Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
Now for the 13 countries who failed to reach the final, but which will still vote tomorrow night:
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Israel, Latvia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland.
Now let's look at some country groups:
Baltic States (Ex USSR)
IN: Estonia, Lithuania. OUT: Latvia.I'd have preferred Estonia and Lithuania to have stayed out of this year's final. In the case of Estonia, I felt the gentle verses were fine, but the choruses were too overpowering. Nor was I all that keen on Lithuania's ballad "Something". As far as I'm concerned, Austria, Croatia and Cyprus all had better songs, and thus two of those deserved the places Estonia and Lithuania took. No doubt Estonia and Lithuania will award each other high marks, and Latvia will give high scores to Estonia and Lithuania. That said all three have got several other ex-USSR countries to give points to as well.
Benelux
IN: Belgium, The Netherlands (Luxembourg didn't enter yet again).Congratulations to The Netherlands for qualifying to the final for the first time since 2004. Fair enough they've had a few below par entries in the interim years which I was glad to see eliminated during the semi-finals. However "Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" in 2010 and "You And Me" in 2012 were excellent songs which should have reached the finals. Back to this year, although I find "Birds" a bit sorrowful and depressing (hearing it upsets me a bit), it's a good ballad, an unusual style of singing for Eurovision and deserves its place in the final. Belgium's "Love Kills" was, in my opinion, a borderline song which I put on my "wouldn't mind qualifying" list. Although it wasn't one of my most wanted entrants from semi-final 1, its presence in the final is fine by me; it has a catchy chorus. So that now means both Belgium and The Netherlands are in the final for once. Presumably therefore, as neighbouring Benelux countries, they'll automatically give each other 12 points. We'll soon see tomorrow night.
Nordic area
IN: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden.A full representation of the Nordic area for once. Well I'm not too happy about that; when I get the chance I vote for the best songs, not having certain complete groups of countries in the final. I'm glad Denmark is through, not because it's the bookies' favourite to win, but because I feel it's an excellent song with gentle verses, and really fast upbeat choruses. I'm even more overjoyed to see Iceland's "Ég Á Líf" in the final. Last night Eythor Ingi gave a first class performance of this beautiful, soothing ballad, or as I see it lullaby; the adult kids' version of the CBeebies Goodnight Song, which is just what the Eurovision Song Contest final needs and deserves. If there's to be an unexpected surprise winner, and Eythor sings "Ég Á Líf" as well tomorrow night as he did last night, I'd like it to be Iceland to give them their first win since debuting in 1986. However I'd rather Norway and Finland hadn't reached the final. I didn't think much of Norway's "I Feed You My Love", and I felt that Finland's "Marry Me" was even worse. As far as I'm concerned, San Marino and Israel deserved the places they took. Sweden, as last year's winners and hence this year's hosts automatically reached the final. I've heard their song on the official ESC CD album but not paid much attention to it; I've been more interested in the semi-finalists' songs whilst listening to the CD this week. So that means the five Nordic countries will all give each other their top five marks; Denmark and Iceland will almost certainly give each other 12 points.
Greece and Cyprus
IN: Greece. OUT: Cyprus.Well blow me down! Tuesday evening I was disappointed to see Cyprus eliminated as Despina Olympiou's "An Me Thimasai" was an excellent ballad which deserved a place in the final. On the other hand, I was appalled and disgusted to see Greece called out as the very last qualifier last night. Their entry "Alcohol Is Free" sounded to me like a load of trash sung by a group of drunken yobs. It was the one semi-final 2 entry I least wanted to see qualify. As far as I'm concerned, "Alcohol Is Free" doesn't belong in the final. Israel, San Marino or Switzerland deserved the place Greece unfairly took. In a nutshell, the wrong one out of Greece and Cyprus qualified; Cyprus should have gone through on Tuesday and Greece should have been eliminated last night, not the other way around as actually happened. So the upshot of that is Cyprus will almost certainly still give its 12 points to Greece, but who will Greece give their 12 points to? They can't give them to Cyprus who are now out.
Former Yugoslavia
OUT: Croatia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia. (Bosnia & Herzegovina didn't enter in 2013).Isn't it extraordinary! For once there are no former Yugoslav countries in the final. Looking back at ESC history, since the ex-Yugoslav constituents began entering as independent countries in 1993, there were at least two ex-Yugoslav countries (and usually three) in the then Saturday only Contest from 1993 to 2003 inclusive. Since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, each year from 2004 to 2012 inclusive has seen at least two ex-Yugoslav coutries in the final, and usually three or even four have been in the final. Before the break-up, Yugoslavia was in every year from 1986 to 1992 inclusive.
So that means this is the first ever year since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004 that there's been no former Yugoslav country in a Saturday night final, indeed the first year since Yugoslavia first started entering as separate independent countries in 1993 that no former Yugoslav country has been seen in the Saturday night contest. In fact, it's the first year since 1985 that neither Yugoslavia nor any of its derivative countries have appeared in the Saturday night Contest (before or since the introduction of semi-finals).
Interestingly Albania are also out. Although not part of the former Yugoslavia, they tend to vote for the ex-Yugoslav countries, and the ex-Yugoslav countries tend to vote for Albania. So the upshot of all this, who will the five ex-Yugoslav countries (Croatia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia) plus Albania all vote for tomorrow night? One thing is certain, they won't be able to give each other their high scores.
I must admit, I'm gutted that Croatia failed to qualify as Klapa s mora gave a first class performance of their excellent ballad "Mižerja". Croatia had one of the best songs in the first semi-final on Tuesday night which deserved to be in the final. At the other extreme, to say I'm glad Montenegro were eliminated is a colossal understatement. As far as I'm concerned, their mish-mash of rap and dubstep didn't belong in Eurovision. It would have been a disgrace to the final if it had got there.
Founding Seven
By this I mean the seven countries who appeared in the very first ESC in Lugano in 1956:IN: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands. OUT: Switzerland. (Luxembourg didn't enter yet again).
As I've already said, Belgium and The Netherlands are deservedly through to the final. France, Germany and Italy, as Big 5 contenders, got there automatically. It's such a shame Switzerland didn't qualify, their song was among those in the second semi-final which I most wanted to qualify last night.
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