Vienna 2015 - second semi-final

It's on ... !!! :-D

Now this is the exciting semi ... ! Not because we're in it :-) but because the entries tonight are much stronger. Almost all my favorites are in this semi. And yay, I can vote for them!!

No big flashy opening tonight. Aw. I guess they're saving the big guns for Saturday. :-) Again pretty dresses on the hosts - but Conchita has the best outfit. Charmingly casual introduction of the contestants. Lots of cheers for us! I hope it's not just because there are lots of Norwegians in the audience. :-) And quite a big cheer for Israel too, yay.

I forgot to mention this on Tuesday but I think the stage looks great.

A pretty big cheer for Sweden too.

A brief presentation of the seven pre-qualifiers, and instructions on how to vote. I LOVE the fact that we can only vote a limited number of times for each entry. I wonder what would happen if each viewer only got one single vote ... ??

And now, the songs ... !!

Lithuania first - This Time. Ick, I don't like her outfit. Or his. And it looks like they're performing in front of the Macedonian flag. o_O The colors are changing ... and are quite distracting ... but that may be for the best. I don't think this is sounding good tonight. A totally typical ESC song. I'll be shocked if this gets anywhere.

Ireland - Playing with Numbers. What will this look like?? Please not ... you know ... Irish. Hm. It's actually looking really good. And the song is so pretty. She has an unusual voice, it really fits the song. Kudos for co-writing it herself. Ireland's best entry since I don't know when. Still, it's another one of the slowish ballads that are so abundant this year. So it doesn't really stand out.

San Marino - Chain of Lights. Not one of my favorites, to put it mildly. Ouch, her voice ... ! Supposedly this entry is so much better now, in this "new" version, than it was in their national selection. Someone told me that on Youtube. I can't really tell the difference. I like it even less now. The first time I hear the chorus I like it, there's something to the beat there ... but then it just gets annoying. Blech. Please, let's not have to hear this again on Saturday ... !

Montenegro - Adio. This song is so beautiful ... ! Not surprising considering who wrote it. Major kudos for having lyrics in Montenegrin. A beautiful Balkan ballad. I was worried it might be a little too bland - yet another ballad - but this packs quite a punch tonight. The audience is really enjoying it. Fingers crossed for Montenegro ... ! :-)

Malta - Warrior. My least favorite song called Warrior this year! I think this song is really just ... boring. The singer's not very good either. I would LOVE to see the Maltese win one year, they would go into a collective delirium with happiness ... but there's no chance of that happening this year. Yawn.

Conchita in the green room, The hosts on stage.

Norway - A Monster Like Me. A beautiful but depressing song. Talented singers, especially Debrah, she has a wonderful quirky voice. And wow, she looks great! Her hair looks so much better done this way compared to how they'd done it at our national selection. An extremely low key and simple presentation, which is good. Ooh, crescendo. The audience is digging it. Yay us. Pretty sure we'll make the cut this year. :-)

Portugal - Há um mar que nos separa. Lyrics in Portuguese as always, major kudos for that. They really never give up. :-) But I don't think this song has much potential. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just ... bland. The singer is putting in her best effort, but ... boring. :-(

The Czech Republic - Hope Never Dies. She's an OK singer, he's awful. AWFUL. Kind of fancy presentation but that can't save this entry. Another boring song. I've already forgotten it. Too bad for the Czechs, it's great to have them back ... !

Israel - Golden Boy. Yay ... !! My favorite this year. I can't stop listening to it. It's fun and modern yet sounds so distinctively Israeli. And it has those adorably cheesy lyrics that we all love in ESC songs. :-) His singing voice isn't too great tonight, though. But he definitely has the audience going. Oh, this is making me nervous ... ! I love the song but it doesn't sound its best tonight. And the presentation is ... kind of overwhelming, maybe too much so. Fingers crossed ... !

Latvia - Love Injected. Tonight's weirdest entry? I like it. Kudos to Latvia for sending something so original and different. Edgy. :-) I like her voice. And I really like their presentation - the way they're working her dress into the background. Coolness. This may be too weird for the audience, BUT I'm sure it appeals much more to the younger section of the audience, and they vote more. So ... ? :-)

Azerbaijan - Hour of the Wolf. Peculiar title, but a beautiful song. I really really like this. And the audience in the Stadthalle seem to like it too? Pretty presentation. Ooh, I like this. Good luck, Azerbaijan!

