Eurovision Song Contest 2018: 2nd Semi-Final (show)

It was the same as last year: the 2nd semi-final was much inferior to the first. There were some interesting songs, however, and we will begin with these.

The big winners of the night were the Scandinavian countries: all three of them got through to the final. The best of the lot was Sweden's Benjamin Ingrosso - it was an impressive performance and the singing occasionally reminded me of Michael Jackson.

Norway's former winner did well, the laser effects were quaint and the song has an infectious hook. However, it seems that the oddsmakers sensed some weakness in his performance and they moved him down a few notches on their chart, he's fallen from #2 to #7.

I liked Denmark's entry more than yesterday after Rasmussen's performance, but there was still something missing. Then, I figured it out. This was a backing band in search of a lead singer. The song was good enough, but it needed a big voice to raise it up to the next level. Which it lacked...

Another country that went through to the final was Australia. Jessica Mauboy was endearing and very professional, the song was catchy, so it was a no-brainer that Jessica would sail through...

Then there was Moldova and the DoReDoS. The presentation of the song was inventive, with the opening and closing windows and the body doubles of the trio creating funny images. The song is lightweight, sure, but it is more likely to make you smile than frown. Which is something...

I thought that Ukraine's MELOVIN failed to do the song justice today, compared to the official video. He wasn't bad, but there was coldness in his performance, which didn't allow for the song to fully connect. He made it to the final, but, there, he has to try harder in order to achieve a good placing.

What about the rock acts? Well, 2/3 made the final, I'm just not sure if it's the right two. At least AWS from Hungary gave it their best. There was stage diving from the guitarist - and the singer faced a real danger of damaging his vocals chords with all those vocal acrobatics. Still, they sounded genuine - and the voters awarded them with a place in the final.

Waylon from the Netherlands gave his Country Rock/Southern Rock song a push with his and his band's dynamic performance, so they made it to the final as well.

I would still have preferred the third rock song of the evening, sung by The Humans from Romania, to make it to the final. Alas, it was not to be...

The eight finalists above were the ones that I predicted yesterday. There were two finalists that I hadn't predicted. Lea Sirk from Slovenia gave a spirited performance - and the gimmick near the end of the song that solicited the audience participation really helped with the voters. I'm still skeptical about it, but it did make it to the final, so...

It seems that there was a place for just one ethnic act in the final - and that turned out to be Serbia's Sanja Ilić & Balkanika. I think the female vocals helped make the song stand out to the voters. I can see nine countries giving the song high marks.

Then there were the acts that could have made it to the final but didn't. Christabelle from Malta was good on stage and the song was OK.

Laura Rizzotto representing Latvia also did a good job but failed to go through.

Julia Samoylova from Russia grew on me. Not that I became a fan, but I could see the song proceeding to the final. It didn't.

This is the first reaction from the ten qualifiers of the second Semi-Final:

Now, concerning my predictions for the final. It seems that Cyprus is the big favorite - and the betting joints don't like to lose money, so I think it's safe to say that Cyprus could be a first-time Eurovision winner. They need to do their best in the final though.

Other countries that could challenge Cyprus for the top spot include Israel, France, Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Norway, and Italy. Other countries that will fight to be on the top half of the scoreboard include Ireland, Estonia, Australia, Finland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Moldova. I'll talk to you again after the big final. Goodbye for now!