Iolanda takes Portugal’s “Grito” to the first Eurovision semi-final that starts today

Get the sofa and popcorn ready because it’s today, Tuesday, that the race for places in the Eurovision final begins, which this year will take place in Malmö, Sweden.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest has 37 countries competing, and the first semi-final has a very special presence.

The song ‘Grito’, by Iolanda, who this year represents Portugal, will mark this first round and wants to reach the final which will take place this Saturday. Rehearsals have already started.

Only 26 countries will be present in the final, meaning 11 will return home before the weekend. Ten are chosen today and another ten on Thursday, when the second semi-final takes place.

Iolanda will be the 14th performance and will compete, in order of appearance, with: Cyprus, Serbia, Lithuania, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, Iceland, Slovenia, Finland, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Australia and Luxembourg.

The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest receives in competition, in order of appearance: Malta, Albania, Greece, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, Israel, Norway and Countries Lows.

The countries that never need to worry about putting on an unforgettable show in the semi-final are the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and Italy) and the host country, which have direct entry into the final.

Portugal has, according to the website Eurovisionworld.com, which specializes in the contest and which sees the average of several bookmakers, odds of going through to the final.

But not everything is good news, the same average leaves Portugal far from being the potential winner, appearing between 30th and 35th place in bookmakers since March.

Despite already being in the final and not competing for now, themes from Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden will be presented in the first semi-final and, in the second, themes from Spain, France and Italy.

Today’s semi-final is shown live, starting at 8pm in Lisbon.

The song “Ai Coração”, by Mimicat, brought Portugal 23rd place last year in the Eurovision Song Contest.

(Image: Reuters)