While I went to the Jury Show of Semi Final 1 in person, at Liverpool Arena, I had the pleasure of watching the Jury Show of Semi Final 1 as an accredited journalist via the EBU. So here are my thoughts on just what to expect tomorrow night!
The show begins with a “The X Factor” style recap of Tuesday night, filled with clips and dramatic music. It’s very different to what we’ve seen at Eurovision for the past decade or so, but a similar opener was seen back at Copenhagen 2014.
That brings us straight into the presenters arriving on stage and much of what you saw on Tuesday night is repeated here, but with our second set of songs. There are interruptions along the way including a sketch featuring Scooch (in much the same way as Tuesday’s featuring The Fizz), a really very emotional poem delivered by actor, Luke Evans, and a rather surreal moment that’s described by Hannah as “a national treasure doing a traditional British dance” which ends up being Peppa Pig doing the Conga. As expected with the Conga, the 1984 hit by Black Lace (who represented the UK at Jerusalem 1979) “Do the Conga”, plays over this moment.
Like Tuesday, there are two interval acts. One of them has been entirely devised by UA:PBC and features Mariya Yaremchuk, who represented Ukraine in Eurovision 2014, leading a contemporary montage of some of the most well-known pieces of music from the country. It all culminates in OTOY, 14-year-old Ukrainian Junior Eurovision 2022 representative Zlata Dziunka, and Mariya performing Carol of the Bells, which feels slightly out of place considering it’s not December, but it’s all very well done.
The second interval act features three “drag” versions of Hannah, Julia and Alesha lip-syncing to a medley of pride anthems, including Jessica Mauboy’s 2018 Eurovision entry, We Got Love, which was a lovely surprise to experience. It’s very silly and just a lot of fun. I think both the intervals from the first Semi Final are miles better than these, but they’re both a lot better than much of what we’ve seen offered in previous years.
Semi Final 2 of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 begins at 8pm on BBC One.
