It's almost time for Felicia to take the stage in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Ten participants will advance to the final, in addition to Italy and Germany, who are part of the "big four" (formerly the "big five", but Spain is boycotting the contest this year due to Israel's participation).
Unthreatened favorite
Unchallenged favorite among the bookmakers - and also tipped to win the contest - are Finland's Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius with the song "Liekinheitin". The word means "flame thrower" in Finnish and the lyrics are about a relationship in decline. Lampenius's violin playing is meant to symbolize the other party in a dialogue between the song's lyrics and the music.
After "Liekinheitin", Greece's Akylas with "Ferto" is the second-biggest favorite in the first semi-final. The song is humorous and "ferto" means roughly "come here with it" in Swedish. In the lyrics, Akylas lists a lot of things he wants someone to provide him with, such as sushi, a gold watch and fast cars.
Felicia is tipped to advance from the first semi-final in third place. Overall, she is in tenth place on the bookmakers' lists.
Israel is criticized
Fourth is Israel's Noam Bettan, who has already found himself at the center of a storm over a commercial in which he urged viewers to vote for his "Michelle" ten times, the maximum allowed. This prompted the organizer, the EBU, to demand that the commercial be taken down, which was done.
The country's participation in the contest has been criticized, not only because of the war in Gaza but also because Israel conducts extensive marketing campaigns to solicit votes in connection with the contest.
The campaigns have been sanctioned by the government and Israel is accused of manipulating the viewer vote in this way.
Facts: Semi-final in the Eurovision Song Contest
They compete in the first semi-final:
Moldova: Satoshi – "Long live Moldova!"
Sweden: Felicia – "My system"
Croatia: Lelek – "Andromeda"
Greece: Akylas – "Ferto"
Portugal: Bandidos do Cante – "Pink"
Georgia: Bzikebi – "On replay"
Italy: Sal Da Vinci – "Per semper sì"
Finland: Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen – "Liekinheitin"
Montenegro: Tamara Zivković – "Nova zora"
Estonia: Vanilla Ninja – "Too epic to be true"
Israel: Noam Bettan – "Michelle"
Germany: Sarah Engels – "Fire"
Belgium: Essyla – "Dancing on the ice"
Lithuania: Lion Ceccah – "Sólo quiero más"
San Marino: Late Hit – "Superstar"
Poland: Alicja – "Pray"
