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Eurovision 2025 Semi Final 1
Introduction
So here I am, yet again, for the 69th song contest along with a bowl of chicken tenders, a paper mug of hot chocolate, and some other munchies just in case.
 Getting ready to watch the contest
Of course, I'm working eight hour days now, so I get up at six. What time does this even finish in European time? Near midnight?
I am watching the BBC broadcast, I'm hoping that with it being on BBC One instead of Three, it might have a tad more competence than normal. Of course, I have a new-old PC and fibre so I guess I could have watched a live stream...
The opening act was pretty impressive. How to be dramatic without using any intelligible words.
Hazel and Sandra are the hosts, and it looks like Hazel is absolutely channelling Cara Delavigne.
Okay, a quick reference to Eurovision 1991. That contest has a special place in my heart as it is the first one I was able to watch by myself. It probably ought to also go down as the biggest mess ever, maybe I ought to talk about it some time.
Ten minutes in, time to begin. Yay!
1. Iceland "Róa" (Væb)
Okay, so here is Ja ja ding dong from Húsavúk. No? No? Why? ☺
Uh... What the hell? Okay, so Jedward clones singing in Icelandic give the contest a noisy and rowdy start, and also signal to the world that Iceland isn't overly interested in hosting in 2026.
2. Poland "Gaja" (Justyna Steczkowska)
She represented Poland in 1995, thirty years ago. What, as a child? This is oddly slow while trying to be dramatic. Let's say it's like somebody did an ambient version of Wild Dances and threw in every Eurovision trope that would fit. Dramatic violin shredding? Floating in the air suspended from straps? Screaming? Running on the spot? More yelling? Even more yelling? Yes to all of that. Phew, what a workout.
3. Slovenia "How Much Time Do We Have Left" (Klemen)
Oh, a heartfelt ballad. And the first song of the night in English. Oh, ouch - "a man in white with a roomful of diplomas trying to get it right". I'm getting some Simply Red vibes from this.
I'm not sure why he is upside down, but - goddamn - this really brings on the feels.
You know what? Stop here. New favourite song. I really like this.
4. Estonia "Espresso Macchiato" (Tommy Cash)
Okay, so a guy with an oversized red tie (remind you of anyone?) surrounded by security heavies stands in front of a "Winners cafe" and spends three minutes annoying Italians. It is catchy by virtue of being a rather repetitive reading of a Starbucks menu... that's what he is doing, right?
Now some random DJs from Switzerland to fill time while lesser channels go to adverts. Wait, what? The Birdy Song is Swiss? Oh my... I remember that from when I was little (and my dumb dyspraxic self would be eager to dance to it and usually end up falling over).
*. Spain "Esa Diva" (Melody)
A preview of Spain's song. Damn, that's a lot of words in one breath and... wait... a costume change. <sigh>
This is a much more accomplished performance than some in the past. Not my thing, but props to her for pulling off those vocals.
5. Ukraine "Bird of Pray" (Ziferblat)
This will make it through to the final. Why? Because Ukraine have qualified in every contest that they have participated in, though to be fair I think given what's going on in the world we'd vote for them anyway. But if they didn't qualify, if they were the ones to break the streak, no, no, unthinkable.
It starts with a pretty girl vocalising and then rapidly changes gears to something that tries to mash together a dozen genres with bright pink flashing lights and...
...oh my god, they just stopped and faded to black and for a moment my heart stopped - was there a fault with my receiver? Phew!
6. Sweden "Bara bada bastu" (KAJ)
This is the favourite to win. It's like a comedy skit set in a forest camp or something. Wait, THIS is the favourite to win? Okay, it is staged well, but, this is dumb. Catchy, but still dumb. And being in Swedish (first time since forever), I think the only word I can understand is "sauna".
7. Portugal "Deslocado" (Napa)
Shades of Salvador Sobral at the start that this song doesn't entirely shake off. I think this might qualify because it's so different to the Power Ballads and Big Songs.
8. Norway "Lighter" (Kyle Alessandro)
The youngest in this year's contest, at 19. Interesting staging, like some sort of alien portal that might turn up in a random quarry in Wales, if you know what I mean. I think this is the second song of the night in English. Futuristic armour, but... there's a certain song that's sort of "eurovision" and they all sound kind of similar and this is a good example.
9. Belgium "Strobe Lights" (Red Sebastian)
Red wasn't lying about the Red. Much much red. Sorry, there was a mosquito on my lamp so I went to get the bug zapper as I have a nasty blister between my toes from where some bug (a red ant?) bit me so... oooh, yes, it smoked. Nice. As for the noisy red mess on the screen, the music sounds like some sort of rave anthem that only makes sense when you're quite high.
*. Italy "Volevo Essere... something" (Lucio Corsi)
Haha, playing a stupidly long piano, a dose of Italian done properly (are you paying attention Estonia?). Interestingly this one actually came second at San Remo. The winner didn't want to do the song contest, so Lucio said he'd go.
There's something kind of late 60s, early 70s about this. I mean, if a young Mick Jagger was Italian...
And Italy, thank you for adding the subtitles. That was a nice touch for those of us that don't speak your lovely language.
