The Eurovision Song Contest starts on Tuesday with the first semi-final. Favorites such as Croatia and Ukraine are in action and Luxembourg is making its comeback at the music event after more than thirty years. There is also a Dutch touch with the entries from Cyprus and Finland and the Big Five countries are officially included for the first time.
The Cypriot entry ‘Liar’ by Silia Kapsis was written by songwriter Elke Tiel and Jesse Wijnans dances along during the Finnish act of ‘Windows95man’. He was also present last year when he finished second in Liverpool with the Finn Käärijä.
It is an exciting evening for Luxembourg, because the country is present at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time since 1993. The grand duchy makes its return with singer Tali.
The semi-finals have an important change this year. For the first time, the Big Five countries and the host country, which only officially take part in the final, may present their entry in its entirety. On Tuesday these are the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden, followed by Spain, Italy and France on Thursday.
Just like last year, the ten final places will be determined solely on the basis of public votes. Jury points will be used in the event of irregularities in one of the participating countries. The Dutch public may not vote until Thursday, when Joost Klein takes action.
In any case, other countries are enthusiastic about the marketing of ‘our’ Joost. You can see their reactions in the video below.
Tags: Eurovision Song Contest acts Cyprus Finland Dutch touch RTL Boulevard
