song contest
Finland and Sweden in finals at ESC
The Rasmus from Finland performing “Jezebel” during dress rehearsal for the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The 25 finalists have been determined: On Saturday, the competition from Germany’s representative Malik Harris includes not only the Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra but also musicians from Finland and Sweden.
In the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), another ten countries qualified for the final round on Saturday.
Among other things, the Finnish band The Rasmus with “Jezebel” came next. The Swedish contribution “Hold Me Closer” by Cornelia Jakobs as well as Serbia with Konstrakta and “In Corpore Sano” made it into the final. Malta, Cyprus and Israel are eliminated.
This means that all 25 finalists have been determined. How many points the 20 countries received from the two preliminary rounds was not announced in order not to influence the final. Germany’s representative Malik Harris with “Rockstars” was set for the last round anyway because the Federal Republic is one of the largest donors. France, Spain, Italy and Great Britain are also directly in the finals.
Already in the first semi-final Ukraine qualified with the Kalush Orchestra. The band with their song “Stefania” is considered the favorite for the overall victory. It is number one for bookmakers. If they win, the Ukrainians want to hold the ESC 2023 in their home country, despite the Russian war of aggression that has been going on for two and a half months.