What a night! This was the best run through yet, and we finally got to see our host Sara Forsberg show off her hosting material, and its hard to point out flaws in her. But the main kudos of the night has to go to Somalia who suffered from a lighting issue after the lighting set up crashed mid-way through the song. He was permitted to perform again at the end, and the audience certainly gave him the biggest cheer of the night. You could judge the popularity of each song by the reception each one got during the recap. Finland was on top of course, followed by Somalia and Denmark.
Asbjørn was stunning on the night, he delivered perfect vocals and brought some modern choreography and a top notch song. The bookies' favourite coming into the show, Norway, received a timid reception. The performance was up to scratch but for some reason the crowd didn't seem to get behind #TeamNorway, however she still remains top of the rankings with Finland closing in fast.
It would be key to point out the quality of Belgium's song. It has been overlooked a bit through the campaign, but this has a certain charm, and Hartwall were getting behind this song, you could even see a couple Belgian flags in the audience. Will it be Stockholm 2.0?
Iceland's returning entry BYRTA were also a big surprise from the night. Despite the fact they only arrived in Finland yesterday,the Faroese-Icelandic group performed their song 'Northern Lights', fitting to this year's theme, wioth such elegance. It may not have the party vibes as Loyndarmál did but the constant dancing and action on stage draws your eyes in immediately.
I think it is fair to say that the 2nd half of the show is where the songs will really rise up in quality. Everything from Nr09 onward is when the real protagonists will be fund I think. Scotland's song felt forgotten in the recap, and the bookies have started to distance the odds.