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
