At the allocation draw in January, each of the countries competing at Eurovision 2023 were drawn into a semi-final (except for the Big 5 and Ukraine). Now that all the songs have been revealed, producers of this year’s contest have decided on the exact running order for the shows on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 May.
Producers take into account the style of each song and the staging requirements of each entry when creating the semi-final running orders. It’s ultimately all done to create the most dynamic and seamless show possible.
Each semi-final will have two breaks for ads or non-commercial content, which can also affect the flow of the performances.
Eurovision 2023 semi-final 1 running order
- Norway: Alessandra – “Queen of Kings”
- Malta: The Busker – “Dance (Our Own Party)”
- Serbia: Luke Black – ”Samo mi se spava”
- Latvia: Sudden Lights – “Aijā”
- Portugal: Mimicat – “Ai Coração”
- Ireland: Wild Youth – “We Are One”
- Croatia: Let 3 – “Mama ŠČ!”
- Switzerland: Remo Forrer – “Watergun”
- Israel: Noa Kirel – “Unicorn”
- Moldova: Pasha Parfeni – “Soarele și Luna”
- Sweden: Loreen – “Tattoo”
- Azerbaijan: TuralTuranX – “Tell Me More”
- Czechia: Vesna – “My Sisters Crown”
- Netherlands: Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper – “Burning Daylight”
- Finland: Käärijä – “Cha Cha Cha”
Eurovision 2023 semi-final 2 running order
- Denmark: Reiley – “Breaking My Heart”
- Armenia: Brunette – ”Future Lover”
- Romania: Theodor Andrei – “D.G.T. (Off And On)”
- Estonia: ALIKA – “Bridges”
- Belgium: Gustaph – “Because Of You”
- Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou – “Break A Broken Heart”
- Iceland: Diljá – “Power”
- Greece: Victor Vernicos – “What They Say”
- Poland: Blanka – “Solo”
- Slovenia: Joker Out – “Carpe Diem”
- Georgia: IRU – “Echo”
- San Marino: Piqued Jacks – “Like An Animal”
- Austria: Teya & Salena – “Who The Hell Is Edgar?”
- Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi – “Duje”
- Lithuania: Monika Linkyté – “Stay”
- Australia: Voyager – “Promise”
How the running order is decided
In January, the semi-final allocations were decided by random draw. The competing semi-finalists were allocated into either the first or second half of the first or second semi-final. The allocation draw in January gives broadcasters a head start on their travel plans and budgets for Liverpool.
The full semi-final running orders were then decided by the Eurovision 2023 host broadcaster, the UK’s BBC, and approved by Eurovision Executive Supervisor Martin Österdahl.
The grand final running order will be decided after the second semi-final, when all the finalists have been determined. However, as the host countries, Ukraine and the UK have randomly drawn their place in the grand final — TVORCHI will perform 19th, while Mae Muller is set to close the show in 26th position.
What do you think of the semi-final running orders for Eurovision 2023? Do any songs now have a better chance at qualifying to the grand final? Tell us your thoughts below!
Denmark opening sf 2 is hilarious for some reason. And San Marino between Georgia and Austria? Wow the producers really don’t want them to qualify, do they? And yeah, Malta is probably done for. Hope 3rd slot doesn’t ruin Serbia’s chances of qualifying.
Israel has to be disqualified!
https://twitter.com/J5TT_L/status/1638760951276277761?t=HW6IyCxibqwQH3gCs0Uzkw&s=19
Why?
Croatia got a good number. For me, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Czechia & Israel sure finalist, everything else is possible. I think that Portugal will somehow get through here, but we will see.
I have my doubts regarding Norway, I just recalled her using auto tune on MGP, so her performance could go wrong :/
bee goo loo goo do goo
All of these are English words. Is this sentence about a bee producing gooey honey that makes us use the loo?
