Unlike the first semi-final of Eurovision-2021, about the participants of which we talked about here (including our Go_A), the second qualifying stage, according to the bookmakers, will be extremely uneven. Both real favorites and complete outsiders of the song contest will appear on the stage. Ukraine will not vote this evening, but a dozen from the second semi-final will reach the final, where all countries make their decisions. So it's important to get to know your competitors by sight.
San Marino, Senhit - Adrenalina
English
A legionnaire again stands for the little state. More precisely, a legionnaire is an ethnic Eritrean born in Italy. The singer has experience of performing with the most popular Italian DJs and staging the best musicals throughout Europe. To record her competitive dance song, Senhit invited the American rapper Flo Rida, and he has already announced that he will gladly go on the same stage with the singer on a decisive day. Here is the intrigue of the debut number of the second semi-final - will it work?
Estonia, Uku Suviste - The Lucky One
English
The Estonian singer was immediately remembered by Euro-fans because he borrowed a few ideas for the video from the previous Eurovision winner, Dutchman Duncan Lawrence. In particular, the image of a man suffering from surging emotions and underwater shooting. But the singer won the Estonian national selection with such a huge advantage in the votes of viewers that the jury's opinion had only to be crumpled and sent to the trash can (he was the third from the end among the experts). By the way, last year's selection in Estonia was also won by Uku. All in all, the country is betting heavily on him and his languid, nineties-style electronic track. Bookmakers do not share this opinion yet.
Czech Republic, Benny Christo - omaga
English, Czech
The incomprehensible title of the song of the Czech contestant stands for the exclamation "oh my god!" - "oh my god!", And in it he admires the beauty of his beloved. In the competition song, Christo emphasizes his African roots - the track turned out to be hot and danceable. In a three-minute clip for him, fans counted almost a dozen and a half references to various films and TV shows. Will Benny repeat this trick on stage and, if so, how he will succeed, we will find out on May 20.
Greece, Stephanie - Last Dance
English
While many Eurovision participants are betting on the sound of the nineties, 18-year-old Stefania Liberakakis dug even deeper and looked right into the eighties. The girl considers her competition song very dynamic and danceable. The track is quite complex in structure - it changes the beat and mood several times. We can say for sure that in the Netherlands, Stephanie will be very well received, because she is a citizen of this country, although she represents Greece due to her Greek roots. In addition, she already represented the country of tulips at Eurovision - its children's version - in 2016.
Austria, Vincent Bueno - Amen
English
And here is the second "Amen" of this Eurovision. The first was in the first semi-final. It will be performed by the Austrian contestant Vincent Bueno. Incredibly, this is a power ballad again. However, this time about parting. The lyrical heroine of the song dresses in black and leaves to bury the relationship. And her once beloved, meanwhile, continues to beg to make more efforts and save love. This behavior is now called toxic. But this is so, by the way. Bueno recruited authors who worked with Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande to write his song. But the track turned out, albeit melodic, still rather impersonal.
Poland, Rafal - The Ride
For those who are close to the synthesizer sound of the eighties, surprises will not end at the Greek contestant. The Polish singer Rafal has stepped up his song The Ride even deeper into synth-pop, with almost no curtsey towards modernity. True, he was immediately compared to The Weeknd and his ubiquitous hit Blinding Lights. It was also criticized for the excessive use of autotune. Perhaps today, Rafal's video remains the most overlaid on the Eurovision Youtube channel this year. Although, to be honest, the singer caught the vibe quite accurately.
Moldova, Natalia Gordienko - Sugar
English
That’s when it’s not so much to talk about retrowave as about outright old-fashionedness, it’s when a contestant from Moldova is performing a song. Kirkorovism, lagging behind the steam locomotive, is felt in Natalia Gordienko's song in everything - from the inviting text, which portrays the heroine as nothing more than a sexual object, to the appearance of the singer in the video. The bass melody on the trumpet, borrowed from the Siren Song of Ukrainian Maruv, does not add points to the contestant either. They say that since this feature did not make it to Eurovision in 2019, let it serve someone else at least now. Well, that's it. You could have come up with something more original. On the other hand, Moldova brings the finest naphthalene to Eurovision over and over again, and for some reason the viewers like it.
Iceland, Daði og Gagnamagnið - 10 Years
English
Last year's song by the ironic Icelandic group was a real revelation. Six musicians in strange costumes with completely frostbitten faces sang a funny song in a retro style, while playing crazy homemade instruments and dancing very strangely. It was so fresh and so funny. Daði og Gagnamagnið were considered the main contenders for victory, until the covid came and ruined everything. Alas, this year they did not come up with anything new and repeated exactly all the same chips. And we perfectly remember the sayings about the same river, and about a shell with a funnel. Although the song of the team is exactly the same cute. But this is secondary. Alas. However, the team may well rely on those who have not seen their last year's creative. And there are probably a lot of them.
