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Posted by: LexC May 8 2018, 10:08 PM

Azerbaijan have lost their 100% qualification record

Greece have been beaten by Cyprus AGAIN

Macedonia now have qualified ONCE since the "two semis" system was introduced.

What lies ahead for these fresh casualties from the Semi One bloodbath?

Posted by: 5 Silas Frøkner May 8 2018, 10:10 PM

Croatia might feel a bit like withdrawing again but the flip side is that this should secure Czechia for a few years.

Posted by: AdamAloud May 8 2018, 10:11 PM

I have to feel sorry for Macedonia and Switzerland. The latter especially had all the ingredients to go through but sadly, it was a victim of this bloodbath semi.

Macedonia's staging was really bad but the song was excellent, is starting to become a theme at Eurovision.

Posted by: Midge May 8 2018, 10:19 PM

The vocals were horrific, which will kill any great song dead in a heartbeat.

I can see Macedonia withdrawing though. I definitely think they've stepped up with the quality of songs they're sending, but the staging and this year vocals have been such a let down.

Croatia won't withdraw - they've had 2 qualifications and did very well with Jacques last year. It's a shame Franka wasn't given a good song because her vocals were amazing.

If Franka sang "Lost & Found" I think it would've gone through


I'm gutted about Switzerland. It was middling for me, but seeing it live - she OWNED the stage, her vocals on the chorus were pic. Shame to see it out. Will Switzerland consider a new approach now?

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever May 8 2018, 11:27 PM

Croatia was awful Switzerland was performed well with an average song and it was no shock both failed,

Lithuania was a surprise qualification and the Azerbaijan entry for me didn't deserve to be the one to break their 100 % qualification rate as they have had way worse entries.

Posted by: SKOB May 9 2018, 04:59 AM

It's been tough for Switzerland for years in the competition. I would've picked them over Albania or Austria. However the song was awfully dated despite decent performance. They won't give up trying though. Macedonia is the only one I can see considering next year

Posted by: AdamAloud May 9 2018, 09:36 AM

Here's a Bre BJSC style qualification streak update:

5 Austria*

4 Cyprus
4 Israel

3 Bulgaria

1 Albania
1 Czech Republic
1 Estonia
1 Finland
1 Ireland
1 Lithuania

DEAD
10 Azerbaijan
5 Armenia
3 Belgium
2 Croatia
1 Belarus
1 Greece

REALLY DEAD
0 Iceland (Last Q - 2014)
0 Macedonia (Last Q - 2012)
0 Switzerland (Last Q - 2014)

*Automatic Qualifier in 2015

---

A decade ago, it would've been LAUGHABLE to have Austria with the most qualifications in a row yet here we are. Bulgaria are heading in the right direction to be consistent hitters too. Azerbaijan dead, poor Aisel, it certainly was a victim of the semi final, had she been in tomorrow's show she probably would've squeezed through like they have been doing for quite a few years now.

Posted by: cantthinkofaname May 9 2018, 10:12 AM

I really hope Iceland takes this as a wake-up call and sends a proper banger next year and places second for the third time in a year ending with -9

Posted by: Midge May 9 2018, 10:15 AM

I want an Iceland VICTORY!!

"Paper" and even more so "Hear Them Calling" were excellent though - such a shame they missed the final.

Posted by: Iz May 9 2018, 03:11 PM

I wouldn't be all that surprised if Azerbaijan decided to pull out after this. They've only ever been in this to show off their country as a successful international entity. Ever since Turkey left I imagine the Turkish diaspora viewership has declined and Azerbaijan have mostly been on a decline since then. They don't strike me as the sort of nation who will suffer many, if any non-qualifiers.

Hungary and Sweden have more than Austria and Poland are ostensibly equal but that all depends on how semi 2 fares, though I imagine at least Sweden is certain through. Amazing achievement for Austria nonetheless (and how poor it looks for Switzerland in comparison!) Amazing also for Israel to be on so many in a row after they were struggling to get anything through at the start of this decade.

I think a FYR walkout depends on how the rest do in tomorrow's semi. If they're all out, I think at least one or two of them will wonder about joining Bosnia on the bench and might follow through, if Montenegro or Serbia make it then Croatia at least will probably stay the course. I don't know about Macedonia, I think they're in it to tough it out if they've lasted this long.

Posted by: Umi May 9 2018, 09:55 PM

I think for the exact same reason that they won't leave. They gain all the legitimacy they want just from taking part in Eurovision, because all they need it to be is a yearly reminder that they exist, they're Europe-aligned and they are capable of enjoying a fun, campy song contest. If anything I think it's good for them that their record is gone, because being so randomly successful always aroused suspicion and made it easy to group them with Russia, which is bad for obvious reasons.

Losing the record is bad for national pride but if their primary goal in taking part is international PR then continuing to enter is the only logical choice - it's not like doing badly in Eurovision actually makes anyone think badly of a country. All leaving does is remove the one chance they have to annually trick Europeans into thinking that they're just another random European country. Remove that and the only time anyone will ever hear about Azerbaijan again will be when one of their various issues is relevant.

Posted by: Cody💧Slayberry May 10 2018, 03:18 PM

I think I’m with Iz on this one. DNQ doesn’t exactly scream “successful international entity”, it more likely screams “second thoughts”.

