After all entries were announced, it was perceived that the second semifinal is the less competitive of the two batches, that it might be easier to make a call on who would make the final and who wouldn’t. But after witnessing the rehearsals, things turned a bit topsy-turvy, as some that are regarded as bottom feeders suddenly became strong finals possibilities, and certain apparent shoo-ins underwhelmed. Let’s now take a look at the entries for the 2nd semifinal, shall we?
01 SAN MARINO: “Adrenalina” – Senhit. This Eritrean-born artist actually competed and represented this tiny country 10 years ago, with the pop ballad “Stand By“. It was a solid albeit unremarkable ballad, and back then it fared the way most people expect this tiny nation to fare–second-to-last in the semifinal. Contrast to now, and with a minor change in spelling in her name*1, a shift towards dance music and hiring a slicker stylist, she is emerging as someone who can build on Serhat‘s previous best finish with this ethnop-pop dance bop. They seem to spare no expense as this ditty features a rap interlude by no other than American artist Flo Rida, and yes, he made it to Rotterdam. It seems delivering San Marino’s best ever finish is guaranteed this time. But becoming a possible winner of the whole thing*2? Based on early buzz on the rehearsals, it may no longer be considered a possible winner, but still it is considered a finals shoo-in.
*1 She originally competed under the original spelling of her name, Senit. She added an “h” in the middle of her name since then and embraced a more uptempo sound.
*2 There are running jokes that next year’s venue would be at Valentina Monetta‘s garden.
For the cancelled 2020 contest, Senhit has the disco ditty “Freaky“. Now this one’s prospect for the finals was like 50-50. Once they confirmed that there will be a 2021 contest, Senhit came up with a novel campaign called “Freaky Road to Rotterdam”, where she released these slick and stylized music videos covering some Eurovision classics over multiple eras. It’s fun checking out that video series.
02 ESTONIA: “The Lucky One” – Uku Suviste. A few things are certain–he’s undeniably a hunk and he’s a good singer. Compared to his previous entry, he is fielding a solid song, but he’s burdened with being granted the dreaded no. 2 running order. It is an uphill battle for him to advance but do not count him out as he can pull an upset advance.
Unlike most national final champions, Uku was not given a free pass and had to compete for the right to represent his country via Eesti Laul. Well, despite being weak with the jury, he was able to win again. In the previous year, he was a surprise champion with his ballad “What Love Is”. Many fans (including myself) regard this number as mediocre and would not have a chance of advancing to the finals.
03 CZECH REPUBLIC: “Omaga” – Benny Cristo. The title is actually a phonetic wordplay on the actual lyric “Oh my God”. I wonder if EBU has rules agains the explicit mention of God in a song title, hence the pun title. Anyway, this is a catchy dance song that could possibly see action in the finals, but based on rehearsals his presentation underwhelmed as compared to the fun music video (loaded with Hollywood movie references) that could hurt its prospects of advancing.
For 2020, he fielded another dance song, “Kemama”. From its original version to its final incarnation, it underwent a revamp by adding some African musical textures. It first misfired as those sounds first distracted, but a final mix improved it somewhat. Even then, its final prospects was 50-50, not that certain if it would advance.
04 GREECE: “Last Dance” – Stefania. She’s the youngest artist in this year’s contest, being only 18 years old. She also has a strong Dutch connection as she’s actually a longtime Dutch resident and actually represented that country in Junior Eurovision five years ago. The song she fielded this year is a retro-1980s style bop, and it could bring this country back to a strong finish as it did in its 2000s heyday. This looks like a shoo-in for the finals.
I have a coupel of notes abotu this song. First, I think the producers of the Netflix series Cobra Kai should consider adding this to their soundtrack–it could be a love theme for character Samantha Larusso (played by Mary Mouser), perhaps? Secondly, there is a grit in Stefania’s voice that made me recall 1980s teen-pop sensation Tiffany. If she wasn’t packaged with a more upscale image back then, she would’ve sound like this.
