Eurovision 2018 Semi-Final 1 Split Results: Who did the juries help or hurt?

[@brado1912]

I’m surprised Ireland came 6th after so many people said that it definitely wouldn’t qualify

[@sannev8407]

The song itself was already good but they elevated it even more with that staging

[@caitxox8812]

I’m happy that Juries respected Albania... the vocals were amazing and if it didn’t get through I wouldn’t understand. I would probably have swapped Finland with Switzerland ... I think Finland may have got lower votes due to the staging, it’s not bad it was just different and many people may not have known what to think of it ... it is reflected in the final too

[@Wiwibloggs]

Cait Xox That’s a fair point. Saara took a risk and sometimes folks won’t get it. But so much respect to her for going hard and staying true ! ❤️❤️

[@caitxox8812]

wiwibloggs yes definitely... she slayed ❤️

[@Alvaro-kg1gs]

Belgium wasn't artistic in my opinion. The performance was really disappointing. I remember I expected it to be THE performance, but it was just her in the middle with some lights that did nothing. Nothing happened. It was like a performance in a preparty...

[@nathanconstable6833]

Alvaro I loved the opening and closing shots. I wish the did more to merge the lights with the beats, but I'm not sure how to make this more interesting? The song is brilliant (my second favourite).

[@zdzislawa91]

For me it was a mess. She was lost on this catwalk between audience, she should do something more intimate like Portugal.

[@Alvaro-kg1gs]

Nathan Constable True, the opening and closing shots were interesting, but the rest was just bland. I have lots of ideas to make a good staging of this song tbh HAHAH. They could have played a lot with the angles, with the filters, with the lights and with the pyro. It could have been amazing, but it fell flat

[@Alvaro-kg1gs]

Małgorzata Szczeszek i dont think that it should have more intimate, just the other way round. The performance wasnt a mess because there was nothing to mess around with. It was the opposite to Saara Aalto's UMK performance. It should have been a very theatrical performance with a lot of pyro, filters and wind

[@nathanconstable6833]

Alvaro I don't feel like pyros would've worked with this. The lights from Portugal's performance would've been nice.

[@parky4389]

Uggh. I really want to put Switzerland in, but I don’t really know who to take out

[@Ryan-1704]

Kieran Park Albania or Ireland is obvious choice but for me it's Bulgaria

[@kennet7837]

Ryan-1704 Gtfo! Albania deserved the final more than anyone! I would swap out Finland's generic song for Switzerland.

[@Ryan-1704]

Kennet I was ok with Albania qualifying, I just think it's an obvious choice to take out as it was a surprise it made it. Finland was borderline for me but I never liked Bulgaria and live was a mess so I'd take Bulgaria out.

[@Sabrinajaine]

Israel

[@arwena1659]

Finland

[@cynical3279]

I feel like they need to give jurors specific criteria for songs so that there’s a reference point to understand their decisions.

[@aoifed8913]

Cynical Totally agree, it's so dodgy the way they have it now.

[@mzbelgium]

I wonder if there are criteria included in the "Green Document" referred to in the ESC rules? The rules say that national juries must vote "in accordance with the instructions included in the Green Document", but I haven't been able to find the GD itself... would be super interested to read it if anyone can find it online!

[@sav0001]

They do have specific criteria.

[@sannev8407]

You don't have to understand jury opinions. That's why There's a jury and televote

[@mimi-xx]

saving albania is the only good thing the juries did this year lmao

[@that1forgettableperson458]

@@quetzal7432 Everything you named except for killing When we're old

[@chriscowling1605]

One of the reasons that Mikolas went down so well in the arena on the night was due to the fact that he came out and worked the crowd as we stood in line to get in.......He was so upbeat and personable greeting everyone and posing for pictures......it was a big thing for him to take that time out just a couple of hours before the biggest performance of his life.......no wonder we screamed our appreciation for him.....he was a star!

[@EdonPiperku]

He was shocked that she was behind Albania and keeps being shady about Albania. Sorry but you should really understand music and appreciate outstanding vocals to get why Albania got to the final. And plus Eleni is Albanian so I don’t think she was sad lol

[@nilerra8181]

Switzerland came 11th with televote on average ranking (2013 system)

[@yeseniasrevenge3018]

That means they were actually really close to getting points in many countries' televote. Switzerland is just consistently unlucky. In Semi 2 they could have gone through definitely.

[@TrainToAlaska]

I was HEARTBROKEN over Belgium, Switzerland and Armenia tbh but I was so happy Finland went through Saara Aalto deserved it!

