Semi-Final 1 - Predictions (+ A note)

We need to talk about the elephant in the room.

Of course, I'm talking about Auri, this year's mascot.

He was introduced during the first media briefing yesterday afternoon in the media centre. I genuinely think he's cute and hope we will see him at some point during the live shows. No appearance during semi 1 from what I could gather unfortunately, but we have two more shows to go after tonight.

Speaking about tonight, here are my qualifier predictions. Last year I was convinced Portugal would end last in its semi, so take that into consideration when reading further.

The Yays

Moldova works amazingly as an opener.

Greece gives us the best performance of the night in my humble opinion and will be rewarded for it.

Finland will qualify by default.

Israel will qualify by default too. Also, see below.

Poland delivers the best vocal performance of the night. This was my #34 before. Never change, rehearsals!

Serbia works amazingly as a closer.

The Probablys

Croatia gives us all the drama we can take in this year (oh, my sweet summer child...)

Portugal ought to make it (now watch them fail) for the contrast with the previous performances alone.

The Maybes

Sweden risks doing a Red Sebastian.

Lithuania will need all the jury support it can muster.

San Marino will get the camp vote, but its appeal is limited.

The Nays

Georgia falls completely flat, in every meaning of the word.

Montenegro just doesn't have a lot going for it in this field.

Estonia will only get appreciation from the wine mums.

Belgium tries its best, but it's just not good enough.

***

And to end, a personal reflection.

I am here in Vienna as accredited press for Songfestival.be. We months ago decided to cover Israel only when absolutely necessary and adding a disclaimer that we respect broadcasters' decisions to keep KAN in the Contest while being against it ourselves.

This was a compromise reached within our team, where we of course also have an array of different opinions.

Here is mine.

A broadcaster representing a country that commits war crimes has no place in a light entertainment show, especially not if it uses it for soft political gains through pinkwashing and intense lobby campaigns.

This is why, in this blog, I will not contribute to Israel's further normalization. I fully know and acknowledge that my individual actions in this nicher than niche blog have no meaningful effect in any way.

I blog here for my own pleasure, and hopefully that of some of you too. If this reflection ruffles your feathers, I of course fully respect that. But for me, this is integrity.

***

That was heavy-handed! Sorry for that! Spoiler alert, but the opening clip for tonight's first semi is already on YouTube. And I honestly believe it is a tearjerker, reminding us all why we love(d) this crazy thing called Eurovision. Enjoy <3

Semi-Final 1 - 1st Dress Rehearsal

Hi from the Wiener Stadthalle!

All accredited press can follow along with the first dress rehearsal this afternoon and I'll be trying to liveblog it all for you, WiFi permitting of course.

Here is a quick picture I snapped of the stage right before a very Austrian woman told me I had to return to my zone. Vicky Leandros was already on stage, lipsyncing for her life.

Eröffnungszeremonie

The first dress rehearsal started at 15:30:00 on the dot but without any additional heads up or welcoming to the press. Semi 1 is opened with the Life of Toni montage which is already on YouTube if you're too curious. It really is beautifully made, I think.

Afterwards we are treated to an impressive choir on stage that performs an abridged version L'amour est bleu, including Vicky Leandros herself. No live vocals detected, but: pyro!

Next we meet our hosts. They're dressed in white and silver. She looks gorgeous, he doesn't. It's giving 70s circus host vibes. They make a few (language) jokes that don't land particularly well but they say and do what they have to. Michael pretends to not know how the voting system works. Appropriate, because who can still keep up, really?

01. Moldau

It's really cool how the LED projections are not only visible in the arena on the wall behind the artists, but also on the floor below them, which goes all the way down the catwalk and even behind the greenroom.

This is the perfect opener - a highly energetic, pro-European stomper. There is a wonderful touch here with Aliona Moon performing her bit in a gigantic dress that is very deliberately resembling her 2013 version, which the crowd loves of course. Lots of pyro in the final chorus. This works really well.

