Venue: Expo Tel Aviv (International Convention Center), Tel Aviv, Israel
Hosts: Bar Refaeli, Erez Tal
Green Room: Assi Azar, Lucy Ayoub
Date: Thursday 16 May 2019
N.B. Any use of "tonight" or "this evening" throughout this post means Thursday 16 May 2019. All times in this post are in BST.
The Opening
After the opening sequence, the show began with clips of the first semi-final two days ago, including Green Room shots of the ten artists who qualified Tuesday evening.The Songs
Five minutes after the start of the show (20:05 BST) it was time for the first song. Each song was introduced by a postcard film related to the appropriate country.Song 1: Armenia - Srbuk "Walking Out"
#ARM It's difficult epressing an opinion on the first entry in the line-up as thre have been no previous ones to compare it again. I've not been all that keen on the preview video of this song, but as far as tonight's live performance goes, I'm even less keen. There was a lot of red lighting for much of the song, the significance of which I'm mystified about. By far the best element was the collection of flames around the stage near the end; that's the only bit I liked. That said, I question the significance of the flames. I'd rather not see this on Saturday night.Song 2: Ireland - Sarah McTernan "22"
#IRL Another song which failed to impress me when I first saw the preview video. Tonight's live performance isn't much better. The chorus is quite catchy, but overall, I think it's a weak song. I like the counter and stools, which was spun at one point, and the stage and background graphics, e.g. the floor tile effect on the stage, but that's about it really. This is another song I'd rather not see in the final.Song 3: Moldova - Anna Odobescu "Stay"
#MDA Yet another song that I've not been particularly keen on whilst watching the preview videos, and tonight's live performance still fails to impress me. The only good think is the sand artist, whose ever-changing pictures on the table are being displayed on the background screen. The song itself its rather dull really. I'd rather not see this in the final.Song 4: Switzerland - Luca Hänni "She Got Me"
#CHE Hurray! The first song in tonight's line-up that I actually liked from the moment I first saw the preview video, and when listening to the ESC 2019 CD album. I love it just as much sung live tonight. It has a very cachy chours, and it's appropriately accompanied by well-choreographed dances at various points. As for the staging, it makes good use of red light, and patterns. Mind you, is there any reason why red, rather than any other colour, is the dominant colour here? I definitely want this in the final. See you Saturday Luca!Song 5: Latvia - Carousel "That Night"
#LVA Back to a song which, in all truth and honesty, one of my least liked 2019 entries among the preview videos, and on the ESC 2019 CD album. It's no better sung live tonight. The song is monotonous and downright boring. I definitely don't want this in the final.Song 6: Romania - Ester Peony "On a Sunday"
#ROU Another song that disappointed me when I saw the preview video and heard it on the CD. The live performance tonight is no better. I question a) the need for the two men dancing around, waving their arms and bending and b) the flames near the end (and earlier in the song). I don't think either were necessary in a ballad of this style. The only bit I really liked was the bloom of pink flowers on the background screen at the end. This is another song I definitely don't want in the final.A short break followed at this point.
