Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland and Luxembourg. These are the first 10 countries that in the first semi-final yesterday, Tuesday 7 May 2024, were awarded a place in the final of the Eurovision Song Content in Malmö. Outside: Australia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Poland and Moldova.
First semi-final, what happened
Yesterday’s semi-final also saw the performance of two of the so-called Big Five, i.e. the countries that provide most of the funding for the competition, namely the United Kingdom and Germany, and Sweden, which is the host nation – as the winner of the last edition – and therefore automatically in the final.
Second semi-final, when Angelina Mango is broadcast
The next semi-final will take place tomorrow evening, Thursday 9 May, and the next 10 finalists will be decided from 16 countries. The last three of the Big Five will perform: France, Spain and Italy. Organized by the European Broadcasting Union, Eurovision has taken place every year since 1956 and attracts huge numbers of viewers: last year over 160 million people tuned in.
From this year, representatives of the big 5 (Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), together with the host country, Sweden, will perform live during the semi-finals and Angelina Mango will perform on the evening of May 9th for the 16th . Although the 5 big names are already qualified by right for the final, they will thus have the opportunity to present their songs in full as a preview to the public and viewers (not with a simple extract, as in the past), contributing to increasing interest and the engagement for their performances before the final.
The public vote, Rai live
The Italian public will be able to vote for their favorite songs. The second semi-final will be broadcast in prime time on Rai 2 and Rai Play as well as being broadcast on Rai Radio 2 and on digital terrestrial Channel 202. The final will instead be broadcast on Saturday 11 May, again in prime time, on Rai 1 as well as on Rai Play and Rai Radio 2. The effervescent couple Mara Maionchi and Gabriele Corsi return to host the television broadcast while the commentary for Rai Radio 2 in simulcast this year it will be curated by Diletta Parlangeli and Matteo Osso.
Croatia advances to victory
After the first semi-final Croatia took the lead, already in the front row on the eve of the match, leaving its mark among the bookmakers after the first act of the singing event. The success of Baby Lasagna and its ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ drops to 2 on William Hill and 2.20 on Planetwin365, ahead of Switzerland, competing with Nemo and the song ‘The Code’, and Italy, always at the top with ‘La Noia’ by Angelina Mango, both seen as winners at 4.50 times the stake by Snai experts. Ukraine, another nation returning from the semi-final round, holds out at 8 while after their first performance Ireland advances, now with 11 times the stakes.