02. Schweden

Basically what we saw in Melfest but with a bit more fun in the light show and projections. It all feels a bit by numbers at this point. Felicia was good but not extremely convincing. I'm honestly not sure if this is convincing enough to qualify or if a fate similar to Red Sebastian awaits.

03. Kroatien

I have to also admit that the postcards this year are absolutely gorgeous. Very stylish shots of the artist in a different Austrian landmark, ending with the artist holding an actual postcard of their own country. Super neatly done.

Neatly done is also how I describe the Croatian performance, which has had a major upgrade compared to Dora. One of the five singers is seated on a high chair, onimously towering over her four colleagues - she comes down during the second verse.

The background projections really help telling the story of the song and there is the same level of fire here you would expect during, well, Fire. The vocals are also on point today and much better than during Dora. I can't really focus on the camera work from where I'm sitting, but at least on the stage this looks great.

04. Griechenland

As expected, Akylas takes his video game look and feel to the max with his background projections, which we here only see on the actual stage and not on the catwalk or behind the greenroom - not sure if this is on purpose or not.

Akylas performs the first half of the chorus inside a box creating a very neat visual effect before stringing one of his dancers along, Helena Paparizou-style. He rides on the catwalk with a kick scooter (there are the visuals here too!) before performing the second chorus from inside a complicated set on stage with four corners each having a very different setting. From an ancient Greek ruin to presumably the house where his mother lives.

It looks absolutely stunning on screen. I haven't seen anything bad yet today but this is hands down the best staging so far. This was fantastic.

05. Portugal

Just like last year, I unfortunately happen to be seated right next to a very loud group of Portuguese press members. Lucky me.

This is effortlessly beautiful. A very modest, dark staging but excellent vocals and beautiful projections of white roses during and after the violinist's part on stage.

The five guys start on the right side of the catwalk before making their way to the main stage towards the end, giving some gorgeous shots along the way.

I have little to say about this except that I really hope this will qualify. I said the opposite last year, so now watch them not make it :(

06. Georgien

This semi has been amazing so far, which obviously couldn't last.

This all feels very hollow with not a lot happening. Very shaky vocals from particularly the female Bzikebi members. For the first time this afternoon, I felt my attention waning. Tepid audience response.

Also: the LED projections of the three Bzikebi members as AI cyborgs are truly creeping me out.

After Georgia we have our first break. Victoria introduces a montage of former participants reflecting on how Eurovision has changed their lives. Sissal, Miriana Conte, JJ, and then a random German fan. And then Will Ferrell. No joke. The sound crew makes an appearance, which is nice. Then Eleni Foureira. Then a Swedish fan. Then Victoria (not Swarovski, but of 2020/21 Bulgarian fame). Then more fans from Sweden and the UK. Yeah it was all pretty random.

XX. Italien

We're treated to a whole story here, starting with a prospective groom getting dressed by his two best men who also do somersaults. During the bridge the bride joins the stage. She kisses the groom and then... she drops on the floor and is undressed by the best men, revealing the Italian flag colours. It's not 100% clear if this was supposed to happen this way but it looked funny.

Overall this was actually rather underwhelming and Sal did not sound very convincing vocally.

07. Finnland

Just watching the gigantic Finnish prop being put on stage is impressive.

It's also amazing to see how fast Linda and Pete run on the stage and how various stagehands are needed to keep Linda's dress intact.

This is exactly what you know from UMK, and it works wonderfully on TV. It doesn't fill me with particular excitement, but this will of course go very far. I'm still not 100% sold if it can go all the way though.

08. Montenegro

Tamara and her four dancers give us their all. The question is if that will be enough to qualify. I'm not convinced.

Red is the dominant colour in the graphics overall, which works very well with the black and white outfits. We get a sunset projected in the final chorus which looks stunning. Tamara doesn't look nor sound particularly great though today.

I'm sorry, but this is a hot mess.

