The first big show of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest has now passed and we finally now all the 24 countries that will compete in the final this Saturday. As always, we could see some surprises and some non-surprising qualifiers and that's why we offer you a close look on the results. With the 4th semi final, the statistics are getting more evident…

Once again: The following countries reached the final (starting position in brackets)

• Belarus (3)
• F.Y.R. Macedonia (6)
• Slovenia (7)
• Hungary (8)
• Georgia (11)
• Latvia (14)
• Serbia (17)
• Bulgaria (21)
• Turkey (22)
• Moldova (24)

Big Poll

For the third time in a row, the country that was predicted to come first in the Big Poll didn't reach the final, after Iceland in 2005 and Belgium last year, Malta was unlucky this year. Nevertheless, the predictions were not too bad since six out of ten countries were predicted right: Turkey, Serbia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Belarus, Slovenia and Hungary. None of the countries that scored 'zero' moved forward.

Diaspora

The most obvious hint of diaspora voting might be the fact that not one (!) country from Western Europe reached the final. The biggest surprise might be that DJ BoBo from Switzerland, who was one of the favourites, didn't make. A Kate Ryan flashback?

Running order

For the 4th time in a row, the countries performed second and third (Israel and Cyprus) did not reach the final. For the second time, the song which was performed first, Bulgaria, made it. For the second time overall, the last country succeeded (Latvia).

Languages

Only five of the songs that reached the final were entirely performed in English (not counting the word shekerim in the Turkish song). Once again, it is shown that English is not always more succesful.

The same procedure as every year…

There are some unlucky countries that failed to qualify in every semi final broadcast so far: Andorra, Portugal and Estonia. Furthermore, Montenegro and the Czech Rpublic failed to qualify on their first attempt. On the other hand, F.Y.R. Macedonia has qualified on every occasion (although they always were out of the top10 in the final), furthermore Turkey will have been in every final since 2004 after Saturday's show.

There's a first (and last?) for everything

Serbia and Georgia have qualified with their first performance in the contest. For the first time since 2004, Malta, CroatiaandNorway, which were always either directly qualified or survived the semis, won't be in the final. On the other hand, Slovenia and Belarus might be very happy right now since they reached the final for the first time since the semi final was introduced.