Tonight, for the first time, the first of two Eurovision Song Contest semi finals took place. Overall, the night can be seen as a huge success for the contest. With ten strong songs qualifying for Saturday's final and some interesting analysis of events, and things to come.
The first thing to say is that the vast majority of fans at both the Euroclub and Eurocafe in Belgrade believe that the result is not in any way controvercial. Overall, there is a consensus that the ten best performances on the night qualified for the final.
The biggest complaint was the large number of empty seats in the arena. This was due in part to the ticket packages, where it is believed that the majority of packages for all shows were purchased by fans of countries in the second semi final. As a result, many did not use the tickets purchased for tonight's show. It is also believed that there were approximately 4,000 tickets not sold for the show.
This left the arena less than full. The results will be a concern to the EBU, after a largely empty arena for the live television show as well as the three dress rehearsals. There is a clear consensus amongst fans that ticket packages must be looked at and a better way to sell tickets should be found to avoid an empty arena being shown to television viewers in future.
The problem of a far from full arena for the semi final is not a new one, however it was more noticeable tonight than in Helsinki last year or in Athens the year before. It is definitely an issue that will need reviewing to prevent the Eurovision Song Contest from being seen as a 'one night event' and ensure the safety of the new format into the future.
The quality of the ten qualifying songs has been disputed very little. A good mix of ballads, pop, rock and alternative music means that the outlook for Saturday's final seems bright.
