Eurovision Song Contest: The participants for the final are known – media

The finalists have been determined: In the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ten more countries qualified for the final round on Saturday with 25 participants. Next came on Thursday evening at the 66th edition of the international music competition in the northern Italian city of Turin, among other things Finnish band The Rasmus with the rock song “Jezebel”. The group is best known for their 2003 hit “In the Shadows.” “I thought thank God there’s a rock band in the finals,” said frontman Lauri Ylönen after the show.

Also Poles with Ochman and the ballad “River” made the final round. Above all, the musician thanked his family. “My grandpa, who was an opera singer, was a huge inspiration to me,” he said. Of the Belgian Jeremie Makiese (“Miss You”) builds on his sports experience after reaching the final: “I’m a footballer and in football we have to be mentally strong. I just bring that to this competition,” he explained. Also the rocking-roaring sung contribution “Hold Me Closer” from Sweden by Cornelia Jakobs made it to the final round, as did the entries from Estonia, Azerbaijanthe Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia and Australia. Malta, Cyprus and Israel, among others, were eliminated after this semi-final.

This establishes the 25 finalists for the Grand Final. How many points the 20 countries received from the two semi-finals was not announced in order not to influence the voting for the final. Already qualified in the first semi-final Ukraine with the Kalush Orchestra for the finale. The band is the favorite for overall victory this year. The bookmakers are currently expecting the group around rapper Oleh Psjuk to be number one with their song “Stefania”.

The six men assume that in the event of a victory, the next edition of the Grand Prix would be held in the country currently affected by the Russian war of aggression. The ESC organizers do not want to speculate about this possible scenario.

Germany will perform at the finale with Malik Harris and “Rockstars”. The 24-year-old Bavarian was already a finalist because the largest sponsors, such as the Federal Republic, are set for the final without qualifying. The song is currently expected to be in the lower ranks. Harris sings about childhood, when everyone was still little “rock stars” and life had fewer problems.

The other four countries of the so-called Big Five are also directly for the final France, Spain, Italy and Great Britain set. Looking at the betting providers, the British, Spanish and Italian entries should have a chance of making it to the top ranks. The Swede Jakobs is also highly regarded. Dress rehearsals for the show on Saturday will continue at the ESC on Friday. The show will be hosted by Italian Grammy winner Laura Pausini and British singer Mika, who rose to fame with his 2007 hit ‘Grace Kelly’.