First semifinalists announced
Malmö, May 15 (AZERTAC). Tonight in the first two hour show of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, broadcasted LIVE from Malmö Arena, 16 countries took part in the First Semi-final in order to qualify for 10 places available in Saturday's final. Moldova, Lithuania, Ireland, Estonia, Belarus, Denmark, Russia, Belgium, Ukraine and The Netherlands.
First ten finalists (beside already known ones, contestants from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and last year’s winning country Sweden), will take part in the Grand Final of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place on Saturday the 18th of May. Another ten finalist will be chosen in the Second Semi-Final on 16th of May.
The result will be determined by way of a 50/50 split between national expert juries and televoting as well. The combined scores will create the final outcome. In yesterday's Jury Semi-Final, the expert juries already determined their votes for the First Semi-Final by watching the live performances. Nevertheless, televoting took place tonight during the live show after the final performance has taken place.
The First Semi-Final was open with a three-minute clip called Euphoria from Baku to Malmö, showing different "interpretations" of last year's winning song from different corners of Europe and Israel. Then the view switched to the stage, where a children's choir performed Euphoria including a translation into sign language. Later they are being joined by Loreen.
After the intro, Petra Mede, the host of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest entered the stage - she lifted onto the stage on a podium from below. Of course, as it has been a tradition since the 1950's, she greeted TV viewers from all over Europe and beyond in English and French.
After the performance of 16 contestans, the audience in the Malmö Arena and millions of viewers across Europe could enjoy the interval act called Northern Lights.
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