L‘ Eurovision Song Contest it’s really there everyone’s home: an incredible mix of styles, performances, tastes and visions of the world and of art that partly explain why the old continent has been torn apart by misunderstandings and consequent continuous wars for millennia. Irony aside, this long-awaited musical event confirms itself above all as one big party in which there are all the colors of Europe, a Europe that is expanding to also embrace countries and cultures of other continents, such as Azerbajan and remote Australia, all “United by Music“, as the claim of the event. We hear and see all kinds of things live from the Malmo Arenawhere 15 countries competed in this first semi-final broadcast in Italy on Rai Uno and Rai Play with commentary by Gabriele Corsi And Mara Maionchi on the evening of Tuesday 7 Mayto access the Grand Finale scheduled for Saturday 11 May where the five so-called “Big Five” countries, namely France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain, have already qualified by right, plus the host country which this year is Sweden.
At the end of the evening, the 10 countries qualified for the final were: Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Portugal, Ireland, Slovenia and Ukraine.
Let’s see what were the best and least convincing things about this first evening Eurovision 2024 with our report cards.
Eurovision Song Contest 2024, the top moments of the semi-final 1 on Tuesday 7 May
Baby Lasagna, rating: 8 The representative of Croatia he is one of the favorites for the final victory, he sings Rim tim tagi dim, the story of a country boy who goes to the city: “Like Pozzetto!” comments Mara Maionchi, but with a sound that crosses metal, punk and Bregovic, even if the frontman is dressed as Achille Lauro, and manages to unleash the whole arena with the choral refrain: remarkable. Watch out Angelina, to win Eurovision you will have to deal with him too.
Windows95man, rating: 8. The Eurovision we deserve is given to us by the crazy duo arriving from Finland with their song No rules. A duo of geniuses who give us an ultra trashy performance. One of the two fidgets on the stage covered only by a flesh-colored thong, refusing to put on a pair of trousers and miming his revolt against censorship: a bizarre and hilarious hymn to freedom.
Silia Kapsis, vote: 7 The very young one Cypriot singeralone 17 years with his song Liars opens Eurovision song contest 2024 with great energy and stage presence, a bit Shakira and a bit Britney Spears from the golden days, she makes the Arena dance.
Such , rating: 7.5 the artist of Luxembourg sings a song arranged by Dardustthe talented Italian producer who also edited Angelina’s song and dozens of successful songs for big names in music and his touch can be felt: from an unmistakable shock to a super catchy and very pleasant song to listen to.
Iolanda, rating: 6.5 We give half a vote less than the representative of the Portugal because the song Grito, is not completely convincing, unlike his voice and his stage presence. Iolanda says she dreams of a Daft Punk reunion, but her music is light years away from it, even if, at a certain point in the song, she runs a few seconds of an electronic base. However, anyone who sings in Portuguese has the advantage of expressing themselves in a language that is incredibly musical, she has a great voice and the performance is beautiful.
Benjamin Ingrosso, rating: 7 The cousin DiodatoSwedish mother, Tarantino father is the home star who closes the evening and unleashes the Malmoe Arena and also the Italian public, at least the social one, rather intrigued by this artist and happy to have made this discovery.
The flops of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
Mara Maionchi, vote: not received. We regret starting the flops of the first Eurovision Song Contest 2024 semi-final like this but the record company, connecting from Rome, seems a little distracted and its comments are banal, hasty and ultra-synthetic and, in essence, they don’t really add anything to a drawn cart in solitude by the enthusiasm of Gabriele Corsi. Let’s hope it’s just a matter of warming up and finding her more enthusiastic on Thursday and Saturday, when Angelina Mango will also comment.
Bambie Tugh, rating: 4. With his Doomsday blue and her performance which evokes an exorcism but begins with the magic formula of Harry Potter, the representative of Ireland descends on the Malmoe Arena like a screaming Maleficent, but this whole scene does not cover the inconsistency of the piece, and not even the final flames succeed to ignite enthusiasm.
Alyona Alyona and Jerry Hell, rating: 4.5. After the Irish devil comes the Lithuanian holy water, but the result is not much different. On a scenic level there is no comparison with the previous noisy performance, the two Lithuanians, with a much more low profile setup, sing Mother Teresa and Maria with something halfway between a gospel hymn and a rap invective in their language, but there is nothing left that hit.
Hera Bjork, rating: 3. Hera Bjork and now she is no longer, one might say with an easy play on words. From the country that gave birth to that unbridled and inspired genius of the real Bjork, twenty years after her comes this peaceful lady Hera Bjork, who sings her song in English Scare of Highs. A former real estate agent, he brings an ultra-pop melodic song to the Eurovision, in whose lyrics he says he is more afraid of falling in love at a certain age than of not being able to pay the mortgage (!) and is inspired by Jennifer Lopez’s look (but also ‘it from twenty years ago). And we wonder what could have happened in the last two decades in the most remote country on the continent that used to produce avant-garde and now serves us tasteless, over-heated soups.
