Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Here we go again. I got 8/10 in the first one (and would have had 9/10 if I listened to by brain more than my heart. And that's even more the struggle with this second one. Heart or brain?  In this second one there's even more changes in personal level. Some songs like Bulgaria that I just pretty much hated seems to be delivering quite a show on stage a la Fuego from midtabel to the top after rehearsals and has taken a rent free space in my head. I have been bangaranged.  Also Romania wasn't among my favorites but it has grown on me a lot. I still don't get Denmark. Could it be a shock NQ? Or will it be Cyprus? Czechia and Armenia seems to be delivering on stage while Latvia and Luxemburg are not doing so. Enough at least. What about Norway, this semi's Estonia. Estonia didn't make it, could he do it? Is Switzerland doing enough to qualify? So many question marks.... Sure qualifiers: Bulgaria, Romania, Australia, Ukraine, Albania Most likely qualifiers: Czechi...

  Here we go again. The first semifinal was a decent result ( here 8/10 each prediction, wish list and Home jury). This time our home jury predicts Finland, Malta, Israel,. Czechia, Greece, Australia, Luxemburg, Serbia, Austria and Ireland . My prediction would be Finland, Malta, Israel, Czechia, Austria, Australia but then things get trickier. My initial choices were Greece, Luxemburg, Ireland but.... I guess Luxemburg is safe judging the comments from the first rehearsals. Then again judging the comments, too, Czechia would be out?  Denmark seems to have a lot of support but is it Belgium of the situation? Just like Lithuania and Latvia? What about Armenia? I suppose we can rule out Georgia but is Montenegro Portugal of semifinal two? Things are getting tricky here.... I let my personal taste effect this more than odds and fandom and go for Ireland, Latvia and Serbia . But then, is Malta this semis Belgium? Judging the comments from jury show I am more confused than eve...

 And here are the short videos for the second semifinal:

After another great show, less spectacular by organizers but more stunning by the artists and Conchita always in top form and lovely Valentina Monetta in greenroom we have results. If I look at my Wish list I only got 6/10 but my prediction was pretty good: 9/10. Only Poland took Czech Republic's place and they still haven't made it to the final. Ever. Shame. But then, I was toying with Poland, too, so it's ok. Here are the qualifiers: Lithuania (first half) Poland (second half) Slovenia (first half) Sweden (first half) Norway (first half) Montenegro (second half) Cyprus (first half) Azerbaijan (second half) Latvia (second half) Israel (first half) Stay tuned for the press conference and their slots in the final. And the full line up looks like this:

Oh dear. If I had trouble filling up the Wish list for the first semifinal in the second one I have too many I want in the final! I had to leave four potential ones out of it. Also, with my Flying Reporter Robert this time our Wish lists are quite different, while our Prediction list 9/10 the same. Let's see how it goes.  So, here is my Wish list , or those I would like to qualify: Lithuania, San Marino, Montenegro , Norway , Portugal ,  Czech Republic , Israel , Azerbaijan , Slovenia (the ones I had to drop but I would like to see in the final instead of some that qualified from the first semi are Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and Poland) Robert's wish list is: Ireland, Montenegro , Norway , Portugal , Czech Republic ,  Israel , Latvia, Azerbaijan , Iceland, Slovenia And what comes to the real thing, here's my Prediction list: Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway, Czech Republic, Israel,  Latvia, Azerbaijan, Sweden , Cyprus, Slovenia And ...

And here we have the running order for the second semifinal, drafted out by ORF and blessed by EBu with the same criteria as the first semifinal . 1. Lithuania - Monika Linkyté & Vaidas Baumila - This time 2. Ireland - Molly Sterling - Playing with numbers 3. San Marino - Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini - Chain of lights 4. Montenegro - Knez - Adio 5. Malta - Ambar - Warrior 6. Norway - Mørland & Debrah Scarlett - A monster like me 7. Portugal - Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa 8. Czech Republic - Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta - Hope never dies 9. Israel - Nadav Guedj - Golden boy 10. Latvia - Aminata - Love injected 11. Azerbaijan - Elnur Huseynov - Hour of the wolf 12. Iceland - Maria Olafs - Unbroken 13. Sweden - Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes 14. Switzerland - Mélanie René - Time to shine 15. Cyprus - John Karayiannis - One thing I should have done 16. Slovenia - Maraaya - Here for you 17. Poland - Monika Kuszy...