For most people's reckoning, this year's second semifinal is the less competitive batch. However, it is emerging that this is the competition that is more difficult to call, as there are multiple scenarios at play that can affect the outcomes of this batch.
01 DENMARK: "Breaking My Heart" - Reiley. This is an urban-sounding pop number, but Reiley is actually from the Faroe Islands, a remote rural dependency of Denmark. People are divided over the chorus that used heavy vocoder effects--one side thinks it's what makes the song state-of-the-art pop, another side found it grating. And the use of the effects also divide people on Reiley's vocal ability--some think he proved he can sing well live, but others felt he's an inadequate vocalist because of those background vocal effects. As such, it's tough to call if he can break the two-year drought this country is experiencing making the final.
02 ARMENIA: "Future Lover" - Brunette. When this song was released, I was slightly jarred at what I heard, as based on the song title I was expecting something uptempo, but instead we have this classical-style ballad with a feisty rap interlude. I also have a quibble with the use of the term "near cafes" instead of "nearby cafes". Many fans loved this entry upon hearing it while eventually after being taken aback this song also grew on me and now I love it. So it's shocking when the running order was announced and this is placed in the notorious No. 2 slot. This song is too good to be placed there, so many people thought. But then again, maybe it's probably the producers' way of trying to prove that performing 2nd is not a curse, as Brunette has proven herself to be a consistently strong vocalist during the pre-party circuit and at her segments during the online A Little Bit More specials (especially check out her cover of Salvador Sobral's 2017 winning song "Amar pelos dois"). I'm optimistic she'll handily beat the No. 2 curse and now the question is if she will finish in the Top 10 in the final.
03 ROMANIA: "D.G.T. (Off and On)" - Theodor Andrei. There are many people who feel this is one of Romania's weakest entries ever, and that the artist is too homely and his presentation in the national final was a sleazy hot mess. But considering he's only 18 years old, and he's the one who wrote this song in the first place and perhaps was the one who conceptualized his own staging at the national final, I think we can cut him a lot of slack as there is a lot of raw talent underneath the mess, and you don't expect someone as young as him to be fully formed and polished from the get-go, and the song is something indeed fitting for someone his age as a guy his age would have sex and seduction on his mind a lot--"D.G.T" in the title is actually a stylized shorthand for the Romanian word "degete [fingers]" and hence the song's theme is about how a woman's touch drives him mad, wild and crazy. Judging from the rehearsals, apparently the Romanian broadcaster is not giving him much support as although the staging is now finessed and there doesn't seem to be scantily clad female backing dancers present, it seemed threadbare compared to what the others are offering, so this country is likely to miss the finals for the 4th time. Still, keep an eye on this guy in the future--he might be able to make great music once he finds someone to guide him and finesse his boundless energy.
04 ESTONIA: "Bridges" - Alika. This spare and elegant piano ballad has its adherents, and it has a relevant message about world peace in the light of the Ukrainian conflict. Alika is also a consistently gifted vocalist, nailing her notes every time. Now, I have to note one thing about Alika's background that I wonder why she didn't generate controversy the way say, CZECHIA's Vesna, had--Alika is of Russian descent, her full name being Alika Milova; so why are critical Eurofans not giving her flak for her conciliatory message or compare it to something like Polina Gagarina's hypocritical world peace ballad "A Million Voices" back in 2015? If people are cutting her some slack, why not Vesna? Anyway, there are people who have a high regard for this ballad, and undoubbtedly Alika will sing impeccably, but I'm not confident that this ballad is making a standout impression, unlike if we have Ollie or the Bedwetters were competing in her stead?
