Giant neon skipping ropes and songs about hating your job: Standout moments to look out forpublished at 20:11 BST
20:11 BST
Mark Savage
Music correspondent, at the semi-final
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,
Bulgarian singer Dara is kicking off the competition
Tonight’s semi-final has a couple of themes: Big ballads, operatic vocals and lots and lots of rope – you can watch it all live above.
We won’t be providing running commentary until Saturday’s final – but here are some highlights to look out for tonight:
The show opens with Bulgaria, whose singer Dara exclaims: “Welcome to the riot,” as she executes some dynamic chair choreography, with sly glances to the camera.
Her song Bangaranga is one of my favourites – a nonsensical typhoon of tropical pop, based around a piece of Jamaican patois that means “a joyful kind of disorder”.
Representing Romania, Alexandra
Căpitănescu has provoked controversy with the lyrics to her song Choke Me. Campaigners have criticised the track for glamourising sexual violence – but Alexandra says it’s really about suffocating under the weight of society’s expectations.
Representing her desire to break free of those constraints, she performs while tethered to two guitarists by giant neon skipping ropes. We’ll be seeing a lot of that behaviour over the next 90 minutes.
Both Armenia and the UK have entered songs about hating your job.
The former, entitled Paloma Rumba, is the more sinister of the two, with 31-year-old Simón bursting out of an elevator like he’s about to give the boss a piece of his mind.
While Ramsgate synth act representing the UK, Look Mum No Computer, take a more zany approach on the herky-jerky stomp of Eins, Zwei, Drei.
More soothing is Australia’s Delta Goodrem, whose ballad Eclipse is all about all-encompassing love, and comes with a spectacular key change.
And we’ll also hear from Danish star Søren Torpegaard Lund, who is one of the favourites to win, with Før Vi Går Hje. A charismatic ballad that slips into club mode, it has reminded some fans of Ariana Grande’s classic One More Time.