Ten acts advance from Eurovision first semi‑final to the Grand Final

Eurovision has its first batch of finalists now, and the headline is simple: 10 acts made it through Tuesday night’s first semi-final in Vienna. The countries advancing were Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Serbia and Sweden. Five others from that semi-final are done. Saturday’s Grand Final is starting to take shape. ### Who got through? The qualifiers were Greece, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Moldova, Israel, Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania and Poland. Different outlets listed them in slightly different reveal order, but the lineup itself is the same. That matters more than the sequence, because Eurovision only cares about who reaches the final — not where they ranked inside the semi. ### Who missed out? (rte.ie) The countries eliminated from the first semi-final were Portugal, Georgia, Estonia, Montenegro and San Marino. That is the other half of the story every year — 15 perform, 10 survive, five go home. Eurovision’s format is brutal that way, because one weak three-minute live run can wipe out months of hype. ### Why were Germany and Italy on the show? Because they were never fighting for qualification in the first place. (esctoday.com) Germany and Italy appeared during the semi-final broadcast, but both are automatic finalists, alongside host country Austria and the other “Big Five” funders. So viewers saw them, but the vote on Tuesday was only for the 15 actual semi-final competitors. ### How was the vote decided? (eurovisionfun.com) This semi-final was decided by public voting rather than the old mixed jury-and-televote setup. That includes votes from participating countries plus the “Rest of the World” online vote, which is folded in as one extra voting bloc. In practice, that makes the live TV moment even more important — staging, camera work and instant reaction can swing everything. (thepinknews.com) ### Why is Belgium the talking point? Because Belgium looked shaky in a lot of fan conversation before the show, then qualified anyway. That is a very Eurovision kind of upset. Studio clips and rehearsal buzz can shape expectations, but they are not the same as landing a full live performance in front of a mass audience. Belgium seems to have done exactly that. (esctoday.com) ### What does this say about the field? It says the obvious contenders mostly held serve. Sweden, Finland and Israel all made it through, which many people expected, and countries like Greece, Croatia and Lithuania also converted their chance. So the surprise was not a total chaos result — it was more that the bubble acts broke in a few interesting directions. ### What happens next? (france24.com) The second semi-final is set for Thursday, May 14, and that will fill the rest of the Grand Final lineup for Saturday, May 16. Austria is hosting this 70th Eurovision after JJ’s win last year, and Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle is the venue for all three live shows. By the end of Thursday night, the full final field will be locked. ### Bottom line The first semi-final did what Eurovision semi-finals are supposed to do — confirm a few favorites, kill a few hopefuls, and give everyone one result to argue about. (rte.ie) This time, that result is Belgium making Saturday while five others didn’t. (esctoday.com) (thepinknews.com)