Semifinal 1 qualifiers: Norway, Malta, Serbia, Latvia, Portugal, Moldova, Sweden, Czechia, Netherlands & Finland
Semifinal 2 qualifiers: Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland, Greece, Slovenia, Austria, Lithuania, Australia
Out: Ireland, Croatia, Swizerland, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Romania, Poland, Georgia, San Marino, Albania
If there’s not a good song, who would vote and why, a good stage show won’t save anyone.
Axe the semi-finals put all the countries in a drawer early December the only ones are the Big Five and the winner one Eurovision final another ever gets pulled out of a draw they’re the ones who take part and that means most countries every year will have a chance of entering we are sick of it the fans this is being destroyed
You ever heard of punctuations?
They supposed to be Eurovision fans I don’t understand William why is he sitting back and letting the Eurovision Song Contest getting destroyed once they start meggling with the draw I’m fixing where everyone goes you know that the show is now rigged
your writing feels like diarrhea.
Lean to write first! I actually have my suspicions too but I didn’t get most of what you wanted to say
Excellent! I didn’t think they’d be ready until after April 1.
Given that I have neither heard any of these songs in full–nor seen any of the stage performances or music videos–it will be fun (yet again) to evaluate every one of them. I do this 3 times, usually ending on the weekend before the first semi’s jury performances.
I generally don’t start before April; but I’m tempted to start next week. I’m pretty sure I will be entertained once more, as I have been for the last 10 years.
Lithuania perforning after Albania is… a choice.
I think it’s a good spot actually. Close to the end so you’re more likely to grab more votes. Don’t forget that UK is voting in semifinal two and their televote consistently gives Lithuania top marks whenever they can vote for them so there’s at least 10 to 12 points right there. Ukraine also gave their televote’s 12 points to Lithuania last year so there’s a good chance they might give Lithuania a top two televote result as well. I would’ve been more worried for Lithuania if they had been placed closer to the middle like the last time they… Read more »
Malta’s not qualifying are we? That makes me so sad because everything was “home grown” this year.
After being ”rewarded” by this running order, I’m afraid that both Malta and Azerbaijan are returning to their usual Swedish-penned imports. 🙁
I just get the feeling that the twins are being set up to fail to justify why Azerbaijan outsources their entries. First time they send something homegrown, and it fails to qualify? Back to their usual antics.
Brilliant remark! These two should have been given a sort of “positive reinforcement ” -especially Azerbaijan, usually so prone to supply plastic, outsourced entries.
I’ll vote for you!!! Greetings Norway
The death slot is artificially created by knowingly putting weaker songs with less chances to qualify as 02. Most of those songs would not qualify from any spot. 03 has even worse qualification rate statistically, but last year Lithuania and Serbia proved that running order does not matter if the song is good enough (with Serbia being tied for the televote win in semi final two). Armenia will very likely prove that 02 is not a bad slot if your performance is good enough. Performing last could be a big boost (Malta 2021, both Armenia and Czechia 2022), but the… Read more »
Denmark 2021 Also performed last and didn’t qualify, but that had been more due to the jury scoring it down (Denmark reach the top 10 of the televote that year).
Anyone who still says running order doesn’t matter, lets see them put Loreen on 2nd in the final
If they put Loreen in the second spot, im sure she will still end up being very high, when we get the result
The point is whether it makes the difference, and it obviously does.
No. A good song will qualify no matter what!
It clearly makes a difference for a song that is good but not among the best.
but for a song like Armenia? no
Depends if they’d be able to get her stage ready after the first song ends.
Girl, she has got a big staging. Do u rly think producent would put her in the 2spot?
I’m so tired of people commenting on Sweden that they have had too many wins already, that Loren should give others a chance, etc.
Where I usually like an underdog, I do think this would be a great winner. It’s a competition, would you say that about the Olympics, that the winners shouldn’t compete anymore because they need to give others a better chance? Or in any other competition?
