Tel Aviv 2019 - second semi-final

It's happening ... ! Tonight we can vote as well. Exciting ... !! :-D

A recap of Tuesday. The hosts arrive ... what weird outfits the ladies have on ... and of course they can hardly wait to plug Madonna. Not sure I like that. She's cool and all, but where's the charm in an American at Eurovision?

Info on how to vote - because tonight we can vote!

Armenia - Walking Out. Armenia must be anxious tonight, after not making it through last year. This year, I don't know ... not too great of a slot. But opening the show can be a plus. The song is so-so. It's fine but nothing special. Pretty catchy while you're listening to it, but not their most memorable effort. Quite well performed but not at all sure this will be enough ...

Ireland - 22. I like Ireland's entry this year. I actually like it a lot. I like the song and I like the singer's voice. But a lot will depend on the presentation. And ... OK. Um. I guess this is fun but ... I'm not at all sure the voting audience will like this. The song is catchy but her performance is a little less than stellar and the whole presentation ... wow. Very American and not Irish at all, which of course is good in this connection, but still ... Not at all sure.

Moldova - Stay. A sand artist! Wow. When was the last time we saw that? I think it was Ukraine who had that. It's cool, but it's distracting me from the song. Which I guess isn't a major problem. A perfectly fine ballad but nothing very special. Wow, her mouth is huge. Her voice is good too, and the song is pretty, but it's just not very memorable.

Switzerland - She Got Me. This song is just riddled with grammatical errors, it's a real struggle for me to look past that. I've been wondering how they will present it on stage. With a lot of red, apparently. A LOT of red. The dancers almost disappear against the backdrop. He's not a great singer live, he seems out of breath. But very confident. Over-confident maybe. I kind of understand what people see in this, but I don't really see it myself ... 

Latvia - That Night. This is one of those super low key songs that sometimes turn out to be a dark horse. Don't think that will happen for Latvia tonight, but still. It's a pretty song and unlike Switzerland's, it's actually sounding better on stage than in the video. That's an achievement. Lovely presentation, and the singer's voice is charming. But gets a little repetitive. Pretty though.

Romania - On A Sunday. Romania's one of my favorite countries in the contest, they have sent SO many cool songs. This year they've had a lot of drama ... and the song is pretty dramatic too. Not one of my Romanian favorites but it is really growing on me. I like it more every time I hear it. Good presentation, and a good performance from Ester. They may stand a decent chance of getting through to Saturday.

Plugging the app. In the green room - with Conchita! :-D And with Luca from Switzerland, talking about all his achievements. Rolling my eyes.

Denmark - Love Is Forever. I love this song! Quite possibly my favorite song this year. It's so charming. And it's so catchy ... !! After hearing the first half of it you can sing along to the second half. Her voice is perfectly suited to the song. And here's the giant chair ... ! :-D This gets my vote, no question. But I'm not at all sure they'll get through though, because this may appeal more to the older segment of the audience, and they vote much less. But it's so adorable. Yay Denmark!

Sweden - Too Late For Love. Damnit, Sweden. I wish I could say this song sucked. I so want us to beat them. But this is actually really good and we probably won't. Damnit. He's a good singer and he's giving a good performance tonight. Swedes are dumb but they have this down to a fine art. My only hope is that the audience will think this is too American. But a lot of people will probably like it a lot. Despite his shiny pants. A shoe-in for the final. Damnit.

Austria - Limits. Blue hair, sheesh. A long succession of dumbass social justice warriors have ruined blue hair for me forever. But they have done something to this between the postcard and now, it's much darker. Good. But still. The presentation is very simple and that can be a plus, but the song itself is just ... meh. She gives a very heartfelt performance but I'm not sure it can save this song. It's anything but memorable. Good luck, they will need it. Pretty but forgettable.

Croatia - The Dream. Will he be wearing the angel wings, I wonder. Huh. No, but yes. Just CGI ones. But the backing dancers, OMG ... they have golden wings. Jebus. :-D And now they put wings on him too. The song is actually quite striking but this is too much. Why THREE pairs of golden wings?? :-D

Malta - Chameleon. Another of my favorites. This song is so cool. I also really like chameleons. :-D I'm not convinced about the presentation though, it may be too distracting ... If they don't make it through it will be because of the presentation. Also a little bit because of the performance, sorry. But the song is so cool, I love it. Yay for Malta! :-D

Lithuania - Run with the Lions. The singer alone on stage, that is statistically speaking a good idea for a presentation, but usually the song needs to be a little stronger than this one. It's pretty to listen to, but you forget it immediately once it's done. A typical ESC song in that respect. It's fine but nothing special.

