Eurovision 2022 kicks off: Tonight the first semi-final of the European Music Competition will take place in Turin, Italy.
Israel is not participating in the semifinals tonight, but in the semifinals that will take place the next day, on Thursday.
In the first semi-final, 17 countries will take part: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Of these, ten countries will advance to the finals of the competition, which will take place on Saturday.
The most intriguing country in this semi-final is Ukraine, which is in the midst of a war with Russia and is receiving a lot of support.
It seems that the Ukrainian song is expected to reach the final, and even screw up high.
Currently, experts predict that Ukraine will win the competition, and it is ranked first in betting.
However, it can be assumed that even if it wins the Eurovision this year, the country will not be able to host the competition next year, after a long and bloody war.
Another country worth noting in today’s semi-final is Greece, whose song has garnered good reviews and is ranked high in the stakes.
The second semi-final will be held on Thursday, and will be attended by 18 countries, including Israel.
In addition to Israel, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Malta, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia and Sweden will also participate.
This semi-final will also reach the final of ten countries.
The Israeli song "IM", performed by our Eurovision representative Michael Ben David, was included as song number 2 in the second semi-final.
Fans of the competition believe that this is a cursed position, because all those who have been placed in it in recent years have not qualified for the finals.
In terms of gambling, Israel is in a bad place: 31. However, the Israeli delegation is optimistic about the outcome.
They are pleased with the two rehearsals that have taken place so far, expressed satisfaction with Ben-David's performance and said that the rehearsals were "excellent".
Bottom line, hope for the best.
The 20 countries that qualify for the finals from the two semi-finals - will join the five countries whose participation in the final is guaranteed.
These countries are the host, Italy, as well as the four largest countries in Europe: Germany, France, England and Spain.
A total of 25 countries will participate in the final.
The one who does not participate in the competition this year is Russia, which was eliminated from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest after invading Ukraine two and a half months ago.
The Eurovision final will be held this coming Saturday evening.
The semi-finals and finals will be broadcast on Channel 11 here at 10pm.
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