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The Montenegrin entry was an example of a country with a costume budged, but not a prop budget. Finely dressed ladies with a lot of choreography and a pretty bare stage. They needed to qualify and I wanted this to qualify, but it was not to be. I have some problems.

I think there are many people who like Eva Marija. She would potentially be the Miss Congeniality of this year's song contest. She seem constantly in a good mood, always smiling and generally happy. So it broke my heart when she front the cameras ready to burst into tears and apologising for not making the final.

The team from Luxembourg did a decent job of using effects to highlight the song with butterflies, flowers bird and gusts of wind surrounding Eva through the song. For a one person performance, it made the performance feel full. Eva has a folksy kind of way of singing which worked. It made it feel carefree and light. She missed a few notes, and if i was asked to do steps and sing at this calibre, I couldn't do it. But then I am not competing at the song contest.

Sweden did not deserve the score they got at the end of the final. The juries did the heavy lifting with the majority of the score and televoters snubbed the song with 17 and 16 points in the semi final and the final respectively. I was incredibly surprised because the song is great. I listen to it in the car and sing along. I genuinely thought this would be top 10 and 12th at worst.

The Swedes must be panicking, and will do all manner of changes to their Melodifestivalen show to curb what they would consider a disaster. But there are two things to consider: firstly, the 19 entries that placed above it compared to this song. The other is that this kind of result has been happening to other countries with good songs and poor scores for a very long time. Look at Norway's 2024 song as an example; good song - bad score.

I'm disappointed for Latvia. They chose a decent song, performed by an experienced person who has a lovely vulnerable voice. I was on the fence about it qualifying expecting that the juries will help it along, but not to be. Semi final 2 was a difficult one and if you didn't do something out of the box, you didn't get through. (But then Armenia did that and the scored the same points in the semi final as Latvia.)

The Latvian performance was the same as that in their national final. While I felt that the performance felt dated and old fashioned, it did have some advantages. It created an intimate atmosphere surrounding Atvara. There were not many long shots and the focus was on Atvara. It was very different from everyone else's performance and the effect of flying glass was impressive.

Sadly with the focus directly on the singer, when things went wrong, it was front and centre. The opening part was a bit nervous and clumsy. The movements felt forced and a bit repetitive through the performance. If you were near sighted, all you'd see on the screen is a face and hands. But she turned it around and looked like she was feeling the lyrics and her vocals reached the stellar levels expected.

The theme of the Armenian song has a theme we all relate to; going to a dreaded job where are treated badly. Unlike several of the entries this year, this was a chaotic force. It stood out as a highly energetic performance that had few moments of breathing space. There was always something going on in an elevator, running through boxes, exaggerated posturing and hard banging dance. While other songs had vocals-dance-vocals-dance, this had either main vocal or backing, all through the song.

I believe that if this song had come out of a different place, this may have qualified. It deserved better just for the effort of putting together that performance. It stood out for the energy it presented. The vocals were not great at times, but with the amount of choreography involved I'd be surprised if he was out of breath.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the sticky notes on his jacket. I thought it was a wonderful idea to have his competitors write him notes on the jacket he would be wearing as if they were ordering him around in the office. It gave him a great souvenir of his experience in Vienna, but it was personalised.

I like Senhit. Every time I've seen here interviewed she has appeared bright cheerful and genuine. She has a long history of entries and all have them have been valid interesting songs. This one is not my favourite, but the presentation on the night was worthwhile.

After two occurrences of that tight, triangular wig she sported in the early 2020, she found one that suits her. Such a relief. She was dressed in a very interesting way which was a bit left of centre but spot on for this song. Her dancers were pulling focus a bit, but it needed the movement or it would just be an old song. Their outfits were muted compared to the silver on Senhit and Boy George.

Speaking of Boy George, he looked like a lump. The make-up was on point. Hat fit the silver theme as did his harness. The coat was that of a woman trying to hide her pregnancy, the skirt was frumpy and the stark white shoe with all of the above was unacceptable for a fashion icon. I am also annoyed with Senhit announcing him on stage - it was not necessary. And he comes off his throne and does a dance from the Karma Chameleon era. Jez.

