Final Predictions – Semifinals 1 & 2

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This year is so packed and competitive, I don’t expect to replicate last year’s nearly flawless prediction record (19/20) but it’s a tough job and someone’s gotta do it!

Semifinal 1

Australia

Croatia

Ireland

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Poland

Portugal

Serbia

Slovenia

Ukraine

NQ

Azerbaijan

Cyprus

Finland

Iceland

Moldova

– Tough one to call. I would not be surprised to see Finland advancing, but the reception to this act/song has been so universally negative (including getting blanked by OGAE) that at this stage I don’t see where the points would be coming from, especially seeing how the semis are by large watched and voted on by the fandom (see what happened with Citi Zeni). I could also make a case for Azerbaijan, and on balance it is a song that does deserve, but there seems to very very little traction behind it. Otherwise, these are more or less the consensus picks – as sad as I am about Iceland and Moldova (I will be voting for them), I can’t see a path at this point.

Semifinal 2

Armenia

Austria

Estonia

Georgia

Greece

Israel

Malta

Netherlands

Norway

Switzerland

NQ

Albania

Belgium

Czechia

Denmark

Latvia

San Marino

– Even tougher to call, to be honest. I understand that predicting Belgium to miss out is a bit of a shocker, but I really have no confidence in the staging being able to deliver the song, and the vocal has been mostly unreliable. I’m also sad about San Marino, but even after those great reheasal clips, the enthusiasm doesn’t quite seem to be there. Latvia I could see sneaking in – I just don’t know at the expense of what, and the same applies to Denmark. These are all songs that do have an audience, but in such a strong year, being good is probably not enough to cut it.

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