Austria made it into the final of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) on Saturday: The country with outsider chances qualified on Thursday evening in the second ESC semi-final in Liverpool. A total of 37 countries are taking part in the ESC, which is taking place for the 67th time this year, but only 26 are in the final, which is acclaimed worldwide.
In the second semi-final, bands and singers from 16 countries competed against each other. Ten of them made it to the final: Albania, Cyprus, Estonia, Belgium, Lithuania, Poland, Australia, Armenia, Slovenia as well as Austria.
Denmark, San Marino, Romania, Georgia, Iceland and Greece dropped out. Ten countries already qualified in the first semi-final on Tuesday, including Sweden’s Loreen, who has been seen as the upcoming winner in betting shops for weeks. The female duo Teya and Salena, who represent Austria, are at least considered outsider chances.
Satirical contribution from the Alpine republic
The duo was put together by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF and presented the satirical song “Who The Hell Is Edgar” about the writer Edgar Allan Poe in the second semi-final. The German ESC commentator Peter Urban from the ARD called the red, black and white show of the two singers “a fantastic production”.
Australia also progressed on Thursday. The country has been taking part in the ESC since 2015. This year, the rock band Voyager, founded in 1999, performed – with a singer who grew up in Lower Saxony. Monika Linkyte from Lithuania also made it. Urban characterized her ballad “Stay” as “almost religious pop”.
The audience decided who would go ahead
While in the final a jury and the audience decide in equal parts on the allocation of points, only the audience decided on progress in the two semi-finals. Last year’s winner Ukraine and the five major sponsors of the ESC – Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain – are seeded for the final. Lord of the Lost represents Germany. The bookmakers see the band in midfield, but don’t give them any significant chances of winning.
Last year, the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra won the ESC. Because of the ongoing war, however, the final cannot take place as usual in the country of the previous year’s winner for the first time. (AFP)
