The first of three live broadcasts of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 has given the initial results of the competition, with 10 of the 15 countries progressing to the grand final on Saturday (May 11) and five countries returning home.
Most notable among the 10 winning nations are Luxembourg, who returned to the pan-European competition this year after a 31-year absence, and Ireland, who share the record for most wins with Sweden at seven.
However, Ireland have failed to qualify for the grand final 11 times since the semi-finals were introduced in 2005. Bambie Thug breaks that spell with “Doomsday Blue”, a self-described “electro-metal meltdown”. Thug (real name: Bambie Ray Robinson) is the first non-binary artist to represent Ireland at Eurovision and will be the first Irish contestant in the contest since Ryan O'Shaugnessy took 16th place with “Together” in 2018 .
Thug's entry is expected to place high in the grand final rankings. If they finish in the top five, it will be Ireland's biggest Eurovision hit since Marc Roberts' 'Mysterious Ways', which finished second to Katrina & the Waves who won the UK's 'Love Shine a Light' in 1997.
Talia, an Israeli-born singer living in Luxembourg, will be the first person from this small European country – the world's only remaining grand duchy (a country ruled by a monarch with the title of grand duke or duchess) – who will sing in Eurovision by Modern Times placed 20th with “Donne-Moi Une Chance” in 1993.
The other eight countries that qualified for the grand final are Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The five countries relegated, by public vote during the live broadcast, are Australia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Moldova and Poland.
The oddsmakers have Croatia heavily tipped to win. it would be that nation's first win in 30 attempts, although Riva, a band from Croatia, triumphed in 1990 when their country was still part of Yugoslavia.
A second semi-final will be broadcast live on Thursday (May 9). There will be 16 countries fighting for a place in the grand final top 10 that night: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland.
Qualifiers, and therefore can skip the semi-finals, are the host country (Sweden) and the 'Big Five' (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), so named because they contribute the largest amounts to the production budget.
Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Semi-Final No. 2 will be broadcast live on Peacock in the US on Thursday, starting at 3pm. ET/noon PT. The Grand Final will also be live on Saturday at the same time.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/eurovision-2024-first-semifinal-results-ireland-luxembourg-1235676899/
