Posted March 13, 20178 yr Well Ryan, ask and you shall receive! We've got the full set of Semi 2 songs and the one song left in semi 1 we know is written by the same team who made LoveWave and Not Alone so we should assume it's something in the vein of those two songs. [ re-upped from last year's thread ] In a year as competitive as this year is, simple factors like running order can make a big difference to a country's chances of qualifying/a good result/winning. So, the main purpose of this thread is A) If you were the producer of the show, what order would you put the songs in and B) Once the running order's been confirmed, who do we think are the winners/losers out of it. [/ re-upped from last year's thread ] Semi-Final One FIRST HALF ► Albania: Lindita - World ► Australia: Isaiah - Don't Come Easy ► Azerbaijan: Dihaj - Skeletons ► Belgium: Blanche - City Lights ► Finland: Norma John - Blackbird ► Georgia: Tamara Gachechiladze - Keep The Faith ► Montenegro: Slavko Kalezić - Space ► Portugal: Salvador Sobral - Amar Pelos Dois ► Sweden: Robin Bengtsson - I Can't Go On SECOND HALF ► Armenia: Artsvik - Fly With Me ► Cyprus: Hovig - Gravity ► Czech Republic: Martina Bárta - My Turn ► Greece: Demy - This Is Love ► Iceland: Svala - Paper ► Latvia: Triana Park - Line ► Moldova: Sunstroke Project - Hey Mamma ► Poland: Kasia Moś - Flashlight ► Slovenia: Omar Naber - On My Way Semi-Final Two FIRST HALF ► Austria: Nathan Trent - Running On Air ► Denmark: Anja - Where I Am ► Hungary: Joci Pápai - Origo ► Ireland: Brendan Murray - Dying To Try ► Macedonia: Jana Burčeska - Dance Alone ► Malta: Claudia Faniello - Breathlessly ► Romania: Ilinca ft. Alex Florea - Yodel It! ► Russia: Julia Samoylova - Flame Is Burning ► Serbia: Tijana Bogićević - In Too Deep ► The Netherlands: OG3NE - Lights And Shadows SECOND HALF ► Belarus: Naviband - Story Of My Life ► Bulgaria: Kristian Kostov - Beautiful Mess ► Croatia: Jacques Houdek - My Friend ► Estonia: Koit Toome and Laura - Verona ► Israel: IMRI - I Feel Alive ► Lithuania: Fusedmarc - Rain Of Revolution ► Norway: JOWST - Grab The Moment ► San Marino: Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson - Spirit Of The Night ► Switzerland: Timebelle - Apollo I suspect the challenge this year will mostly be about spacing out the songs that sound similar to each other, especially at the start of semi one. Interested to see how people would arrange them.
March 13, 20178 yr Prediction running order semi 1 1. Montenegro: Slavko Kalezić - Space 2. Albania: Lindita - World 3. Azerbaijan: Dihaj - Skeletons 4. Belgium: Blanche - City Lights 5. Portugal: Salvador Sobral - Amar Pelos Dois 6. Sweden: Robin Bengtsson - I Can't Go On 7. Finland: Norma John - Blackbird 8. Georgia: Tamara Gachechiladze - Keep The Faith 9. Australia: Isaiah - Don't Come Easy 10. Greece: Demy - This Is Love 11. Armenia: Artsvik - Fly With Me 12. Moldova: Sunstroke Project - Hey Mamma 13. Poland: Kasia Moś - Flashlight 14. Slovenia: Omar Naber - On My Way 15. Latvia: Triana Park - Line 16. Czech Republic: Martina Bárta - My Turn 17. Cyprus: Hovig - Gravity 18. Iceland: Svala - Paper semi 2 1. Romania: Ilinca ft. Alex Florea - Yodel It! 2. Ireland: Brendan Murray - Dying To Try 3. Hungary: Joci Pápai - Origo 4. Serbia: Tijana Bogićević - In Too Deep 5. Russia: Julia Samoylova - Flame Is Burning 6. Austria: Nathan Trent - Running On Air 7. Malta: Claudia Faniello - Breathlessly 8. Macedonia: Jana Burčeska - Dance Alone 9. The Netherlands: OG3NE - Lights And Shadows 10. Denmark: Anja - Where I Am 11. Belarus: Naviband - Story Of My Life 12. Lithuania: Fusedmarc - Rain Of Revolution 13. Norway: JOWST - Grab The Moment 14. San Marino: Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson - Spirit Of The Night 15. Estonia: Koit Toome and Laura - Verona 16. Bulgaria: Kristian Kostov - Beautiful Mess 17. Switzerland: Timebelle - Apollo 18. Croatia: Jacques Houdek - My Friend 19. Israel: IMRI - I Feel Alive
March 13, 20178 yr I'd go with something like this at the moment (not a prediction): Semi-Final One 01 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Albania.png Albania: Lindita - World 02 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Montenegro.png Montenegro: Slavko Kalezić - Space 03 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Finland.png Finland: Norma John - Blackbird 04 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/au.png Australia: Isaiah - Don't Come Easy 05 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Azerbaijan.png Azerbaijan: Dihaj - Skeletons 06 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Portugal.png Portugal: Salvador Sobral - Amar Pelos Dois 07 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Sweden.png Sweden: Robin Bengtsson - I Can't Go On 08 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Georgia.png Georgia: Tamara Gachechiladze - Keep The Faith 09 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Belgium.png Belgium: