The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest held few surprises, says Gianni Bilink, a VRT NWS journalist from Malmö. “Croatia, the front-runner in particular, set the press room on fire. The Irishman’s dark act caught big eyes.” How well each country scored in the semi-finals will not be announced until after the grand final on Saturday.
There are also few surprises in terms of political statements, despite the tensions that occurred in the period leading up to the song competition due to Israel’s participation. “There was a heavy police presence in the streets, but I saw little in the square itself, except for one Palestinian flag,” Bilink said. “The crowd mainly wanted to make a celebration of it.”
“In the opening act, there was a symbolic protest act by the Swedish artist Eric Saadeh. He has a Palestinian father and wears a Palestinian scarf around his wrist. This was not agreed upon, and he was not visible in the rehearsal.”
A surprise for Hugo Segal, who received an honor from the European Broadcasting Union without his knowledge. Photos of the legendary “Baby Baby” performance from 1973 were on display again, with Nicole and Hugo dancing in their purple suits. “Hugo wasn’t informed. It was very nice of him and Nicole to be called trendsetters, even though they were in last place at the time.”
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