Gather to breathe the morning air (well, afternoon) and later start a fire!

After the break we're back to continue this labour of love - watching screens and listening to our artists sing their tiny hearts out!

Azerbaijan
And it is amazing! Lovely song perfectly sung, and great staging. Still not sure about that trapeze artist swinging around but hard to find anything wrong with this, another easy qualifier, possibly also the winner of the semi-final. The combination of the package works so well with this song givinh immediate appeal to the general public. For those songs such as Armenia which might take a bit of getting used to before the appeal strikes, this would be more of a vote gatherer. In addition, Dilara owns the camera and has much more presence than some of the artists singing before her - giving the needed breath of air back to the evening.

Do you think Azerbaijan might win the semi or even the contest? Why not comment here or at our Message Board? 

 

 

Ukraine
Can you go tick tock?! Still that human hamster wheel on stage - but let's face it, we all secretly want one instead of a tread mill at home don't we? There are still moments where I get scared that Mariya will get her hands caught by the wheel but even though that contraption would not normally pass the health and safety legislation of most work place buildings, this is Eurovision and you need to expect a bit of pain in order to achieve greatness! Not sure about the connection between the two performers on stage but it is enough to get them through to Saturday. Still looking (to me at least) like 6 out of the first 9 songs will be making it to the final.

 

 

Belgium
Unfortunately it's a bit hard to hear the Belgian entry since we have Pollapönk being interviewed by escXtra right next to us and they like to sing a lot, not that we are complaining too much about the distraction caused to us. But back to Belgium, we're on run two at the moment and "Mother" is still there not getting any less creepy. Axel is trying his best and there is the notion by most gathered "press" that he will qualify, but I am not sure he will. I don't see European drunks wanting this as their song. Not even those gathered watching in the living room of their respectable home - Azerbaijan would have already been seen and got their vote. Axel is a nice boy singing an ok song but appealing to the masses probably not.

 

Moldova
"Interesting" would be the best way to describe this. Moldova have given us some greats in the past and this may become one of them in the list but maybe not for the epicness that is Hora din Moldova, Lăutar or Pasha Parfeny but for the camp karaoke night potential this has. You can already see the gay's Eurovision Fans of the globe perform these at their local dance floor of choice. As for the actual performance, they seem to like having a bit of everything for good measure. Not sure any more of its qualification - but still routing on the likely.

 

San Marino
We all secretly love this - Valentina has become a member of the Eurovision-fan community by proxy. We all meet eachother once a year and find out what happened to the other person over the past year and that's exactly what we do with Valentina. What do you think will happen in Valentina's carreer in the next 12 months? Start getting your questions ready to be asked in ESC2015!

As a performance it is ok still. Valentina is dressed in white with her blue shell backdrop and she can sing as always. The song however doesn't have the appeal that Crisalide had last year, and clearly less enthousiasm from the fan community than her previous attempt. A couple of people have mentioned - very accurately I believe - it seems the song was written for a musical and not the Eurovision Song Contest. 

Is Valentina singing her ESC Swan Song? Comment here or in the Message Board.

 

 Another small break and we're back with the remaining songs!