Laura Thorn masters the first hurdle and secures space in the final

A total of 16 countries competed against each other in Basel, Switzerland, and fought for the ten remaining starting places for the grand finale on May 17th. The following countries had already qualified on Tuesday: Sweden, Estonia, the Netherlands, Albania, Ukraine, Norway, San Marino, Iceland, Portugal and Poland. This time there have been: Armenia, Denmark, Israel, Austria, Finland, Malta, Lithuania, Greece, Latvia and Luxembourg. For the participants from Australia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Serbia, Ireland and Georgia, the trip is over again.

Laura Thorn was calm one day before her big appearance. « I’m not nervous right now, which is strange. Maybe it’s because every rehearsal has been well so far, » said the 25-year-old in a brief interview after her rehearsal. And further: « I will do my best and have fun. Everything else is not in my hand. » Obviously, their performance was enough to convince the audience in front of the European screens.

Laura Thorn stands out

The performance has also developed significantly compared to the preliminary decision. Laura Thorn begins singing on the ground. Then she is pulled up by her dancers, but will be released from you again. Finally, she tears the pink doll dress off the body, so that a tight, short glitter dress comes to light. During the performance, a few gimmicks were also installed to remind France Galls ESC song « Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son » from 1965. Thorn’s song is a tribute to the contribution with which Luxembourg won the contest 60 years ago.

An evening of the ambiguities

A highlight of the evening delivered fellow favorite Austria. For the Alpine Republic, the opera singer JJ started with the song « Wasted Love ». Accordingly, the song is a mixture of pop and opera. Staging underlines the drama of the song: JJ is on a boat while a storm rages. In any case, he hit the tones cleanly and the chances are not bad that he will be one of the winners of the jury voting in the final.

Malta also noticed, although not only positive. Because Miriana Contes Song « Serving » (formerly « Kant », Maltese for « Singing ») caused a sensation in advance. However, the old title sounded a bit like an English swear word or like a very vulgar name for the female genital organ. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) then asked Malta to change the song title. The song should actually be about her experiences with ADHD and that singing has a liberating effect for her. Nevertheless, the song remains ambiguous, which was also clear from the performance: spread legs on the screen and a large installation of a mouth on stage.

The song from Finland is similarly slippery as the contribution from Malta. Erika Vikman’s lascivious ride on a microphone stand to the song « I come » quickly makes it clear what it is about. The singer also makes no secret of it, after all, female lust is still a taboo subject.

Or also in the Australian contribution « Milkshake Man », in which the musician Go-Jo sings his « caramel banana » and that he wants to bring his milk under the people. All three contributions were well received and were able to qualify for the final – also thanks to the principle of « Sex Sells ». However, Australia’s song did not arrive at the audience. It remains to be seen whether the others will be as good in the final as in the semi -finals.

LW editor Sabrina Backes from Basel reports on the Eurovision Song Contest.