09. Estland

I'm not sure who said it first on the MB, but the description of wine mums is very accurate for this.

They are genuinely enjoying themselves and it's lovely to have them back but it's all rather lukewarm and not very engaging. Until the bridge when they really go all in on audience engagement, which I think will work well with a full arena.

I do think there is an audience for this and can see it sneaking through to the final, only to have last place in the final pretty much qonfirmed.

The onscreen projections are remarkably similar to those of Portugal, at least in the first part of the song. Make of that what you want.

10. Israel

People who want to vote for it, will still do so. Those who don't want to, still won't. What more is there to say?

XX. Deutschland

Sarah Engels starts laying down on an elevated cube on the stage dressed in a stylish white dress. It all looks very sophisticated. In the beginning, at least. The dress comes off pretty fast.

Twenty seconds later it's pretty much the same performance as in das deutsche Finale - Sarah must have overcome major trust issues to let herself drop from the cube into the arms of her four dancers.

It's all giving major go girl, give us nothing vibes. Sarah ends on the elevated cube again surrounded by, of course, her song titel.

11. Belgien

Time for our second break in which we are treated to a video lecture of 'Professor Eurovision', played by Victoria Swarovski. They highlight that Austria holds the shared record for having ended with nil points most frequently, which this blogger appreciates. They mix up Conchita Bautista and Wurst before showing a brief montage of performances ending with nil points. Yes, Jemini made the cut!

The Belgian postcard ends with Belgique only, so that's another major linguistic scandal in national politics waiting to happen.

Essyla starts on the catwalk with what has to be the saddest snow machine ever, held by a single man off-camera and making so much noise that we hardly hear her sing in the beginning.

Which isn't that much of a shame as there are various vocal misses thorughout the performance. Which really is a shame as the staging actually looks really cool with a beam of light projected in the bridge, dramatically unfolding in the final chorus.

The second go girl, give us nothing performance in a row. Had I mentioned yet that I'm not a fan of the second half of this semi?

12. Litauen

We appear to having a wardrobe malfunction with Lithuania on stage and are treated to some improvised greenroom interviews by Victoria and Michael, despite the greenroom being empty. It's all pretty awkward.

Excellent light design. It's all giving Phantom of the Opera vibes, which I mean in a good way here. I don't like this, but I appreciate it tremendously.

This would be my best guess for a left-field shock qualifier if the juries can lap this up enough. I don't see anyone picking up their phone for this unfortunately.

13. San Marino

Bless their bribed hearts and wallets. Senhit starts in one of two giant on-screen constructions creating great visual effects before being reunited with her dancers on the main stage. In the second pre-chorus (which is half the song really) she is lifed by her dancers and carried around for a few seconds.

Boy George is, of course, revealed to hiding out the second construction in the last minute. He has to be the most glorified backing vocal in Eurovision history. This is more camp than a field of tents at an international jamboree. I don't care for the song in the slightest but I so hope this qualifies.

14. Polen

Girl is a vocal power house from the first bars. She starts alone on stage towards the end of the catwalk. During the second verse we go to the main stage where four dancers do their thing on a tilted platform dressed in white and black. Alicja joins them towards the end.

The choreography is stunning and Alicja should make the final based on her vocals alone, despite me not caring for the song at all again. This should make it quite comfortably I think.

15. Serbien

I called this a very weird choice for a closer when the running order was announced, but I have to admit I was wrong. This works very well. A dramatic, explosive finish. This will sail through.

We had to leave the arena afterwards, so that's all folks! Back tomorrow with qualifier predictions...

Is Eurovision A.I.?

No, it's not! Our own Jonathan (a real person - I can confirm) is in Vienna - in person, back to blog for you another year. Enjoy!

Servus aus Wien!

What the title says!

For the second year running I will be sharing my unsolicited Eurovision-related thoughts and feelings through these series of self-therapeutic blogs.