Semis: Norway got position 1 same like in 2018 Serbia position 3 – like in 2018,2022 Latvia position 4 – like in 2004,2012 Switzerland position 8 – like in 2007,2009,2011 Israel position 9 – like in 2015 Sweden position 11 – Iconic, she got same spot in 2012 lol 😀 AzerBUYjan – position 12 like in 2009 Netherland – position 14 -same in 2014 Finland – got position 15 – same like in 2009,2018 Armenia – position 2 same like in 2010/2015 Belgium – position 5 – same like in 2017 Poland – position 9 – same like in 2010… Read more »
Netherlands got also 14th position in the semi in 2019 (Duncan)!
Duncan performed 16 in 2019 🙂
So we’ve got 14 countries assigned to certain spots for the first time ever.
I think my memory is off. Is Switzerland closing the 1st half or opening the 2nd half?
Didn’t they draw the 2nd half? It’s been a while since watching the allocation draw.
They are opening 2half
Thank you!
For SF2, I’m surprised that Denmark is opening the show, since I wouldn’t call it a particularly powerful song, like Norway. I heard that it was to help draw in international viewers since Reiley has such a large international following. I personally think that the running order is quite balanced in both semifinals because every song has the opportunity to shine and similar songs are not competing with each other. If it’s a good song, then the running order won’t matter. Finland and Australia closing the show was an excellent choice.
I’m not optimistic about my country’s (Netherlands) chances of reaching the final, but this spot in the semis might at least help a bit. Now let’s hope for a really strong staging.
It’s a lovely song, in my Top-5 already. Good songs always go through if sung, staged, and performed well.
Not always.
Definitely not always
Everyone saying that Armenia is in a weak spot, remember that Armenia qualified in 2015 from the second spot, with Genealogy, so Brunette should have no problem, unless she has bad vocals/performance, in which case she wouldn’t have qualified no matter the running order.
I dont understand people complaining that a given country has been placed 1st, 2nd, 8th or last as if It was a conspiracy when in fact someone has to perform 1st, 2nd, 8th or last.
I think though it makes sense for the 1st and 2nd placing DS because they’re at the start so they’re less memorable, but 8th is like bang on in the middle, so if a song is unique enough it SHOULD be able to qualify from 8th position.
If the song is memorable and/or good enough, it doesn’t matter which order they have in the semi. If its unmemorable, lame and boring than performing later might have sense?
OK, tell me it’s not political when the UK/Ukraine show organizers put Croatia into the best slot in the first half of Semi 1, and bury Serbia into the 3rd slot. Yes, tell me how it’s not political.
Serbia has a bad song
it’s an good song with a epic performance, again very modern as last year but also very different to last year, i personally love the video game-ish vibe and Luke is a good singer, it is not a bad draw between a vanilla middle of road funk entry (Malta) and a Latvia, i feel Latvia is more screwed between Luke and Portugal’s Mimicat – between two crowdpleasing potential performances
It’s a stark contrast. Having a stupid circus act before another war song that people *can* take seriously is a pretty good move. Unfortunately televoting will vote for the former because televoting feeds off of the shock factor
Yes, whole world has conspired against Serbia. Because ECS is secretly run by evil Croatians.
I’m being sarcastic, just in case someone would take me setiously
Of course it hasn’t, but if the draw was random, it would have been fair and transparent, as in every decent sports competition. Imagine producers arranging the groups or quarter-final pairs in FIFA World Cup to make it “more interesting”? Heads would roll…
I agree, the way that they do it in ESC is funny/strange, but calling it political is ridiculous too….
On the other hand I would not be surprised if ESC is discussing with countries who is actually willing to have ESC next year and count that in as well
UK and Malta have a very, very strong relationship (Malta nearly became an actual nation within the UK) and we’re playing second. There’s no conspiracy here.
My brother in Christ Serbia was in the 3rd slot last year too and they sailed through to the final, calm your tits……….
