We’re getting tantalisingly close to the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, which takes place on Saturday, May 22.
And with the second semi-final officially over, seven more acts haven’t made it to the final line-up.
With countries including Ireland and Australia knocked out on Tuesday night, there were further shocks in store on Thursday as the performing countries waited with bated breath for the announcement.
And those who didn’t make it this time around were Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia and Poland.
It comes as Iceland was forced to pull out of the live shows due to Covid fears, and was forced to participate via video link – but they still managed to impress voters and make it through to the Grand Final.
(Image: PATRICK VAN EMST/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Band member Jóhann Sigurður Jóhannsson said he was “shocked and disappointed” at finding out he had tested positive for coronavirus.
Posting to his band Daði og Gagnamagnið’s Instagram story, he said: “I’m generally very sad about the whole situation.
“I’m healthy. It’s difficult because we’ve worked so hard and I really wanted this and it’s been so long in the making.”
(Image: SANDER KONING/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Previous rehearsal footage will instead be used as a back-up on Saturday, as it was in Thursday’s semi-final.
Australia also participated via video link this year due to virus restrictions.
Each act had to perform a back-up video in case they had to self-isolate with COVID-19.
Belarus also made headlines this year after the country was banned from competing in this year’s Eurovision due to “overly political” song lyrics which contained an “anti-dissent” theme.
(Image: PATRICK VAN EMST/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Dubbed I Will Teach You, Galasy ZMesta’s track included the lines “I’ll teach you to walk on a string / You will be happy about everything… I will teach you to toe the line”, which was deemed to have included “subliminal political undertones and meanings”.
That means there will be a total of 26 acts performing in the Grand Final – 10 who progressed from each of the semi-finals, the host country of The Netherlands, and the ‘Big Five’.
The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Spain are automatically offered entry to the Grand Final as they are the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcast Union, which run the Eurovision Song Contest.
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But bookies haven’t pinned much hope on the UK’s act James Newman, predicting he won’t place highly on Saturday.
Coral spokesman Harry Aitkenhead has said neither country has “much hope at all” of finishing with a high score.
It might not be surprising after the UK finished dead last back in 2019 with Michael Rice’s song Bigger Than Us scoring just 11 points.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
