Eurovision First Semi-Finals

Livestream from Eurovision.tv Here!

Okay, so I started a little late, but here it goes..

This is totally gonna get stuck in my head.. Heroooooos

This little intro/ad/commercial bit is super cute! Also, was that Bianca Del Rio..?

Drums and cool lights? Yeah I'm likiig this

Did he say Han Solo..?

Shout out to them commentating in different languages

WELCOME EUROPE!

Wait is that actually Europe?! No let them play!!

These two are funny! Great MCs

Is that french?? No clue what he actually said, but swoon.

I'm excited for Russia's performance. TBT to when they actually tried to vote for themselves last year.

Finland looks pretty BA. Like fabulous, and she could probably kick my ass too. Really good, but sort of middle of the road for me.

Greece is off to a good start. Super cool sounding. Very.. Well, Greek.

Yeah, not a fan. It's good. But personally, I really don't like it all that much.. Cool outfits and really really amazing visual effects. I'm definitely placing them above Finland.

Where even is Moldova...

Moldova, I like it a lot. but it sounds just like Sweden's winning song last year.

Astronaut..? I mean, falling stars, yes, but this dancing astronaut is just weird.

I love these little commercial go-betweens!

Hey Hungary, I'm M.      Dad jokes are not funny.

WOAH COOL VOICE

I am really loving this! I can't understand him, but he's cute and this song is really great sounding and the drum guy is real cool.

Why are we hugging a tree..?

Croatia. That outfit. It's interesting.

WOAH SLEEVES OFF. That is stunning! Really liking this, the simplicity of the backups and lack of visual aids is totally balanced by the amazing performer. Croatia, I think you're my number one right now.

What the hell is going on with this person with a star on their head. Is that a Swedish thing? Looks like Elton John's weird older brother? Sister?

HE RIDES HORSES and as a permanent horse freak, that bumps the Netherlands WAY up to start with. Okay just a little bit really. But still.

Netherlands, are you channeling American bluegrass/country? Cause I am liking it a lot!

Ooh another horse! Go Armenia!

CRAP have to take sister to work, quick break time!

Okay. I'm back. Don't know what country this is, but it looks like Amal Clooney and sounds like One in a Million from Miss Congeniality.

I missed quite a few countries, so my ranks are gonna be a little off.

Montenegro's song starts off with the words "Inside You" and I'm not sure what the heck is going on here.

Maybe it's just me, but this is some crazy heavy rock concert song about sex. Not a fan. A little much.

Iceland: Sponsored by Nike?

Iceland's visual effects are AMAZING!! The hands are a little creepy, but the interaction between the art and the singer is stunning. I love performances like this.

Bosnia & Herzegovenia was torture to spell and I'm pretty sure it's wrong.

Cool ass electric cello!! I love those things.

Goergeous costuming!! And if I could understand what they were saying, I'm sure I would better understand the set design for it. I give them credit for it!

I'm really liking the incorporation of different styles and sounds in this one! And super passionate! Go Bosnia!!

Malta's singer is beautiful. What is her hair secret??

Idina Menzel is that you?

"I'm not perfect but I'm A-Okay" Silly, but I like it. I do like the lyrics of this one.

This is catchy, but sounds like some song on American radio.. Not that they'd know that in Malta..

The dancer looks silly. And kind of old.. Just me?

Damn girl! I wanna see her go head to head with Mariah, who can go higher?

Malta is good. Maybe top ten material, but definitely not top 5. Maybe like somewhere between 6-10.


Well that's it! Eliminating the ones I missed here's my order:

Croatia - Netherlands - Bosnia - Iceland - Hungary - Malta - Finland - Greece - Moldova - Montenegro

I missed eight performances in the middle, so my numbers are a little off. AS they do the review here are my thoughts:

Armenia: super intense, gorgeous singer

San Marino: Oh my god. The 70's are back. Someone call ABBA.

Russia: Visual Design looks super cool! Song sounds good too

Czech Republic: Very intense song!! And the dress was stunning!!

Cyprus: Sounds kind of Foo Fighter-y? It's okay.

Austria: Very pop anthem-y with a touch of Lisa Frank in design

Estonia: Mixed feelings. Looks kind of like Rick Astly, just cuter and less ginger. Worked the camera super well too!

Azerbaijan: Cause the end of this, it was okay. I did like the incorporation of all of the gold! And the sparks? Fab!!

No lie, I'm a little ticked that USA citizens can't vote.

.... Is this comedy? I think it's comedy.

Waterloo is an amazing song, I love ABBA, and I really want to watch Mamma Mia now.

I really like how the Netherlands changed the musical genre. Every song has been pretty pop-y so far, and their leap was pretty brave and I loved it!

San Marino sounds like the Rasputin song from Just Dance! That's what it reminded me of!

IT"S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Nooooo please let Europe play!

The Grey People... This looks like an incredibly interesting bit of performance art..

I'm not one for interpretive dance/performance art type things, but this? This is pretty amazing. Goosebumps right now. Speaks volumes as for the state of our world right now, and I think it says a lot about the state of America as well.

I am LOVING this performance! Utterly amazing!

France is good! I wanna get up and dance to it.

The girl from Spain looks a little bit like Ellaria Sand from Game of Thrones. I think it's the hair.

Again, a very dancey song.

Sweden, I'm liking this year's performance too! Though he looks like he's 15. Sounds a teeny bit like Twenty One Pilots to me? I think?

The Dumbledore of Eurovision. I love that!

Here we go folks! Which ten are qualifying and how many did I get right with my messy picks?!

Winners are:
Azerbaijan - Good choice! Very strong performance
Russia - Great visuals!
Netherlands - Yes!
Hungary - Cool drum guy!!
Croatia - YES!! I actually got up and cheered for these guys!
Austria - Meh, missed theirs before.
Armenia - was very intense, missed theirs too though
Czech Republic - Can't wait to actually see this one!
Cyprus - Did I just miss all the good ones?!
Malta - Okay, they really deserved it too.

Not gonna lie, I would much rather switch out Austria for Bosnia. I'm pretty disappointed that they didn't make it through. I really didn't like it. I mean it was nice, but it just wasn't really catching me, you feel?

That's the end of my night live blogging Eurovision 2016 though. I was loving the whole thing, despite my quick break in the middle! Comment and let me know your thoughts on the first Semi-Final below, or connect with me on social media, I'd love to chat about it! The next Semi-Final is Thursday, May 12 at 3 PM, so until then,

Writing to you from M, Personally