[@georgebaxter5848]

I think Sennek didn’t qualify because she wasn’t very likeable on stage, kinda creepy, a bit heroin chic...I loved it but maybe the public weren’t into it

[@annip5573]

Isn't it that juries also have to recognize the quality of the song. And I think the strength of Albania is not only the voice, actually the song and it's chord progression etc. can be recognized by professionals as hight quality songwriting. What do you think?

[@CarlosRibeiro187]

Albania's Mall, is in fact and overall, clearly high quality material and undoubtebly a very solid composition. Structurally secure, sonically quite organic and powerful... and increasingly captivating as it goes on, in terms of what can be classified as the melodic line and of course, irreprehensibly and impressively sung by Bushpepa. Along with the song of Armenia, my personal choices for the best of this year's event. Though, i also liked a few others... for different motives, of course. As for juries, i think they should be capable to put quality on top of their more personal preferences. Though i'm not that much sure about that.

[@dustincsk]

This year top 3 (Israel, Cyprus & Austria) were all in the semi-final 1. And half of the top 10 acts were in SF1 as well. So it was so unfortunate for all unqualified acts. They were all robbed...😓

[@ketsunoalex4600]

Dustin aka dtcsk Actually in the TOP8 there were 6 songs that have to qualify, and 5 of them were from SF1

[@Ryan-1704]

I think the simple reasoning for Israel's televote is that it is a grower. People found it a but weird in the semi's and then got into it in the final. Also, the people who don't take eurovision that seriously may have only watched the final and voted for Israel then as it is fun!

[@mollz48]

Why I think Israel came 4th in the semi final televote: Everyone one knew that Israel was getting through, but basically all other countries were uncertain so many people probably voted for who they wanted to save in the final rather than win. So maybe people wanted Estonia, for example, in the final but didn’t want them to win.

[@RubyChiang]

There were better songs in SF1 than in SF2.

[@iftyhargil8359]

Gotta love how so many people are complaining that Belgium and Switzerland were robbed when the jury kept them in and the public voted them out 🤷‍♂️ Tell me more about how the jury system needs to be taken out of the competition...

[@blackwidow1778]

My heart still cries for Sennek💔😢

[@meseigot7glambert193]

Lost and found is my fav studio version since it came out, and actually I wasn't as disappointed about the staging as a lot of fans. I wish I could vote that night. :(

I voted for them and my country televote didn't give them any points, so that's not cool :(

[@meseigot7glambert193]

Oh, that's sad too. :(

[@user-bl7uc1dx6p]

this semi was absolutely devastating to me, my top 5 absolute favourites ALL NQ’d from this semi, i cried for so long tbh lol

[@RubyChiang]

Albania deserved everything they got!!! Beautiful song, amazing vocals and Eugent is just adorable!!!

[@CkCK-oz3yv]

Albania was bad

[@RubyChiang]

WTF? Not even Eugent's voice will convince you?

[@stacyhenson4789]

Agree - Albania was really bad. Talked my friend out of voting for Albania.

[@taftybufty]

Ruby Chiang Leave these poor idiots alone. Must be some people whose ears are used to listening to trash pop songs.

[@RubyChiang]

I agree!

[@janro8677]

Not even a mention of Ireland :(

[@conor1077]

Jordan Munn ... Are you surprised...they had it written off, they got it so wrong, too embarrassed to mention it

[@TheFlygon13]

Juries don't like tackiness which explains Saara's rank.

[@yourpaljaedon9151]

Dont forget that not every participating country could vote in each others semi's so thats my theory why Israel placed 4th with televoting.

[@ronitaharon3468]

I agree but I also think that the running order also ruined it's chances for Israel to reach higher in Televoting - Israel performed 7th and Cyprus performed last unlike the grand final that both of them performed near the end of the show

[@Ecd4life23]

Israel came 4th in the televote for me is down to the fact that Cyprus who won the night blew everyone away with their performance I think as well as having to perform last in the semi final. Lithuania did better with the public than jury due to a Baltic partner of theirs Estonia in that semi and the UK which voted in semi final 1 has a big Lithuanian diaspora especially Scotland where I live I find.

[@brado1912]

Euan Crabb Same with Ireland. Every year Ireland gives 12 points to Lithuania. It really annoys me. Vote for the song you like ffs

[@Ecd4life23]

It doesn't help in fairness with the diaspora our countries have but i'm sure there's plenty that vote for the song's quality too.

[@brunofaria8447]

Switzerland was my favorite in semifinal 1. So so powerful! The ambience in the arena was perfect. I still don't understand the result.

