Switzerland’s Nemo navigated a constantly moving satellite dish to secure the roar of the night from the Malmö crowd in what can only be described as a “tale of two semi-finals” for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.
Balancing on the large moving disc to complete ‘The Code’, Nemo shined in the performance which saw them secure enough audience votes to move into the Saturday night(Europe time) final as one of the favourites behind Baby Lasagna from Croatia.
After receiving a barrage of online hate in the lead-up to the Swedish-hosted event, the non-binary musical powerhouse has shrugged off any doubts to nail their semi-final performance.
The second semi-final was littered with strong upbeat pop classics and ballads, while in contrast, the first semi on Tuesday night failed to fire apart from Croatia’s ‘perfect’ for Eurovision rock song ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ and the Irish “goth gremlin goblin witch” otherwise known as singer Bambie Thug, whose electro-metal anthem Doomsday Blue is now among the favourites to win and broke Ireland’s Eurovision “curse”, qualifying for the contest’s grand final for the first time since 2018.
Marko Purišić, otherwise known as Baby Lasagna, only secured a spot in the Croatian finals ‘The Dora’ after the last-minute withdrawal from Zsa Zsa. He won by a landslide, getting a total of 321 points, with the runner-up getting 82. He won top votes from both the jury and the public, but the public support was particularly strong, which is now being repeated on the Eurovision stage and he should place highly come Saturday.
One of the strong performances of the second semi-final was Malta and yet they failed to excite the audience, missing the final. Apart from Switzerland, the Austrian entry Kaleen who performed a techno-inspired pop track ‘We Will Rave’ was a standout, as was one of the “Big 5” France.
Winner of The Voice (France) in 2016, Slimane performed the only true ballad of the competition this year with ‘Mon Amour’, and with his ability to project even while standing 5 metres ‘off-mic’, he provided the goosebumps of the night and surely has a chance come Sunday night.
The Big 5 countries and the host country Sweden, were allowed to perform live in the semi-finals this year and I think it will make a huge amount of difference when it comes to seeing them again for a second time in the final.
Netherlands entry Joost Klein also impressed in the second semi-final with his turbo-charged tune Europapa. Upbeat, quirky and the type of Eurovision song that can quietly nail the votes on the night and upset the favourites.
Placement in the final can also help voting and it has now been revealed four of the favourites to win are placed in the final six songs of the night, Switzerland, Croatia, France and Austria signing off the show.
Australian entrant Electric Fields failed to garner enough votes in Semi-Final 1 to make it through to the final.
After two semi-finals that were a bit ho-hum at times, let’s hope the final delivers the Eurovision magic we all expect.
Last Updated on May 10, 2024
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