Kristian Faith

May 10, 2017 by Tim Booth

Semi final 1 only took place last night, but it’s already time to take a look at semi 2 before tonight’s crucial jury rehearsal.

Serbia has come together a bit more visually. There were some glowing lights near the start in addition to on-screen water effects. With strong voting power, could this be the Poland of semi 2?

Nathan is sounding his strongest yet for Austria. The high note at the bridge is the most obvious concern, which was about 90% on-point today. There’s lots for juries to appreciate here.

FYR Macedonia has adjusted the sound mix to make ‘Dance Alone’ sound more like its studio version. Jana’s giving the camera plenty of smiles, but the outfit and overall styling aren’t the best.

One can’t help but draw parallels between Malta and Slovenia from semi 1. This is perhaps an easier heat to escape from but Claudia could be shoved down the memory hole preceding Romania.

Alex is now rocking a ‘curtains’ hairdo from the late 90s for Romania. We saw with Moldova that novelty definitely still has an audience, but how high can this realistically go with the juries this evening?

OG3NE almost missed their cue at the start, but were otherwise as flawless and professional as ever. “A really moving performance” says the host, and he’s not wrong. It gets me Every. Single. Time. The Netherlands is a potential jury winner this evening.

Post-break, there are now more noticeable floor effects for Hungary. Otherwise, there are plenty of talent show warning signs here including fire pyros and a very long, aggressive rap.

Denmark’s postcard features Anja displaying her yoga abilities. The opening “Laying down my armour…” line comes out of nowhere and takes you by surprise. An effective package overall.

Brendan looks much more appealing in a new white jacket. “I know you’re scared, but so am I…” and it really seems like he is. With more than a few of the notes missed, Ireland looks to be in danger.

It would appear San Marino is Rob’s guilty pleasure this year. Actually, it’s a lot of fun following Ireland. Valentina isn’t particularly convincing with her dance moves. Will juries really be giving 70s disco any love?

Like Poland in semi 1, Croatia feels like a very difficult call. The whole thing is completely ridiculous but it’s at least more interesting than many others. Vocals are right, but the visuals are very wrong.

With so many modern-sounding songs qualifying last night, Norway should be in the mix to go through tomorrow. It’s a very difficult entry to get particularly excited about, but it is well performed.

Switzerland’s Mirela wears a yellow dress in the postcard, which makes her ‘Big Bird’ dress come as less of a shock. “A colourful performance,’ the host declares. Vocally this was solid and it was her best effort yet.

Naviband are as happy as ever for Belarus. Everything has come together for this, with the sparkly pyros and dry ice adding to the visuals. It could get forgotten preceding potential semi winner Bulgaria, and I have doubts about its jury appeal.

Kristian put in a solid rehearsal for Bulgaria. I’ve perhaps heard him sounding a little stronger, but it’s tonight in front of the juries when vocals will matter most. Just ask Australia’s Isaiah.

There’s barely anything good to say about Lithuania. It’s almost unbelievable how they have gone from a Top 10 finish to this in just a year. ‘Rain of Revolution’ could be last in this semi.

Estonia strikes me as quite a bizarre overall package. This duo are slightly older and not particularly voteable, and it’s hard to work out whether the humour in this is intentional.

The contrast is very apparent with Israel, in that it’s a modern song with an attractive performer. Vocally this has come on leaps and bounds, and doesn’t look likely to fail from the pimp slot and do a Serbia 2013 or Latvia 2017.

As with semi 1, we get to see one minute of three automatic qualifiers. France’s Alma appears to have more confidence, but otherwise the staging was as before.

Germany is also as before and manages to be both dull and nice at the same time.

O.Torvald are rocking out as ever for Ukraine. If we really are ‘celebrating diversity’, this would be finishing in tenth place, but I’m not sure there is enough in the staging or the song to help the host nation achieve its usual Top 10 finish.

In the recap, what’s particularly apparent is that the bottom end of the jury vote is potentially very crowded in this semi. The qualification market remains a quandary, and likely will stay that way until the qualifiers are announced tomorrow night.

Just for fun, the fake qualifiers in this rehearsal were, in order; Israel, Serbia, Bulgaria, Belarus, Malta, Ireland, Austria, Croatia, Romania, Switzerland.

Hopefully tonight’s jury rehearsal will clarify things a little more.