Holá Well, it's finally D-Day for our very own Indiana Joan!!! The general feeling amongst everyone here in Baku is that she will make it through this evening, and secure a place for The Netherlands in the final for the first time since 2004. The charm of her performance and simple catchy melody should help it. I'll be sitting in the hall with my Dutch flag, and wearing my Native American Headdress, biting my nails to the quick until their name is read out! There are some obvious qualifiers tonight in the shape of Ukraine, Serbia and Sweden. I also think Tooji's place in the final for Norway is assured, after some superb rehearsals. His song stands out as a masterpiece of modern, fresh pop in a ballad-heavy semi. I was indifferent to Turkey's song before I came out here, but Can's performance (you pronounce it "Djan", by the way) is quirky and fun, and I've changed my mind about it. This should qualify, and pretty much needs...
OK folks, the time has come to make some predictions for Semi Final 1, which takes place this evening (8pm BBC3 - for those who want to join in with all the fun!). We sat through last night's rehearsal and it was VERY obvious that Russia is going to walk this Semi. I really can't see anything else coming close to the Grannies as they march into Saturday's final, so I'm predicting a big win for them this evening (although, we'll not know how they finished until after Saturday). I think this is a MUCH weaker semi than the second, and there is a run of three terrible songs (Belgium, Finland and Israel) right in the middle which almost sent me to sleep last night. Montenegro is beyond awful, and given that all of the other ex-Yugoslav countries will sing and vote in the second semi, I seriously think he will finish this evening with the dreaded "null points". Romania and Moldova are certainties tonight... (any excuse for another Pasha photo on ...
Can you imagine trying to get through security at the airport behind them? Nightmare
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