Eurovision Song Contest 2016: Hangover & Results

Yesterday evening we assisted to one of the most rare and surprising editions of the Eurovision Song Contest. We could see 26 entries from the 20 qualifiers of the semifinals, those ones from the Big Five and another one from last year's winner and current host, Sweden.

Also, during the interval act we could see the international singer and actor Justin Timberlake presenting his new work on stage. Last year's winner and host Måns Zelmerlöw sang last year's winning song 'Heroes' and his new title 'Fire in the Rain'. The other host, Petra Mede, went on stage with Zelmerlöw and performed 'Love Love Peace Peace', showing the main steps to create a song to win Eurovision, with the special starring of the winner in 2009, Alexander Rybak.

The show seemed to go as usual until we got to the voting part. The voting was divided in two halves, one for the Jury voting and the other for the Viewers Televoting. This voting structure was applied this year for the first time in Eurovision history. As a result, the viewer kept his expectation till the end of the procedure.

In the following scoreboard you can see the points received by each country in both voting:

Jury Voting Results
Australia	320	Georgia	80
Ukraine	211	Latvia	69
France	148	Spain	67
Malta	137	United Kingdom	54
Russia	130	Hungary	52
Belgium	130	Azerbaijan	44
Bulgaria	127	Cyprus	43
Israel	124	Czech Republic	41
Sweden	122	Croatia	40
Armenia	115	Serbia	35
The Netherlands	114	Austria	31
Lithuania	104	Poland	7
Italy	90	Germany	1
Total: 2436 points

Televoting Results
Russia	361	Hungary	56
Ukraine	323	Cyprus	53
Poland	222	Belgium	51
Australia	191	The Netherlands	39
Bulgaria	180	Italy	34
Sweden	139	Croatia	33
Armenia	134	Georgia	24
Austria	120	Malta	16
France	109	Israel	11
Lithuania	96	Spain	10
Serbia	80	Germany	10
Azerbaijan	73	United Kingdom	8
Latvia	63	Czech Republic	0
Total: 2436 points

We could see Australia getting several points from each jury, but the winner of the televoting was Russia. However, Ukraine reached the second place in both votings. Finally, here there are the results combining both results:

Combined Voting Results
Ukraine	534	Israel	135
Australia	511	Latvia	132
Russia	491	Italy	124
Bulgaria	307	Azerbaijan	117
Sweden	261	Serbia	115
France	257	Hungary	108
Armenia	249	Georgia	104
Poland	229	Cyprus	96
Lithuania	200	Spain	77
Belgium	181	Croatia	73
The Netherlands	153	United Kingdom	62
Malta	153	Czech Republic	41
Austria	151	Germany	11
Total: 4872 points

Finally, Jamala from Ukraine won with her song 1944 and gave to Ukraine the opportunity to host the future Eurovision Song Contest 2017. During the Winner's Press Conference after the show, Jamala gave thanks to everyone who had voted for her song and made reference to the emotional message of her song, remembering her grandmother's suffering during the Crimean Offensive in 1944, when the soviet Red Army attacked the German-held Crimea.

Jamala after winning holding the Eurovision trophy

Source: theguardian.com

By the end of the Press Conference, the Executive Supervisor of the EBU, Mr. Jon Ola Sand, offered the Head of Delegation of Ukraine and the local broadcaster NTU a 'welcome pack' in order to prepare next year's edition. Within the next days, we will know more details about the place of the venue, but it's expected to be held on Kiev according to the comments during the Press Conference.

The long path to the Grand Final

Well, the big day has arrived finally! During the last days we've just seen the whole performances of all the countries taking part in this year's competition. In each semifinal, there were 18 countries competing for a pass to the final, but only 10 made it. Now, let's take a look to the results of each semifinal:

The first semifinal took part last Tuesday evening, then the qualifiers (blue) and the non-qualifiers (red) were, in random order, the following countries:

- Armenia                                     

- Hungary                                                     

- Russia                                                                

- Croatia                                     

- The Netherlands                                                       

- Azerbaijan                                                                   
- Czech Republic
- Austria
- Cyprus
- Malta

- Iceland
- Moldova
- Estonia
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Finland
- Greece
- San Marino
- Montenegro

The most favored of the first semifinal were Armenia and Russia, both of them showing a great staging. Iveta from Armenia sent us a LoveWave with her powerful voice and helped by technical effects, using different camera angles, lightning and fire on stage. Then, Sergey from Russia used a back screen to give more power to the perfomance, based on the preview video of his song.
Likewise, Greta Salóme from Iceland, in her second time at Eurovision (she participated in 2012 too), used a back screen for her performance, but she didn't made to the final this time.
Another repeating artist, Ira Losco from Malta, succeed qualifying to the Grand Final with her Walk On Water.
The surprise came when Croatia and Czech Republic got to the final. Croatia made her appearance for the first time since 2012 and Czech Republic reached the Final for the first time ever.

