Eurovision Song Contest 2022 - 14th May, Turin, Italy

[arab]

It looks that they replaced lightining effect by water splash.

[Noahh]

Mess.

[SholasBoy]

TBH they should just cancel the whole thing now and let someone else host it

[croatiaxtina]

True worst host ever

[SholasBoy]

True worst host ever

I forgot to ask... last night was the first time I'd seen or heard of Mia singing the last verse and chorus in Croatian? Was that a last minute decision, or has she been doing that in previous performances?

[croatiaxtina]

That was last minute decision

[Murat]

I forgot to ask... last night was the first time I'd seen or heard of Mia singing the last verse and chorus in Croatian? Was that a last minute decision, or has she been doing that in previous performances?

Last minute, but she had done it the night before during the jury show as well. She was complaining during her second rehearsal that the crew didn't switch the backing track to the one with the Croatian backing vocals, instead keeping the all English one, making her in-ears basically useless.

[SholasBoy]

She must have seen my post here that Croatia need to go back to doing Croatian, sorry it was no help

[Murat]

Just saw the SF2 jury show, including full performances from the UK, Spain & Germany (more on that later). Some random thoughts:

- Much more level playing field this semi, will definitely be harder to predict than SF1.
- Hosts are still pretty awkward tbh and don't seem well rehearsed. Bit of chaotic energy tonight.
- Finland did ok, but overall fell kind of flat as the opener, especially seeing the crowd reaction to what came next.
- Israel got a HUUUUUUGE reaction in the hall. People ate this up, and while he will definitely put off some voters, I'm sure there are more than enough to vote for him. Easy qualifier (unless the juries tank it, which I don't see happening considering the vocals).
- Serbia did really well. Audience was quiet during the verses but joined in big time for the clap-along chorus bits. Not sure this'll translate on-screen but was definitely very well received in the arena.
- Georgia fell completely flat. The audience was dead silent and I saw loads of people pull out their phones to do some other things. Doesn't bode well for Georgia. Last place?
- Malta did way better than expected. This is a cheap Disney channel leftover, but the audience loved it. Might qualify after all.
- San Marino will definitely qualify. The performance was great, pure sex (which might put off some voters, you never know). Audience was completely on board, but not too surprising considering Achille's a huge star in Italy. Finally San Marino's best result ever? Probably.
- Australia was okay. Great vocals, but staging is a bit boring. We basically get the national final performance reversed, where he walks up the steps instead of down. Definitely prefer the national final performance, but who knows, this might get overwhelming support from the juries because vocally this was almost perfect.
- Cyprus was nice, vocals were good. Staging becomes boring really quickly though. Andromache stands in the same spot throughout the entire song and while I love the song, it started boring me 2/3 in. Might be a surprise NQ, not sure this will get jury support.
- Ireland was decent but forgettable. Will probably NQ and end up 11-13 this semi.
- North Macedonia was good but even more forgettable. Definite NQ and will probably fight Georgia for last place.
- Estonia worked, this is sailing through.
- Romania was fun, went down well in the arena. Will struggle to get jury points but might just get through on televote alone ending 9th/10th overall in this semi?
- Poland was boring. Great vocals but this has no chance in hell of winning, especially with those cheap effects on screen (they're still all there as of the jury show, including the cheap thunder and camera shakiness). How to destroy a great song's chances 101. Will definitely qualify but only end up 10-20 or so in the final with those effects.
- Montenegro was nice but forgettable imo. Might scrape by on jury support alone but wouldn't be too surprised if she doesn't qualify.
- Belgium is 100% NQ. Vocals were off, performance was boring. Shame, cause Jeremie seems talented enough to warrant a better entry.
- Sweden was good but a bit stiff compared to Melfest. The lack of audience interaction seems to be hurting this, and it's kind of lost the spark it seemed to have back in the NF. Will still do well but no longer a serious contender for the title it seems.
- Czech Republic: surprise of the night. After some disastrous pre-parties, this looked like it would tank big time, but everything worked for them tonight. Vocals were great, staging was great. People got up and were dancing to this, and all the lights make this look spectacular. I'd say definite qualifier, if not for the fact that dance tracks don't tend to do too well at Eurovision. Fingers crossed!

Interval was very meh, Mika & Laura sang together. Il Volo performed Grande Amore in English, with 1/3 of the group pasted into the background graphics after testing positive for COVID today.

Then the Big 5 performances:
- Spain is going to do really really well this year. That performance had the whole arena cheering for her, and she honestly sounded really good too! Don't care too much for the changes they made to the choreography at the end, thought the original choreo was stronger but this is still the slickest performance of the year. Finish around 4th/5th place?
- Sam was incredible. I felt people were starting to overhype this over the last week or so, but this performance was genuinely incredible, and it comes across really well on screen. I can't believe I'm saying it, but the UK is looking at a top 5 finish, if not more. Very effective staging.
- Germany is definitely right hand side of the leaderboard material. Anywhere from 16-25, this did not have any impact at all in the arena, which is a shame cause Malik seems likable enough.

[Thriller]

Semi-final 1 results were

I found Lithuania, Switzerland, Netherlands and Greece dull as dishwater. Austria and Albania robbed!

Thank god for Moldova and Norway

[SholasBoy]

Semi-final 1 results were

I found Lithuania, Switzerland, Netherlands and Greece dull as dishwater. Austria and Albania robbed!

Thank god for Moldova and Norway

Greece and Netherlands have been fan favourites for some time and I’m like

[Tansike]

I know I already said it like 20 times but I'm still sad I won't be able to watch SF2 tonight! I like around 15 songs that "should" be in the Final compared to some qualifiers in SF1 but oh whale, typical ESC I guess.

But have fun tonight @ everyone!
I will try to avoid spoilers until I catch up with it hopefully tomorrow night.

My biggest faves for tonight are: Estonia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Poland
(I also really like Ireland, Australia, Finland, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Israel, Malta)

I think most of them probably won't qualify, sure qualifiers IMO will be Sweden, Serbia, and Poland

[Blondini]

UK fans can watch back the first semi on the ESC YT channel now

[Unbreakable34]

I hope Israel will qualify

[breatheonme]

I hope Israel will qualify

The song is horrific

[Tansike]

UK is now second in the betting odds!

It will feel so good if Spain and UK will finally do well again!

[croatiaxtina]

They will. Especially Spain. I’m not sure for UK tho, but they may have the best result in ages, top 10.

Does anyone have UK and Spain history score of last 10y?

[JimJim]

It's 5am here and I'm ready to go for SF2!

[Noahh]

Finland is quite good. But I'd rather hear them perform In The Shadows.

[arab]

Poor Lauri. Horrible vocals :/

[Colbie]

Don't like Finland

[breatheonme]

That Rasmus song sounds so washed out

[Frankie]

The Rasmus are stuck in 2004 with the visual

[Blondini]

Sh(It)

[Murat]

That start to Finland’s performance was straight out of “IT” - the creepy smirk with the balloon