I am writing from the media centre in Vienna, which is by far the smallest but also the brightest one I've ever been to. In fact, the 2015 edition was my very first edition and in between I actually worked and lived in Vienna for a while - so it feels good but also weird to be back for a number of reasons. (I warned you, self-therapeutic.)

Upon entering the media centre earlier this morning, Taylor Swift's Love Story was playing through the speakers. Surprise interval act in the Grand Final qonfirmed? It would be nice vindication for her cancelled Eras Tour concert of August 2024 in this very city, for which yours truly had a ticket... Here's hoping.

I would also like to take this opportunity to share the contents of the media goodie bag I received yesterday. Next to the obvious things (a programme, a water bottle, a tote bag (doesn't the world have enough tote bags, really?)), there was also this wonderful thing.

Surprise interval act by Sophie and Magaly in the Grand Final qonfirmed? Likely not as sadly both sisters have passed away. But a nice hommage would only be fitting at this festive 70th edition, me thinks.

In any case, the goals for next week are to a) not lose my sanity and b) cover the ESC - how mutually exclusive those goals are remains to be seen.

Tomorrow (Monday), all press will be allowed to watch the first dress rehearsal in the arena again, for which I plan to do  some proper liveblogging. This of course depends on confirmation of the local authorities and proper equipment (Wi-Fi in the arena and the sorts). I will keep you posted!

For now, please enjoy the following classic Eurovision voting moment with moderation: (starting at 32 seconds if the timestamp thingy doesn't work)

Basel - Questions and Reflections

For the second year running, my pre-favourite has won Eurovision, which in all my years as a fan before had never happened before. Yet, also for the second year running, the contest left me with a bitter aftertaste and again the slightest feeling of falling out of love.

I am left with a few questions that I would like to raise here for your consideration and discussion on the MB or elsewhere.

As a gift to all you lovely ESC geeks and freaks, if you want an overview of the detailed scores and rankings from all shows, you can download an Excel sheet I made last night here. Enjoy!

1. What the hell just happened?

Picture: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU

Okay, that one was too easy, I know - but still.

I had some predictions horribly wrong (I *really* got carried away by the San Marino hype, in spite of always strongly disliking their entry myself) and the only country I got right 100% in terms of placing was Albania. Many other countries were placed in similar-ish positions. I called the jury and public vote winners correctly, and the same applied to the nil points for Remember Monday.

But seriously, also nothing, nade, niente, nichts for Switzerland? I did predict it would get the majority of its points from the jury - but all of them? Truly insane.

I had also massively underestimated the appeal of Tommy Cash, among both votes. It's interesting how the televote top two consists of songs performed third and fourth in the running order. This mitigates all the discussions and critiques about 'good' and 'bad' positions considerably.

The same of course applies to the bookmakers. Sweden's odds kept improving until the start of the voting and then it all kinda fell apart. Sweden still came 4th, a showing that many countries would almost kill for (*cries in Red Sebastian*), but it felt very underwhelming for them.

A solution? Trusting your own gut feeling more! Curb your inner Fionnuola Sweeney and don't get carried away as much. Worry less about the effects of the running order and put less trust into how people spend their betting money.

2. How much time do we have left?

Maybe I'm a bit too dramatic here, but I genuinely believe that Eurovision as an event and a(n often ridiculed but nevertheless sustaining and thriving) European institution cannot survive its own voting system for too much longer.

Last year, the Israeli broadcaster and government set up a huge media campaign (including a billboard on Times Square in NYC) to urge people to vote for Israel, as massively as possible, no matter what their entry was. It was perhaps the clearest sign that Eurovision is very much a political event ever.

The EBU's reaction? Crickets. They let it all happen again this year. Unexplainable, as Nemo sang. And this time it really paid off for Israel, because they won the televote and now, like Ukraine in 2022, can use this as a 'signal' that Europe supports them and their atrocities.

