Eurovision 2018: Semi-Final #1

Tigger is back with his annual review of Eurovision!
I hope you enjoy Eurovision with Tigger,
Oliver

Eurovision Semi-Final #1

It’s that time of year again! It’s Eurovision Time! I am so excited about this. I have heard nothing, and only know the name of Australia’s entrant, but nothing else. I have carefully avoided spoilers or any discussion other than times of Eurovision.

For the Semi-Finals, my housemates have other things going on, so I’m going to use a simple rating system of 1-5 flags, with minimal comments. But for the final, I’ll go more in depth for the contestants.

So here we are, Semi-Final #1. Ohh, I still miss Julia and Sam. I know Myf and Joel are good competent hosts, but I miss Julia and Sam.

We’re in Portugal. We’ve never been to Portugal. I hope they give us a bit of a tour in between the songs. I wonder what the country’s postcards will be this year. I loved the butterflies, but I really, really liked the year the contestants “made” their flags out of things. That was fun and creative. I particularly liked Hungary’s that year — it was made of Rubik’s Cubes!!

Apparently this year, Eurovision is being broadcast in the US. I’m kind of sad about that. The US does not need to be involved in EVERYTHING! Somethings should be reserved for places that are not the US. And well, if the US is watching, can their participation be far behind? Australia watched for years and years, and now participates. I just do not want the US to be involved. Daniela Ruah hosting does nothing to assuage my fears. I wonder if she’s there to make it more approachable to the American audience. Though, Wikipedia says she was in Portugal’s version of Dancing with the Stars, so it may be that she’s famous in Portugal as well.

Ohh, I really like the flags in the coral. Well, at least I think it’s coral. That’s what it looks like to me. Not quite as fun as when the contestants made them for the postcard videos, but still, very nice.

1. Azerbaijan, Aisel, X My Heart 🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿

2. Iceland, Ari Ólafsson, Our Choice 🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸

3. Albania, Eugent Bushpepa, Mall 🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱 Good for him for singing in his native language! I always like the ones who sing in their native tongue. Music should be universal, the ability to understand the lyrics should not matter for delivering the feeling and emotion.

4. Belgium, Sennek, A Matter of Time 🇧🇪🇧🇪🇧🇪

5. Czech Republic, Mikolas Josef, Lie to Me 🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿 Fun peppy song; I like the bouncy ones.

6. Lithuania, Ieva Zasimauskaitė, When We’re Old 🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹

7. Israel, Netta, TOY 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱

8. Belarus, ALEKSEED, Forever 🇧🇾🇧🇾🇧🇾

9. Estonia, Elina Nechayeva, La Forza 🇪🇪🇪🇪🇪🇪🇪🇪 She looks like a Barbie Cake!

10. Bulgaria, EQUINOX, Bones 🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬

11. F.Y.R. Macedonia, Eye Cue, Lost and Found 🇲🇰🇲🇰🇲🇰🇲🇰

12. Croatia, Franka, Crazy 🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷

13. Austria, Cesár Sampson, Nobody But You 🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹

14. Greece, Yianna Terzi, Onoro Mou 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷 I wasn't really fond of the this song, but I have to give her full points for singing in her native language.

15. Finland, Saara Aalto, Monsters 🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮

16. Armenia, Sevak Khanagyan, Qami 🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲 Another native language song. This year has more than I can remember. I hope they didn’t pack all the non-English songs in one Semi-Final.

17. Switzerland, ZiBBZ, Stones 🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭

18. Ireland, Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Together 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

19. Cyprus, Eleni Foureira, Fuego 🇨🇾🇨🇾🇨🇾🇨🇾

My top ten choices to move on to the Final:
1. Albania
2. Greece
3. Armenia
4. Iceland
5. Czech Republic
6. Estonia
7. F.Y.R. Macedonia
8. Croatia
9. Austria
10. Finland

See You on Friday Night for Semi-Final #2,
Tigger