Eurovision 2016 Semifinal One: Hear Them Falling Written by Samantha Ross on May 10, 2016 | 8 Comments

Congratulations and Celebrations

Well, we have our first ten winners…and, sorry to say, our first eight losers. Let’s take a look at this year’s Semi One qualifiers and their histories in the Semifinal era, in order of the announcement of their qualification tonight:

• Azerbaijan
  • They maintain their perfect qualification record, going 9 for 9.
• Russia
  • They also maintain their perfect qualification record, going 9 for 9.
• The Netherlands
  • After a year’s absence from the Final, the Netherlands return to Saturday, making this their third qualification in 4 years.
• Hungary
  • Hungary have now qualified six years in a row, or every year since returning to the contest in 2011.
• Croatia
  • Croatia will be making their first appearance in the Finals since 2009’s ‘Lijepa Tena’.
• Austria
  • This is only Austria’s third qualification to a final.
• Armenia
  • This marks Armenia’s 8th appearance in the Grand Final.
• Czech Republic
  • This marks the Czech Republic’s very first appearance on a Saturday night show. Congratulations!
• Cyprus
  • This is Cyprus’s fifth qualification to the Final.
• Malta
  • This is Malta’s sixth qualification, and first since ‘Firelight’ in 2014.

Keep in mind, some of these nations have appeared in additional Finals, but those Saturday night performances were due to high scores or victories the previous year, rather than having been voted in via a semifinal.

Drawing the First Half tonight are:

• Hungary
• The Netherlands
• Czech Republic
• Azerbaijan

Drawing the Second Half tonight are:

• Croatia
• Armenia
• Russia
• Cyprus
• Austria
• Malta

That means that, once you factor in the Big Five and Sweden, five spots remain in each half of the Grand Final.

Absent Friends

Out of this year’s non-qualifiers, we say goodbye to:

• Finland
  • This is now their second consecutive non-qualification, which has not happened since 2004 and 2005.
• Greece
  • This is the first time that Greece has failed to qualify from the Semifinal. This will be the first Final without Greece since 1999 and 2000.
• Moldova
  • This is Moldova’s third consecutive non-qualification, their longest cold streak in the delegation’s history.
• San Marino
  • San Marino has now failed to qualify for two years running. They’ve only made it to the Finals once in 2014.
• Estonia
  • Estonia falls at the Semifinal hurdle after qualifying last year. Since the Semifinal system started, they’ve qualified five times for the Finals.
• Montenegro
  • After two consecutive years qualifying, Montenegro misses the Final this year.
• Iceland
  • This is now Iceland’s second consecutive non-qualification.
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • This is the first time that Bosnia and Herzegovina has failed to qualify to the Finals in their history.

Other Tidbits of Information

• This year, five of this year’s qualifiers were performed in the first half of the Semifinal, with the other five performed in the bottom half.
• Out of the four returnees performing in this semifinal, only one, Malta, qualified. Congratulations, Ira!
• Bands and collaborations in this semifinal had a 25% qualification rate tonight (with only Cyprus making it through, with Bosnia & Herzegovina, Greece, and Montenegro all missing out).
• Out of the nine female soloists performing tonight, six qualified, with Finland, Moldova, and Iceland failing to make the Top Ten.
• Out of the five male soloists tonight, two (Estonia and San Marino) failed to qualify, and three continue on to Saturday.
• Songs performed largely in other languages also faced a 66% elimination rate (Austria remains, while Greece and Bosnia & Herzegovina are out).