Eurovision Song Contest 2012: 10 countries advance from Tuesday's semi-final
May 22 2012 06:23 pm ET
The Eurovision Song Contest is officially in full swing in Baku, Azerbaijan. 18 countries competed in Tuesday's semi-final with ten countries advancing. Who made it to Saturday's Grand Final?
Tuesday's show featured performances of all styles as 18 countries competed for 10 tickets to Saturday's show. Monetenegro opened the show with weirdness, San Marino kept the energy high with "The Social Network Song" and the Russian Grannies had all the flags in Baku Crystal Hall waving. Rona Nishliu from Albania delivered a highly emotional performance that earned cheers, thanks to her amazingly powerful vocals. Jedward closed the show with the use of hydrotechnics (and some pyrotechnics – this is Eurovision, after all).
Here are the ten countries that advanced, in the order they were announced:
Romania - Mandinga - "Zaleilah"
Moldova - Pasha Parfeny - "Lautar"
Iceland - Greta Salome & Jonsi - "Never Forget"
Hungary - Compact Disco - "Sound of Our Hearts"
Denmark - Soluna Samay - "Should've Known Better"
Albania - Rona Nishliu - "Suus"
Cyprus - Iva Adamou - "La La Love"
Greece - Eleftheria Eleftheriou - "Aphrodisiac"
Russia - Buranovskiye Babushki - "Party for Everybody"
Ireland - Jedward - "Waterline"
Following the announcement of the results, the advancing acts convened for a press conference where they drew their positions for Saturday's final. Host country Azerbaijan and the Big Five – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom – have already drawn their positions in the running order. Each country drew its place in the order of qualification announcement:
01 - United Kingdom
02 - Hungary
03 - Albania
04-05 Finalists from Second Semi-Final
06 - Russia
07 - Iceland
08 - Cyprus
09 - France
10 - Italy
11-12 Finalists from Second Semi-Final
13 - Azerbaijan
14 - Romania
15 - Denmark
16 - Greece
17-18 Finalists from Second Semi-Final
19 - Spain
20 - Germany
21-22 Finalists from Second Semi-Final
23 - Ireland
24-25 Finalists from Second Semi-Final
26 - Moldova
The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest will be held Thursday at 11:59pm AZST / 9:00pm CET / 3:00pm Eastern / Noon Pacific. The Grand Final will be held on Saturday at the same time. Be sure to join us for Live Coverage on Saturday!
Mike McComb – TVLatest.com
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