Blanche - City Lights 10 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Cyprus.png Cyprus: Hovig - Gravity 11 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Armenia.png Armenia: Artsvik - Fly With Me 12 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Slovenia.png Slovenia: Omar Naber - On My Way 13 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Latvia.png Latvia: Triana Park - Line 14 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Czech_Republic.png Czech Republic: Martina Bárta - My Turn 15 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Iceland.png Iceland: Svala - Paper 16 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Moldova.png Moldova: Sunstroke Project - Hey Mamma 17 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Poland.png Poland: Kasia Moś - Flashlight 18 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Greece.png Greece: Demy - This Is Love Semi-Final Two 01 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Romania.png Romania: Ilinca ft. Alex Florea - Yodel It! 02 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Malta.png Malta: Claudia Faniello - Breathlessly 03 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Hungary.png Hungary: Joci Pápai - Origo 04 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Russia.png Russia: Julia Samoylova - Flame Is Burning 05 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Serbia.png Serbia: Tijana Bogićević - In Too Deep 06 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ireland.png Ireland: Brendan Murray - Dying To Try 07 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Netherlands.png The Netherlands: OG3NE - Lights And Shadows 08 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Austria.png Austria: Nathan Trent - Running On Air 09 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/FYR_Macedonia.png F.Y.R. Macedonia: Jana Burčeska - Dance Alone 10 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Denmark.png Denmark: Anja - Where I Am 11 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Israel.png Israel: IMRI - I Feel Alive 12 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Switzerland.png Switzerland: Timebelle - Apollo 13 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Lithuania.png Lithuania: Fusedmarc - Rain Of Revolution 14 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Croatia.png Croatia: Jacques Houdek - My Friend 15 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/San_Marino.png San Marino: Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson - Spirit Of The Night 16 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Norway.png Norway: JOWST - Grab The Moment 17 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Estonia.png Estonia: Koit Toome and Laura - Verona 18 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Bulgaria.png Bulgaria: Kristian Kostov - Beautiful Mess 19 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Belarus.png Belarus: Naviband - Story Of My Life
March 14, 20178 yr Semi-Final One 01 - Montenegro 02 - Georgia 03 - Finland 04 - Albania 05 - Sweden 06 - Portugal 07 - Azerbaijan 08 - Belgium 09 - Australia 10 - Moldova 11 - Armenia 12 - Greece 13 - Czech Republic 14 - Latvia 15 - Slovenia 16 - Cyprus 17 - Poland 18 - Iceland Semi-Final Two 01 - Romania 02 - Ireland 03 - Russia 04 - Serbia 05 - Austria 06 - Malta 07 - Denmark 08 - Hungary 09 - The Netherlands 10 - FYR Macedonia 11 - Norway 12 - Croatia 13 - Lithuania 14 - Bulgaria 15 - Estonia 16 - Switzerland 17 - Israel 18 - San Marino 19 - Belarus
March 14, 20178 yr Russia are gonna get the death slot number two in the second semi final. Guarantee it!
March 16, 20178 yr Author Just going to do Semi 2 for now 01 Macedonia 02 Malta 03 Hungary 04 Russia 05 Serbia 06 Netherlands 07 Romania 08 Ireland 09 Austria 10 Denmark 11 Norway 12 Bulgaria 13 Lithuania 14 Croatia 15 San Marino 16 Belarus 17 Estonia 18 Switzerland 19 Israel -Macedonia is the most obvious 'get the party started' opening number so that goes in slot one -Malta in the death slot because one of the basics has to go in there and if you gave that to Russia then there'd probably be a big hullabalooh about that. Russia can then get the still reasonably bad slot of fourth while Hungary gets to be a spacer between the two ballads. -Alternating tempos/styles where possible. Austria and Denmark can go at the end because they're both mid-ish tempos to tide the energy over until the first half and there's more uptempos to draw from again. -Estonia and Israel are the two 'big' songs in the second half so they can go last and third to last (as is the standard rule). -Something slow but theoretically not as competitive can go in between them so I figured the best song for that in this half is Switzerland. -Again, alternate as much as possible back up to the middle. There aren't as many slow ones in this half so San Marino/Belarus works as a contrast of hot mess disco with folk pop.