Plugging the app again. Host in green room with Ireland and Sweden. Damnit, Sweden. Some more exciting news about Saturday.

Russia - Scream. Ooh, Russia ... ! I'm so excited to see how they will present this. Looks like ... we are traveling through space. And Sergey comes face to face with ... himself. Lots of himselves. Now it's raining. They are really taking it as a given that people want to see Sergey. Ooh, here comes the best part of the song. I like this. But his song in 2016 was significantly better. Definitely a shoe-in for the final, but other than that ... we'll see.

Albania - Ktheju tokës. I really like that this is in Albanian. I quite like the song too. The melody is quite beautiful. But not super memorable. What a dress she's wearing ... ! And quite a dramatic performance. Could go either way for this one.

Norway - Spirit in the Sky. My country! We have a pretty good song this year. We've sent a lot worse. :-D But the part with the joik may be too weird for a lot of the audience. Wow, they're getting the arena going. I like this. We can be proud of our entry this year. The presentation is pretty good too. Now the joik ... wow. Yes, it's kind of weird, but I think a lot of people will see this as a lot more authentic than, to choose a completely random example, the Swedish entry. Pretty sure we're getting through to Saturday.

The Netherlands - Arcade. The big favorite. Used to be at 25% at the bookmakers', now it's at 40%. It's a good song, sure, but 40%. That's pretty weird. I don't think there's any song at all that stands out this year. But this is a beautiful song ... and it's sounding very good tonight. A good performance and a very simple presentation, which gives a good impression, it shows confidence. Well, if the Dutch can't be confident this year ... :-D

North Macedonia - Proud. I really like the message in this song. It's certain to be well performed ... but the presentation is a little distracting. We really only need one Tamara. Now here's some of those photos from the video ... Yes, an excellent performance, as expected. Good luck to North Macedonia. :-)

Azerbaijan - Truth. This is one of the best songs tonight. And wow, they have robots. And a weird outfit. Chingiz' heart is outlined ... and there's a huge golden heart above him. A literal heart, but a heart symbol. Kind of weird. Actually quite a lot of weird elements in this presentation. But the song itself is strong. A good last song. Hard to believe we won't be seeing this again on Saturday.

The hosts telling us about voting. Our civic duty. And it begins ... now!

First runthrough of all the songs.

OK, I voted. Five votes for Denmark and three for Malta. My duty is done.

Host in green room, and introducing the interval act. Shalva Band. The Israeli Dissimilis, I guess. Interesting. Oh, this is beautiful. Big cheers, of course.

Back to host in green room. People are voting. Vote more!!

A mentalist. Oh, he knows who's going to win, but it wouldn't be fair to say it now. Yeah, right. He can do some tricks, anyway. Like a whore does for money. Haha, this was actually kind of fun. Especially since of course none of the performers he picked at random had any idea at all of what they ought to write ...

Second runthrough.

Last chance to vote ... Voting ends ... now!

Måns Zelmerlöw is in the house. He will be performing on Saturday too.

Host in the green room. Talking to the Netherlands.

More of that cool video collage from Tuesday. SO MANY COOL SONGS ... !!! Awesomesauce.

Happy people in the green room. They must be so nervous ... ! Again with Madonna. Sheesh.

Plugging Eurovision Choir.

Presenting the last three of the Big Five. Germany's lying, they're not sisters. But the song is pretty good. It grows on you ... so too bad that it won't have a chance to, since they're going straight to the final. Italy's song is pretty catchy I guess ... but I just can't get with his emotionless performance. Maybe it will be better on stage. Good that it's in Italian though, as a matter of principle. The UK, the eternal second ... but not anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up with 0 points again. They are capable of SO MUCH BETTER. It's almost sad.

Another video collage, this time douze points-themed. Fun. 

OK, my guesses. Who will get to the final. Let me think.

The Netherlands
Russia
Sweden
Azerbaijan
Norway
Malta

Fingers crossed for Denmark ... !

And the ten finalists are ...

North Macedonia! Yay!
The Netherlands, of course
Albania
Sweden. Damnit.
Russia, of course
Azerbaijan
Denmark!!! YAY!!!!
Norway! :-D
Switzerland. Undeserved IMO but not surprising.
Malta! Yes!

Whew! Good choices, Europe.

A runthrough of the last ten finalists.

Great show, can't wait for Saturday!!