How did everybody forget that since last year, producers try to break the “death spot legend” of 2nd position. Since last year, it’s no longer a slow, Low chance of Q song in 2nd spot. Malta is fun and danceable. Armenia is powerful and grandiose. There is no “riggery” with the placements. I find the running orders very nice. And in a 15 – 16 songs SF, if you have a good song, well staged and well sung, you’ll go through (exception for 1 or 2 songs because of 100% televote system, which could affects PT, LV or AZ in… Read more »
I agree! If you actually look at the statistics, the second spot is not even the worst spot.
I think Malta would have been best for 1st or end of half 1 at least!
Lol producers putting both Norway and Israel on as early as possible.
Nothing must stop Queen Loreen it seems.
Do you realize that the biggest gift here is for Norway? Alessandra will qualify easily and because she opened her semi final, it’s sur she’ll have a great spot for the final. In the first half of the final she’ll be between the 10th and 13th spot, in the second half she’ll be between 20 and 25. But sure it will be the same for Loreen.
That being said, I don’t understand people complaining. Norway, Sweden and Finland are the 3 big favorites so of course the production will place them well.
Lol they would have been given privileged slots anyway. It’s bot the song that matters, it’s the country. The Nordics could and have sent garbage, but they’ll never be given a death slot. They are simply more “equal” than the other countries in the eyes of the EBU
They simply are the best this year and you’ll have to do with it. When Finland, Denmark or Iceland have bad songs, they have a bad running order spot. You can’t blame Sweden for having great songs most of the time. The same way some country should stop to complain about their spot when they send garbage every year.
What you say never happens when Sweden sends a bad song (aka almost always), idk pretty sus
Stop saying “the Nordics,” when it’s only Norway and Sweden the benefited ones
They should be doing it they should everyone should have a fair chance not the favourites it’s cheating
Norway has a great spot, you are talking nonsense.
Except God Emperor Käärijä!!!
As if Noa Kirel was a huge competitor for Loreen
Pre-rehearsal post-running order reveal predictions:
(Random order):
Semifinal 1:
Semifinal 2:
If the running order doesn’t influence the results then I can see Iceland or Denmark easily qualifying instead of Belgium or Greece.
You could actually copy and paste the comments that are posted after the running orders are revealed….! Every year the same complaints and crying! It’s hilarious!!!! Lol
Maybe the EBU shouldn’t be so obvious with their biases lol. Every year the same countries are treated like trash while others are put on a pedestal, regardless of the song they have.
I don’t agree with that at all, but you go on with your conspiracy theories….!lol
It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s a fact
People complaining about the running order. Didn’t see that coming *ironic* This running order seems really fair to me. The producers gave nice spots to nice songs, which seems normal to me. They try to make as more happy people as possible. The only country that got a “difficult undeserved” place is Armenia and still between Denmark and Romania they should shine easily. Anyway, in semi finals with only 15-16 countries, good songs should qualify whatever their running order spot is. In addition, I agree with the fact that a random drawing for the running order would be more fair… Read more »
Yes sure, producents did really good – they put Azerbijan before Sweden. Such a good Job! Bravisimoo
… you are after Sweden…..and I feel you…. you are the only country that have got a really bad spot I think after Sweden there should always be some dance interval show soo everyone has got time to wake up for another entry…. unfortunately majority is crazy into this diva from poppy-dance country – Swedish music factory… I’m from Czech Republic so we’re right after you… will send a vote or two….
Of course it is a Swede
Finland is winning semi 1 and Austria is winning semi 2. Sooo obvious..
Austria is gonna be a trainwreck
You are a trainwreck I guess.
Really? I won’t vote for either of them (neither Finland nor Austria)!!! Perhaps I’m all on my own in this?
Probably.
Why I think the Eurovision rigged No more fair draw boss pick running orders know who can help to win told unfair ? And don’t get me started on Jury so Bias to sweden They could send a banana I’m gonna still get the Points
Nothing changes rigged again
Well, we all know Sweden would get through . Doesn’t matter that Loreen is “singing live” in half darkness, that (shall we say) familiar song with the even more familiar violins break. Surprised they put her where she is though with apparently such heavy staging.