[@dmitricastro3944]

Belarus 😢

[@Escuniverse4168]

Televoting was right about Greece, but it should have qualified in the place of Finland... however juries were right about Switzerland in my opinion. This semi was really a bloodbath

[@evangeliar.7600]

Okay so I'm Greek and I saw some Greeks saying that Yianna shouldn't give others the fault for her non qualification but herself (yes not everyone is so supportive as you think, Greek eurofans mostly are but not overall). Anyway I think she has the right to blame the others in this case. And she didn't even exactly blame the others, she told the story. First of all her staging was idea number 4, fine that happened a lot of times in esc even though I think that many times (not only Greece this year) the EBU didn't even think exactly about that and just said "no".I mean it was staging NUMBER 4! And some people in previous years had staging number 6 or anything, how is that possible?! Also about the fireworks exploding in the wrong moment, how is this possible after so many rehearsals + the technicians managed to do other performances perfectly even thought they were WAY more difficult. And then they didn't even let her sing again even though she could have been injured (I'm so happy she didn't). I'm just saying, that I'm okay with us not qualifying IF IT'S FAIR and if I was Yianna I would be even more angrier. When I saw her performance I was like "we won't qualify anyway, it's too forgettable" but looking at the whole situation I can say she did her best. I was surprised that we qualified in the televote even though I love her and her song. It's a shame that the EBU didn't even apologised. I hope this won't happen again, not to Greece and not to any other country. I know that mistakes can happen and that not everyone is able to do the performance they want but I think the EBU should handle these situations differently. (By the way the first staging idea, which is understandable why they rejected it but still, was making her fly)

[@brado1912]

ESC EVA The song wasn’t that good tho

[@tom_4546]

@@brado1912 it was

[@dimpap3034]

The greek delegation had 4 ideas for their staging but the Portuguese people said that tgey cant make what they wanted. Also yianna said that that was theit 5th thought and again the portuegese said that neither this can happen. The greek delegation said after all these things that they wont take part in the contest if nothing can work and the we saw something that the portuegese people staged😠

[@nilerra8181]

Esc τζιμ παπ The team producing are Swedes. So it was not RTP (Portuguese) fault. Greece deserved to quality tho :)

[@michaelschenk686]

Can you give more details or a link? I'm really curious about that. (But please not in greek :D )

[@dimpap3034]

Michael Schenk its only in greek

[@Tarkris]

Esc τζιμ παπ still doesn't excuse her bad vocals

[@dimpap3034]

T. K i dont think she was that bad that everyone says

[@rifoist]

Netta's performance wasn't as good in the semi. Also people probably voted for other acts thinking other people will vote for Israel. Estonia, Cyprus and Czech were more risks. (I'm sure that's why Norway was #1 too)

[@matilda9121]

I get why juries put Finland so low: it was way too much on stage and sometimes less is more

[@nathanconstable6833]

matilda teodora Do you think if she performed it like her Lithuanian finals performance they would've ranked her higher?

[@michaelschenk686]

Sometimes it is. But Belgium didn't have any staging at all. And that was obviously not good for that song. You just never know...

[@jackodonovan7560]

But yet Israel won the jury

[@endermasa9451]

in the semi-final i think the audience are viewers who watch eurovision more regularly and stay up to date with the news, this being said i think the reason for the split televoting score for israel would be down to the fact that it is very high impact especially for people who have never seen it before, which in the semi-final most people have.

[@Bangtansarang]

Belgiums staging was so boring. Song was ok but staging didn’t work and her vocals weren’t on point either. Greece had one of the best songs of the year but unfortunately they didn’t manage to be creative with the staging. Such a shame. I think the 10 entries that qualified deserved it. I personally never liked Finland but vocally Saara is very strong so I respect that.

[@taeng0077]

2018 was my first eurovision, having seen the rest up to 2021 now, the jury is trash and never picks the right acts. Like, literally never.

[@szalaizsofia7019]

idk who to pull out (Austria and Bulgaria didn't really impressed me personally, but even I can see the quality in them) BUT I WANT SWITZERLAND IN THE FINAL.

[@tigrishf2224]

I cry every time I see the votes from the jury for Finland. They give even more points to Azerbaijan or Armenia. I can not understand it. I know that Finland doesn't have so much neighbours and that the jury sometimes is even less professional than the televoting but it is so unfair

[@samstarba4569]

Yeah, I started looking at Finland's results from the past 10 years, and realized that we almost always get significantly lower points from the jury than the public... I actually wonder if we have ever gotten better points from the jury? For example, in 2010 Kuunkuiskaajat did not qualify because of jury. In 2017, same thing happened with Norma Joan and Blackbird. In 2018, Saara Aalto barely qualified - because of jury. And now, in 2021, Blind Channel was 4th in televotes and smth like 11th in jury votes. (Well, this one I can actually understand because it is not a jury friendly song but the others I have a bit harder time comprehending.) I honestly have always thought that it was the other around cause that would make more sense to me.

