Lisbon 2018 - second semi-final

It's on ... !!!

Tonight I will see more of the show than I did on Tuesday, and I will even get to hear what the hosts are saying. :-) SO excited for this. The show on Tuesday was great and I'm sure it will be amazing tonight too. The stage looks great, I love what they've done. :-)

The hosts are explaining how and when to vote. I can vote tonight. :-o I 100% support that we can only vote after all the songs have been performed. Ooh, our song will be # 1500! Coolness. # 1000 was Ireland, I remember.

We're first, unfortunately - it's a lousy slot. But I'm certain we'll get through though. Oh, there's our little hobbit. How does he not age???

Norway - That's How You Write A Song. It's a fun entry, a very catchy beat, and guaranteed to be well performed. He can't really sing, but it's not a singing competition. :-) Nothing's going wrong technically ... and there's the violin, and fireworks. Hmm. I'm sure we'll get through to the final BUT I'm not sure I totally believe in this. Doesn't strike me as the winner. I could be wrong though. But it's a good entry and I'm happy with it. He does a great job on stage, as always.

Romania - Goodbye. Oh, they've kept some elements from the original weird performance. OK. Not sure what to say about this. It's Romania, so I expect them to do well. I usually like their entries. And this has a good chorus. But I just don't feel it for this one. I don't know, they're distracting me with the weird presentation. o_O

Serbia - Nova deca. Oh, I want this to do well! One of my friends who I will be watching the final with is Serbian and it would be so cool to have their song in the show. I also actually really quite like the song. :-) It has just the right level of drama. People in the Balkans are going to LOVE it. :-D

San Marino - Who We Are. Noo, they brough the robots! OMG. Just go straight home. It's kind of a shame because the song is kind of catchy. I mean, it's not the worst they've ever sent. Well, it's a total ripoff of Heroes, so how bad could it be. And anyway, nothing can be worse than The Social Network Song. But this is ... no. Just no. Please, go home. At least don't sing to the robot ... ! :-o

Denmark - Higher Ground. I really like this song. It has a great beat, the melody has a flow to it that I really like. I don't know how the viking theme will go down with Europe as a whole though. Maybe they will think it's exotic. The singer should definitely strike a chord with some though. I mean, Game of Thrones fans? I don't think he's singing super well tonight. But the presentation looks good and the beat is definitely coming through. Good luck to them! :-)

Russia - I Won't Break. Julia Samoylova on the ESC stage at last! I like this song, but I liked the one last year better. They've made use of her handicap to build her up into a mountaintop. o_O And dancers, so at least someone is moving around. Hm. I do find her inspiring, in that this is her career, with such a tremendous physical handicap. I do NOT approve that she claims her illness was triggered by a polio vaccine ... !!! >:-( The song is quite striking and I'm sure we will see this again on Saturday.

A trip to the green room, talking to our little hobbit, and the robot. o_O And the Danish vikings.

Moldova - My Lucky Day. Is it really, though? I'm not completely sold on this. On the other hand it is a super fun entry ... and people are looking to have fun tonight. :-) They've got good chemistry on stage and a fun and creative presentation. I think they will get a lot of points from the televote, but not so much from the jury groups.

The Netherlands - Outlaw In 'Em. Well, this is at least a song that stands out. :-D It's Alexander Rybak's hands down favorite this year, apparently. I wasn't sure about it at first but it's grown on me. It's really catchy. And it's a great performance. The best so far tonight. Would be very surprised if this doesn't get through.

Australia - We Got Love. Ah, Oz! Another strong entry from down under. Not my favorite of the Australian entries, but definitely a good one. She's really getting the arena going. Ooh, and fireworks. I'm not a big fan of her dancing ... but she's got lots of confidence on stage, it's a good performance. Another shoe-in for the final.

Georgia - For You. My friend who hosts our ESC dinner parties is a big fan of Georgia, ever since Visionary Dream. I hope they get through, for her sake, so she can cheer for them on Saturday. :-D I also think their decision to finally sing in Georgian should be rewarded. Also their bringing this genre to the contest. And this is quite a powerful melody too. Hm. Best of luck. :-)

Poland - Light Me Up. I'm not a huge fan of this one. I guess it's catchy enough, but ... I don't know, this just doesn't do it for me. The Polish entries rarely do. Nothing against Poland, though. I just don't get anything about this one.