There will be a short break before Sweden, so there’ll be enough time to prepere her props
They did Armenia so dirty! Why would they put her second??
Yeah, unbelievable
If you have a good song no running order can ruin your chances. Armenia will be ok, running order is irrelevant.
they have the strongest entry among the first 5 performers, they will be fine.
Semifinal 1: Norway, Malta, Serbia, Latvia, Portugal, Moldova, Sweden, Czechia, Netherlands and Finland
Televote winner: Finland
Semifinal 2: Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland, Poland, Slovenia, Austria, Lithuania and Australia
Televote winner: Austria
You really think Israel ain’t qualifying?
Yes a lot of people stupidly seem to think so…
Yes, the whole song is all over the place with nothing going together.
And Croatia? You are some kind of expert or what?
But you’d put Poland through? If you say so…
It seemed to be quite liked before that national final drama happened, but average viewers don’t know about that.
No, but if they have ears they’ll definitely notice her out of tune singing. She sounds awful. She song is half decent but even if it were good it would be in trouble with those vocals.
I care nothing for the drama, I just judge what’s presented to me – and that it atrocious.
apparently the fandom has something against “unicorn” and blindly believe it will flop lol
Israel probably will qualify because vacuous twinks don’t know the difference between style and substance.
It shouldn’t qualify because it’s no so much as a song as random noises assembled around slogans.
A VERY optimistic prediction for the Baltics
For the people that scream favouritism towards Finland: The closing numbers are usually energetic songs or acts with a prop heavy staging… Finland this year is BOTH of that. That’s why they are closing.
Or did you think Armenia/Czechia closed the Semis last year because they were secretly the winners EBU wanted? Be real.
And on what Bible it is written that the song closing should be energetic ?
Same for the song opening.
Greece ???
Btw, in SF2 only 4 entries entirely use native language in their song (Slovenia, Romania, Albania, Australia).
Romania is bilingual, so too Armenia, though Romania is OLS predominant
And Lithuania has that Lithuanian chant throughout their song too.
I’m sorry, Australia in native language is hardly noteworthy unless it were in whatever the aboriginal tongue is called. It’s in English, same as the majority of entries.
But that logic the UK has been absolutely killing it for years with the native language thing but gotten no praise for it.
SF1 notes: It’s a very strong second half, so I’m concerned that there will be very few qualifiers from the first half of this semi. It’s certainly an awful draw for Latvia (which is typical, since my personal favourites hardly ever qualify – case and point: Georgia’s “Lock Me In” last year.) Finland gets the easy knock-out punch right at the end, aptly after some viewers have probably started drinking their pina coladas. SF2 notes: This is one crazy party; the organisers must be having fun trying to produce this one. What’s new: Denmark opens with a modern mid-tempo electro-voice… Read more »
The Eurovision Song Contest is like the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent bloody fix from the start
It would be much harder to fix ESC now compared to 1963 (when there was an obvious change in jury vote) or 1968 (Franco, allegedly), but it’s not impossible. Some juries allegedly tried stuff in 2022, but that was uncoordinated and failed. Outside of juries, I recall that some phone-using people tried and failed to fix it in 2013.
The added complication this year might be opening up votes from places outside the Eurovision bubble.
Nah, Azerbaijan tried for a while but that got sorted out now. Nothing is fixed from the start.
People close to the Danish delegation have told that Reiley and Denmark are going all in on the staging and will give a second to none performance, which should be one of the biggest and most ambitious stage shows ever from Denmark. That could explain why Denmark would open the 2nd Semi-Final. The producers could have good faith in this performance.
Source? Speculation? Wishful thinking?
Just an Instagram post by a Dane who is chief for a department in DR (the Danish ESC broadcaster)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CqGgXJQMd-3/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=413c33c9-7a19-4a00-a5aa-dfebdd65037e
Edit: Actually he is the Chief of Melodi Grand Prix and the Danish delegation so I’d assume he has some good insights.
