The 17 contestants Malta’s Michela needs to beat on Thursday to get through to the final
As the whole nation knows, Michela Pace will be performing during the second semi-final on Thursday in the hopes of getting through to Saturday’s final. And while she’s a favourite among the bookies, Michela needs to shine bright next to these 17 countries who will also be performing during Thursday’s semi-final.
1. Armenia
Srbuk will be singing ‘Walking Out’ and has quite the vocal range. Bookies are placing her at 9th place to qualify to Saturday’s final.
2. Ireland
Sarah McTernan will be representing Ireland with her soulful, pop song, ’22.’ Bookies don’t have much faith in her qualifying to the next round.
3. Moldova
Moldova’s Anna Odobescu’s song ‘Stay’ is predicted to place 15th, so it’s unlikely it will qualify, but you never know with this competition!
4. Switzerland
Luca Hanni’s ‘She Got Me’ will be representing Switzerland this year, and it’s quite the groover. In fact, bookies are placing Luca’s song at 5th place to qualify to the finals.
5. Latvia
Carousel’s jazzy ‘That Night’ will be representing Latvia this year, but just like Ireland, bookies aren’t so convinced.
6. Romania
Romania’s Ester Peony will be singing her slightly creepy ballad ‘On A Sunday.’ Odds are showing that she might not make it through, currently in 12th place.
7. Denmark
Bookies are placing the northern country’s song ‘Love Is Forever’ by Leonora at 10th place. Will they get through? We’ll just have to wait and see!
8. Sweden
John Lundvik’s pop and soul song, ‘Too Late For Love’ is pulling at everyone’s heart strings. And it seems like he’s pulled at bookies’ heart strings too, because they’ve nearly guaranteed him to qualify at 2nd place in the odds.
9. Austria
Paenda’s ‘Limits’ is certainly not limited in terms of vocal range. While she’s set to give us quite the emotional performance, others aren’t quite convinced, with odds placing her 13th.
10. Croatia
Roko has a dream, a dream to qualify to Saturday’s final! But ‘The Dream’ may not be fulfilled, as bookies are placing Roko’s song in 16th place in Thursday’s odds.
11. Lithuania
Currently ranking in 14th place, Jurij Veklenko’s pop song ‘Run With The Lions’ will be representing Lithuania this year.
12. Russia
The strong (and slightly dramatic) ballad, ‘Scream’ sung by Sergey Lazarev will be powering through the venue at Tel Aviv this year. Bookies are really hopeful with this one, placing it in 3rd place to qualify to Saturday’s finals.
13. Albania
Jonida Maliqi’s ‘Ktheju tokes’ will be representing Albania this year and is currently ranked at 11th place. Will she bump off other countries and make it through?
14. Norway
Norway’s KEiiNO will be singing ‘Spirit In The Sky’ in this year’s Eurovision competition. The pop song might just make it through, currently at 8th place in the odds.
15. The Netherlands
The bookies’ favourite currently sitting at first place in the odds is The Netherlands’ Duncan Laurence with ‘Arcade’ that’s giving us Sam Smith vibes.
16. North Macedonia
Tamara Todevska is ‘Proud’ of her achievements for this year’s Eurovision, as are the bookies, who place her performance at 7th in the odds to qualify for Saturday’s final.
17. Azerbaijan
Chingiz’s ‘Truth’ will be representing the former Eurovision winning country this year. He’s also a favourite among bookies who place him 4th in qualification.
Michela will be singing in 11th place after Croatia and before Lithuania. Bookies have placed her in 7th place and she has been a favourite so far among expert commentators. Many locals have commented on the fact that Thursday's semi-final is much harder than Tuesday's, having some pretty strong contenders in the mix. Will Michela get to the final? We’ll have to wait till Thursday to find out!