March 16, 20178 yr Author When do the commercial breaks typically happen in the semis? It varies by year/how long the semis are that year but generally there's one after song 5/6 and song 12/13 I think.
March 18, 20178 yr Assuming the breaks are after songs 5 and 13, I've gone for: Semi 1 01. Azerbaijan // Dihaj - Skeletons 02. Portugal // Salvador Sobral - Amor pelos dois 03. Montenegro // Slavko Kalezic - Space 04. Finland // Norma John - Blackbird 05. Georgia // Tamara Gachechiladze - Keep The Faith (BREAK) 06. Australia // Isaiah - Don't Come Easy 07. Sweden // Robin Bengtsson - I Can't Go On 08. Albania // Lindita - World 09. Belgium // Blanche - City Lights 10. Greece // Demy - This Is Love 11. Slovenia // Omar Naber - On My Way 12. Latvia // Triana Park - Line 13. Poland // Kasia Mos - Flashlight (BREAK) 14. Cyprus // Hovig - Gravity 15. Iceland // Svala - Paper 16. Czech Republic // Martina Barta - My Turn 17. Armenia // Artsvik - Fly With Me 18. Moldova // SunStroke Project - Hey Mamma Semi 2 01. Serbia // Tijana Bogicevic - In Too Deep 02. Malta // Claudia Faniello - Breathlessly 03. Hungary // Joci Papai - Origo 04. Russia // Julia Samoylova - Flame Is Burning 05. Romania // Ilinca ft. Alex Florea - Yodel It! (BREAK) 06. The Netherlands // OG3NE - Lights & Shadows 07. Ireland // Brendan Murray - Dying To Try 08. Macedonia // Jana Burceska - Dance Alone 09. Austria // Nathan Trent - Running On Air 10. Denmark // Anja - Where I Am 11. San Marino // Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson - Spirit Of The Night 12. Croatia // Jacques Houdek - My Friend 13. Israel // IMRI - I Feel Alive (BREAK) 14. Estonia // Koit Toome & Laura - Verona 15. Bulgaria // Kristian Kostov - Beautiful Mess 16. Lithuania // Fusedmarc - Rain Of Revolution 17. Switzerland // Timebelle - Apollo 18. Norway // JOWST - Grab The Moment 19. Belarus // NaviBand - Story Of My Life
March 18, 20178 yr Author And now that all of the songs are out, Semi 1: 01 Albania 02 Finland 03 Azerbaijan 04 Portugal 05 Montenegro 06 Australia 07 Sweden 08 Georgia 09 Belgium 10 Slovenia 11 Cyprus 12 Czech Republic 13 Moldova 14 Poland 15 Armenia 16 Latvia 17 Iceland 18 Greece -Now, the temptation would probably be to have either Sweden or Montenegro open but they need to be saved for later in the show to break up runs of ballads. So therefore, the slower song that feels the 'biggest' out of them all is Albania so they'll do as an opener. Azerbaijan could potentially open too but having Albania slot in between the two really lowkey songs in 2nd and 4th would be a bit too much -Finland/Portugal pretty much interchangable in 2nd and 4th so I ended up giving Finland the death slot over Portugal because I suppose Portugal is slightly fancied by the bookies so give them the later one -Montenegro injects a shot of energy into the proceedings in 5th and then alternating is relatively easy after that. -The two biggest uptempos in the 2nd half are Greece and Latvia so they can have last and third last. Greece is likely going to have big and impressive staging so they can close the show out of those two. -Iceland slots pretty well in-between those two with something slower but still impressive and visually interesting. -Again, alternate as best possible back up to the middle. Slovenia can go after the most likely Semi winner because they're coming last anyway.
