Ukraine has reached the grand final of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest after the band Kalush Orchestra took the stage in Thursday’s semifinals in Turin.
Big favorites for the title, the band received a deafening response from the live audience after their performance, thanking the crowd for “supporting their country”.
Ukraine was among 10 countries, including Iceland, Lithuania and Moldova, dialed through for Saturday’s live final, but Latvia sadly missed out, despite having censored its vegetable-themed anthem for the pre-watershed show.
did it! Ukraine has reached the grand final of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest after the band Kalush Orchestra took the stage in Thursday’s semifinals in Turin
The Kalush Orchestra gave a live performance of their song Stefania, despite earlier fears that they would not be able to travel to Italy for the competition following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the end of their performance, lead singer Oleh Psiuk said to a roaring reception from the audience: “Thank you for supporting Ukraine”.
After 17 performances in the semifinals, a total of 10 received enough votes from viewers to advance to the live finals.
Oh man! Latvia’s Citi Zen missed out on a place in the final despite censoring her anthem to vegetarianism
It’s back! Alessandro Cattelan, Laura Pausini and Mika took the stage at the Pala Olimpico indoor stadium in Turin to host the live show
They were: Monika Liu from Lithuania, Marius Bear from Switzerland, S10 from the Netherlands, Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers from Moldova, Maro from Portugal, Systur from Iceland, Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord from Greece, Subwoolfer from Norway, Rosa Linn from Armenia and Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine.
Unfortunately, this meant seven countries missed out, led by Latvia’s Citi Zēni, who performed her ode to vegetarianism, ‘Eat Your Salad’.
The group were advised by Eurovision bosses to censor their song for the pre-watershed show, but the audience quickly completed the salacious lyrics, prompting an apology from commentators Rylan Clark and Scott Mills.
Zany: Norway’s quirky act Subwoolfer was among the 10 artists who advanced to the finals with their song Give That Wolf A Banana
Starring: Systur, who represented Iceland, also rose after receiving enough viewer votes
Stunning: Maro from Portugal performed her song Saudade, Saudade, which was among the 10 finalists
Singing: “Instead of meat, I eat vegetables and…” before the crowd heard “P***y!” chanted.
Ronela Hajati from Albania, LPS from Slovenia, Intelligent Music Project from Bulgaria, Mia Dimšić from Croatia, Reddi from Denmark and LUM!X feat from Austria also missed out on a place in the final. Pia Maria.
Elsewhere, host Scott Mills poked fun at his new single co-host Rylan Clark by joking that he “got off Grindr for a few hours” to present the show.
Crazy! Moldovan groups Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers, who flaunt Eurovision’s wacky roots, also got enough votes from viewers
Ukraine remain the clear favorites to be crowned winners in Saturday’s live final, while Italy’s Mahmood & Blanco sit in second place.
Sam Ryder will take the stage to represent the UK with his song Space Man and surprisingly he is the third favorite at the moment.
He rose to fame by covering songs on the social media site during lockdown, amassing 12 million followers and attracting the attention of global stars like Justin Bieber and Alicia Keys.
Beautiful: The Greek Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord amazed with her impressive singing
Beautiful: Monika Liu, representative of Lithuania, wowed in a sparkling silver ball gown
Showman: Switzerland’s Marius Baer was hoping to go a step further for his country, which finished third last year
Energetic: Ronela Hajati of Albania started the semifinals with an energetic performance, earning enough votes for a place in the final
Despite the UK’s poor Eurovision history in recent years, fans are hoping Sam could break the trend and do well in the competition.
Sam himself admitted Monday that he’s not focused on winning the competition and that his “personal goal” is to just get on stage and sing.
He told the newspaper: “My personal goal is to sing with the same intention that I always sing with and then get away with the joy it has given me.
“Making it strategic and making it such that the luck it gives me depends on where I stand on a scoreboard is something I really don’t want to mess with.”
A vision: S10, which came from the Netherlands, gave an impressive performance in their native language
‘He left Grindr’: Meanwhile, host Rylan Clark was the subject of a hilarious quip from Scott Mills as they presented UK coverage of the semi-finals
Last year the UK finished bottom of the rankings after James Newman’s entry Embers scored zero, while Michael Rice’s 2019 entry Bigger Than Us also finished the UK bottom, but Sam previously insisted that the ” “Stigma” of losing will not stop him from enjoying participating.
“I love Eurovision. I think it’s such a privilege to be able to do that. I don’t want to let the stigma or fear of getting a certain seat at a table prevent me from doing and being part of something that I enjoy so much,” he added.
Also at this year’s Eurovision, Graham Norton will commentate for BBC viewers during Saturday’s final.
The live final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 takes place on Saturday 14 May at 8pm on BBC One.
Fingers crossed! Sam Ryder will take the stage in Saturday’s final to represent Britain with his song Space Man and surprisingly is the third favorite at the moment