Out of the 17 countries participating in the first semi-final in Tel Aviv yesterday evening, 10 countries, some of them surprisingly, qualified to the grand final on Saturday.
Despite a good performance, Belgium did not make it but finds itself in good company with other countries such as Montenegro, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Georgia, and Portugal.
For a change several singers used their native languages instead of English to express a message that differed from the usual love story.
Georgian singer Oto Nemsadze impressed with his song Keep on Going on healing wounds with songs. Hungarian singer Joci Pápai , in My Father, paid homage to his roots in his song.
Finland, one of the favourites with artist Darude and vocalist Sebastian Reyman, did not make it through to the final with their song Look Away, a song that calls on everyone to take action and not just look away from climate change and other problems: “How can we go to sleep at night and lay there in our beds when we know what's going on with the world today”.
The following 10 countries qualified for the final (in order of announcement):
Greece - Katerine Duska with Better Love
Belarus - ZENA with Like It
Serbia - Nevene Božović with Kruna
Cyprus - Tamta with Replay
Estonia - Victor Crone with Storm
Czech Republic - Lake Malawi with Friend Of A Friend
Australia - Kate Miller-Heidke with Zero Gravity
Iceland - Hatari with Hatrið mun sigra
San Marino - Serhat with Say Na Na Na
Slovenia - Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl with Sebi
The Brussels Times