Malta - Taboo. I'm not a huge fan of this one either. I do hope the Maltese manage to win one day though. They would be insanely happy and put on a fantastic show in Valletta. But not in 2019. I was wondering how they would present this. I'm not really a fan of how they've solved it. Also, I so disagree with the lyrics - we have to break the taboos before we all become animals?? We already are animals. I rather think it's having taboos that separate us from the other animals. o_O Well, at least the singer can actually sing.

Back to the green room. Oh, Samoylova's dream of seeing the ocean has come true. Good for her. I somehow doubt that her second dream will happen this week though. Mauboy's chances seem rather better. Pastel de natas for everyone!

Hungary - Viszlát nyár. Well, another genre is always good. I'm not super sold on this one though. Like I said, I think people tune in to this show to have fun. And this entry just is not fun. It's also not catchy, which is maybe even worse. I think the singer's performance may be off-putting to many viewers. It certainly is to me. >:-) Not convinced even all that fire can save this entry from oblivion.

Latvia - Funny Girl. A good entry, I guess ... it has a good melody and a good performer. I like her dress. But I don't know, this doesn't really strike me. It's kind of forgettable. Not optimistic about their chances.

Sweden - Dance You Off. Give You An Epileptic Seizure, more like. Soo typical of the Swedes that they have to have their own setup and can't just use what the host provides. And this is totally the same song they sent last year!! They've just slowed it down a bit and used a different singer. >:-( At least he's put his jacket on properly this time. In their national selections I just wanted to smack him upside the head. It's pretty catchy though, and the performance was good. And the audience really liked it. I just hope we beat them, that's all I ask ... !

Montenegro - Inje. Bad outfit and horrible posture. It's a beautiful song, a lovely melody, but the presentation is not good. Vanja looks like there's something wrong with him. Really not sure about this one. The song deserves a place in the final but the entry as a whole ... ?

Slovenia - Hvala, ne!. This one is kind of weird. The chorus is really weird. I kind of like it though ... in small doses. And I don't know what I think about the presentation. Talk about epilepsy-inducing. o_O But now what? The music cut out! Was that part of the performance? If it wasn't, she handled it like a pro. And the verses are really catchy. It kind of stands out, this entry. Maybe it will get through.

Ukraine - Under the Ladder. Opens strangely ... and continues strangely. Makes me think of vampires. Which I like, so that's good, I guess. Oh, I wish we'd had this slot!! This is weirdly intriguing. Piano, fire! Will not at all be surprised to see this on Saturday.

The hosts prepare to open the voting ...

Voting ahoy!

A runthrough of all the songs ...

It's almost hard to know what to vote for tonight. I mean, even though we didn't get to see Alexander perform, I'm glad it was the first semi that we saw, it was soo much better than this. This one is really weak.

More nautical jokes ...

Some interval entertainment. Looking back through the years, that's always fun. :-)

OK, I've voted three times for Denmark and twice each for Serbia and Australia. But seriously, I almost could have skipped voting tonight. There's nothing really good here. :-(

Now the hosts are getting into it with the revivals. Singing Euphoria! Dancing Riverdance! They're good sports.

Second runthrough.

Who will get through?? Let me think.

OK, some guesses as to who will get through:
Australia
The Netherlands
Norway
Sweden
Serbia
Russia
Romania?

Maybe Moldova?

Who won't?
San Marino
Poland
Latvia
Hungary

Maybe Denmark ... ?

Showing us some fun that can be had in Lisbon and its environs ... Aw, the Russian delegation by the ocean.

Now we'll learn about Portugal. Hah, inspired by Planet Earth. Cute. I was in Portugal this past weekend and I have already learned to recognize some of these things ;-)

The last three of the Big Five to be presented ... France first. I didn't like this song when I first heard it but it has actually really grown on me. It's actually really beautiful. Then Germany ... who wants to sing Fly on the Wings of Love to us. I like that song. More than I like the German song this year. ;-) But it's not half bad. The Italians are being made to sing Volare. Which isn't actually called Volare. The Italian song this year has kind of grown on me too.

The official results are in! :-o

Serbia!
Moldova! Hey!
Hungary! WTF?
Ukraine
Sweden. Duh.
Australia! Of course!
Norway! Whew!
Denmark got through! Yes!!
Slovenia
The Netherlands

Six out of ten. And some of the ones I didn't mention I thought probably would, so I could have done better, really. ;-) Oh well, my three faves, such as they are, got through. And our little hobbit did too. Looking forward to Saturday!!! :-)