from 4th spot in 2019. I think it mostly matters to entries which are to be 8th-12th in their semis. By early predictions, Greece is among top 5 most likely to make it, so the spot itself shouldn’t be an issue. The key is the staging and her live vocals. If both are at least solid, I think she should easily go through.
I can see what you are saying. The thing is that some may find it forgettable as a song with so many entries with dinstictive elements following. Weird they put 2 ethnic entries so close ( Moldova and Serbia ), Id put Greece at 7 and Moldova at 4.
Ha ha! Moldova is certainly not ethnic.
Whats the instrument on the dance breaks?
No, because Fokas working on her staging and Greece was always in final with him. Without him, maybe Greece will be in some problem.
She will probably don’t have any problem reaching the final if her performance is not going to be awful. If you see, they placed her 4th, after Estonia and Czech Republic and before Austria and Poland, entries who have the least likes songs in her half. This doesn’t mean that for example Czech Republic doesn’t stand a chance to qualify, but with a decent staging (like Luca Hanni, as someone also said in the comments) she can totally stand out and this will have a great impact in televoting results (I don’t even doubt to see her in the top… Read more »
My thoughts:
Lmao, indeed, having el diablo after an angel fighting his demons! XD
I actually figured San Marino would open all along. The song is quite similar to Chameleon from Malta 2019, both music-wise and with all the colors, at least in the video, and Chameleon opened in the final.
If Flo Rida is coming with Senhit, than I can see why they would start with San Marino to build hype with a special guest
He won’t be a special guest, but a regular competitor as anyone else 🙂
I just re-read the article. It makes no mention of Bjorkman. I thought that this was going to be the first Eurovision in some time to not have Bjorkman or Swedish involvement.
Yeah I thought he was involved but he isnt, sorry for that!
If other contry beed profecinal help, they cal him.
What have Björman do whit this ?
a strong song would stand out anywhere, a weak song would suffer anywhere. the ones that are in-between would be the ones most helped or hurt by the running order, but, then again, it’s only one of the many other elements at play here. i think it can definitely be used to approximate the producers’ thought process – especially going into the grand final – but i wouldn’t put too much weight on it overall. i think the fact that the countries were split into HALVES of semi-finals was already kind of questionable to me, and i think they’ve done… Read more »
My prediction
I Semi final
1.Malta
2.Sweden
3.Lithuania
4.Cyprus
5.Russia
6.Belgium
7.Ukraine
8.Norway (thanks to televote)
9.Australia (thanks to juries)
10. Croatia or Romania
12.Slovenia
II Semi final
1.Switzerland
2.Bulgaria
3.San Marino
4.Iceland
5.Greece
6.Finland
7.Austria (thanks to juries)
8.Moldova
9.Denmark
10. Serbia or Latvia
12.Estonia
The running order rarely decides a country’s fate, but always shows how much the producers trust some entries. Here some thoughts: Lithuania and San Marino will be great openers and I also feel the producers trust they’re lock qualifiers. It’s also good for them that if they draw 1st half in the final, they’ll probably get positions in the middle of the show, since they already opened the semis. Slovenia probably paid the price for the low number of male vocalists on the 1st semi. They couldn’t use Vaidotas and Vasil (which would be the most usual choice for the… Read more »
About Greece, this is the best running order she could have. A young girl between a Czech hip hop (?) and an Austrian ballad. This totally aids her to stand out, especially by the fact that after her we’ll have to wait to reach Serbia to hear a bop with powerful vocal (by the time Poland, Moldova and Iceland have a lower tempo). So Stefania is going to get lots of televote points overall. And if she’s lucky to be drawn in the 2nd half of the final we might see her being gifted a closing position
You have some good points and I still think Greece will qualify (and the same applies to Sweden, that also got the 4th spot in the other side). But I personally don’t like when they put songs with potential to do well but aren’t lock qualifiers from 2nd to 4th, because I’m always afraid that the televoters may forget them. Though they had a problem here, since we could place Czech Republic, Greece, Moldova and Serbia all in this same category. I assume they thought Moldova and Serbia are “loud and crazy” enough to not be obfuscated by Iceland’s lovely… Read more »
I agree and maybe they kept some of the aspects that you thought would have been better choices for the Final (to end up with Finland for instance).