[@daida..]

​@@samstarba4569 in 2023 the issue of the juries robbing Finland really hurts a lot :(

[@samstarba4569]

@@daida.. Yeah, once again we are much more appreciated by the televotes. :D

[@kika12peggy17]

I think that another reason why Israel was 4th in the televote might have been because everyone expected it to go to the final so people voted for other artists they liked that weren't as sure to go through...

[@Lagiacrus1996]

Dayum the Greece shade was real. One of the best studio versions. Staging was enough for me, and clearly I'm not alone if it was to pass in the televote. Won't say it was the reason it flopped with the juries, but their pyrotechnics failed immensely during the jury semi. Portugal fucked them over HARD over and over and over, I feel so bad for her.

[@elsafralves]

You must be kidding...

[@brado1912]

I consider myself a very mainstream music enthusiast. And Greece did nothing for me from the start. It bored me more than anything. And if you look at the televote in detail. Greece scored high with Bulgaria, Cyprus, Armenia and Albania and every other country gave them little to no points. It just felt too experimental

[@brado1912]

Winter is coming Well Europe obviously didn’t. Have fun

[@DogCompanion]

Matthew M it was one of the best studio songs for me too (if not the best - for me anyway). While the staging could've been better, it still definitely deserved to be in the final

[@EurovisionFan91]

I cant remember the last time i liked a Greek Eurovision song. 2006 and Anna Vissi probably.

[@BogdanHonciuc]

More countries voted in the GF than in this semi. This could explain why Israel won on Saturday. Plus, Netta’s performance was better in the final.

[@t0mbiv]

Let's just put it out there - Semi 1 was cray 😂 The best Semi ever 🎉 - Greece and Belgium were massive fan favourites (I didn't get the hype personally) but was surprised that neither qualified! - Finland had my favourite song this year - the bookies and a lot of fans didn't think Saara could qualify so I was ecstatic that she did, however I was surprised too seeing the split results - happy with the public ranking her 7th however I thought it was poor of the juries to rate Saara so badly. - Israel - I agree with y'all hunties that with the Semis, the ratio of big Eurovision fans compared to on-and-off viewers is bigger, Netta had lost momentum with fans and the bookies, so maybe this explains why Netta came 4th with the viewers, but then dominated the televoting in the Final. I predicted Israel to win after all when my friends back home said they'd vote for her in the Final - Netta had a broad appeal with the general public! - Albania - sorry William but I am perplexed how Eugent came 3rd with the juries 😂 Amaaazing voice however in terms of the overall song and performance I feel the juries overrated him. - In terms of other results - I thought Switzerland gave an amazing performance, Stones was one of my favourite songs this year from the get-go and so I was disappointed seeing the televoting results! - Azerbaijan not qualifying was notable but with no Russia, Ukraine or Georgia in Semi 1 and obviously no points from Armenia, I think that sealed Aisel's fate!

[@michelsennett5375]

Tom Vogt Good analysis! You can read my comments above!

[@amyf6784]

Thanks for not even mentioning ireland🙄

[@angelinasi7965]

I get why everyone is upset about Belgium didn't make it through. Although the song was great I felt like her vocals were out... there was something off and unpleasant for the ears

[@alexosuagwu3536]

I think the reason why Israel came lower in the televote in the Semi than in the final is because of the certain countries in that Semi while in the final it has all 43 participating countries to rely on

[@Kantlim]

Juries weren't "geopolitical" but it doesn't mean they weren't "political". These juries are 5 people from every country and even these people aren't always musicians. Saying they're voting for "quality" is quite naive. They're voting for friends, they're voting for overrated "popular songs" and they're voting for things they like (often subjectively) just like televoters. It's having televotes from thousands of people and "televotes" from 5 people as equal. Juries should be gone long ago.

[@sav0001]

No the juries shouldn't be gone. We don't want to go back to the early 2000s when it was 100% televoting and countries just voted for their neighbours.

[@Kantlim]

Look at televotes and juryvotes again. We're living in 2018. Things are different than 20 years ago.

[@sav0001]

Dawid Kopacz My point still stands. If you got rid of the juries, we would go back to all the Balkan, Nordic and Russian diaspora countries getting all the points and the rest of the countries getting nothing. Just watch the 2008 final to see this in full effect.

