There is only one day left until the opening of the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, the most famous and followed European music competition taking place in Malmö, in southern Sweden, from 7 to 11 May.
Organized since 1956 by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which brings together the main European TV channels, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel and Australia also participate. It will be hosted by Swedish actress Malin Åkerman and comedian Petra Mede, who also presented it in 2013 and 2016.
It will be held over two evenings: two semi-finals on Tuesday 7 and Thursday 9 May plus the final on Saturday 11. There will be 37 participating countries, 27 of which feature solo singers, plus seven duets and three groups.
The Tuesday and Thursday evenings will be broadcast live on Rai 2, the final on Rai 1, with commentary by Mara Maionchi and Gabriele Corsi. They will also be available in streaming on RaiPlay, on Rainews.it and on the Eurovision YouTube channel. On the radio you can listen to them on Rai Radio 2.
The first semi-final
The first semi-final is Tuesday 7 May: the rightful finalists, who will perform out of competition and who will vote this evening, are Isaak for Germany with Always on the Run, Olly Alexander for the United Kingdom with Dizzy, Markus & Martinus for Sweden with Unforgettable. Thanks to a change in the rules, they will also perform during the semi-finals for the first time.
The other artists who will perform are:
Cyprus: Silia Kapsis with Liar
Croatia: Baby Lasagna with Rim Tim Tagi Dim
Ireland: Bambie Thug with Doomsday Blue
Lithuania: Sylvester Belt with Luktelk
Poland: Luna with The Tower
Serbia: Teya Dora with Remonda
Ukraine: Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil with Teresa & Maria
Australia: Electric Fields with One Milkali (One Blood)
Azerbaijan: Fahree feat. Ilkin Dovlatov with Özünlə apar
Finland: Windows95Man with No Rules!
Iceland: Hera Björk with Scared of Heights
Luxembourg: Tali with Fighter
Moldova: Natalia Barbu with In The Middle
Portugal: Iolanda with Grito
Slovenia: Raiven with Veronika
The second semi-final
In the second semi-final on Thursday 9 May, however, the rightful finalists who will vote this evening are Angelina Mango for Italy with La noia , Slimane for France with Mon Amour, and Nebulossa for Spain with Zorra.
The other artists in the competition, however, are:
Albania: Besa with Titan
Armenia: the Ladanivas with Jako
Austria: Kaleen with We Will Rave
Czechia: Aiko with Pedestal
Denmark: Saba with Sand
Malta: Sarah Bonnici with Loop
Switzerland: Nemo with The Code
Belgium: Mustii with Before the Party's Over
Estonia: 5miinust and Puuluup with (Nendest) narkootikumidest and tea me (küll) midagi
Georgia: Nutsa Buzaladze with Fire Fighter
Greece: Marina Satti with Zari
Israel: Eden Golan with Hurricane
Latvia: Dons with Hollow
Norway: Gåte with Ulveham
Netherlands: Joost Klein with Europapa
San Marino: Megara with 11:11
How to vote
In the semi-final, only the public votes via the app or on the Eurovision website: since last year, even countries that do not participate in the event can vote, while as always you will not be able to choose your country's song . For the final, the public vote will be added to that of the juries of experts from each of the qualified countries.
The favourites
Among the favorites to win would be Baby Lasagna for Croatia with Rim Tim Tagi Diz, Nemo for Switzerland with The Code, and alyona alyona & Jerry Heil for Ukraine with Teresa & Maria. In fourth place our Angelina Mango, in fifth place Joost Klein for the Netherlands with Europapa.
(Unioneonline/D)
