The Eurovision Song Contest begins in Malmö
Published: Tuesday, May 7th 2024, 04:40
Updated At: Wednesday, May 8th 2024, 01:59
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The 68th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) starts in Malmö, Sweden. Croatian favorite Baby Lasagna will perform in the first semi-final on Tuesday evening. Swiss music talent Nemo will face off against the competition in the second semi-final on Thursday in the Malmö Arena.
Baby Lasagna's song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" tells the story of young Croatians who leave their country en masse in search of a better life. The Croatian is the favorite in the betting odds, according to the eurovisionworld.com portal.
Baby Lasagna has to compete with 14 other acts on Tuesday evening. Among them is the one from Ukraine: Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil sing "Teresa & Maria", an electro-folk rap song that is also considered a favorite. The song is about female perseverance in difficult times. As the title reveals, it makes reference to Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary. Jerry Heil had already tried to take part in the ESC for Ukraine in 2020 and 2023.
Switzerland competes on Thursday
On Thursday, May 9, things will get serious for the non-binary music talent Nemo from Biel: the song "The Code" is set to make it to the final. The song tells the story of Nemo's search for his own identity and mixes elements of rap, drum 'n' bass and opera. A total of 16 acts will take to the stage on Thursday evening.
Dutchman Joost Klein will be performing "Europapa", a musical homage to Dutch music culture with influences from gabber and Eurodance, as will Eden Golan, who will be competing for Israel with the song "Hurricane". The Israeli song had to be rewritten because it was too political, which is not permitted by the ESC rules.
Ten countries per semi-final will qualify for the final on Saturday, May 11. They will be joined by the host country Sweden and the Big Five countries. This is the name given to the biggest donor nations of the ESC, which are seeded for the final: Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Great Britain. This means that 26 countries will be vying for victory in the final.
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