Eurovision: SF1 delivered a solid start to the song contest.
Eurovision organisers continue to try and navigate the complexity of presenting a “non-political” event in an incredibly political environment.
In spite of the challenges, the first semi-final of the 2024 song contest all went relatively smoothly.
18 countries performed their entries.
Three of those – Sweden, UK, and Germany – are already pre-qualified for the final.
That left 15 countries facing the public vote to try and secure a place in the final.
The countries that qualified were:
- Serbia
- Portugal
- Slovenia
- Ukraine
- Lithuania
- Finland
- Cyprus
- Croatia
- Ireland
- Luxembourg
The countries that missed out were:
- Moldova
- Iceland
- Australia
- Poland
- Azerbaijan
In a way, the results of the first semi-final delivered few surprises but there are a few things to note.
Moldova, Iceland, and Australia will be rightly disappointed not to be moving forward to the final, but their song-choices weren’t strong.
Croatia demonstrated why they are one of the strong favourites to win the title this year -Baby Lasagna’s performance of Rim Tim Tagi Dim was dynamic and the song is really compelling. It’s hard to see anyone else from the first semi-final coming close to challenging it when we get to counting votes. The only thing that might go against it is that it has echoes of Finland’s electrifying entry from last year.
The staging of the UK entry – Olly Alexander performing Dizzy – was impressive but the Alexander’s vocal performance sounded strained and didn’t command the arena.
Semi Final 2 will be held on 9 May, with the final taking place on 11 May.
All of the action is taking place in Malmö in Sweden.