[@danielb1500]

2:20 Is that Eleni’s nipple? 😮

[@esclatvia4382]

Fuego is 16th in radio in Latvia.

[@henryvonrintelen3748]

Greece had a great radio cut however I think the live performance didn’t manage to match the mixing which killed the feel and the staging didn’t help.

[@emredinc2484]

Azerbaijan 😭😭😭

[@royalpilot116]

Estonia (My Favorite Act) should have done better with the juries in the Semi. I also wish that the Televote of the grand final would give her a better score. She should have La Forza-d her way to 1st Place.

[@nagiach.102]

1)I'm still terribly sorry for Belgium..I think it is my favourite song that failed to qualify since like 2008....An amazing track that just was destroyed by the staging 2)The fact that the juries would have kicked Lithuania out is so bizzare.I considered "When we're old" such a jury friendly song..Albania came 3rd with the juries mainly because of his vocals,yet Lithuania with a much better song in my opinion wasn't enough for them? 3)Czech Republic was underestimated by the juries in both semi final and grand final in my opinion.5th with the jury in the semi and 15th in the final..For me "Lie to me" was definitely the most radio friendly song in the competition.And I just can't get why the juries didn't particurarly respect it when they clearly were big fans of Sweden,another radio friendly song with also average vocals 4)Not a surprise to me that Netta was fourth in the televoting in Tuesday.It really wasn't her best performance.I remember thinking her moment was completely over and she would be another Francisco Gabbani,not even making the top 3.I still believe that the live performance and the staging was a let down.The studio version and the video clip are just miles ahead for me. 5)I can think of at least 3 songs that would have made it to the final if they were on the other semi final...Such a bloodbath this one

[@Dutchandfrench]

Why did you mention Mikolas' stripped back stage show, but didn't mention that he actually did the flip on the final night

[@jackodonovan7560]

Dutchandfrench probably cause this was just a review of the semi final

[@avavvaavhjsd9quefh650]

But in the Jury semi final it was a wrong with the fireworks in Greece and they even they let her participate again so Greece was judged in wrong stage and most of the things that the Greek Participation suggest for the stagging didn't happend so i dont i greek with your opinion

[@gnelov987]

Disagree totally for Greece ! She was really good but yes not good enough !

[@hina3521]

I think Alekseev deserved to qualify, probably if he was at the Final he did it better I'm sad because no much people voted him

[@tritone11]

You guys are so sweet, unable to fathom how the trash-dance-meets-nails-on-chalkboard-screamfest that was Finland could possibly be disliked by anyone😄😄

[@Nakniki]

As a singer The Vocals of eleni were really bad.... yeah people who dont have the ear wouldnt mind as you can see by the televote but the juries did notice it... Netta tho was incredible with her vocals and fantastic staging.... i think the running order and the very low amount of countries voting have made israel come 4 in the televote but lets be honest cyprus was the last performance of course it won the televote... if in the final eleni had drawn dirst half she wouldnt have come second in the end... same with netta tho!

[@madelinebell5046]

I don't think singing is Eleni's strength at all. Even on the studio version, you can hear that the vocals have been autotuned beyond recognition. She was chosen more for her dancing and her good looks, I think.

[@earl.c]

A theory on Israel's televote: I reckon that more floating/casual voters appear in the Grand Final than in the Semis. Toy is very in your face and that catches the attention

[@tacom1]

The only act I wanted through before the live semi final was Belgium, but the staging was so not on point, that I can see why it did not qualify. Personal favorites as Belarus and FYR Macedonia I also understand. Lost and Found is still my fav track , the studio cut, but that live performance just was not good. I also understand why Greece did not qualify, the 'act' simply was disappointing. The video of the song made me so curious for the live performance, but nothing about the atmosphere of that vid was translated into the performance. Same as Azerbaijan, the song is uplifting and in the video energetic, but the stage performance was vocally not that well and the choreography took all the energy out of it. So I am very happy with the 10 qualifiers. Special kudos to Ari again...that performance was on fire, his vocals were so fantastic , it blew me away and I felt his emotions. He is some fantastic performer, he desperately needed a better song.

[@rogerrjiji]

Mmm...Croatia 17? That's so low...

