Good evening Europe!

At 21:00 CET, the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 will see its second semi-final. You are also welcome to join our chat for discussing the show with other fans! This page will get automatically refreshed every 30 seconds, so you don’t have to reload it to see new updates – they will appear automatically.

And now enjoy the show – our latest entries in this post will appear on top!

23:00 That’s it from the press centre, I hope you all had an entertaining semi-final and that you are happy with the results! Each of us at esc-chat.com, Martin, Danny and me, got 8/10 right. Sadly we won’t hear “San Marino” spoken out in the voting this year either, and that probably means we’ll never do so. In my own personal taste, Israel and Albania would have deserved to be in the final as well, whereas I could have lived without even more Ding Dong. And when is alcohol finally “free”? Not yet! Good night and skål from Malmö, and thanks for reading esc-chat.com!

22:57 Qualifiers: Hungary, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, Norway, Iceland, Armenia, Finland, Malta, Greece

22:44 Unlike on Tuesday, we won’t cover the qualifiers’ press conference.

22:39 The lines are closed, the press centre is freezing (I blame Margaret Berger), and Darin and later Agnes are on stage doing the interval act. I have no idea anymore. This is such a tight semi, I just think that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Greece are save qualifiers. The rest remains guesswork. Some people see Armenia qualifying and San Marino missing out, some others even think that the big fan favourite Norway will struggle. We will find out VERY soon!

22:27 Now if we really want to go by the Press Centre Cheerometer, we would see San Marino, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Finland, Malta, Iceland, Greece, Hungary, Norway and Georgia in the final. Latvia, Bulgaria, Israel, Armenia, Albania, Switzerland and Romania would be out.

22:20 Romania: nearly naked dancers, high vampire voice, press centre partially clapping along, what more do we want? The most special thing of the year. I dunno anymore. Making notes with my Cezar pen again. 6 seconds of weak applause in the press centre.

22:17 Switzerland is unfortunately too static to work the way it could have. It’s quite noisy here in the press centre, so can’t judge the vocals well. 6 seconds of applause in the press centre.

22:12 Georgia became one of the big favourites to win this, but again, they are screaming it a bit too much, and at points out of tune. Couldn’t take the time of the applause for this one because of technical problems, but the applause was not that impressive. Under 10 seconds, and average strength.

22:08 Albania rocks the stage and the audience became a red light district. The most enjoyable rock duo since the Olsen Brothers. Bledar is giving everything. Is Eurovision ready for this? 5 seconds of applause in the press centre.

22:02 Time for the other big fan favourite: Margaret Berger. Who got this out of the freezer? Margaret is scarier than in the rehearsals, and I really wonder how Malmö can cope with a 32° drop of temperature. My personal dislike put aside, this was well done. 11 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:58 Hungary: Kedvesem… either you don’t have it on your radar, or you ADORE it. I’m one of the latter, and haters / ignorers can’t vote against a song. This can do very well, but there are always surprises in Eurovision, so I don’t know at all anymore at this point. Vocally, Alex is alright. The audience seems to be infected. And the press centre? 9 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:54 Armenia: Solid performance of a solid rock ballad. This is dangerously underrated by many fans, I actually began to think it can qualify – and I’m not even a fan of this song as my fellow editor Martin is. 4 seconds of applause in the press centre (4 people).

21:50 Israel: I began to adore this. After not liking it during the first listen, the song now developed its aroma. Moran is showing a bit more than usually, doesn’t she? Vocally the same top performance as ever, but it’s not a song that hits you instantly. Only 7 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:46 Greece: Not their best performance ever. It’s a fine line between an uptempo ska song and a mess. Again, one corner here in the press centre going mad. 11 seconds of strong applause in the press centre.

21:42 Iceland: Thank god he dropped that other suit. These colours match the song a lot better. Vocally fine, really. 12 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:38 Bulgaria: Elitsa’s voice is in a much better shape than in 2007. I still wonder what that bagpipe player and his mask is about. Stoyan, don’t lose your sticks. Elitsa is singing against the wind machine, which obviously forces her onto her knees. Personally, I hope they qualify, even though it’s not a second Water / Voda. But only 4 seconds of weak applause in the press centre.

21:32 one of the bicycle stuntmen is around in the press centre showing some tricks and obviously the applause he gets is distracting everyone from Malta. A sign? Nah, let’s not hope so. Gianluca is in good shape, seems a bit nervous, but spreads his charme in the Malmö Arena. 8 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:27 Finland: The most annoying song of the year (yes, this is my personal opinion!) was at least performed well and flawless. So you can’t blame a disqualification on the latter. 14 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:24 Azerbaijan: Perfect. Do I need to say more? Perfect. 13 seconds of applause in the press centre, and not only from one corner.

21:19 Macedonia: One corner in the press centre is celebrating this, the other areas are rather quiet. Esma and Lozano deliver as usual. 9 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:15 Valentina Monetta with solid vocals, but – be it by deliberately or not – sometimes gives the impression to be out of breath or sync. Could have been better! 13 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:11 PeR really managed to make the audience scream along! Who would have thought? Here we go! So bouncy,  happy and electric that it might indeed qualify after all. But: Only 3 seconds of applause in the press centre.

21:08 Time for the first song: Latvia.

21:05 After some jumping, bouncing and biking, Petra Mede joined the stage for the hosting.

21:00 It begins! We hope you enjoy the show as much as we will!

20:53 I’m getting me a coffee before the show starts. Remember, we’ll also take the time of each applause in the press centre!

20:49 The people here seem more relaxed than before semi-final 1, but we can tell that there are a lot of worries going around. Will Norway and San Marino struggle? Only time will tell!

20:43 I took my seat here in the press centre, waiting for semi 2 to begin and make some notes with my brand new Cezar pen.