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SEMI-FINAL 2
GRAND FINAL
Song: Unicorn Performer: Noa Kirel Songwriters: Doron Medalie, May Sfadia, Noa Kirel, Yinon Yahe ISRAEL Semi-Final 1 Televote total: 127 points 3rd place Grand Final Total: 362 points Juries: 177 Televote: 185 3rd place • Third in its semi and third in the Grand Final, Israel were back after not qualifying last year. In the semi it achieved four 12s from the televoters as was the case in the Grand Final - but the televoters went one further with five 12s.
Song: Power Performer: Diljá Songwriters: Diljá Pétursdóttir, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson ICELAND Semi-Final 2 Televote total: 44 points 11th place • The country just missed out qualifying for the Grand Final, but it still got 12 points from its old mate, Denmark.
Noa certainly put on a show in Liverpool highlighted by her exhausting dance routine to finish off the performance; and it worked. Noa finished third in Semi-Final 1 and then went on to finish on the podium in the Grand Final, taking bronze with 362 points. Benefiting from a good draw in the Grand Final Noa channelled inspiration from Dana International in her performance to edge out Italy into third place. Since Eurovision, Noa has met Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and started working on a new album. Will it contain her version of The Unicorn written and performed by Donovan and Paul McCartney in 1968? Marcus Keppel-Palmer
What an amazing and energetic performance from Dijia, providing a profound message of finding inner strength, and embracing new beginnings along with a flawless song and choreography on the stage. Such strong, powerful vocals give POWER to all who will listen. Iceland normally send great entries in the past but hard to know where they went wrong with this entry and whether it was the staging. I thought the running around the stage was confusing and I wasn’t sure if taking off the jacket partway through the performance was a good idea. That said, I really loved this song when it won the national final but was very disappointed that it didn’t qualify for the Grand Final coming 11th in the second semi-final. Shau Chan
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SEMI-FINAL 1
GRAND FINAL
Song: We Are One Performers: Wild Youth Songwriters: Conor O’Donohoe, Edward Porter, Jörgen Elofsson IRELAND Semi-Final 1 Televote total: 10 points 12th place • The highest points achieved this year were three points each from Malta and Norway. The last time the country qualified for the Grand Final was in 2018.
Song: Due Vite ( Two Lives ) Performer: Marco Mengoni Songwriters: Davide Petrella, Marco Mengoni, Davide Simonetta
ITALY Grand Final Total: 350 points Juries: 176 Televote: 174 4th place
Nobody was entirely sure which version of Wild Youth were going to turn up to the Liverpool stage for Semi-Final 1. Their national final performance showcased all-black outfits while their music video introduced the band in sparkly hoods and finally Conor O’Donohoe walked into the arena on Tuesday night with a gold sparkly outfit reminiscent of something Elvis might have worn towards the end of his career. Wild Youth’s 12th place finish is Ireland’s best since Ryan O’Shaughnessy qualified for the Grand Final in 2018 but has still sparked a public inquest regarding their trajectory at the contest. Fin Ross Russell
Marco Mengoni singing Due Vite for Italy was another artist making a return to Eurovision after finishing seventh in 2013. He is a big star in Italy and seemed relaxed and confident throughout the week and even found time to make some social media videos with his friend and fellow Italian Eurovision veteran, Mahmood. It was a classy performance with strong vocals and understated staging that allowed the music to take centre stage. The background trampoline artists were rather lost on the audience in the arena but looked good on TV against a backdrop of the Earth from space. Mengoni himself looked a little nervous particularly towards the end of the song and seemed very relieved to get through a vocally challenging number. Simon Bennett
• Italy are making a habit of being in the Top Ten - and this year they got near identical votes from both the juries and televoters. Five juries gave the country 12 points, though only two 12s from the televoters.
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AUTUMN 2022 ● VISION
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