[@reapercity]

I'm surprised you didn't give a shoutout to Ireland and their qualification Greece needed to make their staging like the video instead of a blue hand which makes no sense and Albania was my underdog of the year throughly underrated and they did even better in the final

[@59Crossword]

Interesting as always to see and hear your comments, especially on this "bloodbath" in semi final 1 ESC 2018. I think that there were 15-16 songs in this sf that deserved a place in the final (and only 4-5 from sf 2!). If I could choose from my music taste and the performances, Switzerland should have qualified and Greece should have qualified. I would have exchanged Estonia (it should not be enough to bring an opera act with visual effects to go far in ESC) and Ireland (boring song, and I don't like that way of singing; same with Sweden) with Switzerland and Greece!

[@user-bl7uc1dx6p]

I haven’t gotten over Switzerland and I don’t think i ever will tbh

[@davida3970]

Before the live show I had Lithuania way down the list but the stage show made it deservedly top 10 for me. Switzerland were unlucky again and should have been there instead of Ireland

[@nilerra8181]

David A Ireland so deserved it lol Ryan got points from almost all televotings xD I wanted Switzerland as well tho

[@amyf6784]

Nah Ireland deserved it imo

[@davida3970]

Thought the staging lifted it through rather than the song but it was hard to choose only 10 in this SF

[@arek44311]

I just want to say that when I was doing my perdiction for the qualifiers I have perdicted 9/10 in the 1st semi final yet only 7/10 in the second but focusing on the 1st i was perdicting Belgium to qualify and I was sure she will quialify easily yet she didnt but i was also expecting Albania to finish quite low yet it qualified easily so thats the two acts that i did not perdict right Also in my opinion Switzerland should have qualified instead of Finland I can see why people like Finlands song as well as i can see why they did not like switzerlands song but looking at them songs from a more "profesional perspective" Finlands song was the most generic and Cheezy song of the whole contest yet Switzerland strong vocals and interesting voice great composition and it did came out better yet I knew the public will not appreciate that song as much as they should and I knew They will like Finland a lot more due to the antrogynous performance. speaking about two favourites Macedonia and Belarus I personaly love both songs however Belarus song its very nice and the staging was done right and it had a good impacs however the song was actually not that great it didint have that WOW thing like other songs and even though the song had many changes i felt it was quite monotonous throughout especailly with his voice And Macedonia great song and great music line but her vocals were dissapoing on the night compared to the concerts and yes the staging did kill it a but i think that even if her vocals were better and the staging was less "Flat" as William said I think it still wouldnt have qualified because the song is cool to listen to but it has no other impact and I can totally see it not doing well :P Thats a long comment if anyone actually read through all of it then your awesome! :D

[@mialou2040]

I would’ve swapped Lithuania with Switzerland- Switzerland was my winner that night but everything else was good

[@mialou2040]

Also, as much as I loved Belgium, she didn’t deliver. The staging was bland and as much as I loved the studio version, Sennek was pretty much unable to hit the higher notes in the chorus and had to rely on off-stage backing vocalists. If you can’t hit the notes on the night, don’t include them just to add an extra something otherwise it just ends up being underwhelming

[@vaniacosta75]

3 of my babies that I was convinced were going to stay in the semis made it: Albania, Lithuania and Ireland. Sad that Switzerland, Armenia, Belgium & Greece didn't made the cut but I was prepared to have some of my favourites staying in the semi. Like the BBC commentator said, this semi final had more quality songs than in most of the finals he watched.

[@vaniacosta75]

There were about 15 songs that I wanted to qualify pre contest. Switzerland was not one of them but after watching the live performance in the semi final I was really rooting for them. I would have swapped Finland, nothing against Saara but the staging was a bit too desperate and way too busy while Switzerland ticked all the boxes and made a decent song very special. I am sure as well that if they qualified and had the same spot would have a better result than what Finland have. Last year Norma John were one of my favourite and did not mad it, so in a way I am glad for the Fins, Switzerland needs to qualify asap I miss them in the final.

[@rampinguy3857]

i would take ireland out and swap it for either Belgium or sswitdderland

[@HananBuhadana]

The reason Israel was 4th in televotes is just the way countries are divided into 2 semi finals. The countries that liked it more and gave it 12s and 10s in the final were mostly from semi-final 2: San Marino, France, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Australia, Sweden, Hungary, The Netherlands, Georgia, Germany, Poland. Even the 3x8 points that Israel got were from Latvia, Romania and Malta - all from semi final 2.

[@engelleip9625]

The reason why Israel came 4th in the semifinal 1 and 1st in the grand final in the televoting, is probably because they had a huge adv. campaign during the eurovision week. The Israelis gave more than €200K ONLY for advertising the song the entire week!

