Martin provided the live blogging for you for the 2nd day in a row, now it’s my turn to add my 2 eurocents.

Let’s see if we are as much disagreeing as yesterday…

Malta
Let me get myself sorted first. I have heard better songs before, and the singer himself is reminding me a bit too much of Piero Esteriore. But unlike Switzerland 2004, this one has good enough vocals plus a VERY effective backdrop and staging. Coming right between Finland and San Marino, this energetic entry will get some attention, and – against my expectations – in a positive way. If this will be enough… I don’t know, because the song just isn’t among the best really.

San Marino
Can Senit turn this song into a qualifier? I am having my doubts. The lights are nice, the whole thing is nice, vocals are getting better as the song goes on, so you can blame the shakiness at the start on the practice of holding back, I guess. If this has a chance to qualify or not will highly depend on how Senit comes across on camera.

Croatia
Daria begins the song standing, thank god. Though this doesn’t mean the song has no gimmicks. The backdrop suits the song well. Vocally it’s really okay. The whole thing comes across much better than I thought it would do, and might surprise on the night. But boy do they need to fix the ending of that show! Too much at the moment.

Iceland
Hmm. I had this down as a surprise qualifier, but as said before – the huge stage doesn’t suit them well. Another backdrop could fix that problem maybe, I think the turning wheels are just distracting and not supporting the entry at all. Just dark with the yellow back lights (the ones that are shining through sometimes) would do the trick. Vocally, this is exactly how it should be.

Hungary
I’m one of those who think this is by far the best song in this year’s contest, and I won’t change my opinion because the only other option would be Ireland. And that is just not as excellent. Our biggest worry before today were Kati’s vocal abilities. Oh, they were quite fine I think, of course there’s headroom.
The bigger problem is the staging. This just looks random, uninteresting, unexciting. I hope they will do some changes there. But the biggest problem so far are the choir parts at the end of the song. Jeez they DO need to improve this since this is the musical highlight of the song. I think it will qualify, but as it is rightnow, I won’t be much surprised if it doesn’t.

Portugal
Let me get this one right first, the composition itself is good, I like it. But “composition” doesn’t mean the rest that this entry consists of. This one is very hard to call, since I don’t get it. I didn’t work out yet if this has a political or comedial message. Maybe enough people will understand it, like it and then vote for it. I myself can’t judge about this at all.

Lithuania
The baltic country begins it’s entry once again with a single big spotlight on a singer who does a ballad. Though this is no Jeronimas, and this will appeal to a wider audience than “Nomads In The Night”. A MUCH wider audience. The vocals are spot on, the staging is brilliant and the song itself is good enough. If Evelina manages to come across well on screen (and this is where I have my doubts), this one is sailing into the final. Coming right after the disturbing Portugal, this will get the amount of attention that it needs.

Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan usually does its job very well, and this one is no exception. Perfect staging from the first second. This is a definite qualifier within the 1st minute, will probably win the whole semi. Vocals are good enough for now, and if they nail it when it counts, then this is a 12 points entry. There is nothing more to add for today.

Greece
The lack of the table might make this look a bit less ridiculous. But the backdrop makes it even more penetrating. The rap is horrible as always. Nothing in this entry can make me smile more than the moment when it’s over. For my own personal taste, this entry is too dark and negative. To be fair, let’s just say that the singer does his job very well. Of course it will qualify though, since this is Greece and it’s on as the last in this semi. And some people seem to really like this. I don’t, at all.

So that’s all for today, get back to your seats for Martin’s live blog tomorrow!