OK, as I’m waiting for the show to begin at 3 PM ET on Peacock (2:55 actually, as Johnny Weir will be doing something before the show starts, I’m led to believe), here is my overview of semifinal one.
Here are the 17 countries and songs for the first semi, in running order today:
1. Albania: Ronela Hajati – Sekret
2. Latvia: Citi Zēni – Eat Your Salad
3. Lithuania: Monika Liu – Sentimentai
4. Switzerland: Marius Bear – Boys Do Cry
5. Slovenia: LPS – Disko
6. Ukraine: Kalush Orchestra – Stefania
7. Bulgaria: Intelligent Music Project – Intention
8. Netherlands: S10 – De Diepte
9. Moldova: Zdob şi Zdub & Frații Advahov – Trenulețul
10. Portugal: MARO – Saudade, Saudade
11. Croatia: Mia Dimšić – Guilty Pleasure
12. Denmark: REDDI – The Show
13. Austria: LUM!X feat. Pia Maria – Halo
14. Iceland: Systur – Með Hækkandi Sól
15. Greece: Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord – Die Together
16. Norway: Subwoolfer – Give That Wolf A Banana
17. Armenia: Rosa Linn – Snap
Of this grouping, I feel that seven of them are locks for the finals based on fan support – Lithuania, Ukraine, The Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Greece, and Norway. If any of this group do NOT make the cut, it will be a MAJOR upset. And for those who remember 2019 and 2021, we’ve had our share of those recently, heh heh…
I feel there are four that are strong enough that are likely to make it : Armenia, Denmark, Latvia, and despite what everyone else thinks, Switzerland. So if these are indeed the top eleven, one of them is going home disappointed; if that’s the scenario, look for either Denmark or Latvia to leave, as it has been AGES since Switzerland missed the final…
There are two songs that could be shockers as Portugal was last year, with huge fan support but no jury support or vice versa – Slovenia and Moldova. Both of these songs have small pockets of HUGE support, but not a general fan support, and if the jury goes for one of them, look out for one of the expected finalists…
That having been said, I will be on my YouTube channel TKR VideoCentral within moments after the conclusion of today’s show to give my two cents on the show itself, fashions, final staging and performance, and run down who’s made it into Saturday’s final, so please be there!