March 19, 20178 yr This is what I'd do 1 Montenegro: Slavko Kalezić - Space 2 Georgia: Tamara Gachechiladze - Keep The Faith 3 Albania: Lindita - World 4 Azerbaijan: Dihaj - Skeletons 5 Portugal: Salvador Sobral - Amar Pelos Dois 6 Sweden: Robin Bengtsson - I Can't Go On 7 Finland: Norma John - Blackbird 8 Australia: Isaiah - Don't Come Easy 9 Belgium: Blanche - City Lights 10 Greece: Demy - This Is Love 11 Slovenia: Omar Naber - On My Way 12 Latvia: Triana Park - Line 13 Czech Republic: Martina Bárta - My Turn 14 Cyprus: Hovig - Gravity 15 Armenia: Artsvik - Fly With Me 16 Iceland: Svala - Paper 17 Poland: Kasia Moś - Flashlight 18 Moldova: Sunstroke Project - Hey Mamma 1 Romania: Ilinca ft. Alex Florea - Yodel It! 2 Ireland: Brendan Murray - Dying To Try 3 Russia: Julia Samoylova - Flame Is Burning 4 Austria: Nathan Trent - Running On Air 5 Serbia: Tijana Bogićević - In Too Deep 6 Malta: Claudia Faniello - Breathlessly 7 Hungary: Joci Pápai - Origo 8 Denmark: Anja - Where I Am 9 Macedonia: Jana Burčeska - Dance Alone 10 The Netherlands: OG3NE - Lights And Shadows 11 Norway: JOWST - Grab The Moment 12 Lithuania: Fusedmarc - Rain Of Revolution 13 Croatia: Jacques Houdek - My Friend 14 Estonia: Koit Toome and Laura - Verona 15 Switzerland: Timebelle - Apollo 16 San Marino: Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson - Spirit Of The Night 17 Bulgaria: Kristian Kostov - Beautiful Mess 18 Belarus: Naviband - Story Of My Life 19 Israel: IMRI - I Feel Alive I've tried to alternate tempo and/or type of act where possible and have a fun opening and closing. Tried to give decent slots to songs with good odds (Bulgaria, Belgium, Sweden..Portugal to an extent but the first half of semi 1 already has the Belgians, the Swedish and Australia who get a late slot due to the time difference). I personally think Georgia is awful so they get the death slot in semi 1 and I like Ireland but it was them or Malta to get it in semi 2, and I thought Malta would clash more with Russia who I wanted to put in third.
March 31, 20178 yr It's out: Semi 1 1. Sweden 2. Georgia 3. Australia 4. Albania 5. Belgium 6. Montenegro 7. Finland 8. Azerbaijan 9. Portugal 10. Greece 11. Poland 12. Moldova 13. Iceland 14. Czech Republic 15. Cyprus 16. Armenia 17. Slovenia 18. Latvia Semi 2 1. Serbia 2. Austria 3. Russia 4. FYR Macedonia 5. Malta 6. Romania 7. The Netherlands 8. Hungary 9. Denmark 10. Ireland 11. San Marino 12. Croatia 13. Norway 14. Switzerland 15. Belarus 16. Bulgaria 17. Lithuania 18. Estonia 19. Israel Mission bury Australia and Russia and push Portugal and Denmark got the green light! Sweden opening, as Robin did in his Melodifestivalen heat, that will be a fantastic way to get open with that staging. Nice strong finish in semi 2...Lithuania aside...but that will help them through (they always get through!)
March 31, 20178 yr oh my god at that 10-13 section in semi 2 :lol: Also I think Montenegro might qualify with that running order?
March 31, 20178 yr Croatia will stand out enormously, yes! Looks a very good draw for Portugal, it will stand in contrast to those kind of unremarkable songs around it. Definitely thinking Australia are in trouble now. And yes, I think all of that last 5 in semi 2 are qualifying quite safely.
March 31, 20178 yr Also I think Montenegro might qualify with that running order? I had this thought / hope - it's going to stand out SO much (though it probably would anyway no matter where it was put! :lol:) Poor Austria, I love that song. What have Ireland done to get given the latest possible draw they could get I was thinking yesterday how suitable Sweden would be as an opener - "I can't go on" will be my mums words at the prospect of having to sit through 60-ish more performances across the three shows :P
March 31, 20178 yr Author I mean, Semi draws can't kill you off as much as the final draws can just because of the length of the show comparatively but nevertheless, here be my hot takes! I think the main song that's sunk is probably Austria who I had down as about 9th/10th before I saw this draw. Not convinced that Lithuania are through now either, Bulgaria/Belarus/Estonia/Israel are going to completely crowd it out in that section. Albania and Georgia are also more or less dead at this point, one of them could have managed it with a better draw/taking all the votes away from the other one but Australia being in between them is taking pretty much all of their votes away. Belgium have a great draw after that run of ballads/before the ad break potentially, as does Montenegro. Latvia getting the pimp slot makes me more confident about their chances now too. Russia are buried if they turn up but conveniently the ordering still works if you take them out, well played EBU! What have Ireland done to get given the latest possible draw they could get I mean, the alternative theory about that is that it's worst to be right in the middle of the show after a run of slow songs before an uptempo comes on, so you could read it as a bad draw for Portugal/Ireland (I'd argue Greece coming right after them is a dreadful draw for the Portuguese, especially with two slow/mid tempos coming before it) who both match that description.