Oh! She gave the stuffed chicken to the cute girl just behind. ☺ Yes, they are doing more random stuff to waste time while lesser channels do adverts.
10. Azerbaijan "Run with U" (Mamagama)
More red! Is that this year's trendy colour? Okay, I didn't expect him to sound like that, sounds like he is singing around a G4. Hey, is this the first one of the night with the ethnic instrument? This is annoying catchy, and what is it, the third one in English and we're at ten? See what Brexit does? Nobody wants to speak English any more. 😝
11. San Marino "Tutta l'Italia" (Gabry Ponte)
Another song aimed at Italy. Did I miss something? You listen to this, you wouldn't believe that this guy was the "I'm blue ba da bee" guy from the end of the '90s. What's with the face-hugging mask on the singer?
12. Albania "Zjerm" (Shkodra Elektronike)
What? More red? Come on, let's have some representation of the other colours, like, say, cerulean (didn't see that coming, did you? ☺).
Apparently these two aren't big Eurovision fans, which might be why their song is different to most... though really since I have no idea what Albanian sounds like, if you played this to me and asked "who?" I would be inclined to say it sounds like what happens when Serbia enters a serious song. That said, it's from the Balkans.
Still, this is oddly endearing.
13. Netherlands "C'est la vie" (Claude)
Oh, a quiet ballad switching up to a pop song, in English and French, for the Netherlands. That's actually pretty effective staging and use of the six people on stage.
14. Croatia "Poison Cake" (Marko Bošnjak)
Yay! Green and red so it's two of the primaries represented here. Haha, it's supposed to be a bit of a freaky song and it goes straight to nursery rhyme for the pre-chorus. My inner goth is jumping up and down and laughing its arse off at this. 👍
*. Switzerland "Voyage" (Zoë)
Now that is different staging. It's just one camera pointing at the girl and the whole thing apart from a little bit of a freak-out in the middle (that looks like it might have gone slightly wrong?) was a oner (single shot, no cuts). But this was a gentle song with a whole arty performance. Nice.
You know, I'm actually liking the idea of hearing the pre-qualifiers in full rather than just a snippet.
15. Cyprus "Shh" (Theo Evan)
Hunky guys climbing scaffolding with far too many strobe lights in the background. Oh no, it's all gone red. Come on, did Switzerland get a special on a job lot of red bulbs or something? Thank goodness that is over. I don't have problems with flashing lights, but that was just over the top.
My picks
Slovenia - the feels
Poland - everything including the kitchen sink
Netherlands - that's life
Portugal - shades of Sobral
Azerbaijan - falsetto for the win
Albania - lady in red
Croatia - a dish of karma served with sugar and spice
Norway - futuristic armour
Sweden - of course this will qualify (it's the favourite after all)
Ukraine - even if I don't think much of the song, voting for Ukraine
As the hosts talk about the voting and mocking how often Switzerland votes for stuff, you can see people getting up and leaving in the background. Like, what, past your bedtimes?
All about Switzerland
A hysterical look at stuff made in Switzerland, these two are giving Petra a real run for her money here. Wait, hang on, is that actually Petra playing William Tell? This was brilliant.
That being said, people might have opinions about Switzerland claiming to have invented the internet. Tim Berners-Lee, a Brit, at CERN, invented the web in 1989. This seems to be taken by Switzerland as having invented the internet. The American Arpanet from two and half decades earlier might want a word...
Some other behind the scenes stuff
Records, most popular songs (that didn't win) by how many streams they had. An Armenian song topped a billion.
A bilingual message from Céline Dion, thirty seven years since she won it for Switzerland back in 1988 along with some of last year's contestants singing Céline's song. Did they have a bunch of drones in the background for the lighting effects?
More filler as the votes are counted up. Probably adverts too. This is going on for ages, she's talking about people's snacks. Ummm... I think we're right off script now. Come on, I gotta get up at six! Tell me who is going through already.
There's a preview of Thursday now. It looks like it might be a more interesting night.
The results
Here is who is going through, in a random order.
- Norway - armour.
- Albania - lady in red.
- Sweden - obvious thing is obvious.
- Iceland - WHAT?!? Really?
- Netherlands - that's life.
- Poland - throwing everything at it.
- San Marino - hmmm!?
- Estonia - just to annoy Italians everywhere, right?
- Portugal - the quiet ballad.
- Ukraine - they always make it - a 100% success rate.
I can feel sorry for Slovenia, and a bit as well for Azerbaijan, but that's how it goes. Anyway, time to upload this and them hit the sack. This has run over and it's nearly half eleven and my ADHD brain probably isn't going to calm down for a few hours and then it'll be time to get up.
The things I do for Eurovision, eh?
Same time same place in forty five and a half hours, Thursday night.
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| jgh, 14th May 2025, 11:08 |
Having been born in 1969, I tell people I am the same age as the Internet.
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| Rob, 14th May 2025, 13:46 |
Apparently TBL's office at CERN was on the French side too.. |
| jgh, 14th May 2025, 23:20 |
I didn't realise Eurovision was on, so I caught up via the Lego version, and wow, yes it's red everywhere.
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