If this is true, it just means they got first position to have more time to prepare their act.
as a Dane I really hope they will change the staging, but you can never trust Erik. He hyped DMGP 2023 so much up, but we all got disappointed
Yea, that’s my concern aswell. DR’s standards are so f low…
we can only be surprised ig
I agree. Trust no hype from the Danish broadcaster.
Imagine Croatia qualify over Portugal or Latvia. Tragic…
Croatia 100% deserves to qualify over Latvia. Portugal also deserves to qualify.
Croatia may be the surprise non-qualifier this year (and deservedly)
Hope so
I don’t think it would even be a surprise if they don’t qualify. The song has grown on me but that’s the thing: the first time I heard it, I hated it, and most people voting will be hearing it for the first time. Being wacky alone won’t get them to qualify if people just don’t like the song, and I think the average viewer who doesn’t know them will go for it. I could be wrong, but on balance, I think they won’t make it, especially in such a strong SF.
Croatia will most likely pass both Portugal & Latvia in the semi.
Yeah, right… Croatia will totally flop
It’s a televote. Croatia will probably come first in that.
Frankly, both before and especially after the running order announcement I find semi 1 so easy to predict. There’s 9 countries that are qualifying easy, 7 of them i see as guarantees the others at like 80% chance, and then the other 6 (Mlt, Ltv, Prt, Irl, Swi, Aze) fighting for the last slot. Unless absolutely atrocious lives occur, I don’t see any of the 9 I didn’t list failing to Q on a televote only system
Would never expect they would put Croatia to “close” the first half. Could be because of the show they will make, they wanted them to be as late as possible haha. Interesting draw, fingers crossed for Finland and Croatia!
Going to vote for these two
Toilet brake 3 minutes earlier…
I see a good chance of both Belgium and Albania making it through. And the producers confirmed the truth, which is that Armenia is not that good.
Dont complain for Sweden this year. Finland are last out, this must be so rigged. They shouldnt complain if you say so.
Do Finland’s fans have the capacity to accept that some people politely disagree with their views on the “uniqueness” and “winning potential” of the song, or are they just gonna thumb down each and every comment which isn’t exclusively positive about this entry? Just checking.
They will get a reality check in May. Don’t worry about it.
Good point! The comment sections are getting increasingly bland as a result!
I would despise the Loreen lovers more tbh.
‘would’ because loreen lovers are the least toxic of them all thus you see non such comments here in the comment section except for the sweden bashers. Am i right or am i right?
Well, all the comments here are literally made by Loreen. There are only two sides to life: the Käärijä side of love and acceptance, and the Loreen side of darkness and ashes. The Loreen side would NEVER accept the number two in odds beating ‘the Queen’ or ANYONE else for that matter! The deal was done as soon as people heard she was coming back to Melfest! Give the newcomers a chance for gods sake!
At least Norway is safe for not being the grand final opener if it is on 1st half again.
Right? People are talking about Finland as the “winner” of the draw but I think for Norway this is fabulous news. Its almost certain that they will not perform too early in the final.
Depends on which half they draw for the final
idk, I have my concerns regarding Norway. I recall her using autotune at MGP, so the performance could go wrong
Great opening and closing songs in the semis! We got bop with Norway and K-pop with Denmark, while Finland will be the most energetic way to close Semi 1 and Australia Semi 2. Good luck to all entries!
Anything else (predictions based on running order) does not make any sense to me. We’ve seen anything can happen.
Number two is not the death slot in the semi-finals, number seven is. Goodbye, Iceland. Croatia might be strong enough to withstand it. This is assuming the ad break comes after song six, like last year.
(I have a bit of a feeling that your comment is sarcastic but 7 has a decent qualification rate. 2, 3 and 11 are the dreadful ones. Sorry if I’m just replying with a more serious comment on a funnier one haha)
Me? Sarcastic? Never!
In this case I’m actually not, I do feel bad for the acts that come on straight after the break.
