Eurovision 2023: Who made it through in first semi-final and whose night ended in heartbreak?
Loreen (L) and Wild Youth (R) at Eurovision semi final. (BBC/Instagram/@bandwildyouth)
Fifteen countries battled it out in the first Eurovision 2023 semi-final last night (9 May) but only 10 rose victorious to the prestigious Grand Final on Saturday (13 May).
The atmosphere was tense in Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on Tuesday evening as hosts Alesha Dixon, Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham and Ukranian rock star Julia Sanina took the stage for an unforgettable night of passionate singing, emotional tributes to Ukraine and shocking eliminations.
The Big Five countries – UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, plus last year’s winner Ukraine are already guaranteed spots in Eurovision grand final. The 15 hoping to join them from the first semi final included: Serbia, Sweden, Latvia, Ireland, Moldova, Switzerland, Norway, Israel, Portugal, Netherlands, Croatia, Finland, Azerbaijan, Malta and Czech Republic.
This year the decision lay with the European public outside of the UK, with the 10 countries with the most votes making it through.
As Sweden’s Loreen stole hearts with her jaw-dropping performance of “Tattoo” easily sailing through to the final as a clear favourite to win, there was also heartbreak as Eurovision’s historic biggest winner Ireland (with seven wins under their belt) crashed out of the competition with their act “We Are One” by Wild Youth.
The full list of acts that made it through to the Eurovision grand final taking place on Saturday (13 May) include:
- Norway with “Queen of Kings” by Alessandra
- Serbia with “Samo mi se spava” by Luke Black
- Portugal with “Ai Coração” by Mimicat
- Croatia: with “Mama ŠČ!” by Let 3
- Switzerland with Watergun by Remo Forrer
- Israel with Unicorn by Noa Kirel
- Moldova with Soarele și Luna by Pasha Parfeni
- Sweden with Tattoo by Loreen
- Czechia with “My Sister’s Crown” by Vesna
- Finland with Cha Cha Cha by Käärijä
That means we are saying goodbye to Latvia, Malta, Azerbaijan, Netherlands and Ireland.
Ireland was the most shocking elimination of the night. Despite raucous applause within the arena the Irish pop band didn’t quite make the impact they wanted. In a now deleted Instagram post, lead singer Conor O’Donohoe wrote: “We did everything we could. Michael Kealy [RTE’s Eurovision head of delegation] was amazing. But the truth is they never give Ireland a chance, sorry if we let you down. We tried our best.”
Ireland have failed to qualify for the past eight out of 10 finals – with their last time in in the Eurovision grand final taking place in 2018 with Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s “Together”.
Ireland’s Eurovision commentator Marty Whelan echoed the disappointment on RTÉ One, saying: “Everything was absolutely perfect, they were fantastic. There’s things I want to say, there’s things I want to share. You can probably get it from the tone of my voice, what I’m thinking, that this is… Ugh, this is just such a shame.
“But the votes didn’t come. So we are not qualifying again this year from Liverpool when we had great expectations, as the famous book says.”
Meanwhile, aside from fan-favourite Loreen blowing audiences away with her spectacular performance, other highlights included Croatian rock band Let 3 dressing in leather fetish gear before stripping down to their white underwear, and Finland’s Käärijä thrash techno track “Cha Cha Cha” which got everyone cheering and dancing.
Outside the stiff competition, the evening also saw a cameo from the late Paul O’Grady in a short video kicking off the evening alongside Bake Off‘s Paul Hollywood and King Charles and Queen Camilla. During half-time Rita Ora stole the stage performing her hit songs with a touching opening fro 12-year-old Ukrainian refugee Sofiia.
Ukraine, who are not able to host the Eurovision Song Contest this year due to Russia’s ongoing invasion, were at the heart of the evening’s celebrations with Ukrainian star Alyosha performing a stunning version of Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World” opposite X-Factor star Rebecca Ferguson.
The second semi-final will take place on Thursday (11 May) with 16 countries facing off to win their place in the Grand Final. They are: Albania, Australia, Armenia, Cyprus, Romania, Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Iceland, Georgia, Greece, Poland, Estonia.
The Eurovision Grand Final, where Mae Muller will represent the UK with “I Wrote a Song” airs on Saturday, 13 May at 8pm on BBC One in the UK. Our current hosts will be joined by Eurovision veteran Graham Norton.
