1st semifinal overview

Of course we first see beautiful images of the Netherlands. The tiny house already plays a role. After Duncan Laurence has opened with a new song, the four presenters welcome you; three in a dark dress or suit, Chantal in yellow.

Lithuania: Yellow suits no one; but there are exceptions. Just try doing with your fingers what the guys from The Roop do. They are dancing, but not alone. We are sure of a place in the final for the yellow men.

Slovenia: “Amen”: this is not the last prayer you will hear. But Ana Soklic shows that she has a strong voice. She is a woman of the world: you can see that on the LED screens behind her. Unfortunately the final might be one bridge to far for her, we think.

Russia: You cannot miss it: Mazinha is a Russian woman. If you think she is going to perform the same trick as Linda Wagenmakers did: keep looking, she is doing something different. Mazinha will definitely reach the final.

Sweden: If you follow Melodifestivalen you will, as usual, see not much new things. But people who were concerned about Tusse’s voice can rest assured: there is nothing wrong with that. Tusse goes straight to the final.

Australia: The story is known, Montaigne is not in Rotterdam. You don’t notice that. Her performance is in every way a lot stronger than anything we’ve seen of her before. However, we think it’ll be tough for Montaigne to reach the final.

North Macedonia: Vasil comes with a ballad. And then half of the viewers say “wow, beautiful”, and the other half “boring”. But “Here I stand” suddenly means something completely different now that Vasil came out as gay in public two weeks ago. We are pretty sure that it’s not gonna help him to a place in the final.

And then Nikkie de Jager comes to update us on everything that has happened online in recent weeks. Then Edsilia Rombley talks to us from the greenroom, after which the show continues.

Ireland: Ireland does not use LED screens but cardboard. Two particularly handsome ladies serve all those pieces of cardboard in the Irish act. Yes, as a TV viewer you miss that part. She impresses by running the set, and empathizes with it so that it actually sounds like she is out of breath. It’s not impossible for Ireland to reach the final. It’ll be hard however.

Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou sings that she likes menthe wrong men. If you think she’s breaking the rules by having a lot more than six people on stage, no, she works with mirrors. For a moment it was rumored that Lady Gaga would perform at the Eurovision song contest: not, but Elena comes close with her song. Cyprus will go to the final, no doubt about it.

Norway: Another bunch of demons, but now with an angel in the middle. But that one is a fallen angel. One with a special story, as you can read here. We do not know TIX personally, but he has stolen our hearts because of ihis openness. It will definitely bring him the final.

Croatia: Croatia works with holograms. Or did you really think they cloned Albina? The song has everything to make it to the final, but then Albina has to sing it well. And we haven’t really heard her do that until now. Reaching the final will be tough, but not impossible.

Belgium: You could expect it: Hooverphonic is not in for a puppet show and therefore puts down a more down to earth act. As a result, Geike Arnaert’s strong vocals come out all the better. Not making concessions could just result in something beautiful. One of the editors of Eurovision Universe has already promised to eat his shoe if Belgium does not make it to the final. We think that will very well be possible.

Israel: We can only say that Eden Alene is doing her best. Yet “Set me free” is not an entry that stands out from the rest. Eden sings a very high note: great that she does that, but it is not necessarily beautiful. The final is probably very far away for Eden.

And then we are going to look at Måns Zelmerlow, who will be interviewed by Chantal Janzen.

Romania: And then Roxen suddenly wears something different than during all rehearsals: a red and white blouse with ruffles and ditto skirt. Roxen has certainly made progress in the past week, but beautiful singing is something else in our humble opinions. No final this year for Romania.

Azerbaijan: The Azerbaijan delegation knows how to throw a party on stage. Fortunately, because let’s say it carefully: “Mata Hari” is not their strongest entry ever musically. Mata Hari means “eye of the day”, or simply sun. This can be seen in their act. See you in the final on saturday Azerbaijan.

Ukraine: If you are wondering what a forest would look like after a nuclear disaster, Go_A will show you. There are outspoken fans of this entry, but also outspoken opponents. Whether you like it or not, Ukraine show us a great performance.

Malta: With Destiny you don’t have to worry about her voice: it is always good. She now wears a silver-colored suit and ditto boots: she has changed that quite often in recent days. The song is still a swinging song. Malta jumps into the final without any doubt.

Then we can enjoy Davina Michelle singing the song “The power of water”, supported by actress Thekla Reuten. In addition, images of waterland in the Netherlands are added. Don’t go to the toilet now, but keep watching, because it is spectacular! When the lines are closed and the votes are counted we will see the countries that are automatically placed for the final.

Italy: You see a glam rock band, but that is not exactly what you hear. Rock it is. Opinions can be divided into “loud noise” and “great”. Something in between doesn’t seem possible. The group has chosen not to do too many crazy things that they otherwise don’t. Perhaps that is why the bookies are now talking about an Italian victory.

Germany: The German Eurovision committee must have had a brainstorm about what we had not yet seen in Eurovision. “Eureka!” Someone shouted, “A walking middle finger!”. It was not allowed, which is why it became a walking peace sign. Anyone who thinks that singer Jendrik plays a role as a brisky man got it wrong: he really is like that.

