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Live blog second Semi Jury Show

Rolling live blog of Jury Show Second semi

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Opening;

Views of Globen and crowd shots and COME TOGETHER. Seem like quite a crowd in the area too which is nice.

Now we have lots of Swedish humour and comedy form the hosts, but this washes over me and leaves me very cold I am afraid. All a bit too much MF for my liking.

Both hosts resplendent in silver jacket for Mans and a dress for Petra....all very sparkly. And now we have a duet from the two of them....very smorgasbord like in Malmo

Latvia

Justs creates this emotional monster on stage as he leaps around and gives everything to the performance. For me it is slightly over doing things. Yes he has a great voice but this is not how to perform an Aminata song. That said the backdrop is just perfect for this. Sure fire qualifier but no winner....
Lots of crowd cheering for this though...
The graphics look amazing too

Poland

Michal always hits the spot for me. Simply effective staging for this seems to work. Nothing none of us have not seen on the promo tour or the rehearsal clips so far. He does seem to come to life on stage with his powerful voice and presence. The real issue is that the song is a bit weak both lyrically and musically. He tries his best but given what he has to work with this is not really doing it for me.
Juries should fall in love with this though.....the emotion in his eyes and connection with the camera is one of the highlights this year.
And words on the backdrop are always a no-no in my world, sorry

Switzerland

Sorry but this is going no where fast. No charism, no charm, nothing at all really. Tonight the blue hair is still there and this time it’s curly, but no amount of whacky clothes, designer hair or anything is saving this from being one of the 8 that go home.
3 minutes I will never get back

Israel

Simply perfection from Hovi, great presence, great voice, perfectly suited to this song…the stage really lifts this too, this could really scoop a lot of votes on final night. Yes qualifying and with a good draw on final night who knows?
The earnest emotion that he's given tonight does make me think that Hovi has a lot more to gibe as an artist in the future....and seeing the acrobats on screen for the first time I now get the the inclusion of them on the stage.
Oh and a pyro waterfall.....always love them.....can we have them in every song please?

Belarus

Amazing staging totally distracts from the weak song here, though IVAN does make good use of all the stage and performs the hell out of it. What would have happened if the guy had been given a half decent song to sing? Oh and the baby is still there. Weirdly.
But it's not all about the staging, it's about the song and this is getting totally lost after Israel and before Serbia
Also we have some missed camera angles tonight with his.....but he bring sit back by hitting all those important notes at the end of the song
And he does look amazingly cool on stage

More Eurovision Taxi moments, with some folks that we know.
While this is quite funny the guest appearances from Lordi really give away that this was totally contrived and constructed, which steal the magic for me

Serbia

Great song and great vocal BUT and it’s a small but, the staging is so dark that it loses something for me here. I feel ditched from the performance and slightly distracted by he dancer. But toward the end it starts to lift and when the backing vocalists gather around her it pulls it back a bit for me.
She is giving her all to this tonight though. however like Belarus we do have a few missed camera moments tonight too.

Ireland
Vocally still quite poor but it’s getting better and better but just about reaching the maximum that we are gonna see from Nicky. Performance wise he’s totally great, knows how to work a stage but really after all these years he should.
I am praying for a qualification for this. Because the song is actually great.
Sadly Nicky misses the looking into the camera moments almost all the way through.
He does pick it up toward s the end of the song. Stage nerves? From the ex-Westlifer? He should have this nailed by now.

Macedonia

This is going nowhere fast. Such a shame that for a great performer as Kaliopi we are given a poor album filler of a song, she does deliver what’s asked of her, as only she can, but this really should never have been the Eurovision song in the first place….
That said of all the performers so far she is the one single one who gives the best and most uncontrived and totally believable performance. A true professional and she feeds off the crowd's response to her.
The lighting towards the end of the song works really well too....and cute drummer :-) and we have the trademark scream at the end

Lithuania

Donny is all smiles and not a lot of substance here. The one thing I do love are his green trainers. WANT THEM! But not his vocal leaves a lot to be desired. There is a lot of moving around the stage and he could have done with some dancers for this. Though the jacket coming off moment provides a bit of interest to an otherwise fairly dull performance.
And seeing this for the first time on the screen the dancing is camper that Hovi Star....flirting with the "gay" audience much? Sorry not working for me at all

Australia

Such an effective staging of a really great song, Dami really knows how to sell this. The box she sits on looks a bit weird in the area but on the screen it all makes perfect sense. I am a little distracted by her fact that this is Australis, in EUROvision, sang by a Korean. But that’s just me. About halfway thorough I just forget all about that and get sucked in to her amazing vocal range and capabilities. Sailing through to the final
Amazing dress but the way people. Stunning in fact.
And that note at the end....she hits it every time I see her perform