Serbia, Hurricane - Loco Loco
Serbian, English
So, the eighties were already, the nineties were, but the zero arrived. The Serbian trio works in the aesthetics of what was called glamor in the post-Soviet space at the beginning of the 21st century. Three singers perform the track almost entirely in Serbian, but the energy and some features were borrowed from Latin American music. The bookmakers' girls are somewhere on the verge of relegation in the semifinals, while on the official Eurovision YouTube channel they have the most views - over 6.5 million.
Georgia, Tornike Kipiani - You
English
In Georgia, this is gradually turning into a tradition - to send vociferous men with the most inexpressive ballad to Eurovision. And if the Iraio group had an amazing national polyphony, then Tornike Kipiani goes to Rotterdam alone to sing to the rhythm of the waltz, as he wants to be with his love. On his Facebook page, Kipiani, when he published the video for the competition track, promised to do with the mothers those who would not like it, guess what. Because of what he himself lost the support of his compatriots. The singer is considered one of the main outsiders of Eurovision 2021.
Albania, Angela Peristeri - Karma
Albanian, English
Another country with a recognizable style. Albanians have sent their women to suffer unbearably on the Eurovision stage over and over again. The lyrical heroine in the person of Angela Peristeri will do her best for three minutes with loud notes and under the instruments typical of Balkan music blame herself for the fact that her world, her love and everything in general is falling apart. Since the "suffering woman" genre is one of the most widespread at Eurovision, you have to be able to stand out with something, to be remembered. Angela, judging by the bookmakers' rates, could not - she is the absolute outsider of the year.
Portugal, The Black Mamba - Love Is On My Side
English
Portugal, after the triumphant victory in Kyiv by Salvador Sobral, is also trying not to change the scenario that worked once. And here we again meet a composition that has mixed elements of undoubtedly beautiful national music, classical rock, and jazz. Melody, arrangement - everything is done very professionally and tastefully. And The Black Mamba is a rather experienced team, with a dozen years of work behind them. The problem is that such beautiful and complex things do not fit well with the tastes of the average European fan. The same Sobral fired precisely due to the simplicity and sincerity.
Bulgaria, Victoria - Growing Up Is Getting Old
English
Bulgaria is a country very seriously aimed at winning the Eurovision Song Contest. The Bulgarian contestants either enter the top according to the final marks or are eliminated in the semifinals. The third almost never happened. So this year, Victoria Georgieva, with a meditative ballad about how the world is now so crazy that it would be nice for each of us to slow down and think about ourselves, is considered a very real contender for victory. In order to increase her own chances, the singer spied some vocal and melodic techniques from the now incredibly popular Billie Eilish. By the way, Victoria is a big fan of the American singer.
Finland, Blind Channel - Dark Side
English
Almost every year the rock invasion of Eurovision comes from the north. This time too, Finnish alternative musicians from Blind Channel will try to repeat the success of their compatriots Lordi. The group, I must say, is not at all one-day - the musicians have been working together since 2013, have managed to collaborate with many notable artists of the heavy scene and, in general, are not the most passable guys in the country with the largest number of rock bands per capita in the world. From the stage of Ahoy Arena, they will give a hard sound, rap and urge even those who are very hard to show life, it is clear which finger and throw a party.
Latvia, Samantha Tina - The Moon is Rising
English
The Latvian contestant will not sway for a long time. Samantha Tina begins her hip-hop track with a powerful and loud vocal introduction, after which no one will dare to doubt her abilities. Her song is dedicated to female power and picks up the trend for feminist hymns, which are held in high esteem at Eurovision. But a stylish minimalistic sound can, on the one hand, expose the slightest vocal error, and on the other, turn out to be too unusual for Euro-fans. However, who does not risk...
Switzerland, Gjon's Tears - Tout l'Univers
French
If anyone can be called the successor of the previous Eurovision winner Duncan Lawrence, it is John Muharremai, who performs under the pseudonym Gjon's Tears. The structure of his French-language ballad is very reminiscent of the song Arcade, in the climax - so completely to the point of confusion. Do Europhans consider this a disadvantage? But no. John is called the dark horse of Eurovision 2021, the singer who can easily win the competition at the expense of all the same tricks that Lawrence used. Because he does it just as well.
Denmark, Fyr & Flamme - Øve Os På Hinanden
Danish
Honestly, it's hard to imagine a more enchanting ending of the semi-final stage of Eurovision-2021 than the freaky but cheerful song of the Danish duo Fyr & Flamme. So that the audience of the competition does not seem a little, they will close this strange journey through different musical decades with a powerful immersion in the disco of the seventies. The guys fully justify their name, which translates as "Tongues of Flame", and you should not take them too seriously - you just need to catch a fiery rhythm and dance. And come what may.
