Eurovision Semi-Final 1: The Day After

Netherlands; Hungary; Azerbaijan; Iceland; San Marino

The dust is settling after a busy, and somewhat surprising, evening of Eurovision highs and lows.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be more lows than highs in this section of the draw, with the whole semi-final having a somewhat dull and dreary feel to it. There were (continuing the meteorological metaphors) some sunny periods, but in general, it was grey and overcast.

Our trio of presenters did not help much, seemingly pre-programmed automatons who brought very little humour or joie de vivre to the proceedings. One or two lively presenters is normally enough, but these three bores added nothing to the evening.

Many of the songs were in the same vein. Some of the favourites flopped badly. Armenia's Aram MP3's vocals resembled the proverbial pancake, while the pretty Dilara Kazimova from Azerbaijan mumbled her way through what was meant to be an English lyric. On those performances, neither should have qualified. However, being told constantly that these songs are amongst those expected to score highly obviously continues to resonate with voters.

Talking of favourites, Sanna Neilsen from Sweden did what was expected of her and provided one of the nights best vocals while one of my tips, Hungary, could have been better.

However, the true stars of the night were divided by genre, but united in vocal quality and superior presentation. The Icelandic band, Pollapönk, pulled off a lively, colourful staging of its song No Prejudice, while The Netherlands gave a brooding and intimate rendition of their country track, Calm After the Storm. The Common Linnets appear in my personal Top 10 this year and I would not be surprised to see them in the official one (or higher) come Saturday evening.

Surprises of the night? San Marino and Montenegro, of course. Valentina Monetta possibly received the sympathy vote, but nevertheless, she has finally qualified. As for Sergej Ćetković, this was no real surprise for me as he provided one of the best vocals of the evening.

Among those that did not qualify, the most startling results possibly belonged to Belgium and Estonia. Tanja was simply not Amazing enough, despite an entertaining routine and Axel Hirsoux's voice seemed to suffer from nervous tension.

The evening was rounded off with a very good natured late press conference, where all the qualifiers chose in which half of the final they would appear. Sanna Neilsen gritted her teeth through a smile when she discovered that she had selected the first half. The luck of the draw, as they say!

And so on to Thursday when we will find out which other countries will join Armenia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, Montenegro, San Marino, Hungary, Iceland, Azerbaijan and Ukraine in the Grand Final.

Armenia; Ukraine; Montenegro; Russia; Sweden

Photos courtesy of EBU Eurovision