March 31, 20178 yr Nothing to shocking with that running order, Slovenia definitely doesn't deserve such a good slot though. I'm a little more confident with Finland going through now as well. Recaps using the running order: nW1TNNwxsq8 Kdui3XW3R6M
March 31, 20178 yr Semi 1 – I would wholeheartedly agree with Sweden being an excellent opener. I had Semi 1 being a bit tougher to guess than Semi 2 this year, again like last year. We knew that Dihaj was gonna be interesting, we knew that Demy has the team, Iceland is out for redemption and Czech Republic would want to prove that their qualification last year was not a fluke. Is it not the case that they’ll have the ad-break in the middle between 9th and 10th slots? Would you put a slower, older-style song there like Portugal rather than close the half with something more of a party number? I go the safe route if I were NTU and schedule it with a strong opener, and intersperse the upbeat/quirky songs running say 1st, 5th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 18th just to keep the flow going? Belgium’s position is going to be very interesting given that this is probably the quirkiest song of the Semi, contemporary sounding, interesting vocal and thematically quite interesting – this either grows into a big club hit or becomes monotonous as hell but hats off to them for going for it, they certainly are prepared to switch it up and given what they did with ‘What’s the Pressure?’ last year, they know how to stage the hell out of a song. Also, Finland, Albania and Portugal are all ballads – I think it imperative given that they be kept away from the UK which is another torch song as it’s unfair given that we’re through anyway. I confess, I like jazz music and was raised on the Great American Songbook so I quite like the old school, 1950s vibe of Portugal, and was intrigued by Martina Bárta’s participation. Portugal could actually benefit from an odd running order given that it’s so low-key and throwback-y that it that there is literally nothing that sounds like it anywhere. As a rule, getting the transitions right is going to be the hardest part, particularly given that the occasional odd change of mood or tempo is unavoidable, but you want to try very hard to make sure that – particularly if its an AQ country who don’t have to worry about qualification but have every right to get a fair go at showing their song off properly given that we (and the other Big Five) now really got to justify our AQ status. I’m totally for Lucie going out and treating it like she’s got to qualify and win everybody over at Semi stage – it’s the only way we’re going to prove we have any business being in the Final. Semi 2 – Ireland will be made or broken with their place in the run. The lack of UK in their Semi makes them vulnerable and he’s competing with Bulgaria for the same voters. Given the Russia situation, which given their history in ESC since Semis came in and their natural wish to send something special to Ukraine – an absent Russia blows this Semi wide-open. Eastern European countries might find it harder without their votes and Switzerland is probably breathing a sigh of relief. San Marino could go second because it’s a throw-back without the charm of Portugal and barring a miracle a non-qualifier as well as hurt by the absence of Italy from their Semi. Shame ‘cos I’m still pissed at ‘Vola’ not qualifying in 2013. NTU might recognise that they are the underdogs and Valentina has a lot of love from fans and help her out a bit, but even with extraordinary staging, God bless them for trying though…. Cyprus, Israel and even Moldova have somewhat similar songs, male, EDM influenced and Estonia is a bit like the duet version, so they’ll have to be kept apart. The Netherlands might be a big winner in this Semi – good song and they sing so well. Given that there are a lot less ballads in this Semi so it’s going to require very different scheduling, France, Ukraine’s pop rock nonsense, Ireland’s pop ballad, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and even the cheese-tastic silliness that is Romania are going to be used to break-up the dancier tracks. And people Epic Sax Guy and Valentina Monetta and ESG in one Semi – I can scarcely wait!
March 31, 20178 yr I think Macedonia are struggling likewise Serbia, I'll be surprised to see more than one of them get through I think. I was warming up to Austria's chances as his stage presence is enormous but perhaps not now with that draw. I think Poland could definitely fail now from 11th, Latvia now have a fighting chance. I was warming up to Georgia's chances too after the revamp but like Austria, those chances could've been ruined. Aside from that I don't think anyone can feel hard done by, Macedonia should probably feel harshest done by.
Create an account or sign in to comment