That’s true. They’ll have many options to open and close the final, uptempo entries of all sorts.
Romania and Ireland are in danger plus some of fast songs will not go through. First semi will be a bloodbath.
Both Ireland and Romania have a good chance really
folks when first rehearsals are starting?
so rumors are saying that staging for Ukraine will be made by the same director as for Jamala and Melovin
so I guess we are getting something epic!
no, its Ukrainian director Tomilchenko, he created Jamala’ tree and Melovin’ piano coffin
I think Israel will qualify and Eden deserves it.
After Israel Sweden is the best song for me any way and for sure it will qualify.
Azerbaijan is going to miss the finals… too many quality songs in SF1… .might still make it tho considering it’s AzerBUYjan
For me, running order is not a big deal. If you like some of the songs, you will remember it , and doesn’t matter what’s songs running order. For thoose who is not watching the full show maybe it is very important things..
Not always last will qualifiers. Some examples for my country : Latvia 2016 in first spot qualified. But Latvia 2017 as a last spot did not make it.
Good song will make it with any running order.
Agree with you
In SF maybe but in the final this can influence a bit. I am a big ESC fan and each year for the finale I lose some interest or focus between the 14th-20th due to the high amount of countries and excitation for the last contestants who are most of the time the favourites.
Great observation!
this is definitely an unpopular opinion, but i very much predicted denmark to close sf2. i think people are underestimating the fact that it’s a very listenable song; personally, i listen to it quite a lot more than to a few of the entries with supposed winning potential. there will definitely be a lot of color on stage. finland could have closed, but its vibe is not too positive/optimistic, so to speak. yes, it would have made a big splash that way, but i think its position going after all those slower/quieter songs is the best placement it could have… Read more »
Aren’t Albania, Portugal and Bulgaria going to get boring grouped together like that?
…what? My 2nd and 3rd place are ballads and I also like all 3 songs I mentioned. This article is about the running order and that’s what I’m commenting on. Usually there’s variety in the song order.
I had a similar criticism for the running order. They actually will have a very similar tempo.
I don’t know why you think Albania is as slow as Portugal and Bulgaria when it isn’t.
not reaaaally i think those are ballads but they are pretty different. Especially Bulgaria if it’s staged right it really REALLY could stand out. I however think Finland REALLY benefits from this running order since it ends the row of ballads with a rock n roll, but i don’t really know for sure how this is gonna turn out.
I think the mistake people make, is that Albania is indeed a ballad, but not a slow one like Georgia and Portugal. Remember Karma has a small dance break and a lot more oompf. It’ll stand out between You and Love Is On My Side.
why absolutely no one talking about Moldova chances? looks like people totally forgot about Sugar
you think it will NQ?
I guess it will be a qualifier easily…
Well, lucky they are not going to perform early. So if Natalia has a decent performance she is in the final for sure
I would assess Moldova as very dependent on the staging. If they nail that, they are likely in.
They wasted the last spot on semi 2 with Denmark, who won’t qualify anyway
Oh yes they will. These guys are amazing.
It will be like Triana Park – they will fail to qualify
What a way to ending first semi, wow!
im gonna dance non stop during
Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Malta performances 😀
If Greece reaches the finals and Stefania is really lucky to be in the 2nd path, she is most likely to close the final, because she has the biggest BPM.
Remember, in 2019 and 2018, Spain and Italy closed the finals as they had the biggest BPM and in 2017 Belgium which had the biggest BPM among the countries in the final performed 23rd. So I expect her to perform between 21st and 26th. And it is a coincidence that all of the above did pretty well in the final
The highest BPM? Business Process Management ? British Petrol Monopoly? Borderline Panic Madness ? Bi-Partisan Monarchy ?
Beats per minute
LOL :,-)
We want 100% random draw back !
And we want it now !
Yessss. 100 agree.