[@robmanucharyan8441]

Switzerland really deserved to qualify.And thank you for mentioning Mikolas.😁

[@emilhuseynzade6607]

The only reason Israel has got 4-th place in televotes is that some voting people thought she is going through anyways, let's vote for her straight in the final. That simple :)

[@janmaciejewski6129]

Even though I thought Switzerland really deserved to qualify, I think every entry that made it deserved to go through. And I'm happier for those entries than I am saddened for the likes of Switzerland.

[@darcyjohnson8738]

the juries never help greece(maybe they did in 2015,but only then) i just feel that it is so unfair for countries that never get any help no matter what while others just by their history get help constantly

[@darcyjohnson8738]

only one exception doesn t change the rule unfortunately

[@darcyjohnson8738]

greece 2011 deserved more recognition what s the difference between sweden 2018 and rise up or malta 2018 and rise up? plus they support songs like moldova 2018 so i dont get why they never help specific countries including greece Anyway we clearly have different opinions.It s ok to disagree😉

[@brado1912]

2016 was terrible. We can all agree 2017 was so generic and bland. Also the lyric quality was awful “This is love, rain falls from above”. Thanks for that fact? 2018 was very lackluster

[@snier1991]

according to wiwi 14 should have qualfied (Switzerland, albenia, finland, belguim and litawenya)...

[@heyjean5156]

Saara Aalto was a BIG ROBBERY, cause she is nice, she worked so much, she has vocals, she can dance, and she has charisma. She had the performance, impressive and entretaining...She should have been in TOP10, as easy as she had one of the bests message songs and she has the vocals and stage pressence, she is different. I think that juries didn't like it by the fact that the 2 recognized divas in Europe that streamed the most in charch, where Israel and Cyprus, so they said ok then this one can't recieve more points, we can't give points to that much of divas and pop banger songs...and that's why saara got forgot by juries. I think it's a shame because saara was there and slaying. I really hope that saara do return to Eurovision in a few years with a ballad like domino, but even better, and shut up the juries 💁

[@brado1912]

I was watching the performance with my whole family with widely different music tastes and that all agreed that the song did nothing for them. It was very plain

[@chiasanzes9770]

LOL With show that desperate and bad dated song it was fare Saara Aalto fail!

[@josephlarkin8168]

Ireland 6th overall here is higher than i expected . I do have a theory with saara from Finland. I found during the opening weeks of x factor uk she struggled and thought she was very cold and not always the easiest to touch you as a viewer initially. In Eurovision there were a lot of big touching performances and maybe that coldness for want of a better word was a part of her down fall. I can't poimg to anything else because vocals, staging, camera shots everything else was on point

[@samstarba4569]

But does/should jury really care about that type of stuff? She was 7th in televotes, so obviously viewers were not overtly scared by her.

[@etsaorned]

I actually didn´t care who would go to the final from the first semi final because i loved every single one of these songs! Even Iceland who you thought would be forgotten won´t be forgotten in my home :D So it wouldn´t matter for me which countries that were qualified. I would be just as happy if Iceland came to the final as all the qualifiers. I was however suprised that Ireland and Albania came to the final, i thought that Greece and Belgium would qualify instead.

[@RubyChiang]

I would definitely put Switzerland in and Finland out! No questions.

[@escvegi2076]

I would put Greece and Switzerland in and Ireland and Austria out.

[@mc-cm4ze]

It's not radio friendly nor a ballad oh is that what a song has to be well there goes every ethnic song that's not all music is

[@Nyla16]

Yeeey i've been waiting for this 😊

[@ESCStroopwafel]

Albania 3rd with the juries

[@nathanconstable6833]

If the juries had stopped Saara qualifying in the first place, I would've cried my eyes out! And I don't understand where those voters went in the final! She deserved better!

[@sortub9693]

I think Azerbaijan should have been a qualifier.

[@escdan1069]

I think that Belarus should have got in instead of Lithuania. Alekseev was incredible.

[@escdan1069]

Viggzplashfilms I just based it on my scoring and even then Lithuania was eleventh so I do like the song and I’m glad they qualified really but Belarus was better.

[@shaolin95]

no way. Lithuania was better easily. I liked Belaru's song but the singer live and the staging specially was a disaster of epic cheesiness proportions. Lithuania improved with the staging..Belarus destroyed themselves with the staging.

[@brado1912]

I felt uncomfortable watching Belarus the whole way through. It was so cringey and his voice was just... I don’t have the words

[@sandras4754]

I agree with you about Alekseev going through to the final but my choice of who gets kicked out goes to Bulgaria.