05 BELGIUM: "Because of You" - Gustaph. Most Eurofans had a low regard for this entry, and often ranked him the weakest in his national final. So imagine their shock when he ended up winning (pipping one of the favorites by one point). But upon further listens to this song, one realizes this is a fun, celebratory LGBTQ+ pride anthem, and Gustaph is a consistently strong singer. It's giving me flashbacks to 2016 and this country's representative, Laura Tesoro's "What's the Pressure?" and I'm seeing a similar upward trajectory will happen with this guy the way it happened with Laura. When Laura won her national final she was considered a weak link, but with the release of her slick music video and then the entertainingly funky live presentation, she soared to 10th place in the final. I don't expect Gustaph to duplicate Laura's finish, but his prospects of making the final is growing stronger and stronger--I'm glad he brought in one of the dancers shown in his video (and in the video backdrop in his national final) to perform those impressive squat-leaps in high heels. I'm expecting a fabulous night to be had by all with this entry.
Watching the music video, I observed that when Gustaph is sporting a cap, he looks like a deadringer to Matthew Krol, host of the Extra Credits and Extra History YouTube channels.
06 CYPRUS: "Break a Broken Heart" - Andrew Lambrou. Instead of sourcing talent from Greece, this year, they found an Australian of Greek descent to represent them. This guy competed in Australia Decides last year with the song "Electrify", a Latin-infused electro-pop banger which placed 7th in that competition. When the video for this entry was released, many observers were skeptical if this hunk can deliver the song live--but then again, after checking out his previous number, I realized he already showcased his falsetto vocals throughout the song (on top of his capability of singing verses in Spanish). He didn't show up in the pre-party circuit, but as rehearsals wore on, people are starting to realize the guy can deliver those high notes live--he's the closest thing we have to Duncan Laurence in this year's contest. He's looking more of a surer thing to make the final.
07 ICELAND: "Power" - Diljá. This inspirational empowerment song is a driving 1980s throwback bop. This lady's vocal chops are undeniable and there are many fans digging this song. But still there are some who are skeptical that this entry can advance to the final--some criticized that the song's structure doesn't really build up to a climax, and that could probably leave the televoters a bit cold to not vote for her despite her amazing vocal talent. I'm still rooting for her to succeed.
08 GREECE: "What They Say" - Victor Vernicos. If you base it on the depth of his voice, it's hard to believe that this guy is just 16 years old as he has this deep baritone. This country is normally a Eurovision powerhouse and is almost guaranteed to figure in the finals (it only missed twice--in 2016 and shockingly, 2018). But many fans are not bullish towards this song as the acoustic rock number is just a tad low-key compared to other offerings. On top of that, the staging featuring him alone rolling on the stage floor sporting a pink jacket-and-shorts ensemble is just underwhelming. Considering that this year the semifinal decision would be determined solely by televote, this entry may need the presence of its traditional allies to help push it to the final, and this bracket has a lot of them, with Cyprus, Albania, and Armenia expectedly tossing big points this country's way.
09 POLAND: "Solo" - Blanka. Based on the drama with the results of her national final, there are many Eurofans who are going out of their way to hate on her and this breezy, tropical-styled pop entry, making fun of her every move and most especially, making her opening line to this song, "Baby," (pronounced and spelled like "Bejba") into a meme. She was ranked down on many fans' lists, but then the talk came that for her Liverpool performance there will be a dance break added, and as it was shown on rehearsal footage, it was impressive. One must also note that the majority of viewers are not aware of the national finals drama, so they might vote for her based on her presentation alone. So, instead of being an also-ran, it is turning into one of the likely finalists.
10 SLOVENIA: "Carpe Diem" - Joker Out. This country normally stages a national final, but this year they decided to do an internal selection and have this already locally popular band be the chosen entry. It proves to be a great choice as this lively danceable rock ditty is a strong entry. This country tends to struggle to advance but thankfully with this group being less competitive there is ample room for this entry to shine. Now the question if this entry has what it takes to exceed its country's highest finish of 7th place back in 1995 and 2001, that remains uncertain. Still there is ample hope for this engaging number to succeed.
