End of the suspense, with the revelation of the last ten countries qualified for the Eurovision 2024 final at the end of the second semi-final, which was held this Thursday, May 9 in Malmö (Sweden). These are Latvia, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Israel, Greece, Estonia, Switzerland, Georgia and Armenia. All join the ten qualifiers from Tuesday evening, thus the countries automatically in the final (including France) for the big evening on Saturday.
Malta, Albania, the Czech Republic, Denmark, San Marino and Belgium did not make it through to the semi-final. They find themselves with the five countries already eliminated on Tuesday. As in the first semi-final, there were not many surprises and the big favorites, Switzerland and the Netherlands, did not fail to validate their ticket for the big show on Saturday.
Eden Golan, the Israeli representative, also qualified despite a performance disrupted by a few boos, while her country’s participation was the subject of strong protests in Malmö.
No less than three winners for a legendary “sing-along”
The evening started in style with a humorous cover of “Tattoo”, the title winning song, by the two presenters of the evening. Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman gently mocked the staging by reenacting the scene in UV booths. What followed were all the performances which allowed viewers to form an opinion on the ten best candidates.
While Europe (and France) could vote for their favorites, it was not one or two but three former winners who set the Malmö Arena on fire. Helena Paparizou (2005), Sertab Erener (2003) and Charlotte Nilsson (1999) came together to perform the biggest Eurovision hits with the public during a “sing-along”. Viewers were invited to take part in the event from home and images of some were broadcast live on stage.
The Finn Käärijä, second behind Loreen last year, also made his comeback before the names of the ten qualifiers were revealed. In one year, his crazy energy and the enthusiasm of the public have not changed one iota, just like his daring neon green bolero.
Slimane impresses with his vocal power
For viewers of France 4 (Culturebox), however, it was the most anticipated of the evening, well ahead of the Estonian madness of 5miinust and Puuluup. The French representative Slimane delivered his first live performance in front of a European audience, as did the Spaniards Nebulossa and the Italian Angelina Mango.
Dressed all in white, as we saw during rehearsals that began a week ago, he delivered a powerful performance.
From now on, we have to wait until Saturday evening to find out which place the Frenchman will take this year and if he will do better than Barbara Pravi who took second place in 2021, to win a title that France does not. has won the most since 1977. It remains sixth among punters for the moment, while Croatia, Switzerland and Ukraine are in the lead.
