Belgium, Australia and San Marino will compete against fifteen other countries tonight for a spot in the final on Saturday. The rehearsals finally seemed to go without technical problems, although the singer from Belgium seemed quite nervous. Jan Smit and Cornald Maas will also be there again tonight for comment. My name is Lara Zevenberg and I will update you on the second semifinal.
S10 has already passed and that may give you the idea that tonight’s show is not worth watching, but Jan Smit and Cornald Maas think differently. Smit tells NU.nl that he is enthusiastic about Poland’s submission: singer Ochman brings The River with a clean voice and the staging is well chosen for the song according to the commentator. Maas thinks that Poland may well be the winner of the jury, which already awarded the points yesterday.
Smit and Maas are not only there as commentators: they have also selected S10 to be our entry this year. The two are on the selection committee with three others and listen to all options. This raises the question of whether they can provide objective comments. Maas agrees that that might be a bit difficult in the case of the Dutch entry. “Suppose we, even if we were not on the committee, if commentators say that it will not work for the Netherlands this year. Then the puppets would be dancing. That is also an obstacle for the artist himself.”
Smith finds objectivity not so exciting. “I listen purely to what I hear and I judge artists on how they sing. I am a singer myself and I really don’t understand everything, but I can hear whether someone sings cleanly. That has nothing to do with objectivity: you just sing false or good. And that’s what I call.”
Our southern neighbors are trying to reach the final today with singer Jérémie Makiese. The singer sounded a bit nervous during the last rehearsal this afternoon, but managed to get back on track. If he doesn’t manage to get a place in the final, he doesn’t have to be bored at home: the singer is also a football player and studies geology.
The top 3 according to the bookmakers and where is S10?
- 1. Ukraine – Kalush Orchestra – Stefania
- 2. United Kingdom – Sam Ryder – Space Man
- 3. Italy – Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi
- 9. Netherlands – S10 – The Depth
Mika and Laura Pausini may present the Eurovision Song Contest, but of course they are actually singers. We will see something of that on Thursday: the two sing a medley with the theme of peace. The two sing fragile from Sting and People Have the Power by Patti Smith as a choir joins in behind them.
Fortunately, Wednesday’s technical problems finally seemed to be solved today. The music just started with everyone, the rehearsals didn’t have to be over and everything looked pretty slick. The presenters still don’t seem completely attuned to each other, which is not surprising: the three got together very shortly before the first rehearsals to practice. Jan Smit told NU.nl that last year was very different: Smit, Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Nikkie de Jager had been together for a long time and regularly returned to Ahoy to go through the show again.