Song 7: Denmark - Leonora "Love Is Forever"
#DNK When I watched Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019 online from the UK, on Saturday 23 February 2019, I was disappointed at Leonora's "Love Is Forever" winning, because I thought there were better songs that night which could have been chosen to represent Denmark. Although Leonora has a beautiful voice, and "Love is forever" is a nice ballad, I think the style of song sounds worryingly similar to Switzerland's "In Love for a While" which finished last with just 19 points in ESC 2011 Grand Final. Anyway, back to tonight, Leonora gave a good live performance tonight. Just like the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix performance, the giant chair is on stage tonight. The background sky scene, with clouds, is appropriate for the song. Definitely one of the better songs so far tonight (due to so many bad ones), but for now I'll say this is a song I wouldn't' mind seeing on Saturday. Song 8: Sweden - John Lundvik "Too Late For Love"
#SWE Another foreign national final I watched online from the UK was Melodifestivalen Final 2019 on Saturday 9 March 2019. I was surprised John Lundvik's "Too Late For Love" won, because I thought there were other, better, songs more worthy of representing Sweden in Tel Aviv this week. Since then, the song has grown on me when watching the preview video and hearing it on the ESC 2019 CD album. The first verse is a bit dull, but pre-chorus it built up to a lively chorus. Thereafter it gets a tad bland again. Based on solely on tonight's live performance, I'd like to see this in the Grand Final, because John sang well tonight, and I liked light column which was on and off through the song.Song 9: Austria - PÆNDA "Limits"
#AUT Austria have had some good songs in recent years, including "Rise Like A Phoenix" in 2014 and "Loin d'Ici" in 2016. This year Austria has gone for a ballad which is a bit dull really. The best bit is the starry effect on stage, and the light beams near the end. I wouldn't mind this in the Grand Final, but I'm not overly desperate to see it there.Song 10: Croatia - Roko "The Dream"
#HRV One of tonight's songs that I particularly liked among the preview videos and on the ESC 2019 CD album. It's a pity the singer sounded a bit off key at the times singing live tonight though. Despite that, the stageing throughout is excellent, and I like the way it was sung in a mixture of English and Croatian. I'd still like to see this in the final.Song 11: Malta - Michela "Chameleon"
#MLT Well blow me down! This was among my least liked songs among the preview videos and on the ESC 2019 CD album. I like it an order of magnitude more sung live tonight. It was well performed, with excellent staging, including the change-colour lighting. Based solely on tonight's live performance, I'm now swayed towards wanting this in the final.Song 12: Lithuania - Jurij Veklenko "Run With The Lions"
#LTU A ballad I felt middle-the-road about when watching the preview videos and listening to the CD is Lithuania. As far as tonight's live performance is concerned, Jurij gave a good performance and the lighting effects are appropriate for this style of song. It's a mix of gentle verses and fairly catchy choruses. I wouldn't mind seeing this in the final, but wouldn't miss it if it's not there.A short break followed at this point.
Song 13: Russia - Sergey Lazarev "Scream"
#RUS Sergey last represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with "You Are the Only One". He's back this year, with a gentler ballad. When I first saw the preview video, I thought it was dull compared to his 2016 entry, but the song has grown on me with repeat viewings of the video and listening to it on the ESC 2019 CD album. Altogether, an excellent power ballad, very well sung live tonight. I like the mirror effects, on-stage graphics and the forks of lightning. I definitely want Russia in the final. See you Saturday Sergey.Song 14: Albania - Jonida Maliqi "Ktheju tokës"
#ALB When I first saw the preview video for this song, I quite liked it. I've continued liking it with subsequent viewings of the video and hearing it on the ESC 2019 CD album. I like tonight's live performance as well, it's an authentic Balkan ballad, sung in Albanian. Jonida gave a good live performance; her outfit and the staging were just right of this song. I liked the flame effects towards the end. Based on tonight's performance, I'm swayed towards wanting this in the final.Song 15: Norway - KEiiNO "Spirit in the Sky"
#NOR I particularly liked this from the moment I first saw the preview video, and it's remained one of my favourites on subsequent viewings of the online videos and listening to the ESC 2019 CD album. I love the way it's got bits of joik in it, and the background images. I definitely want to see this on Saturday and I will be deeply upset if it fails to qualify.Song 16: The Netherlands - Duncan Laurence "Arcade"
#NLD For the last two months this song has been strongly tipped to win outright! I've certainly enjoyed the preview video, and the hearing this on the CD album. By contrast, I'm a bit disappointed with the live performance tonight; I think it could be stronger, but I like the staging, including the blue lighting and background images on the screen towards the end. I'd still like to see this in the final, as it's better than some of the songs early on tonight.Song 17: North Macedonia - Tamara Todevska "Proud"
#MKD Since their first official entry in 1998 (though they tried entering the audio qualifier in 1996 and failed to qualify) this country has been referred to as F.Y.R. Macedonia until 2018. This is the country's first year of being referred to as North Macedonia for the first time ever. Anyway, I quite liked this ballad in the preview video and on the ESC 2019 CD album, but I'm not so impressed with tonight's live performance. I wouldn't mind this in the final, but I wouldn't miss if it's not there.Song 18: Azerbaijan - Chingiz "Truth"
#AZE The final song of the night already, it's surprising how time flies! "Truth" is a song I felt wasn't bad when I saw the preview video and heard it on the CD. Sung live tonight, it's not bad, but it's not one of the best tonight. What was the significance of the big face on the screen part way through? I wouldn't mind seeing this in the final, but wouldn't miss this if it's not there.Back to the top
Televoting and Recap
After the songs finished, (names) reappeared to announce the start of the voting at 21:26 BST. A recap of the songs followed. The UK voted in tonight's semi-final, and therefore UK viewers saw the voting numbers at the bottom of the screen during the recap.Back to the top
My Preferences
Here are my preferences based solely on all of tonight's performances:Definitely want to qualify: Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, Malta, Russia, Albania, Norway, The Netherlands.
