Hello Europe,

the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 continued with the semi-final 2 on Thurday May 11th. Read the review in the following. One thing ahead: If you have followed the show and thought it could not become worse let the second semi-final prove you different

These were the acts in the running order, their reprasenting nation, the interpret and the song. Just like in the semi-final 1 there were 18 acts from which just 10 could make it to the grand final:

1. Serbia – Tijana Bogicevic “In Too Deep”: A very playful melody at the beginning, rhythmic and as well familiar song. Sadly Tijana did not sing well.
2. Austria – Nathan Trent “Running On Air”: Nathan’s song is just as sunny and good moody as he is. His voice was fitting as well to the whole atmosphere. I very much loved the moon on the stage. On the whole he reminded me of public’s darling Ed Sheeran.
3. F.Y.R. Macedonia – Jana Burceska “Dance Alone”: Actually I find Jana’s voice too squeaky but for her song it was perfect! It was a sexy retro song just like her outfit was sexy! With that she reminded of a young Madonna. A very sympathetic girl who was definity a winner of the night with a proposal from her boyfriend!

   

4. Malta Claudia – Faniello “Breathlessly”: A sweet performance but not very outstanding at all.
5. Romania – Ilinca Feat. Alex Florea “Yodel It”: Ilinca and Alex made yodel cool! Even I was enchanted and became a yodeler. It is simply a song to go with and very much building up. A perfect mix of all! Ilinca has by the way a voice of gold. I secretly hope to see them as a couple in the future. 🙂
6. The Netherlands – O’G3NE “Lights And Shadows”: I have never experienced such a harmony of singing better but with O’G3NE. Their touching story about their mother touched me to tears. The glamorous black outfits with glitter were just perfect apart from the little bit too much décoltée! I have expected an a little bit more impulsive song but the one provided was still very beautiful!
7. Hungary – Joci Papai “Origo”: It’s really good that he sang in his native language and provided his culture probably best than everyone. The song is calm and his voice agreeable.
8. Denmark – Anja Nissen “Where I Am”: Anja can neither sing a deep tone nor does her voice really come out really which is a pity for her beautiful voice. However I find that she looks too plastic. Nevertheless a sweet song.
9. Ireland – Brendan Murray “Dying To Try”: When boys are cute that is Brendan. He seemed to have missed the break of his voice nevertheless he controls it very well and provided a very beautiful song!
10. San Marino – Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson “Spirit Of The Night”: The hot favourites and perfect duo! They have already had a very strong start which is important and good! An impulsive party song and retro reminder of the 60s! Jimmie’s American touch was as well not missing. In my opinion the best VM song ever!
11. Croatia – Jacques Houdek “My Friend”: The man with two voices but joke aside, he has a perfect opera voice at different stages!
12. Norway – JOWST “Grab The Moment”: Definitely what has been missing in Eurovision so far but what JOWST has provided, a cool song of DJing and singing. The purple stage was as well one plus point to get me.
13. Switzerland – Timbelle “Apollo”: A very outstandingly beautiful stage but the song was obviously not original which I find a no go for Eurovision no matter how great they song and singing may have been.
14. Bulgaria – Kristian Kostov “Beautiful Mess”: A very young talent who is a very adorable boy. A little miracle.
15. Belarus – Naviband “Historyja Majho Zyccia”: I appreciate very much that they have sung in their song in the native language. They obviously reminded of the Kelly Family which was why I could not really take them serious but they very sang well.
16. Lithuania – Fusedmarc “Rain Of Revolution”: A very firey song from the color and strength of the song. It was visible that the singer really gave her best.
17. Estonia – Koit Toome & Laura “Verona”: A very clear winner in this year’s Eesti Laul (the Estonian national election for the Eurovision Song Contest) – no surprise since it us written by Estonia’s godfather for Eurovision, Sven Lohmus – comparable to Stig Rästa’s and Elina Born’s work of “Goodbye To Yesterday” in 2015. Therefore it was even more a shock that they did not qualify for the grand final, not only the fans were shocked but as well journalists who were trying to find answers. The song is a very romantic but as well broken and therefore cold song of longing and closeness which Koit and Laura tried to transmit to the audiance. What obviously and sadly went wrong was the fail of Laura’s microphone in the very beginning and her badly done make-up. It looked like something was missing around her eyes. Everything else seemed very flawless to me.
18. Israel – Imri Ziv “I Feel Alive”: A very lively and great party song! Imri himself seems a very sympathetic guy who has a beautiful voice. If there would have been an 11th place for the qualification it would have been him.

After this review I would like to know if you agree with my point of view or not. Therefore have a quick and short recap of the Thursday’s acts.

My personal qualifiers of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 semi-final 2:

Of course there is a reason why a synonym for people is individuals. We have different characters, different points of view and according to that different tastes. But as a singer from a musical family I go towards my criteria for deserved qualifiers more neutrally. These are:

• the voice,
• the singer’s authenticity as well as the sympathy,
• the singer’s talent of having written or rather composed the song on its own and its closeness with instruments
• the outfit and staging and
• last but not least of course the song itself if it is outstanding, original and catchy

Having this in mind my qualifiers would have been in the neutral running order:

Austria
F.Y.R. Macedonia
Romania
The Netherlands
Ireland
San Marino
Norway
Bulgaria
Lithuania
Estonia

Who were your qualifiers? Write it in the comments and enjoy the night of the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017!

Love, Johanna