Russia and Ukraine are through to the finals of the Eurovision, will politics affect the competition as Russia were boo-ed and Ukraine cheered.
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https://uk.tv.yahoo.com/eurovision-song-contest-2014-first-semi-final-222300371.html
(VIDEO) Ukraine and Russian compete in Eurovision song contest
http://youtu.be/tGWeJ_B8Eco
At last 'The Eurovision Song Contest - Copenhagen 2014' is underway with the first semi-final. Hosted by Scott Mills and Laura Whitmore in the UK, it opened with a brief recap of Denmark's victory last year. The cameras then followed Emmelie de Forest as she walked through Denmark before going into an a cappella version of her winning song, "Only Teardrops", sung by people across Europe who'd submitted videos of themselves, culminating in her performing in the arena.
The three hosts for the night, Nikolaj Koppel, Pilou Asbæk and Lise Rønne, came out, but Mills and Whitmore decided to talk over their entire opening speech, so whatever they had to say was lost on the British public. Needless to say, we were given the important news that UK viewers couldn't vote tonight (we'll be able to have a say in the second semi-final).
The theme for this year is "Join Us" and each act was invited to film themselves creating a version of their country's flag, which lead to some very inventive videos. Armenia, the opening act for the night, showed Aram MP3 making a brooch with his nation's flag before going into his performance of "Not Alone."
Armenia is the current bookies' favourite, but if Aram MP3 performs the way he did tonight on Saturday, it's dubious whether they'll win. He was off key throughout the ballad and despite the fireworks, his performance was static. Still, the crowd seemed to like it.
My favourite act of the night, Aarzemnieki for Latvia, was second. Unsurprisingly, they chose to bake a cake for their opening video before going into a sweet, simple performance of their song, " Cake to Bake" that left you craving cake.
Possibly the most impressive vocalist of the night, Estonia's Tanja performed a challenging dance choreography that didn't seem to have any negative impact on her singing ability. Many of today's top chart successes could take a lesson from her.
Meanwhile, Sweden's Sanna Nielsen gave a polished delivery of "Undo" that virtually guaranteed her a place in the final and possibly even the victory. If she manages to pull it off, Eurovision will once more be travelling a short distance up the road for next year's event.
In stark contrast, Pollapönk for Iceland were brightly coloured, energetic and bearded, standing out for being so different from the usual Eurovision fare, although later in the night, the Netherlands also demonstrated that you don't have to conform to expectations with a little country number by the Common Linnets.
The prize for the bravest - or most foolish - flag video went to Albania when Hersi had an image tattooed onto her back. "One Night's Anger" was a lovely folk rock number but would she regret such a permanent memento of the contest when the results came in?
Comprised of 50% national jury vote and 50% public voting from eligible countries, once all 16 acts had performed, it was time to tally the scores and see who made it through. There were a number of shocks when the announcements were made. San Marino made it through to the final for the first time ever. They were joined by Montenegro, Hungary, Russia (who were booed for no apparent reason), Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Sweden, The Netherlands and Iceland, a result Dr Eurovision described as "surprising."
If tonight was anything to go by, Saturday's result is far from certain. Copenhagen 2014 is definitely shaping up to be one of the most exciting Eurovision Song Contests for many years.
Sophie Childs is an avid fan of the Eurovision Song Contest and is very sad that Latvia didn't make it through to the finals this year. You can like her Facebook page or follow her on Twitter.
