The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, scheduled in Malmö (Sweden) from 7 to 11 May, recently ended and it is already time for the first verdicts. No problem for the favourites Croatia And Ukraine, who get through to the next round and continue their journey towards Saturday's final. The Balkan bloc is holding up very well and is en plein celebrating the passage of the turn (in addition to the Croatians). Serbia And Slovenia, returns to the final on the first attempt Luxembourg and above all it's a partyIreland who qualifies for the first time after six years.
The shock elimination is that of Poland, which was seen by practically everyone among bookmakers and the press room but returns home already on Tuesday and marks the first non-qualification since 2021. The negative streak of Iceland And Azerbaijan, to which are added the Moldova (after three qualifiers) and theAustralia (after two).
Let's see in detail the ten nations that have obtained the ticket for the final:
🇷🇸 SERBIA: Teya Dora, Ramonda
🇵🇹 PORTUGAL: Iolanda Costa, Grito
🇸🇮 SLOVENIA: Raiven, Veronica
🇺🇦 UKRAINE: alyona alyona & Jerry Heil, Teresa & Maria
🇱🇹 LITHUANIA: Silvester Belt, Luktelk
🇫🇮 FINLAND: Windows95man, No Rules!
🇨🇾 CYPRUS: Silia Kapsis, Liars
🇭🇷 CROATIA: Baby Lasagna, Rim Tim Tagi Dim
🇮🇪 IRELAND: Bambie Thug, Doomsday Blue
🇱🇺 LUXEMBOURG: Tali Golergant, Fighter
The following five are leaving the competition:
🇵🇱 POLAND: Luna (Aleksandra Wielgomas), The Tower
🇮🇸 ICELAND: Hera Björk Þórhallsdóttir, Scared Of Heights
🇲🇩 MOLDOVA: Natalia Barbu, In The Middle
🇦🇿 AZERBAIJAN: Fahree feat. İlkin Dövlətov, Özünlə apar
🇦🇺 AUSTRALIA: Electric Fields, One Milkali (One Blood)
The race towards the crystal microphone continues with the Croatian's first performance Baby Lasagna, became the number one favorite for the final victory. There Croatia she convinced the audience with tonight's performance and strengthens her position among the favorites for this one 68th Eurovision Song Contesteven if in the final it will have to overcome the competition of the only other two nations of the ex-Yugoslav bloc (Serbia And Slovenia) who undoubtedly benefited from mutual support in this semi-final.
Another performance that caused discussion was that of the Irishman Bambie Thug, which brings the Emerald Isle back to the final after six years since the last qualification and is arrogantly applying for an outsider role on Saturday evening. Doomsday Blue, the song that Ireland presented at this Eurovision is characterized by a visually very strong show characterized by pentacles, black magic and esoteric references which in any case were less divisive than expected for audiences across Europe.
In this first semi-final, three of the six nations already qualified for the final also performed out of competition: United Kingdom (Olly Alexander, Dizzy), Germany (Isaak Guderian, Always On The Run) and the hosts of the Sweden (Marcus & Martinus, Unforgettable).
At the end of the evening, the traditional press conference of the winners took place, preceded by the draw of the halves in which the nations that passed the round will perform in the final. In the first half of the final they will perform Lithuania, Ireland And Luxembourg, while in the second we will find Cyprus, Finland, Slovenia. New this year, a third possibility called Producer's Choice will allow producers to choose their placement in the setlist throughout the 13-song evening: this fate, which has already befallen theItaly and ad Angelina Mango, it will also be up to Serbia, Ukraine, Croatia and Portugal.