ESC 2022: These ten acts made it to the final

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17 songs were presented on Tuesday at the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Spectators and jury have decided who we will see again in the final on Saturday.

The Icelandic group Systur on the impressive ESC stage in Turin

The mood was already great in the afternoon in front of the Pala Olimpico in Turin, the venue of the Eurovision Song Contest. Cheerful ESC fans waited patiently for admission and waved the flags of the participating countries.

Pure goosebumps – as always – when the team of presenters, consisting of singer Laura Pausini, star presenter Alessandro Cattelan and producer Mika alias Michael Holbrook, finally cried out the magical sentence in the hall, which was well filled with 7000 spectators: “Let the Eurovision Song Contest begin !”.

The artists were projected into videos of drone flights over Italy's famous cultural sites and briefly introduced before they came live on stage. Despite the technical problems beforehand, the stage is impressive – with large LED arches, a kind of sun in the middle and surrounded by waterfalls.

Ukraine is almost a sure-fire success

Despite the mask requirement, the atmosphere in the hall was exuberant – especially when the sixth starting place came on stage: The Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine.

The Kalush Orchestra on stage

Despite the war in their home country, the six musicians traveled to Turin – as “ambassadors and bearers of hope for a tormented country”, as the TV moderator put it. They are already being treated as clear winners and received standing ovations in the hall. So it's no surprise that they were waved through to the final with a small hand movement. Their song “Stefania” is an explosive mixture of folkloric singing and hip-hop.

The “masked singers” from Subwoolfer

The Norwegian wolves, with their strange yellow masks, have also safely landed in the final. Still nobody really knows who is behind the masks of “Subwoolfer”. It's possible that it's Ylvis' two brothers, Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker, who landed a viral hit with 2013's The Fox. The duo could also be two gentlemen named Keith and Jim, according to their fictional biography.

Subwoolfer from Norway

The title is “Give That Wolf A Banana”. definitely suitable for parties and is seen at least in the top ten.

Zdob și Zdub for Moldova for the third time

2005 in Kyiv, 2011 in Düsseldorf and now in Turin. The colorful group from the Republic of Moldova didn't miss a beat this time either and reached the final with the happy pub folk-country-Balkan mix “Trenuleţul”, as did Systur from Iceland with “Með hækkandi sól”. Like Icelandic elves, the three sisters stand on stage with electric bass and guitars as if they have fallen out of time – it's so likeable that the ESC fans want to see the band again on Saturday.

Singing in national language is well received

Somewhat surprisingly, Monika Liu from Lithuania advanced. She certainly also scored points because she sang her chanson “Sentimentai” in the local language.

The rapper and singer Stien den Hollander calls herself “S10” and shows that the Dutch language, which many consider funny, is very much a beautiful language is. In “De Diepte” she sings about sadness and depression in Dutch, which suits her and that's why she's there for the Netherlands on Saturday.

Simple and expressive: S10 from the Netherlands

Marius Bear from Switzerland sings with “Boys Do Cry” a tender and calm pop-jazz ballad with pretty harmonies. He will sing the very well sung song again on Saturday.

Quiet songs are the order of the day

Maro and her four companions from Portugal sing a song about longing in beautiful harmonies – all of Portugal had already fallen in love with the song “Saudade, Saudade”, now the ESC viewers have it too. The song is in the final.

Rosa Linn from Armenia also made it through. Her quiet folk-pop song “Snap” was liked by the audience and the jury, and finally Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord made it for Greece with the ball “Die Together”. Simply dressed in a white dress, she played with light and camera and won over the audience and jury with her expressive voice, which didn't need any wind machines or pyro effects.

Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord for Greece

Short “hello” from France and Italy

Before the votes were counted, the artists from France and the host country Italy were briefly introduced. Breton trio Ahez and electronic musician Alvan bring together Alvan & Ahez with “Fulenn” an unusual mixture of folk and trance – and Italy's duo Mahmood & Blanco even has a chance of defending his title with the power ballad “Brividi”. These two acts did not have to prove themselves in the semi-finals because they belong to the so-called Big Five, the countries that are the largest donors to the ESC. On Thursday in the second semi-final, Chanel from Spain, Sam Ryder from Great Britain and Malik Harris from Germany will also present themselves. These five and the 20 winners of the two semi-finals will take part in the big ESC final on Saturday, which will be watched by around 180 million viewers worldwide.