I watched very late last night but thankfully managed to stay away from spoilers so giving my thoughts now!
It was a great show last night, so much better than semi-final 1. This wasn't just doe to better quality of competing entries but the whole thing seemed slicker and more entertaining. Petra remains one of my favourite people in the world and her interval act was brilliant. The only small grumble was Rylan going on about her number containing a surprise cameo that would blow our minds, despite the fact that he'd earlier told us that Kaarija was performing in the interval (actually just wondering now if he was actually referring to the Moomins).
None of the animosity towards Israel came across in the broadcast. I understand they used anti-boo technology to drown out negative sounds and there was actually a noticeable change in the background noise as they took to the stage which I took to be pre-recorded cheering kicking in. There was a lot of zooming in on Israeli flags throughout the whoel show, just to emphasise, I suppose, that not everyone is hostile to their participation. It reminded me that we queued next to a lovely Israeli group last year who were so into Eurovision and having a great time in Liverpool. The war is not happening in their name and events like this should be about unity but their participation and the way it has been handled does leave a bad taste in my mouth. The whole thing is just very uncomfortable and I wish Eden hadn't qualified as it would have good to draw a line and enjoy Saturday for what it is. That said, and putting politics aside, her performance was good and she has a great voice. Ultimately I felt sorry for Petra and Malin when they were announcing the qualifiers - you could tell they weren't sure what kind of tone to use and then moved on very quickly.
There were some real surprises, although I had a feeling there would be falling giants in this one. I didn't ever really expect Chzechia to make it, even though it's one of my favourite songs in the contest this year so no surprise there although I was still disappointed. Gutted for Belgium though - I thought that would go through. Mustii didn't start well but I thought he recovered and gave great vocals for the song's crescendo.
Italy remains my ultimate favourite song this year but I didn't like the staging at all and it came across as really lacklustre and failed to make an impact. Despite being an early favourite, I predict it will come in around 15th place.
I've also loved Switzerland since my first hearing and I have to say that Nemo's performance gave me goosebumps last night. He's a great performer and the song has real feeling. It just feels like a winner to me and while I've defintiely changed my mind on Croatia since Tuesday's show and wouldn't mind seeing Baby Lasagna lift the trophy, I'd be much happier with a Swiss win and will be voting for Nemo on Saturday.
I do love Joost but I don't think his performance came across well on tv and I'm actually surprised he made it through. The vocals were terrible - it seemed that the track was playing in the background and he just shouted a few things over the top from time to time. I don't think anyone who hadn't previously heard it would have any idea what the song is about, which meant that the heartfelt ending seemed weirdly tacked on and out of place.
Estonia, on the other hand, came across much better than I expected with the live performance bringing a lacklustre studio recording to life. Not surprised they qualifed although they weren't in my initial predictions.
The running order is, frankly, terrible, and sells out some good songs. I hadn;t realised though that televoting would be open throughout which might change things, otherwise Ukraine have been sold a donkey. The cynical part of me wonders if their 2nd place was intentional to ensure that we don't keep having Ukraine wins and big 5 hosting ever other year. There are some very odd placing choices here.