Few have missed that Sweden's contribution, the Finnish-Swedish trio KAJ, are favorites in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Right behind on the odds list is Austria's JJ, a techno pop song with opera influences.
Behind the artist name hides the Austrian-Filipino singer Johannes Pietsch. At 24 years old, he has competed in the British version of "The Voice". At the time of writing, the contribution "Wasted love" is at 22 percent, compared to KAJ's 39 percent chance of taking home the victory in Eurovision.
Finland among the favorites
From KAJ's home country Finland comes Erika Vikman, who made a big breakthrough in her home country when she came second in the Eurovision selection, UKM, with the song "Cicciolina". Her "Ich komme" is tipped to finish at least in the top ten in the final – but first, she has to get there via tonight's semifinal.
Earlier, Vikman has expressed her disappointment over surveys in Finland that have shown that more people want KAJ to win for Sweden in Basel than for their own contribution to win.
I naturally got sad when I heard it. Is this how you support your own representative?, she has said.
Tonight, Israel is also competing, with the song "New day will rise". It is performed by 24-year-old Yuval Raphael, one of the survivors of Hamas' attack on an Israeli music festival on October 7, 2023.
Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has been debated since the war in Gaza began. The competition in Malmö last year was characterized by protests and demonstrations against the country's participation. EBU was accused of hypocrisy when they let Israel stay in the competition, after previously excluding Russia in 2022 due to Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
So far, it has been calm around Eurovision, on Wednesday evening, a "silent march" was held for Palestinian victims of the war in central Basel, but at the arena, individual flags have been seen. Maybe it will be different when the country is represented on stage.
Norway competes for Ireland
There is more Nordic hope in tonight's semifinal: Danish singer Sissal is competing with "Hallucination", but is tipped to end up at the bottom and may therefore leave the competition without a final spot. Norway is sending Norwegian TikTok singer Emmy to compete for Ireland with the contribution "Laika party". Right now, she is balancing on the edge of being eliminated, if you believe the betting companies.
Tonight, ten out of fifteen contributions will go through to the final, and it is only the public votes that decide. In the final on Saturday, the jury groups' votes will be added as a factor.
Semifinal number one in Eurovision is broadcast on Thursday, May 15, at 21.00 on SVT Play and SVT1.
1. Australia: Go-Jo – "Milkshake man"
2. Montenegro: Nina Zizic – "Dobrodosli"
3. Ireland: Emmy – "Laika party"
4. Latvia: Tautumeitas – "Bur man laimi"
5. Armenia: Parg – "Survivor"
6. Austria: JJ – "Wasted love"
7. Greece: Klavdia – "Asteromáta"
8. Lithuania: Katarsis – "Tavo akys"
9. Malta: Miriana Conte – "Kant (singing)"
10. Georgia: Mariam Shengelia – "Freedom"
11. Denmark: Sissal – "Hallucination"
12. Czech Republic: Adonxs – "Kiss kiss goodbye"
13. Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – "La poupée monte le son"
14. Israel: Yuval Raphael – "New day will rise"
15. Serbia: Princ – "Mila"
16. Finland: Erika Vikman – "Ich komme"