And there, I said it: Ukraine. I didn't hate Bird of Pray, but Ziferblat won the first semi final is, pardon my French, absolutely ridiculous. While we have no way of knowing for certain as that would require in-depth qualitative research among voters in numerous parts of the continent, it does at least indicate that people vote less for a song and more for a country. This is actually backed up by prior research, albeit limited and by now rather old.

A solution? Limiting the number of votes per device and credit card. One person, one vote. Of course this hurts broadcasters financially as they in many cases profit of televotes which sustains their further participation. So again, this is not as easy and straightforward as it all sounds. But some action will be inevitably necessary.

3. Oú est Céline?

Carzo, of course, whose presence on stage with Paola and Peter, Sue and Marc would have made that fabulous interval act even better. Who cares she went for Luxembourg??

No, of course I mean La Dion.

During the two rehearsals on Friday, the hosts gave the exact same speech as during the first semi final on Tuesday and we saw the same recorded video message by our chanteuse québécquoise.

Yet by yesterday morning, the script had altered and any mentioning of Dion had been cut entirely. This only fuelled hope and expectations that she would make a surprise appearance, but we got nothing.

Something happened for sure. Was she actually in Basel but did she decide to not show at the last moment? Did Lumo abduct her? Can anyone confirm that Céline Dion is actually okay right now? Please?

A solution? A new video message from Céline, hopefully not asking for ransom or a hosting job for Lumo during Eurovision 2026 in Vienna/Innsbruck/Graz to guarantee her survival.

4. Why was Michele Hunziker there?

It took me a while, but I ended up genuinely liking Sandra and Hazel. They had to find their groove but once they did they had very good chemistry on screen. Hazel was a revelation and I love that she got her pockets of time to do her own thing and shine off-script.

But for some bizarre reason the organisers felt the need to include a third host in the final. I'm not sure if she was inebriated, stoned or both, but it felt as if she was thrown in at the last minute and hadn't had a second to read the script before she had to read her lines from the teleprompter.

It just all felt very unnecessary in what was already a very long final with many unnecessary parts. This of course includes Hunziker's heartless rendition of Volare. But don't you dare criticise or touch Sandra's Canzone per te performance. Studer needs to be protected at all times.

A solution? Sticking to the same hosts across all shows. Yes, looking at you too, Graham Norton.

5. Why do the Swiss hate people who want to follow the voting?

There were many odd choices made in how the shows were structured and flowed but arguably the worst thing for me was the jury vote reveal.

We only saw the total scoreboard for a few seconds per country before moving on, making it impossible to keep track of what was going on.

This truly baffles me as I thought the Swedes absolutely nailed the jury vote presentation last year. The first points were displayed on the full scoreboard automatically while also having the host and spokesperson on-screen the entire time. It was so easy and convenient to follow.

Who came up with this? Why did they think it was a good idea? How long did it take you before you realised that Estonia was actually doing *well* in the jury vote and that Iceland still had zero?

A solution? Just not doing this ever again??

6. Where was Lumo?

This is an honest question. The... figure (in lieu of a better word) had been introduced as the official mascot for this year's edition. Yet, Eurocat, Eurobird and good old Leo (from 2022 fame; I too had to look it up again) were featured prominently during the shows' postcards. Lumo was absolutely nowhere. I didn't see it anywhere in the streets of Basel, and believe me, I have looked for it.

I was totally expecting Lumo to announce the Swiss jury votes but I guess the Italian mouse stole its limelight?

What was the point of introducing a mascot if it ended up not being used at all? Could the extremely negative reactions have caused or at least contributed to its disappearance? Where is Lumo now? Are they okay? Is Céline Dion with them?

A solution? Announcing Lumo as the eternal mascot of Eurovision after the eternal logo and the eternal slogan. It would only be fitting.

--

On a final note, thanks to all of you who read and commented on the blogs over the past week. It was intense but I very much enjoyed doing them and hope you enjoyed reading them :) Tack och forlåt!