Netherlands: There has been a lot of criticism of Jeangu Macrooy and his entry “Birth of a new age”. The performance he puts down is, however, very strong. His voice is praised in the virtual press center, the Surinamese text is fantastic according to them and some even see Jeangu finish in the top 10. To be clear: it is not Dutch people who say that! And then there is the time for the results. With conspicuously small flags and the names of the countries written quite large, the ten finalists are lined up one by one. Which 10 do we think they are? Well, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, Cyprus, Norway, Croatia, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Malta being very happy at the end of the evening.

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Martijn

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The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1968 The Royal Albert Hall in London was the venue, and Cathy Boyle hosted for the third time. The same 17 countries as the previous year participated. And something else was special too: for the first time, the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in color. Oddly enough, the broadcast in the host country, the United Kingdom, was still  in black and white. The British did not see the color version until the other day. The United Kingdom pulled out all the stops in more ways than one: the British participant was none other than Cliff Richard. In fact, no one really expected Cliff, who sang the song “Congratulations,” to win anymore. By then, he was high on the charts in many countries. In that light, what happened in Norway was quite remarkable. The song that won there sounded so terribly similar to Cliff’s “Summer Holiday” that the composer did not want to wait for an investigation into it. He simply withdrew the song. In Norway, people didn’t panic. The runner-up from the national selection was now allowed to go to London. That that song was called “Stress” is probably just a coincidence. Furthermore, former winner Isabelle Aubret participated for France one more time. Massiel In a hall full of screaming teenage girls, the unthinkable happened: Cliff Richard did not win. With a lead of just one point, the Spanish singer Massiel overtook him. Massiel was not the first choice in his own country. The Catalan Joan Manuel Serrat was originally supposed to sing the song “La, la, la.” However, he only wanted to sing the song in Catalan. General Franco’s dictatorial regime did not approve it. Thus, Massiel was pushed forward. Every so often, the story surfaces that General Franco allegedly bought this victory. He wanted to put Spain on the map in a positive light with it. It is an urban legend. No evidence has ever been found for these accusations. 1969 Austria refused to travel to dictatorial Spain. The number of participating countries therefore rose to sixteen. For the same reason, the Netherlands had to look for another conductor. Regular conductor Dolf van der Linden did not want to travel to Spain. Madrid was the setting. Spain had pulled out all the stops to put itself on the map in a positive way. For instance, the contest logo was designed by none other than the famous artist Salvador Dalí. The host was Laurita Valenzuela. The hall in the Teatro Real in Madrid was characterized by a huge organ. It opened the broadcast with the Te Deum. The Belgian Louis Neefs represented his country for the second time. And for the second time, he finished seventh, to disappointment of the Belgians themselves. Simone de Oliveira made a second appearance for Portugal. Siw Malmkvist also participated once again. Kirsti Sparboe even participated for the third time for Norway. Also noteworthy was Jean-Jacques, the French boy who competed for Monaco. This 13-year-old singer was by far the youngest candidate ever and would remain so until 1989. The scoring remained exciting until the very last moment. It was as battle between four countries… and all four won! The defining moment of the broadcast was when a surprised Laurita Valenzuela asked the scruteneer, Clifford Brown, if this meant there were four winners. Brown confirmed it. Four winners Spain won again. Salomé was the singer, “Vivo Cantando” the song. Salomé had a tough time. She wore a leaden blue dress. It was, in fact, made entirely of porcelain! The second winner was Lulu with “Boom Bang A Bang”. Lulu had already had a worldwide hit with the song “Shout”. A British newspaper wrote about Lulu’s entry: ‘It is a rotten song. It will undoubtedly win and be translated into Hungarian and all the dialects of Mongolia, but it is still a rotten song’. Lulu ended her performance in Spain with a loud “Olé”. The Dutch winner, Lenny Kuhr, was devoid of any frills. She had composed her song “De Troubadour” herself and performed it, accompanying herself on the guitar. Kuhr especially impressed Southern Europe. Her career would span more than fifty years. She will perform at Eurovision In Concert this year. Shortly thereafter, she will retire. The French winner, Frida Boccara, also managed to significantly expand her career. Although her song “Un jour, un enfant” didn’t do much in the charts, Boccara, who was born in Cassablanca, would remain a major star until her death in 1996. Her song “Cent mille chansons” became an evergreen. 1970 France and the Netherlands were willing to host the contest. By a draw, the Netherlands was chosen, and Eurovision moved to Amsterdam. A condition set by the Dutch broadcaster was that it would not become a funeral for the Eurovision Song Contest. Yet it almost became that funeral. Mad about the result of the previous year, all Scandinavian countries stayed away, along with Austria and Portugal. Only twelve countries participated. Nonetheless, the Dutch broadcaster NOS pulled out all the stops to make it a success. Director Theo Ordeman had devised a plan to introduce each song via a so-called ‘postcard’. It is a tradition that would never disappear. Stage designer Roland de Groot had designed a beautiful moving stage. The United Kingdom sent another big star: Mary Hopkin. Spain sent a former soccerplayer who had to retire due to an injury, and then started a singing career: Julio Iglesias. It would bring him a great deal of success, but not during the Eurovision Song Contest. David Alexandre Winter did not have much success either. He came from Amsterdam but entered for Luxembourg. He did so in an incomprehensible kind of French. No one was willing to give him any points. The Netherlands itself caused

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April 2, 2026 No Comments
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