Wouldn't mind qualifying: Denmark, Austria, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan.
Prefer not to qualify: Armenia, Ireland, Moldova.
Definitely don't want to qualify: Latvia, Romania.
So these are the ones I want to see Saturday night: Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, Malta, Russia, Albania, Norway, The Netherlands; plus two (and no more!) of Denmark, Austria, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan.
The UK voted this evening; I voted for: Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, Malta, Russia, Albania, Norway, The Netherlands
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Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Second Semi-Final Results
Here are the results, which were announced in a random order at 22:04 BST. Any use of "tonight" still means Thursday 16 May 2019.
My desired qualifiers: Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, Malta, Russia, Albania, Norway, The Netherlands; plus two (and no more!) of Denmark, Austria, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan.
Actual qualifiers (in order of announcement): North Macedonia, The Netherlands, Albania, Sweden, Russia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Malta,
Bold entries represent the actual qualifiers that match my "Definitely want to qualify" preferences, and italic entries represent the ones that match my "Wouldn't mind qualifying" preferences.
OUT: Armenia, Austria, Croatia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania.
I'm delighted and over the moon that Norway are through, as I'd say their song is the one I most wanted to qualify. I'm also glad that Switzerland, Sweden, Malta, Russia, Albania, and The Netherlands are all through. Although Malta ended up just 15th out of 18 when I ranked the preview videos of tonight's contenders on My Eurovision Scoreboard this afternoon, I actually liked Malta's live performance enough this evening to include it on my "Definitely want to qualify" list, and hence voted for it.
The only song on my "Definitely want to qualify" list that failed to go through is Croatia, which is a pity, because I liked their song more than North Macedonia's song. That said, Roko's voice was a bit off-key tonight, so I'm not surprised Croatia failed to qualify, and I'm not disappointed. At least North Macedonia, which was on my "Wouldn't mind qualifying" list, qualified instead. For North Macedonia, it's their first appearance in the Grand Final since 2012 as they went through six consecutive years of not qualifying from 2013 to 2018 inclusive.
For once, all of the qualifiers are ones which were ones on my "Definitely want to qualify" and "Wouldn't mind qualifying" lists. None of the qualifiers were on either my "Prefer not to qualify", or worse still, my "Definitely don't want to qualify" lists. Great! I think that's the first ever time this has happened; in the past there have usually been some "Prefer not to qualify" and/or "Definitely don't want to qualify" songs qualify for the final against my wishes. Whilst I don't want to be hurtful to the artists from Armenia, Ireland, Moldova, Latvia and Romania, I'm glad all those countries were eliminated tonight as, in my opinion, their songs just weren't good enough for this year's Grand Final.
No matter how I personally feel about which countries' songs went thorough and which ones didn't, all the artists who performed tonight deserve equal respect. Congratulations to the ten countries which qualified to the final, and commiserations to the eight which failed to reach the final. So that means all 26 finalists are now confirmed and 15 countries have been eliminated (but will still vote in the final). Roll on the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Grand Final at 20:00 BST Saturday evening.
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