It makes it more “equitable” and people would read less into which song is where, re chances of performing well on the night.
Absolutely!
Agree! It is more fair!
Well, EBU saw Lithuania as last year’s winner so this year The Roop will open the show 🙂
My Semi 1 Qualifiers prediction in random order
1. Lithuania 2. Belgium 3.Russia 4.Sweden 5.Israel 6.Cyprus 7.Ireland 8.Romania 9.Ukraine 10.Malta
Semi 2
1. San Marino 2.Greece 3.Moldova 4.Iceland 5.Estonia 6. Bulgaria 7.Finland 8.Switzerland 9.Latvia 10.Serbia
but I still don’t know how can I put Azerbaijan, Australia Norway, and Croatia.. They are all borderline qualifier candidates
I miss old Austrian entries too but not this one…
🙂 not my cup of tea, but of course I respect your taste
Austria will easily qualify.
I kinda agree. Although that way we did get some tone deaf positions, like Monaco and Israel in a row in 2005, and like Norway and Portugal in a row in 2007. Those things potentially *can* make it more difficult, although, as I said, a big favorite would’ve qualified from any spot.
IDEA: Having a random draw, but if two neighboring songs are drawn within the same genre *and* they have a BPM within a close range, they get to swap with the very next song. Only that. Nothing more.
Also, after the draw , I’m 100% sure that Norway is a sure NQ. TIX has no chance to stand out between Cyprus and Croatia, which are most likely qualifying. And also, chances for Azerbaijan and Ukraine are going to be limited now, unless they bring a monumental performance
TIX was gonna stand out with any draw in that SF full of divas. He’ll be fine
Agree
In 2018 if you remember (of not check some Wiwibloggs posts) you will see that countries like Bulgaria and Belgium were overhyped in the odds. Belgium, which at many times was even 9th ended out to be knocked out of the semi. This also goes for Belarus, Russia and Greece which were in the top 15 for a long time who also got out in the semis (with all 3 of them having awful results in the end).
Yeah, the truth is that the semifinal is really open, so I cannot even rule out 6 countries that will be out, I can only 2 at most, with the other being my predictions, which will also change when I gonna hear them in Rotterdam. But in general, I feel that Norway this year is like Belarus 2018 after they chose from a plenty of great entries (from Imerka to Raylee and Keiino) the most generic song to represent them in Eurovision. This doesn’t mean that TIX is not a good artist, but Fallen Angel is the male version of… Read more »
You’re 100% right. Some people are desperate to give Norway a chance (buttt the odds!) when it is obviously a NQ.
“But right now, there is no way of knowing all the ten countries who wil qualify” from the guy who is all the time sure of everything and presents constantly his personal tastes as facts.
“Top 10 in betting odds” means that you don’t know how to read the odds. The odds aren’t predicting placement. Don’t rely on the odds to save Norway from a sure NQ.
Let’s be honest here, Norway has as good of a chance of qualifying as Malta. Until rehearsals, it is anyone’s crown for the taking. Denmark could have the best staging in the world and somehow make it. But I do think tix will qualify because on a much greater scale, his song is just as appealing than any other ‘certain qualifiers’.
Norway is gonna have a high televote score like Denmark 2018, remember this comment everyone. Televoters love this kind of entries
Lol Azer will overshadow every single of them.
AH AH AH of course Malta to finish when Chameleon got the most awful running orders in 2019.
Ireland is without a chance, the song is too bland. By the time we get to voting, no one will remember it. Belgium is likely to qualify – the song is different and they will deliver great vocals during the final performance. The big question for me is Australia. The song is great but the way it sounded at Mardi Gras (vocals + sound mix) was pretty bad. So it all depends on whether they can improve this. The running order in the SF1 feels weird. Opening with The Roop, followed by Manizha? I love both of those songs but… Read more »
Slovenia after The Roop
Okay so I keep seeing everyone say Denmark is reaching the finals cause they are closing the show, but keep in mind Triana Park came dead last in 2017. So I wouldn’t say they are cleared at all.