For the cancelled 2020 edition, Stefania has the ethno-pop infused “Supergirl“. It would have advanced to the finals, but it is more of a middle-of-the-pack entry then.
05 AUSTRIA: “Amen” – Vincent Bueno. He’s of Filipino descent, and he previously saw action in Eurovision as backup singer to Nathan Trent back in 2017. Initially, many were disappointed with this song, as it’s a sad, earnest ballad about personal loss. For me it sounded like a ballad version of George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” that’s stripped off that song’s exhilarating rush. But then as rehearsals came in, the tasteful staging and Vincent’s singing garnered raves that this suddenly became a song likely to advance instead of a bottom feeder as initially thought.
In the previous year, more people were a bit more bullish about the prospects of his funky uptempo number Alive“. Based on buzz about “Amen”s staging, it could be assumed that “Alive” will also do well and be a near-shoo-in to advance that time.
06 POLAND: “The Ride” – Rafał Brzozowski. Like GREECE, this entry taps on 1980s nostalgia. However, the problem is that Rafal is a limited vocalist, and it seems to try too hard to look cool instead of actually being cool. It’s not a “ride” that most people would like to take.
For the previous cancelled 2020 contest, they fielded “Empire” by Alicja Szemplińska. It’s finals prospects are not that assured, but it was well regarded and could’ve had an outside chance of advancing. It’s sad the Polish broadcaster decided not to tap her again.
07 MOLDOVA: “Sugar” – Natalia Gordienko. When the music video was released, many fans believe finally this country would have a finals shoo-in with this fierce dance number. But then based on rehearsals, it seems the staging is deemed disappointing, and its status as a likely finalist has faded significantly.
Previously Natalia won her national final with “Prison“. I found the musical arrangement jarring–Natalia sang and performed the song as a ballad, but the beats employed over this song was just very jarring and harsh to listen to. Many fans, including myself, regard this as a bottom feeder.
08 ICELAND – “10 Years” – Daði og Gagnamagnið. Daði Freyr specializes in do-it-yourself (DIY) retro synth-pop, and for his Eurovision stints he brought in his friends to perform with him. And like his DIY ethos, his dance moves are quirky yet easy for everyone to follow, and that is a key selling point for this act. They were highly hyped as a possible winner last year, but initially this entry was considered a bit of a step-down (though still a finalist shoo-in), but it received heavy buzz from rehearsals. However, tragedy struck as one of the members tested positive for COVID-19, and hence the entire band was quarantined and they opt to air rehearsal footage of their performance instead.
They had made a big splash when they won Songvekappnin last year with “Think About Things“, as they were buffered by hype by Hollywood celebrities tweeting about them as it also served as a tie-in to Will Ferrell’s Eurovision-themed comedy Eurovision Song Contest: Tale of Fire Saga as the protagonists in that film were supposed to come from this country. With all that hype, it was possible that Iceland would’ve finally won Eurovision last year.
09 SERBIA: “Loco Loco” – Hurricane. This trio featured two members with prior Eurovision experience. First, the raven-tressed Sanja Vučić represented Serbia back in 2016 with the ballad “Shelter”. Then, the blonde Ksenija Knežević sang backup for her father Knez as he represented Montenegro in 2015 with “Adio“. Both previous entries are dignified ballads, so some might feel that them shifting to what I dub as “trashy pop” seems a letdown, but we have to hand it to them that they bring ferocious energy with this upbeat sound. Hopefully even with the lack of Balkan allies (except for Greece and possibly Moldova), they will still earn enough points to advance to the final.
Their previous entry has a similar sound and a similarly Spanish-styled title, “Hasta la Vista“. It, too seemed to be a likely finalist based on its catchy, upbeat sound.
COMING UP: 2ND SEMIFINAL, 2ND HALF
Joseph Vitug's Views 
Just a small correction: Senhit was born in Bologna, Italy, but her parents are from Eritrea.