Eurovision Song Contest: 2nd Semi-Final (presentation)

It's time to present the songs that will take part in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place tomorrow. Let's begin!

Spain: Manel Navarro

The country that will open the competition is Serbia, which, with only ten participations, has already had one victory (the first time it participated as Serbia, in 2007). This year, Tijana Bogićević will represent it with the song In Too Deep. Tijana has been in the music business since 2001, at first as a backing vocalist. In Too Deep is an OK song and Tijana has a good voice, but whether the song will proceed to the final or not is open to discussion.

Austria follows. The country first appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957, won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1966, and then again in 2014 with Conchita Wurst. Representing Austria this year is singer and songwriter Nathan Trent, who was born in Innsbruck in 1992, the son of an Italian mother and an Austrian father, an attractive young man with a very pleasant voice. The song is Running On Air and parts of the song vaguely remind me of the huge international hits See You Again and 7 Years. Since I like both, that's not a big problem for me. In fact, I like the song and I wonder why the "experts" have it rather low in their "possible winner" charts. According to them, it will struggle to reach the final. Personally, I think that with a good performance tomorrow, it will.

F.Y.R. Macedonia first appeared at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998. So far, its best position in the final is #12. In the last 5 years it keeps failing to reach the final, and I'm afraid that this year will be no different. Jana Burčeska is a nice looking girl with a pleasant voice and Dance Alone is not a bad song, but there's nothing to distinguish it from the rest. Only a great performance tomorrow can carry it to the final.

Malta joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 and its best positions were the second place (twice) and the third place (three times). This year it is represented by Claudia Faniello who sings a ballad called Breathlessly that could have been an album track for Bonnie Tyler in the late 70s. Pleasant to listen to if you're of a certain age, but probably not enough to take Malta to the final.

Romania joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and twice managed to come third. This year it is represented by the Ilinca ft. Alex Florea and the song Yodel It! that actually include a lots of yodeling. It's really a novelty song, one of those that the Eurovision crowd often votes for, for fun. The "experts" believe it will do very well, which is possible. I'll just say that it will probably make the final.

Next is one of the veteran participants: The Netherlands entered the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and have had four victories. Unfortunately, the last one was as far back as 1975. this year it is represented by the The Dutch vocal group OG3NE, which is made up of three sisters: Lisa (22) and twins Amy and Shelley (21).

The very personal and harmonious Lights and Shadows is a musical tribute to their mother, written by their father Rick, to inspire those whose families are disrupted by illness. Their mother has been seriously ill for several years. The song will make it to the final, and will probably end up in the top half of the final scoreboard.

Hungary appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1994 when it came fourth - and that was its best position so far. It only failed to make the final twice, in 2008 and 2009. This year's performer is Joci Pápai, whose father was the leader of a big gypsy orchestra. The song Origo is a blend of styles, electronic beats meet with Hungarian and gypsy styles. It is partially successful. It may progress to the final, but not much more than that.

Denmark first appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 and has had three wins, the last one four years ago. 21-year-old Anja was born and raised in Australia, but both her parents are Danish and most of her relatives lives in Denmark. Where I Am is an unremarkable power ballad, but Anja has a good enough voice to be able to carry it to the final.

Ireland first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 and is the contest's big winner, having been victorious seven times. The last one though was 21 years ago. For the last three years, it even failed to make it to the final. This year it is represented by young and cute Brendan Murray, who has been a member of the successful boy band Hometown since he was 17. Dying to Try is a pleasant song that will probably make it to the final.

San Marino made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 and made it to the final only once, in 2014, when it came 24th. Valentina Monetta will be representing San Marino for the fourth time (of the last six). With her is US R&B singer and songwriter Jimmie Wilson, born in Detroit, Michigan. Unfortunately, this song, a pleasant nostalgia trip to the 70s and 80s, will probably not be enough to better San Marino's record.