11 GEORGIA: "Echo" - Iru. She previously competed at Junior Eurovision 2011 as part of the girl group Candy with their gimmicky disco ditty "Candy Music".With this country in a long finals drought since making the cut in 2016, fielding this former champion might be the ingredient to reverse their fortunes. This song seems to evoke something epic, and Iru is a terrific singer and she delivered passion in her singing. Now, many people have noted when listening closely to the lyrics, the verses don't seem to make any sense--they are like random English phrases spliced into verses seeing if they would stick. Those lyrics make the Backstreet Boys' 1999 inscrutable classic "I Want It That Way" seem elementary and easily comprehensible. Still, it looks like Iru can get away with it like the way the Backstreet Boys did.and this is one of the likeliest entries to make the final, and possibly even making a play to outdo its best-ever 9th place finishes in 2010 and 2011.
12 SAN MARINO: "Like an Animal" - Piqued Jacks. Well, this rock number is listenable enough. But I have serious quibbles when lead singer Andrea "E-King" Lazzaretti hit that climactic high note as it sounds irritatingly grating to the ear. Many fans also feel the song lacks substance or depth so even if we have to hand it to this band for doing their best, their prospects for making the final are very slim to none.
13 AUSTRIA: "Who the Hell is Edgar?" - Teya & Salena. One might get hooked on the in-your-face funny spoken word intro that recalls Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" and most especially the "Poe-Poe-Poe-Poe-Poe" hook on the chorus, but this song is actually much deeper than its catchy silliness may imply. I'll defer most of the discussion to Overthinking It again, but this song tackles a lot of themes, like lack of compensation for streaming in the record industry, lack of respect for women as creative forces in music, and corollary to that, the tendency to assume that for a woman to succeed in this business, there is a man working behind the scenes to ghost write for her. Most believe this entry will be the top performer in this semifinal, and I subscribe to that.
14 ALBANIA: "Duje [Love them]" - Albina & Familija Kelmendi. Reading the lyrics I discovered it's a cry for help for a love that seems to be falling apart, and though the song itself doesn't state exactly what form of love, this family presents it as about holding the family together. When I watched their performance at their national final, I loved the danceable ethno-rhythms and I would love to sway my hips to the beat but it's hard to get into a dance mood when this family couldn't seem to dance and all we see is Albina wailing in agony. For their Liverpool staging, they employed the help of famous stage director Sasha Jean-Baptite, and so far bauzz about the presentation is good and maybe, just maybe, this entry will be able to squeak through the final.
15 LITHUANIA: "Stay" - Monika Linkytė. At first listen, this pop ballad seems too conventional and ordinary. But upon further listens, I started appreciating the passionately yearning vocal delivered by Monika--she didn't get to showcase her range in her initial stint back in 2015 as the song only required her to be bubbly, cute, and optimistic. This song is definitely a stark contrast to that puppydogs-and-rainbows number as instead of sunshine we have intense distress and yearning, and I'm glad Monika was able to deliver. As the national went on, Monika and her team added a tweak to the song that made it special--a repetitive chant of "Ciuto Tuto", which doesn't have a direct translation but it does cast a spell. With this bracket this looks like a sure finalist--now can she outdo the 18th place finish she had back in 2015?
16 AUSTRALIA: "Promise" - Voyager. This band fuses electro-pop with gritty hard rock and are known to be strong live performers. Though I wonder what the hell a car is doing onstage in Liverpool, I'm still optimistic this number will advance to the final. This year is supposed to be the last year of a contract that Australian broadcaster SBS will be sending entries to compete in this contest--but I have a feeling it's likely they'll extend this indefinitely.
Now, it's time for my "Fearful" Forecast for this semifinal:
TOP 10: ARMENIA, BELGIUM, CYPRUS, ICELAND, POLAND, SLOVENIA, GEORGIA, AUSTRIA, LITHUANIA, AUSTRALIA
BUBBLING UNDER: DENMARK, ESTONIA, GREECE, ALBANIA
COMING UP: AUTOMATIC FINALISTS
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