The semi final result defended!

by Benny Royston 94 views

Although there has been much hype and anger from many Western Europeans after the semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest failed to send a single Western entry to the final, there is a counter argument to the situation.

Although there are calls to urgently revisit the idea of two semi finals for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest because of the overwhelming power of Eastern European votes, is this being fair to the Eastern European countries and does this detract from their success?

Whilst many claim last night's result proves that Western countries no longer have a chance of success, few deny that the ten qualifiers deserve their place in the final. It may yet be shown that the highest placed Western countries were actually very close to qualification in a competition that was always talked about as a close battle with few able to pick ten clear songs to qualify before the show. We will know more about this after the publication of the results tomorrow night.

Should the EBU act to appease the Western countries, the qualifying countries would have a justified argument they are suffering action against their success. Serbia is after all one of the few countries to be seen as an obvious choice for qualification, with Belarus, FYR Macedonia, Turkey and Slovenia tipped by most to go through to the final.

What would the reaction be in these countries if rules were changed to reduce their chances of success if the future? Surely, a swift move to appease Western viewers and media would cause a reaction in the countries that can rightly claim that they were voted to the final through a democratic televote.

Do you think that the western reactions are fair or caught up in the heat of the moment and disappointment of missing out on the final for the countries left out last night? Do you think that the ten qualifiers are justified?

Have your say in the reactions section below.