I could be absolutely wrong but aren’t the breaks after slot number 5 and 10 this year?
That would explain Ireland getting number six. Cyprus too. I was going by last year. Poor Ireland. The same thing happened to Lesley Roy.
I can still be wrong after all but it felt logical to me to have songs that require a bigger staging right after the add break so it would be easier for the team to prepare it all (Ireland said they prepare a big show, we know Sweden is gonna bring it all, I have a feeling Georgia is not gonna disappoint on that either) so it kinda makes sense.
Good thing about broadcasting in France: there’s no ad break.
Nah, if anything I think the ad breaks will be between 5-6 and 10-11 for semi 1. Don’t forget we have less countries competing this year. In semi 2 I’m a bit more unsure where ads will be
People complaining about Sweden’s spot favoritism when they literally placed Finland last… hilarious.
Finland is the pet this year. Loreen doesnt need that favour.
Azerbaijan after Sweden. If that’s not favoritism so what is?
That’s literally the best spot they could have given Azerbaijan considering how high contrasting it is with the bombastic performance of tattoo.
I can’t thing of a spot from which AZB could qualify though, so I think the whole argument is pointless.
Predictions before rehearsals: SF1: Norway, Serbia, Portugal, Croatia, Israel, Moldova, Sweden, Czechia, Netherlands and Finland. I honestly don’t see any of those other five making it with this draw, but Switzerland will either stand out really well or get washed away completely, and I fear the latter but we’ll see. SF2: Denmark, Armenia, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, Georgia, Austria, Lithuania and Australia. This semi is a mess but I feel like Greece and Denmark will be saved by strong staging. I fear Estonia and Iceland won’t stand out enough to make it and also don’t really have big allies here,… Read more »
idk, I agree overall but Israel is a mess, dude, are you really sure about it making it through?
Unless Noa Kirel ends up being a vocal nightmare like Blanka, her performance will carry Israel to the final.
Some thoughts: Great opener and amazing closer for the first semi. Tough running order for Malta, Azerbaijan and the Netherlands. The big winner of the running order is Croatia, sandwiched by 2 very conventional and arguably bland entries, making it pop out. Though Ireland and Switzerland can also benefit from the contrast. Worried about the combo Serbia-Latvia-Portugal, because I want all of them to qualify and I guess one of them will suffer. I don’t know if Denmark has the right energy to open a semi. In theory, Armenia got a bad running order, but if Denmark and Romania fail… Read more »
I actually don’t think it’s that bad for The Netherlands, actually. Yeah, they are being sandwiched between Czechia and Finland and that isn’t ideal, but they are near the end of the running order and very far away from the song that’s most likely to “compete” against theirs (Switzerland). That actually could turn the tides in NL’s favour . Now on the trio, I absolutely share your concern and I really think Latvia is one of the biggest losers of these draws. Not because of the position but because of who is before and after them. It couldn’t have been… Read more »
Well, it was pretty obvious that Azerbaijan, The Netherlands and Switzerland would be used as “buffers” in a semi full of showy entries. So you have a point, the Dutch at least got the “last word” between the soft sounding ones. Sadly, I agree that Latvia is in trouble. And it’s painful for me to say it, because they’re in my top 3. 🙁 Supposing I’ll be able to vote from here (still no word about how the “rest of the world” voting will work), they’ll get my vote. Couldn’t agree more, Belgium would also be my opener for semi… Read more »
Azerbaijan, Malta and Latvia might as well be the most doomed countries in these draws at this point (arguments could be made for Estonia and Armenia, but I believe SF2 is way too open to judge anything at this point). I still think whoever did the running order would like one of these softer songs to qualify, it would make things easier to plan a running order during the grand final but I can also see Switzerland go through, their draw is not that bad either. One country I can be slightly concerned for is actually Moldova, but I really… Read more »
Not intrusive at all, but I’m from Brazil. Though I guess it explains, since for cultural reasons and the language, following FdC is the closer I have to a national final. And I happen to love the indie direction it took from 2017 to now. Semi 2 is so hard for me to predict. On the other hand, there aren’t many entries I care about there. San Marino is the only song I can’t see qualifying under any circunstance. About Estonia, I think they’ll qualify with ease. Sure, the jury would help them a lot, but I still believe there’s… Read more »
Oh that makes a lot of sense now haha. And I totally agree with you about the direction FdC took. It’s so distinctive from any other national selection and even when all the entries are not up my alley, there’s always interesting acts competing no matter what. Part of the music at FdC is not what I would naturally gravitate towards (though I must say, coming from the metal scene, most of Eurovision is not what I’d usually gravitate towards but that’s one of the reasons why I love the contest), but I always appreciate the dedication of Portugal. And… Read more »
Good points, all of them. I only disagree with Netherlands – it’s not uncommon that the last slow paced song in semifinals makes it through even if they were no favourites pre-contest, and the contrast to the entries surrounding it will actually help them. It’s similar for Lithuania in semi 2.
