The second semi-final for the Eurovision Song Contest has taken place in Turin, Italy, which completes the line up for the grand final this Saturday (14 May).
The countries that qualified for the competition are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Australia, Sweden, Romania and Serbia.
They join the qualifiers from the first semi-final, which took place on Tuesday 10 May: Switzerland, Armenia, Iceland, Lithuania, Portugal, Norway, Greece, Ukraine, Moldova and the Netherlands.
Also competing in the final will be musicians from the “Big Five” countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The second semi-final results spelled disappointment for eight countries: Israel, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Cypress, Ireland, North Macedonia and Montenegro.
Eurovision fans were particularly disappointed not to see San Marino or Ireland go through.
One fan commented on Twitter that Ireland’s Brooke Scullion had delivered “one of the best performances of the night by far” and that the final would be “not be the same without her”.
There was also widespread surpise that San Marino’s hotly-tipped Achille Lauro had failed to make the cut, with another social media user commenting: “No San Marino? No Ireland? See you all in court on Monday”
According to William Hill, Ukraine are currently favourites to win the competition, with a 42 per cent chance of success, amid the country’s ongoing war with Russia.
For the first time in years, the UK’s entry, Sam Ryder, is in a good position before the competition begins and looks likely to do far better than James Newman’s disastrous “nul points” last year.
