Although RTP1 showed only a delay, about half an hour after the end, the second semi-final of the 68th edition of Eurovision took place on Thursday night at the Malmö Arena, in the city of the same name in Sweden. It was broadcast live on the official Eurovision YouTube site. It was the most controversial stage of the competition, thanks to the presence of Israel, which has been waging an offensive on Gaza for seven months and reached the final on Saturday.
The song that represents the country is tornadoPlayed by Eden Gollum. On Wednesday, during a rehearsal, the Israeli singer was loudly booed, and in the afternoon there were protests outside the arena against the annexation of the country, at which Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, was present.
During the show itself, a large amount of applause was heard on the YouTube live stream, which could mean that the contest, which highlighted that all flags that are not from participating countries or from the LGQBTQIA+ rainbow, are using an “anti-shout” technology. The first appeared on 2015. At the time, Russia, during the invasion of Crimea, used it to mask negative reactions during live broadcasts.
tornado It was one of the ten songs chosen to compete with the Portuguese song Yolanda and you Shout, shout, shout, who passed qualification in the first semi-final on Tuesday, in the final of the competition. Other countries represented in the final are Latvia, with Dons and… hollowAustria, with Kalin W We will raveNetherlands, with Joost Klein and UrubabaNorway, with Gåte and OlvihamGreece, with Marina Satti and ZariEstonia, with 5MIINUST x Puuluup and (nendset)narcoticomidest oh tea me (cool)midageSwitzerland, with Nemo and codeArmenia, with Ladaneva and Jake.
In terms of messages, Musti, the disqualified Belgian competitor, had the word “Peace” written on his arm during his performance. Malta, Albania, Czechia, Denmark and San Marino were also excluded.
In addition to performing approved songs, there was also space for Mon AmourTo Suleiman, the French competitor, Dollyfrom the duo Nebulosa, representing Spain, and No, noWritten by Angelina Mango, in Italy. Both automatically reach the final, as the two countries belong to Eurovision’s so-called Big Five, which contribute the most financially to the organizing entity – the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Hey com. eurodance Expected from a big, ridiculous Eurovision show, it was well represented, for example, with competitors from Estonia and Spain, who seemed to have the audience enthusiastically singing every part of the lyrics, as well as the hugely successful Eurovision song UrubabaWhich competes with the Netherlands.
In the first period, three ancient glories presented to the European festival: Greek Helena Paparizandou, Turkish Sertab Erener, and Charlotte Pirelli from Sweden. In the second, Petra Mead, host of the contest with actress Malin Akerman, performed a parody song with the help of Linda Woodruff and the group Karega, about the relationship between Sweden and Eurovision, which even mocked its “apolitical” nature. From competition.
Previously, in a tribute clip to Jahn Teigen, a frequent Norwegian contestant who lived in Sweden for the past few years and died in 2020, which was also dedicated to songs that, like one of his, came in last place, Midi made a joke about audience members, saying If they knew how to sing the lyrics, they were “real gay, sorry, Eurovision fans”. Finally, the Swedish competitors from 1984, the Herris brothers, gave a performance.
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