Croatia made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993. Prior to this, Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Yugoslavia. The Croatian band Riva won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1989. As an independend country it peaked at #4, twice. Jacques Houdek s one of the biggest pop stars in Croatia with a voice that can easily move from Pop to Popera. In fact this year's song, My Friend, an inspirational anthem, feels like a duet between Luther Vandross and Luciano Pavarotti. The song's unusual style will possibly carry it to the final. After that, things will be tougher, but who knows...

Norway made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 and has had three wins, the last one in 2009. This year's song, Grab The Moment, is performed by JOWST. The song is nothing to write home about - and will struggle to reach the final.

Switzerland won the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. It won again in 1988, with none other than a young Celine Dion. This year, Timebelle will represent Switzerland with the power ballad, Apollo. The song, while not bad, is not remarkable enough to stand out. There is little chance that the song will make it to the final.

Belarus joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 and its best position so far is the sixth.Naviband are Artem Lukyanenko and Ksenia Zhuk and will represent Belarus in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Story of My Life. The song is not good and will not make it to the final.

Bulgaria joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 and its best position came only last year - and it was the 4th. 17-year-old Kristian Kostov has a kind of Justin Bieber charm, which will certainly go well with the voters. His voice is good too. The song, Beautiful Mess, is by Joacim Persson, Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Alex Omar and Alexander V. Blay, who over the years have written material, together or separately, for artists such as Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Lady Gaga, Jonas Brothers, Tokio Hotel, Mary J. Blige, Iyaz, Selena Gomez, Armin Van Buren, etc. Their experience shows. The song will make it to the final, and will probably go far, the final Top 5 is very probable, while the Top 3 is quite possible.

Lithuania joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and the best that it could do so far was coming sixth. Fusedmarc will represent Lithuania with the song Rain of Revolution. By now I have developed a fatigue by listening to similar-sounding rather uninteresting songs, and so will have the audience. I don't think that Lithuania stands a chance of progressing any further.

Estonia made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and has had one victory so far, in 2001. Koit Toome & Laura are very popular in Estonia and their song, Verona, is relatively high in the "experts" list. Which means that it will probably go through to the final, although I honestly don't feel that it's that great a song. The second semi-final, however, is much weaker than the first, which means weaker songs will go through too.

The closing act will be from Israel. Israel made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 and has won three times, the last one in 1998 with Dana International. After two appearances at the Eurovision Song Contest as a backing singer, IMRI returns as the main act. His song is I Feel Alive, a slice of Europop that will probably not make it to the final.

Before hearing the three out of the six that will proceed directly to the final, here are my predictions for tomorrow: The 10 countries out of 18 that will make it to the final may be: Bulgaria, Romania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Austria, Ireland, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia. I got 9/10 in the first semi-final. We'll see how well I'll do in this one tomorrow...

A couple of days ago we also presented the three out of six countries that will proceed straight to the final. Today we will present the other three.

We begin with France, which has participated in the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, and has been victorious five times, the last one as far back as 1977. France's representative this year is Alma, a pianist and singer-songwriter, and her song is called Requiem. A better song than some of the ones that they presented during the last few years, Requiem may take France to the final Top 10 for the third time in the last 15 years (the great Patricia Kaas came 8th in 2009 and Amir came 6th last year).

Germany has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest every year since 1956 apart from 1996 when its entry failed to qualify from a pre-selection round. It had 2 victories, in 1982 and 2010. This year it will be represented by Levina and the song Perfect Life. The song is pleasant enough to achieve a respectable position in the final, but not remarkable enough to make the final Top 10.

Spain first appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 and became the first country to win the Eurovision Song Contest twice in succession in both 1968 and 1969. It hasn't won since. I'm afraid that it won't win this year either. Manel Navarro, 21, is a handsome young composer and singer, and his song Do It For Your Lover has an interesting verse, but it goes all wrong in the banal chorus. Navarro looks charismatic enough to salvage it, if his performance in the final is impressive enough. The answer is less than three days away.