After the running order reveal, I have a strong feeling that Denmark will somehow manage to reach surprisingly the finals
I feel that the running order in Semi 2 is totslly wrong. How can we have 4 danceable songs in a row and after that 4 ballads. This is way too much
Karma is a mid-tempo ballad with a lot of drama. It’s still a big change of pace after calming Georgia. Iceland is also totally quirky and low-key in a way that Serbia and Moldova are not. Sure, the contrasts could have been bigger, but it’s still not that bad.
Latvia, Ukraine and Israel were all borderline qualifiers for me, but with this running order, I’m guaranteed they’ll all qualify.
Slightly worried for Ireland, Croatia and Australia.
Ukraine and Latvia will be in Top 10, so not sure I agree.
I’ve seen a lot of comments talking about how 2nd is a very bad starting number for the country’s probability of qualifying, but I’ll be honest, it isn’t as bad as people portrait it to be. Since 2010, 4/10 qualified from SF1 and 5/10 qualified from SF2. It basically means it’s close to a 50/50 to qualify or not, which is as fair as it can get.
I agree. It might only be a disadvantage to borderline entries. Perhaps an okay entry would have finished 10th from the 16th spot, but it finished 12th from the 2nd. But songs like Arcade, Fuego, Spirit in the Sky and La forza would’ve qualified from any spot in a heartbeat. The only issue here is the expectation for someone to be borderline / NQ. Huge fan-favorites are hardly ever placed second or third. If a song gets a great result from that spot (Michal Szpak being the good example of that), it’s a surprise rather than an outcome expected from… Read more »
Russia didn’t qualify in 2018 and their song this year is pretty weak so I think Russia might not qualify this year as well
But in this Semifinal, Russia have most of their diaspora and some neibourds that will vote for Manizha in the televoting, also she is very charismatic and sings very well on live, she is getting the support in Russia, so i don’t think that she will fail.
Ukraine are not go to the final.
they will be in the final;)
you both are wrong lol
first, they will qualify
and second, its not because of running order
It’s a TOTAL standout. Give Europe techno and they’ll react well, especially the Dutch and Germans. I’m guaranteed that Ukraine will be on the left-hand side of the scoreboard.
Dutchies and Germans also like House music a lot, yet Darude and Gromee didn’t qualify. Shum is ethnic techno. As a Dutch person, I’d say we either vote for techno or for ethnic, not a combination of both. A combination of ethnic and techno doesn’t work.
Darude and Gromee were basically commercialised pop songs. SHUM is straight up techno and has an ethnic edge, so I wouldn’t compared Go_A to those two. I think we’ll be surprised at how well SHUM will be received in Western European countries.
I have strong feeling Ukraine will make it while Manizha and Montagne unfortunately not….
Lithuania and San Marino are amazing openers, yay!
sorry,but I think Slovenia and Estonia has no chances
Manizha’s live performance is epic, also she has gained great support from media and fans, I guess she will qualify easily
yeah but media and Eurofans are just a little segment out of millions viewers around the Europe, so its gonna be hard for her to qualify with such specific entry
this is the worse eurovision year yet! i don’t like any song, not to put it in my playlist..
i don’t even gonna watch eurovision this year! shame! awful songs!
and what going on with malta’s song?? it’s a copy of ariana grande “focus” like it is almost the same melody! when she singing “je me casse” i can sing “focus.. fu fu fu focus on me..” total crap! and the translation to this sentence “i’m breaking” is not even connect to the lyric of the song, “im not your baby, i’m breaking” what????
You made my day with this brainless comment. “Je me casse” doesn’t mean “I break” but “I’m outta here”. In fact it is even written in the videoclip 😉 Try pausing the official video at 0:25
“i break”.. – google translate… check it out…
Man I’m from the french part of Belgium. I speak French everyday. I think I know what I’m talking about more than GoOglE TraNsLatE. If you want to use a reliable translation site, check out Deepl. They have the right answer in this case, “Je me casse” means “I’m off”.
I’m also from that part of Belgium so my mother language is French and i confirm it means “I’m off” 😉
then don’t watch it if you are fussing this much.