Virgin Radio

8 May 2024, 07:32

The first semi-final for Eurovision 2024 has taken place, with Ireland making the final for the first time since 2018.

In semi-final 1 in Malmo, Sweden last night (7th May), Ireland’s Bambie Thug performed their alternative song Doomsday Blue.

Meanwhile, despite already having an automatic place in the final, the UK’s Olly Alexander delivered a cracking performance of his song, Dizzy. It was the first time the UK has performed in a semi-final. The other members of the “big five” in the competition – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – have/will also perform in the semis, along with hosts Sweden. And all of them will be in the final, so aren’t relying on scoring votes for their performances. 

Actor and singer Olly recently became emotional as he addressed the controversy surrounding his participation in the event. Watch his performance at last night’s semi-final here:

Here are the ten qualifiers from the first semi-final:

Serbia

Portugal

Slovenia

Ukraine

Lithuania

Finland

Cyprus

Croatia

Ireland

Luxembourg

This means that the following countries are heading home: 

Moldova

Iceland

Australia

Poland

Azerbaijan

The next semi-final takes place on Thursday (9th May), with 16 more acts vying for one of the remaining 10 places in the contest. They are Malta, Albania, Greece, Switzerland, Czechia, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, Israel, Norway and the Netherlands.

When he visited Virgin Radio at the weekend, Eurovision legend Graham Norton said that there is plenty of variety this year: “There’s gonna be a bit of everything. A lot of sort of rave inspired,” he suggested.

Popping into the very familiar Virgin Radio studio to chat to Tom Allen, Graham added: “Croatia is the bookies favourite at the moment, if you’re interested in betting. But you know, it might go off the boil because you know, they’re staging is very simple.”

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.