Iceland - Unbroken. What an awful dress she's wearing. Totally inappropriate, IMO. And ballet slippers. Sheesh. Ooh, aurora borealis ... !! OK, a striking presentation, and that's a great idea to show off Iceland like that. But the song ... pretty singer with a pretty good voice, and a song that's quite beautiful to listen to, but not memorable. No "hook". This might get through but it just as well might not.

Conchita in the green room again, talking to Debrah and Geir, and then Leonor from Portugal.

Sweden - Heroes. Finally, Måns Zelmerlöv on the Eurovision stage ... !! I wanted soo badly to see him there in 2007, so this is a bitter-sweet moment for me. :-) But this is a very catchy song. Definitely memorable. :-) They're using the same presentation as they did in their national selections, which I think it weird ... what does it have to do with the subject of the song? o_O But it's got a wonderful beat. The audience is loving it. This is a shoe-in for the final. :-)

Switzerland - Time to Shine. Kudos to whatshername for writing her own song. Very weird outfit. Or, wahey! It's a trick! :-D Her voice isn't sounding too great, but she's giving a great performance, and the audience is totally into it. I never really have faith in Switzerland but this is better than I expected. Though that doesn't really mean much when it's the Swiss. :-( Good luck, anyway. :-)

Cyprus - One Thing I Should Have Done. This is such a sweet and charming song. Adorable. And they're keeping it simple in every way. Love it! It may be too low key for this contest but that hasn't stopped a bunch of other songs. Like Hungary's the day before yesterday. :-) I don't know if they can manage it, but I would love to see this again on Saturday. :-)

Slovenia - Here For You. My other favorite! I just dig this entry. LOVE IT. :-D Love the melody, the beat, the lyrics, her voice ... and now their presentation too, it's totally Eurovision. OMG this is perfect. And it's sounding great!! I think this may actually be turning into my #1 favorite now ... ! :-o

Poland - In the Name of Love. A worthy end to the show. A beautiful ballad ... ooh, I love the intro. That little piano thing that is repeated here and there. The singer is beautiful and has a good voice ... and major respect for refusing to give up her career just because she's in a wheelchair now. I'd like to see this get through, and it well may, but it is yet one more ballad without too much personality. Beautiful, but a little bit meh. Nice presentation though. And will be remembered more easily because it's the last song.

Conchita in the green room, hosts on stage. The voting is on!! First overview. What to vote ... ??

OK, I voted. Three times for Israel, five times for Slovenia, and twice for Cyprus. Sorry, Israel! But Slovenia's performance was better tonight ... !

A little entertainment - Austria's non-musical contributions to the contest over the years.

Second overview. Too late, my mind is made up.

The voting's almost over ... ! Well, my conscience is clear, my civic duty is done. :-)

More entertainment while we wait on tenterhooks for the results. Haha, lots of screwups from past votes. I love seeing old stuff like this from contests of years past ... ! It's so cool to think that this has been going on for well over half a century. Here's to another sixty years ... !!

The hosts chitchatting to the rest of the Big Five. The UK and Italy. Ooh, Italy ... ! :-D Germany. I love their song this year. Their singer reminds me of Anna Kendrick for some reason. And then the Austrians - I like their song a lot too, I'm really happy that they've sent a good song. :-)

But OK, I have to make some guesses here. Let me think. Hmm.

These are certain to get through:
Sweden
Norway
Montenegro
Azerbaijan

And probably Poland.

These won't make it:
Malta
San Marino
Lithuania
The Czech Republic

Obviously I'm hoping intensely that Israel and Slovenia will get through, but I honestly can't say for sure. I have faith in them, but it could go either way. Fingers crossed ... !! :-)

All the others are in the same situation, could go either way, hard to call it. But I don't care that much about them. Go Slovenia!! And Israel. :-)

Overview of the prequalifiers.

Jan Ola Sand is ready to approve the results. Yes, let's hear it ... !!

The last ten finalists are ... omg nerves!! ...
Lithuania! WTF??!
Poland. Yep.
Slovenia!!! YES!!!
Sweden. Extremely non-surprising.
Norway. Yes. I think we got a bigger cheer than Sweden ... ? ;-)
Montenegro, naturally.
Cyprus! Yay!
Azerbaijan. Another non-surprise.
Latvia! Yes!!
Israel! YES! OMG my nerves ... !!!

OK, so I got it almost right. I was just totally wrong about Lithuania, what's the deal with that? Other than that I am very happy with these results. Yoo-hoo! Slovenia!! And Israel! :-D