[@tombutton1169]

It was strange how Israel came 4th in the televote here (tied with Austria), when they won by such a landslide in the final. I think it's probably because of the fact the final has a greater number of people who are lesser fans, and were watching the songs in the final for the first time, compared to the semifinal, where most voters would be familiar with the songs. This meant for most televoters in the final, they had that first time viewing impact with Israel and Toy that die-hard fans had when the song was released. That's seems the most logical reason behind it

[@HananBuhadana]

It's actually just a matter of the way countries are divided into 2 semi finals. The countries that liked it more and gave it 12s and 10s in the final were mostly from semi-final 2: San Marino, France, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Australia, Sweden, Hungary, The Netherlands, Georgia, Germany, Poland. Even the 3x8 points that Israel got were from Latvia, Romania and Malta - all from semi final 2.

[@alexosuagwu3536]

No offense guys but I'm really shocked that Ireland even got to the final, seriously what quality does Ireland's song have over Belgium, Greece and Croatia

[@ahuman6953]

Alex Osuagwu Staging. Eurovision is not about the song only, it's also about performance.

[@nilerra8181]

Ireland was beautiful lol Everything: song and performance It got points from almost all televotings btw. Over 100 points says everything :)

[@alexosuagwu3536]

I understand

[@dimpap3034]

Alex Osuagwu it had gays thats why it qualified

[@michaelschenk686]

Montenegro last year... Clear non-qualifier. So just having "gays" on stage doesn't always work ;)

[@JakubHalat]

The jury didn't put Cyprus higher, because they couldn't give everyone 1st spot, that's easy :P 6th spot is very respectable for a song that generic (I'm not saying it's bad this way). Also I really don't think that radio friendliness should be or is a factor for the juries. There's a lot of people who watch Eurovision and don't care about radio music in the same time.

[@adenmcgrath5894]

I loved Belgium but I think the camera angles gave it no character

[@christo1]

Terrible camera angles is right. It was like a student was behind the camera! I could have done the same if not better!

[@adenmcgrath5894]

christo1 agreed

[@thibovison2472]

I only vote in the final

[@jlhabitan50]

Belgium and Croatia came up short with their otherwise empty staging. Franka should have her backing singers instage with her and perhaps have dancers to recreate her MV. Belgium should have had tighter shots centered on Sennek instead of those panned wide shots of her walking the runway.

[@arliii]

Estonia is best🇪🇪🇪🇪

[@modernmoonlight7350]

I THINK I KNOW WHY ISRAEL WON THE TELEVOTE IN THE FINAL. First semifinal cut off many favourites like Greeece, Belgium or even Azerbaijan. People who voted or supported these acts in the semi just switched to Israel in the grand final. This is what happend for me at least.

[@jiii9593]

Because of jury Finland didn't qualify in 2010, 2015, 2017 even they were top 10 in televoting! This time jury didn't succees! Finland was and is my number one, yes, but I was pessimistic and I didn't expect her qualifying, but when Finland passed to the finals, I expected more :/ Hope we don't have to wait a final spot another 3 years! I hope in the next year we are in the finals as well (but then in top-15!)

[@michelsennett5375]

I really believe the results were just and fair. Tough, yeah but this year it really came down to on point vocals and creative but not overdone staging. Switzerland had one of it's best entries in years but when the cameras are not on Coco, it flopped. Also her Norma Rae flare statement was a bit preachy. Your song's message was loud and clear already and didn't need that sermon. Greece, beautiful song but boring and incohesive staging. The staging needed to reflect on the ethereal quality of the song. Belgium was another favorite that slid down the odds chart fast. Quality, yes but live was a bit off key on the chorus. Her dress didn't help either. Albania, a worthy qualifier. He took an average folk/ rock song and gave it life thanks to his vocals. Love his haircut and accessories! Finalnd, if I had a doubt about qualifying, it was this song. The performance was too staged and overdramatic. The 'wheel' and falling into the 2 dancers' arms was a bit overboard. Azerbaijan, well no tears from me. A Swedish studio B-side with a very poor use of English. Last year's song grabbed you with a more ethnic feel and original staging. This year was just meh. It just goes to show in a good competitive year, and artist has to give 150%, no matter what!

[@ravidereu1254]

I think Belgium and Switzerland came like 11th, 12th or 13th at the televote in multiple countries so that’s why their televote is low. But the juries should have given Finland and Switzerland more points. Absolutely crazy

[@connorgeorge6294]

Justice for Sennek 🇧🇪, ZiBBZ 🇨🇭& of course Franka 🇭🇷. And SuRie, bless that queen 🇬🇧

[@bdsaytrhygt8302]

Guys !!! lets see the new song of the Eurovision family !!! Kasia Moś feat. Norma John - Wild Eyes !!! :P