These are further in the final of Eurovision from semi-final two

16 qualifying countries performed their entries tonight, only ten will progress to the grand final on Saturday. Almost completely on the eve, Israel performed first, then Norway.

Already the fourth country, after Latvia, Austria and the Netherlands, Norway was called up to the obvious delight of Gunnhild Sundli, Magnus Børmark and the rest of Gåte.

– It was magical to be able to stand on the world’s biggest music stage and present Gåte’s universe to an even larger audience, says the band after the performance of “Ulveham”.

– Now we have given everything, then we can hope that Europe and the world liked what they saw, heard and felt. The atmosphere in the hall was nothing to complain about, says Gunnhild Sundli.

It was Norway and Switzerland that got the best of VG’s reviewer Tor Martin Bøe this evening, who rolled the dice five for both contributions.

– This is the strongest version I have seen so far, even after three very convincing dress rehearsals. That’s how it should sound… Gåte!, writes Bøe about Gåte’s delivery tonight.

– Twelve points! Insanely well executed, I think we can be very proud of the Norwegian contribution. I am even more certain that it will continue, said Kristian Sognli in ESC Norway about Gåte.

The first Eurovision semi-final took place on Tuesday 7 May.

Right after Norway was called up, Eden Golan and Israel also got a place in the final on Saturday.

This year there has been great tension surrounding Israel’s participation in Eurovision, after Israel entered Gaza and started warfare against Hamas following the latter’s terrorist attack on 7 October last year.

Israel was met somewhat measuredly during the evening’s second semi-final in the Eurovision Song Contest. According to Aftonbladet’s photographer who is in place inside the arena, there was both booing and applause – something that could hardly be heard on the TV broadcast.

Eden Golan, who represents Israel in the competition, appeared earlier on the semi-final day as unfazed by all the noise around her. She was escorted by large forces from the Swedish police and Israeli guards to the Eurovision stage in Malmö.

– I’m here, and I’m focused on the music, said Israel’s Eurovision hope Eden Golan earlier on the semi-final day.

Shortly after her performance, she took to Instagram and posted:

– Their support means everything in the world to me.

Also read: One in five Norwegians will boycott Eurovision because of Israel’s participation

Six countries have already pre-qualified for the final on Saturday. There are Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Great Britain, in addition to the host nation Sweden. New this year is that these six will still perform during the semi-finals.

Tonight we heard the contributions from France, Italy and Spain.

Altogether, there are 37 countries competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. In each semi-final, ten countries advance to the final.

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