It is clear that Essyla has no rhythm in order to do choreography, but whoever produced this did an excellent job of highlighting other factors so you pay less attention to her and more on the other moving parts of the stage. With this, she could concentrated on the occasional arm movement and on her vocals.

The snow fall at the beginning and the end of the song were awesome. It gave a pleasant opening and closing to the song. The cape was a beautiful touch as it billowed behind her and as she walked, there was a lovely shot of her with snow on it. There was an issue on the removal of said cape, but lets look past that for a moment. The chorography that followed is some of the best in the show. Sharp and crisp movements that highlight the songs beat and as said earlier hide Essyla's short fall. They were perfectly placed, perfectly dressed and professional. The lighting and screenshots were quite good at highlighting the performance, and the line straight down the stage was inspired.

This is embarrassing. I just realised I have not watched this performance from the final because I went to the toilet. That is until right now.

It didn't start well with most of his face in shadow. I thought that we would be seeing more of his face at the beginning, but someone moved the light and we see more. The tear on his face is sweet and then he winks at us. At this point I don't know what to feel. Is it going to be a serious performance or some sort of tongue in cheek thing. All the shenanigans are finished and the remainder of the performance is more serious. There is a glimmer of mischief though.

Let's gets some things out of the way. Sarah Engels is a beautiful woman. The image of her at the opening of the song with her hair fan across the floor is a stunning sight. The image of her standing on her platform and then falling backward was exceptional. The choreography for the performance was very lively, and the pyro budget from Germany must have been huge as there was more fire than stage for a lot of the time.

There were issues though. I don't know who asked Sarah to wear that sheet dress at the beginning of the song - it looked silly. They took stark white sheet and applied feathers and called it a day. It was a relief when is was gone, but then it wasn't because her undergarment was weird too. It did look reminiscent of flames, but she also had the things on her hips which was matronly for this lovely looking woman. Sarah was pitchy. She had a lot to do in her three minutes. But vocals going off when getting up from the floor of her pod was showing. She did a lot for her three minutes, dancing, moving, falling, gyrating and towards the end she was tired. The dancers upstaged her in performance, in outfit and in height. They looked more put together and when the star is being overshadowed, it does not fill me with confidence.

I like Tanzschein. I don't feel bad saying it. It is a simple song, with a simple concept and an interesting chorus moment that encouraged audience participation with no actual dancing involved. It was never trying to do or be anything other than what it is and I appreciate that.

Cosmo looks like a decent fellow. He has moves and enough of a voice to carry this. Do those moves constitute dance though? Who cares? The thing begins with him on the floor in what could be a drunken stupor and he wriggles around while his animals do the same. He rises to complete his first presentation of the gestures. A fence structure comes down and while the gorilla and lion climb, the others present the gestures with Cosmo. Then something outrageous occurs: the Gorilla does a dance! What! Yes, the Gorilla has moves. Before Cosmo runs away, but the creatures follow. And it ends.

Georgia has yet again finished last in a semi final. It is their four time in case anyone was counting. Strangely, it seems to occur every four years: 2014, 2018, 2022 and now 2026. Some of the entries were just the wrong song and some are just cast in the wrong way. This entry falls into the latter category.

I feel sorry for these people. They were the glory of their nation in 2008, and now this. They had a song which was upbeat and lively which should have attracted an audience. It had slick choreography. They wore Beattrix Kiddo Kill Bill outfits which were a throw back to Bzzz and their name. They could have been a highlight except the laser printed brassieres looked home made.

First issue: the backing vocals were better than the people on the stage. It was a very nervous performance from Giorgi at the beginning, but it got better. Miriam T seemed more able to perform and had a much richer voice and was under-utilised. Miriam K looked marvellous, but sang badly on the night. They needed dancers to give the song some impact and in a contrasting colour.

Watching this song again after the semi final, I feel very sorry for the country. I don't consider this the worst song of the contest, but it did indeed come last in the smi final. Her performance is quite good and they set a scene on stage which had some movement and interest with the fluttery sheets and the art work on the screens. But it was very boring as well.

She was by herself for the majority of the song singing to know one. The man turned up as a shadow and then in order to try and restrain her and she was having none of it. I think we needed more of him engaging with her so there was more interest and more life on stage.