The final of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is complete: Thursday evening, ten more countries qualified for the show on Saturday in the second semi-final. This means that all 25 finalists have been determined. In addition to Sweden and Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Finland, Estonia, Serbia, Romania and Australia have now made it into the final. Australia has been allowed to take part in the competition as a non-European country since 2015 because it is a member of the European Broadcasting Union.
Germany’s representative Malik Harris with “Rockstars” was set for the last round anyway because the Federal Republic is one of the largest donors. France, Spain, Italy and Great Britain are also directly in the finals.
The Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra is the clear favorite of the finale with “Stefania”. The group is number one for bookmakers. Already in the first semi-final Ukraine qualified with the Kalush Orchestra. If they win, the Ukrainians want to hold the ESC 2023 in their home country, despite the Russian war of aggression that has been going on for two and a half months.
Sweden is also one of the favorites with singer Cornelia Jakobs.
The Polish singer Ochman is also highly regarded.
Cyprus, Georgia, Ireland, Israel, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro and San Marino were eliminated on Thursday. On Saturday evening, a total of 25 countries will compete against each other for the glass microphone.
With more than 200 million TV viewers, the ESC final is the most watched music event in the world. With the exception of the five major sponsors of the competition – Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Italy and France – all other countries must first qualify for the final.
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