The second semifinal took part last Thursday evening, then the qualifiers (blue) and the non- qualifiers (red) were, in random order, the following countries:

- Australia                              
- Latvia                                                

- Serbia
- Ukraine
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Bulgaria
- Israel
- Georgia
- Belgium
- Switzerland
- Belarus
- Ireland
- FYR Macedonia
- Slovenia
- Denmark
- Norway
- Albania

In the second semifinal, we could see a lot of great performances, but those from Australia and Ukraine shone specially. Dami Im from Australia brought us a great vocal performance sitting in a cube and with a front screen in order to show some visual effects. Ukraine's Jamala sang an emotional song that caused some controversy due to its implicit political content, but her powerful voice brought her to the Final.

In addition, we have six more pre-qualified countries, those from the Big Five (France, Germany, Spain, Italy and United Kingdom) and this year's host, Sweden. They had made their appearances in both semifinals, where there were shown short clips of the dress rehearsal.

One of the favorite songs from pre-qualifiers is J'ai Cherché from France. His interpreter Amir chose a simple staging to focus on his powerful voice. Spain's Barei treated to do the same, but singing with four female vocalists and dancing her already famous steps.

Finally, here we have the running order of the 26 performances for tonight's show:

1. Belgium: What's The Pressure by Laura Tesoro
2. Czech Republic: I Stand by Gabriela Gunčíková     
3. The Netherlands: Slow Down by Douwe Bob
4. Azerbaijan: Miracle by Samra
5. Hungary: Pioneer by Freddie
6. Italy: No Degree Of Separation by Francesca Michielin
7. Israel: Made Of Stars by Hovi Star
8. Bulgaria: If Love Was A Crime by Poli Genova
9. Sweden: If I Were Sorry by Frans
10. Germany: Ghost by Jamie-Lee Kriewitz
11. France: J'ai cherché by Amir
12. Poland: Color Of Your Life by Michał Szpak
13. Australia: Sound of Silence by Dami Im
14. Cyprus: Alter Ego by Minus One
15. Serbia: Goodbye (Shelter) by Sanja Vučić ZAA
16. Lithuania: I've Been Waiting For This Night by Donny Montell
17. Croatia: Lighthouse by Nina Kraljić
18. Russia: You Are The Only One by Sergey Lazarev
19. Spain: Say Yay! by Barei
20. Latvia: Heartbeat by Justs Sirmais
21. Ukraine: 1944 by Jamala
22. Malta: Walk On Water by Ira Losco
23. Georgia: Midnight Gold by Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz
24. Austria: Loin d'ici by Zoë Straub
25. United Kingdom: You're Not Alone by Joe & Jake
26. Armenia: LoveWave by Iveta Mukuchyan

Tonight show is going to be special for a lot of reasons, but specially for the new voting results procedure. It'll begin with the usual 1 to 12 points from Jury voting, connecting with the spokeperson of each country from the 42 participating this year. Then, the hosts Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede will announce the results of the televoting for each country, so we won't know the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 till the very last moment.

Finally, let's take a look to the betting odds, the most accurate prediction for the final results of the contest. The Top5 is composed by Russia, Australia, Ukraine, Sweden and France. Lazarev has an important advantage and his song is in the top of the scoreboard since he released his entry. It seems like this year's microphone trophy will be for Russia, but nothing is written yet. So let's wait for the show and the voting results to discover who will get the glory at the Globe Arena in Stockholm.

Today is the day!

Hi everyone! My name is Jorge and I've decided to start this blog in order to provide news about the Eurovision Song Contest, treating to show the real thing but giving my personal opinion too. Now, I want to talk a bit about myself and my relationship with the contest.

Since I was a child, I've always heard about Eurovision as a famous and well-known event in Spain, the country where I was born and where I live. Actually, I got really keen on the contest in 2012, when Eurovision was held in Baku (Azerbaijan). I really got impressed with the venue, the performances and the whole atmosphere surrounding the event.

Today, 4 years later, the show kicks off within a few hours in the Globen Arena in Stockholm, so my following entry will be dedicated to check impressions about both semifinals and the road to the Grand Final tonight. Keep on reading!