While esctoday.com will provide you with written comments LIVE during the semifinal of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, you can watch a live webcast of the semifinal through our colleagues of eurovision.tv.
You can watch the live webcast of the show here !
On their respective places in their running order, the countries that qualified for the final of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest are;
10. Russia
11. FYR Macedonia
13. Bosnia & Herzegovina
14. Lithuania
17. Finland
18. Ukraine
21. Ireland
22. Sweden
23. Turkey
24. Armenia
Time to vote, you have 10 minutes and remember one thing: vote for the best song!
23. Iceland: "BOOOOOOOOOOOO", the audience started. "Hello Europe!", she started. Did we hear her say "I'll f*cking win"? And after Silvia gave her performance, she was awarded another big "BOOOOOOOOOOOO". The biggest in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest ever!
22. Bosnia & Herzegovina: A perfect example of a good balance between lead vocal and backing vocals. Did we see a tear there? Emotion works. Apparently, because the audience awarded him with an enormous applause!
21. Estonia: Another song from the 'Swedish school'. Sandra Oxenryd, originally Swedish, gave an energetic and exciting performance, again one of the best ones she ever gave singing Through my window. Good job!
20. Sweden: A perfect performance. The balance between the backings and Carola was a bit strange, with the backing vocalists much louder, but the picture was complete at last. As the Dutch commentator said: "Swedish perfection"….
19. Portugal: Vocally not the strongest performance of the night, unfortunately. Judge yourself, if this will qualify…
18. Lithuania: Forget the lyrics and imagine… good performance, comic act. And they can sing. Still, the song is more of a protest song and one might wonder if this song belongs here. Nevertheless, it's about the people at home what they think about that. We are the winners… or not!
17. The Netherlands: One of the stronger performances of the past 10 days. We already knew the girls have most fun when playing for a large audience. Whatever happens with the Netherlands, the performance itself cannot be blamed.
16. Finland: Brilliant! The hat with the Finnish flag is doing it, the song does the rest. The audience went mad, as well as the journalists. It seems Finland can be sure of qualification for the final. We will know in a bit more than an hour.
15. Ukraine: The Shakira of Ukraine stands up and gives one of the best performances of Show me your love of the past two weeks. Simply good, especially the come-back of her dancers after a vocal climax.
14. Turkey: We've heard better performances of Sibel, but it wasn't bad either! Without raising political issues here, the support from the Greek audience for the Turkish entry is big.
13. Russia: Our secret agents all over Europe told us that this song works, particulary with the girls. Dima Bilan is an icon in Russia and an international carreer seems an option. A great performance, but we still don't understand the girl in the piano…
12. Poland: Less than an hour ago, we saw Michael at the catering tent. "I am not nervous at all. It's our second time and we know what to expect", he said. A strong performance, although slightly messy on stage, especially as soon as the pyrotechnics are being used.
11. FYR Macedonia: Strong and sexy.. and it seems to work. The audience is very enthusiastic, something which she appreciated and replied with a big 'thank you'.
10. Monaco: Sorry Severine, we've heard you doing better. Vocally, this performance might have b een the weakest one of the week. However, reliable sources from several countries told us that especially the younger male audience favoured your outfit! As frequent esctoday.com visitor we can easilly forgive you!
9. Cyprus: Of course she gets the support from the mainly Greek audience in side the venue! Annet suddenly reminds to a mix of Helena Paparizou and Charlotte Nilson, but with a ballad instead. A beautiful ballad, equally beautiful pe rformed by Annet and, not to forget, her professional backing vocals!
8. Ireland: It works. It simply works. The audience seems to get along very well with this rather simple, but touching ballad from the Green Island. The audience rewards him with a well-deserved applause. It seems w e can say for sure; the Irish ballad is back in town!
7. Belgium: Although it still looks messy on stage, Kate gets the support from the fans inside the Olympic Indoor Arena. But did we really needed to see that shot from an empty greenroom in middle of the song? Well done, Kate!
6. Albania:For the first time ever, the Albanian language can be heard at the Eurovision Song Contest. Luiz seems to be calm and confident, w hich results in a good vocal performance. At the end of the song, it looks slightly messy on stage. A modest applause.
5. Belarus: A strong song, a strong stage act. Maybe a little bit too strong for some… an acrobatic act and a lot of screaming might do it. Or not. We'll know i n a few hours from now!
4. Andorra: Jennifer took the critics for granted and changed (or actually put on) a dress. An excellent vocal performance without exception.
3. Slovenia: The big moment for Anzej, as Eurovision Song Contest fan, to finally take part himself! Vocally, the Slovene singer was in an optimal shape. It also appears that particulary Finnish fans took the first rows in the arena, waving their flags.
2. Bulgaria: Mariana had a bad start, but recovered quickly as soon as she reached the first chorus of Let me cry. She got a wa rm applause from the audience!
1. Armenia: Although he has not recovered yet from his cold, Andre gave an excellent and energetic per formance.
21:00 CET: Feel the rhythm! The show started!
21:00 CET: The live broadcast of the semifinal of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest kicks off at 21:00 CET exactly (22:00 local time).
