The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 started off last Tuesday with a spectacular show from Rotterdam Ahoy. What a great feeling to watch our favourite TV show again after a two-year break! Tonight we move on to the second semi-final. Ten more countries will advance to the Grand Final scheduled on Saturday. Grab your popcorns: Good Evening Europe!

If you thought that you had seen a lot already, think again. The Eurovision Song Contest is here to surprise, amaze and conquer the viewers from across Europe, Australia and beyond. The first semi final last Tuesday offered us a bit more than two hours of pure joy. Ten delegations already secured their ticket for the Grand Final, and sadly we had to wave goodbye to six countries that we won’t see again in this year’s contest.

In just twelve hours the second and last semi-final will air live from Rotterdam Ahoy with 17 new songs on stage aspiring to conquer both the juries and the televote and therefore qualify for the Grand Final.

About tonight

Award-winning break dancer Redouan Ait Chitt (Redo) will open tonight’s semi-final together with singer Eefje de Visser with a special performance. They will put on a universally recognizable performance through the combination of dance and song.

During the interval act classical ballet dancer Ahmad Joudeh and BMXer Dez Maarsen from ISH Dance Collective will delight viewers. Ahmad Joudeh is known for his impressive documentary “Dance or Die“, which won the prestigious Emmy Award in the Arts Programming category in 2019, where he combines classical ballet, contemporary dance and the Arabic Sufi (twirling).

Hosting all shows of the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will be singer Edsilia Rombley, who proudly represented her nation twice in the past (1998 and 2007), actor and presenter Chantal Janzen, singer and television host Jan Smit, as well as the popular makeup artist and YouTuber NikkieTutorials.

The 17 competing acts

Tonight 17 countries will appear onstage. Only 10 of them will receive a ticket to the Grand Final of Saturday 22 May. As usual the final result will be determined by both the public and the national juries. They will each count for 50% of the final outcome. The juries have already voted during yesterday’s Jury Rehearsal.

Only the 17 participating countries and 3 of the 6 pre-qualified countries (Spain, France and the United Kingdom) can vote in this semi-final.

Tonight’s contestants are:

How to watch

The first semi-final of Eurovision 2021 will air live at 21:00 CEST.

You can follow the show through the national broadcasters of the participating nations, with local commentary, or via the live stream on eurovision.tv and the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

Who is your favourite act to win tonight’s semi-final? Let us know with a comment below!