The 70th Edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held this year in Vienna kickstarted tonight with the first semi-final.
Listen to an audio recording of this article:
Fifteen countries participated, each aiming for one of 10 spots available in the May 16 Grand Final.
While San Marino, Estonia, Portugal, Poland and Belgium were not able to allocate enough votes from the juries and the audience, the following 10 countries did successfully qualify: Sweden, Finland, Greece, Croatia, Moldova, Israel, Serbia, Belgium, Lithuania and Poland.
The Semi-Final opener was not unknown to Eurovision fans: Greek singer Vicky Leandros, who performed at the Contest twice for Luxembourg twice – and won in 1972 – sang her 1967 title “l’amour est bleu.”
In 1967, the contest was held in Vienna for the first time, hence the song choice.
Moldova, whose artist Satoshi performed “Viva, Moldova” was the first country to perform this year. Heating up the crowd with his energetic pop-rap folk mix ultimately led to a successful qualification.
The lineup concluded with “Kraj Mene,” Serbia’s entry from the metal band Lavina, which is especially appreciated by fans of alternative rock.
This Semi’s favorites, however, was Finland, which sent a classical crossover song called “Liekinheitin” sung by Pete Parkkonen and accompanied by the violinist Linda Lampenius.
Important to note is that the European Broadcasting Union gave Lampenius permission to play her instrument live, something that normally is not allowed.
While many fans are very enthusiastic about this, citing Lampenius’ musical talent, others are questioning the fairness of that decision, knowing that other artists did not receive this right.
Surprisingly, Belgium’s Essyla qualified with her dance pop song “Dancing On The Ice.”
Although second to last in the odds before the Semi-Final, Essyla was able to convince the juries and the audience in the televote.
This interval act at this Semi-Final consisted of a musical performance by the hosts of this year’s edition, model Viktoria Svarowski and actor Michael Ostrowski. They showed the viewers how to “distinguish Austria and Australia.”
The number called “Kangaroo” included Go-Jo, last year’s Australian artist, and, well, a kangaroo.
Also performing as an interval act was the Austrian dance group Zurcaroh, performing “Welcome to the funfair,” an homage to “Wiener Prater,” a Viennese amusement park established in 1895.
The contest continues with the second Semi Final on Thursday, when 10 more countries will join the 10 selected tonight in the Grand Final competition on Saturday.
Florian Gashi is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Germany. He is covering Eurovision for YJI and wrote this story.
Dominic Crown is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Nigeria. He made the audio recording.