Posted by: Iz May 10 2018, 03:45 PM

If it had been a reverse of 2011 and say, something like Aram MP3 was this year and it was Yerevan 2019, then it'd be 100%. But it's not. Umi does make some good points (especially the one about them not wanting to be seen as shady), they get a lot of recognition just by entering, although there's a lot more of it in the final, if they don't qualify then all they get is a 30-second segment of votes.

The main reason I was thinking this though is that they have felt a lot less engaged for a few years. When they first came on it was all 'fire, fire, fire, let's get a horde of top 5s and by the way, we're also bidding for the Olympic Games and we want to show the world that Baku is the place to be', now they are really on autopilot and they're rather quiet on the international stage.

Posted by: 5 Silas Frøkner May 10 2018, 05:23 PM

I don’t think it’s that they’re quiet, just that they’ve moved on to phase 2 of the strategy. They conned F1 into a Baku Grand Prix and then had to hastily rename it after the outrage at the first year (2016) being called the European Grand Prix.

I think that Eurovision is still important to them for the reasons Umi says. Exposure is still exposure

Posted by: AdamAloud May 10 2018, 05:50 PM

Sod Azerbaijan, I'm more worried the Armenian NF will be axed after the DNQ, so many good songs

Posted by: LexC May 10 2018, 06:03 PM

Or, maybe they will learn their lesson and LISTEN TO THE GAYS!

Posted by: AdamAloud May 10 2018, 10:31 PM

14 Ukraine**

8 Hungary
8 Sweden**

4 Australia*

3 Netherlands

2 Denmark
2 Moldova
2 Norway

1 Serbia
1 Slovenia

DEAD
13 Romania
13 Russia
4 Poland

REALLY DEAD
0 Georgia (Last Q - 2016)
0 Latvia (Last Q - 2016)
0 Malta (Last Q - 2016)
0 Montenegro (Last Q - 2015)
0 San Marino (Last Q - 2014)

*1 x Automatic Qualification
**2 x Automatic Qualifications

---

Ukraine the last one standing (not counting Australia) *.* Hungary proving to be very good at Eurovision since their comeback, a win surely must be around the corner?

Posted by: LexC May 11 2018, 01:58 AM

Just thinking about National Final choices in Semi 2 especially, Romania would probably still have their 100% record if they'd listened to reason*



San Marino would have had a fighting chance if they'd have managed to rig their selection properly for this



*reason=the gayz

Posted by: SKOB May 11 2018, 06:59 AM

Or a total disaster

Posted by: cantthinkofaname May 11 2018, 09:09 AM

I think Iceland was probably always doomed to DNQ based on the National Final this year and the Semi we were allocated but do you think there were any songs in the Icelandic NF that could have qualified? Maybe in Semi 2?

I'm not sure Aron Hannes would have qualified with Gold Digger in the same semi as Mikolas but maybe if we had been in the second semi. Not entirely sure how Dagur would have fared, maybe a Q since he was gonna sing it in Icelandic?

Posted by: LexC May 13 2018, 12:46 PM

Doing my usual the day after intense statistical analysis and I am sorry to report (again) that Azerbaijan are the winners of the "dodgiest jury votes" https://eurovision.tv/event/lisbon-2018/first-semi-final/voting-details/azerbaijan

Posted by: Cqmerqn May 13 2018, 01:45 PM

How so?

Posted by: Iz May 13 2018, 01:50 PM

Let's all put this song 15th but just so it doesn't look suspicious how about ol' Tunzala moves it one place up. Foolproof.

Posted by: Liаm May 13 2018, 02:08 PM

Ilaha Efendiyeva-Xalilova putting Macedonia first tho, QUEEN

Posted by: AdamAloud May 13 2018, 02:12 PM

Two of the Azeri jurors being born in 1948 though!!

Posted by: Liаm May 13 2018, 02:18 PM

Honestly the juries are more iffy than the televote

I mean SURELY Cesar Sampson bribed them all with nudes or sth I mean christ.

The fans are f***ing AWFUL mind calling for abolition of the juries because precious Saara Aalto got "robbed". I mean I love her but huns the whole package just WAS NOT THERE. People complain about either metric when it doesn't go their way, the televote is "too political" and the jury is "corrupt". If it had transpired that the juries had Eleni top and the public vote robbed her they'd all be like "omg get rid of the public vote only the experts should have an opinion!1!". Having both is still the best way to do it imo, especially as the voting reveal we have now is much more exciting than its ever been.

Posted by: Midge May 13 2018, 02:56 PM

We are agreeing on an awful lot lately Liam!

Posted by: 5 Silas Frøkner May 13 2018, 04:10 PM

Ha!!! Oh that’s so laughably transparent


I completely agree! That was probably the most exciting vote reveal since I’ve been watching ESC. It was up and down and so many twists and turns.

Posted by: LexC May 13 2018, 05:41 PM

So, having done the numbers for Semi 1, under the 'merge jury and public into one set of scores' system then Azerbaijan and Finland would have been TIED for 10th place (which I think Saara Aalto would still win but either way it would have been a lot closer a result than would have been previously. Everyone else is virtually unaffected.