Eurovision 2018: Semi-Final #2

Another guest post from my friend Tigger
Join with him as he reviews Eurovision 2018,
Oliver

Eurovision Semi-Final #2

Here I am back for Semi-Final #2. I am so excited. Unfortunately, I have not been able to completely avoid spoilers, but I only know one result and I’m going to try and not let that spoil my enjoyment.

I’m using the same rating system I used for Semi-Final #1, 1-5 flags with minimal comments. I’ll save most of my comments for the Final.

I do not mind the hosts, but I wish the script were a bit better. It’s just so bad it makes me cringe for the poor hosts that have to read it off. I understand why the hosts are there, but I wish there would be a better script for them. The other thing I wonder is, why is it always in English, even though English is often not the most spoken language in the host nation. It’s another sign of the creeping Americanization of the world - subtitles or overdubbing would be fine, I mean it’s used for international leaders who do not speak English. And frankly, whatever a world leader has to say is probably more important than the lame jokes the Eurovision hosts are making.

1. Norway, Alexander Rybak, That’s How You Write a Song 🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴

2. Romania, The Humans, Goodbye 🇷🇴🇷🇴🇷🇴

3. Serbia, Sanja Ilić & Balkaninka, Nova Deca 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸 The night’s first non-English song, full points.

4. San Marino, Jessika featuring Jenifer Brening, Who We Are 🇸🇲🇸🇲🇸🇲🇸🇲 The robots are interesting and fun.

5. Denmark, Rasmussen, Higher Ground 🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰 My favorite of the competition so far!!!

6. Russia, Julia Samoylova, I Won’t Break 🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺

7. Moldova, DoReDos, My Lucky Day 🇲🇩🇲🇩🇲🇩🇲🇩🇲🇩 A fun and bouncy number.

8. The Netherlands, Waylon, Outlaw in ‘Em 🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱

9. Australia, Jessica Mauboy, We Got Love 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

10. Georgia, Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao, For You 🇬🇪🇬🇪🇬🇪🇬🇪🇬🇪 This is truly beautiful.

11. Poland, Gromee featuring Lukas Meijer, Light Me Up 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱

12. Malta, Christabelle, Taboo 🇲🇹🇲🇹🇲🇹

13. Hungary, AWS, Viszlát Nyár 🇭🇺🇭🇺🇭🇺🇭🇺🇭🇺 Another non-English entrant. I’m glad they didn’t put them all on one night.

14. Latvia, Laura Rizzotto, Funny Girl 🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻

15. Sweden, Benjamin Ingress, Dance You Off 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪

16. Montenegro, Vanja Radovanović, Inje 🇲🇪🇲🇪🇲🇪🇲🇪🇲🇪 I do enjoy the non-English songs.

17. Slovenia, Lea Sirk, Hvala, ne! 🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮 I like the bounciness in this one.

18. Ukraine, MELOVIN, Under the Ladder 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Overall, there were more entrants I liked tonight, which probably means I’ll be disappointed because I never pick the right ones to move on to the Final. I really appreciated that the scheduling did not mean all the non-English songs were on one night and there was a mix of fun and serious performances each night.

My top ten choices to move on to the Final:
1. Serbia
2. Denmark
3. Moldova
4. Georgia
5. Hungary
6. Montenegro
7. Slovenia
8. San Marino
9. Russia
10. Poland

See you Sunday night for the Final,
Tigger