And I’m also worried about the Serbia-Latvia-Portugal combo, with Portugal being the most disadvantaged there.
Not sure about Portugal being the most disadvantaged. It’s a song that really stands out, and being placed between Latvia and Ireland is a godsend for them I believe. Ideally I’d LOVE Serbia, Latvia and Portugal to all qualify but if anything, Portugal is the only I’m the least worried about there.
Totally agree, people will remember Portugal, very different from all the other songs, energetic, eye appealing and cross-generational
The more I think about the combo (it’s the part of running order that will torture me until May), the more I believe Portugal can benefit from it, because it leaves a very crowdpleasing aftertaste. Latvia is an acquired taste (once you get it, you can’t stop loving it), Serbia is more to the experimental side and Portugal is very Eurovision-friendly. It’s a bit like “My Lucky Day”, but with much more musical quality and vocal power.
Don’t get me wrong, “Ai Coracao” has been one of my biggest growers of the season and I’d love Portugal to go through. It just feels -and that’s only my impresssion by watching the recap video in the actual running order for the first time- that Portugal breaks the pace in this specific spot, because it’s like a u-turn after melancholic esoteric Latvia and before anthemic but bland Ireland. I feel that it would work much better after Ireland, that could work as the perfect build up to the joy that Mimicat brings to the stage. It might be just… Read more »
Yeah, because putting them before Croatia would be so good, said no one with a brain ever
Number seven doomed Achille Lauro last year, I will never forgive it. Viewers go flicking or snacking or toileting after song six, when the ads come on. Not realising the break will be much shorter than usual, by the time they come back it’s time for song eight.
I never paid much attention to how coming after a break may hurt someone chances, probably because watching it on Youtube, there’s no sense of “I can go get a snack now”, since I don’t have the ads. But I imagine it can be tricky. The thing is we never know when the breaks will come. On the 1st semi, it’s easier: probably Ireland will come after one and the doubt is if Sweden will close a segment or open one because of the difficulties to get their staging ready (in any case, Azerbaijan is in trouble). On the 2nd… Read more »
I think semi 1 is more quality but unless there’s some shockers might be easier to identify sure qualifiers. Semi 2 seems to be more open with fewer “favorites” so you’re bound to get more surprises. I doubt this years winner will come from Semi 2
In 2018 semifinal1 is much stronger than semifinal2 and the winner and the runner-up both are from semifinal1(Toy and Fuego).And shocking qualifiers(Albania and Ireland) and unqualifiers(Greece and Azerbaijan) both were in semifinal1.
In 2018 the winner of semifinal2 is a former eurovision winner.But he was not good in Final.
Was Greece a shocking non-qualifier in 2018? I’m Greek and I feel like we all saw it coming since the rehearsals began. After I watched the live show, I knew that we didn’t stand a chance. This staging and performance was awful. Also, Azerbaijan was not popular with the fans from the very beginning, I can’t see how them not qualifying was a shock.