Slovenia

When I saw the national final I expected it to be repeated on the Stockholm stage, but no, we have ManuElla in simple white clothes with no costume change at all. Never a fan of the song, but it’s pleasant enough and in this semi it might do quite well. She does like to over do things a bit though and doesn’t hold back on the vocal acrobatic.
But she's a bit off tonight with that vocal at the beginning too.
Not gonna repeat the popularity of last year by a long way.
But the dancers is kinda cool. And naked. We like :-)
If you qualify though, lose the pyros, total distraction from the best bit of the song

Bulgaria

Great presence, great vocal, great everything with this song. Poli should concentrate on her singing career. I get an old skool Torah vibe from her in her performance. Sailing thorough to the final. Not sure if the juries will totally love it but they should.
One of the sure fire qualifiers tomorrow night.
i do detect a slight bit of nevers in her voice tonight though. Only at the start. When the chorus starts all that is forgotten and Poli blasts it out like only she can.
I am a little distracted by the leg shake with what appear to be cut off leg warmers, which then light up. Not sure if that works really?
Huge cheer in the press room though

Denmark

Ok this is my “shock” qualifier from this semi. It just works on stage. It’s simple, now distractions going on. A little boring for my musical taste but that’s another story. The boys have a charisma about them. And a charm that draws you, somewhat unwittingly into the vibe from this. A real ear worm that you cannot get out of your head and will stand out from the field.
Vocally tonight they are simply perfect. great harmonies and their voices blend together so well. But blandness of the highest order. Still that's not stopping this qualifying
Full use of the stage towards the end as the boys run down the ramp and into the audience.
But again, distracting pyros, why do countries think this helps songs?

Some comments from Mans about Love still begin a crime in some parts of the world. I guess a reference to the gay politics that always seems to appear in Eurovision. Sorry I am not buying this.

Now we have Petra in the Green room, more Swedish humour. Totally off putting for me. Sorry

Ukraine

Jamala does just what Jamala is meant to do with this song. BUT. And it’s a huge but for me, the dark oppressed staging is killing this song for me, I realise the subject matter calls for this but at the same time some nicer lighting would be great. She can appear as a wailing queen on stage and that is something that might put some people off. And she looks (or comes across as) nervous. And at times looks a little lost on this big stage, especially with the long camera shots.
That all said I am still totally buying into this on a personal level. But I cant see this as a winning song now, qualifying for sure but a little too inaccessible for the general audience of Eurovision
She hits the notes perfectly tonight though.

Norway

So which song am I reviewing again? Of the three? Ok being serious this is effectively staged and comes across quite well, but the constant tempo changes are distracting and off putting, and she seems totally uncomfortable on stage. I think the juries may not warm to this at all. There is little emotion there, little connection and 3 songs to choose from. Bit of a mess really.
Vocally tonight she was very off at the beginning tonight too. And fails to look at the camera when needed. And toward the end the vocal goes off again too. Really poor show from Norway this year. Lucky they are in this semi and that might help them. Probably will not qualify

Georgia

Ok I’m biased, my favourite song this year. Simply perfection for me. This has the whole package. But like I said I am biased with this. So I guess I should not say anymore :-)
But I will.
Vocally totally amazing for this song. Visually perfect for this song. And them seem to be a=having a blast in stage. Lots of use of black and white screen tonight which I had not seen yet. Such a wasted song on the usual Eurovision audience.
10/10
Your Smell On Me :-D

Albania

Eneda is a true professional on stage and looks amazing in her stage clothes and delivers this as only she can.
Vocally perfect. Visually perfect. Qualifies with ease.
Just one comment on the colour scheme though....blue staging does not go with a gold coloured dress. Sorry. It's better a bit later on when the colours change.
One of the few performers tonight who knows exactly how to work with the camera

Belgium

Love this. A great way to end the show, funking vibe that looks amazing on stage, people complain that there is too much going on but for me it’s great and Laura seems a charming young girl. Most of the press room clapping along and enjoying this immensely
There is a bit of messy camerawork though, which really should have been sorted out by now.
My second favourite in this semi after Georgia
Probably the best use of the stage effects from the whole of this semi

Georgia get to sing again. Some technical issues from the EBU, I guess a statement will come out on that later. They are even better the second time. Juries vote with your hearts please!!!!!

Reprise qualifiers
Latvia, Poland, Israel, Serbia, Ireland, Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Ukraine, Albania, Belgium
My opinion on these may change after I watch the final rehearsal tomorrow

Some more Swedish humour to introduce the reprise. This leaves me so cold, please someone else host next year :-)

Interval act; not a lot to say, it's nice, it shows some imagination and allows for the introduction of the three direct finalists who will perform in this semi, Germany, UK and Italy. All threes of these gave great performances in the dress rehearsal earlier today and that was recorded for screening tonight. Out of those three the UK seems to be about the best staging wise, Italy vocally and sorry to say but Germany was a bit of a poor show.

That's it from me folks, I have no time to stay and do the fake envelopes as it's my turn to get drunk tonight
Toodles
XXX