You always go into the semi-final where Norway is not in with slightly lower shoulders, of course you have songs from the one you would like to have in the final, but you survive if it doesn’t happen.

You have to have an opinion about the songs you see and hear, and besides, I want to tell you what I think about the performance of Spain, Great Britain and Ukraine, who also perform their songs at the rehearsals today.

Melody 1 – Denmark –

Our Danish friend is not a great singer and he is probably not able to start this party in the same way as a certain participant from Norway. This is colourful, yet quite lifeless at the same time, why doesn’t he have dancers, he can’t fill the stage alone. Gets a strong sense of blandness here and it’s stupid for them, because the song is actually kind of cool.

Melody 2 – Armenia –

It is not known whether the use of psychedelic colors will get us hooked into liking this, but there is something seductive about this. Until suddenly there is a rap part that turns into a dance break that destroys a bit. But, not enough to make it one of the better songs of the night. Great vocals that also pull you up.

Melody 3 – Romania –

Here the song starts as a blues song which is quite similar, but when it turns up to become a rock song, I think most people pass. Here we get a lot of screaming and quite a bit of wool, so to speak. This is really the kind of song only the artist’s mother can like. And I’m neither his mother nor his father, so then he gets some consolation points for getting decent vocals.

Melody 4 – Estonia –

Finally, there is a song that is quite a straight forward big and powerful ballad performed in a classically fine way. Here it is delivered with the right intensity in relation to the song, and our Estonian friends may quickly find it to be the ballad that does the best this year. And she has one of the year’s best and strongest voices without a doubt.

Melody 5 – Belgium –

Finally came the song that starts the party this evening. This song is catchy so it fits and I also think that our Belgian friend almost manages to have the same energy level in the performance as it is in the song. And a joy that he brings out his choristers on the stage where they belong. And with so many great vocalists on the same stage, this just has to be the same.

Melody 6 – Cyprus –

Someone has obviously spent some time down here at the gym. I think the powerful ballad is performed in a fine way. The biggest problem is that it feels like this is a very unoriginal song that you feel you’ve heard before. But, most of it is corrected by the fact that such good vocals and good intensity are delivered like this.

Melody 7 – Iceland –

Our Icelandic friend is supposed to attend, but exactly this type of music makes so little impression on me. It’s fussy and the over-energetic performance doesn’t exactly lessen the negative impression I get. I get to throw out plus points for strong and good vocals, but then that’s the end of the goodwill.

Melody 8 – Greece –

Our Greek friend is one of the few who wrote his song entirely himself and it feels very mature from a guy who is only 16 years old. He jumps so much on stage that you’d almost think he needed to pee and it actually disturbs me quite a bit. But, has good control over the vocals and should have a long career ahead of him and this is a great way to start his career.

Melody 9 – Poland –

Then we are served summer feeling on stage and I think our Polish friend manages it quite well. There is a charm and lightness in the song, but also slightly strained vocals at times which probably drags it down a bit. But, she is smart enough not to challenge herself vocally and then this becomes something to live with.

Melody 10 – Slovenia –

All the songs that had languages ​​other than English in them went to the final from semi-final 1. I’m not so sure if our Slovenian friends will be able to help repeat that feat. However, they have an energy level that suits the song and enough charm and pull in the song that this can be liked by enough people. And the vocals are impeccable to my ears.

Tune 11 – Georgia –

We are served a large and very dramatic ballad that manages to bring in some ethnic elements, which will probably mean that enough people will fall for this. It borders on being a bit screamed vocally at times, but all in all this looks magnificent. Powerful and great impression visually on TV.

Melody 12 – San Marino –

Finally, our San Marino friends have had a TV appearance that you can be familiar with. I love the energy in this song and that the guys in the band seem to have the same energy in the performance. Unfortunately, the song is a bit too boring to really catch on and the vocalist still lacks the necessary TV skills one should have in such a competition.

Melody 13 – Austria –

Why on earth did they replace the cool grown men from the video with slim young female dancers? The cool madness has more or less disappeared and we are left with a perfectly performed song that will probably make the hall boil, but this still feels like a letdown. Vocally, what we hear is perfectly fine.

Melody 14 – Albania –

Our Albanian friends deliver as almost always on vocals and this year is no exception. And as regular suppliers of dramatic Balkan ballads, they do not disappoint this year either. There is a small boost in the song when the tempo is turned up, but that doesn’t save it from becoming quite boring and no pyro can’t save all songs.

Melody 15 – Lithuania –

This semi-final is almost awash in vocally strong big tunes from the extended ballad landscape. Our Lithuanian friend gets room for melancholic undertones before we get a touch of gospel that lifts the song as well. All in all, this was something I appreciated that actually lifted my mood quite a bit. Impeccable and strong vocals add up plus the fact that the choristers are on stage as they should be on all the contributions.

Melody 16 – Australia –

The musical 80’s were knocking and we are happy to let them in. Electro-rock is a genre that is both tough and catchy and that is exactly what I feel fits as a stamp on what our Australian friends deliver to us. A textbook recipe for how bands should perform an ESC song, if you ask me. The vocalist delivers the goods and then there is little to complain about.

This will also be a good show and I’m guessing that the following countries will go on:

Armenia

Estonia

Belgium

Cyprus

Poland

Slovenia

Georgia

Austria

Lithuania

Australia

That means I am completely in line with the bookmakers, which I should have been in the last semi-final, it also turned out, whether this semi-final is smart, time will tell.

The three countries that can vote in this semi-final are also practicing tonight and I give them a verdict on what they do on stage as well.

Spain –

Perhaps the most ethnic contribution of the year and you can almost feel the intensity in your body because it is so intense. I really like this, but I’m afraid that most people will feel that this will be a lot of screaming and far too little proper melody. This can go either way.

Ukraine –

One of the coolest songs visually this year and it doesn’t hurt that the song is pretty cool too. When our Ukrainian friends, for a rare occasion, do not offer anything ethnic, I think they have made a good choice. There is a strength and underlying gloom that makes this song great in my eyes.

Great Britain –

As the last participant in the final, we are at least guaranteed an ending with a high party factor. A bit of a shame for her home country’s hopes that she appears a bit unattractive and not quite up to par vocally either. This could have been a banger of an ending with the right artist, now it’s more relaxed stuff.

We’ll see if I get more than 8 straight this time, this semi-final may lack the big highlight song, it’s more on the smooth side where actually many of those who are involved can make it to the final on a good day.