Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
EUROVISION

EUROVISION

VIDEO: Norway sails into Eurovision final

Bergen ex-bouncer Carl Espen Thorbjørnsen went through to the finals of Eurovision on Thursday night after a powerful and passionate performance of his song Silent Storm.

Published: 8 May 2014 22:55 CEST
VIDEO: Norway sails into Eurovision final
Carl Espen singing in the Eurovision semifinal in Copenhagen. Photo: YouTube screen grab

Norway's success means that all five Nordic countries will now be competing in the final on May 10.

"Now I'm so happy that I can't find the words," Thorbjørnsen told VG after the results were announced. "I am so very happy and very satisfied with my own performance. The hard work has paid off. It can be described as an extreme bliss."

Torbjörn Ek, a Eurovision expert for Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper, who had previously criticised Thorbjørnsen for showing nerves in his performances, told the channel that in the semifinal it had all come together. 
 
"It's the best he's done down here," he said. "He…seems nervous in the first minute. But his singing was cracking! And eventually he will get his nerves under control."
 
Austria's controversial entry, bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, also made the final, with "Rise Like a Phoenix", a power ballad that would not be out of place in a James Bond film, as did entries from Poland, Belarus, Romania, Malta, Greece, Switzerland, Slovenia and Finland. 
 
Wurst, the drag persona of Austrian singer Tom Neuwirth, triggered a petition in Belarus calling for the state broadcaster to edit her out of the television footage to avoid turning Eurovision into "a hotbed of sodomy". 
 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

EUROVISION

Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Cornelia Jakobs, Sweden's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, burst into tears and jumped onto presenter Mario Acampas, after shooting through to the final on Thursday night.

Published: 13 May 2022 08:09 CEST
Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Jakobs was emotional at the press conference after her victory, telling the story of her progress from an “largely unknown” indie artist to the Eurovision stage. 

“There are a lot of feelings right now in this little body, an extremely large amount of feelings that can’t really fit in, so they’re exploding,” she said, before beginning to cry. “But I’m so happy and overwhelmed by all the support I’ve got from all these fantastic countries.” 

When the time came to pick lots for which half of the final she would appear in, she leapt onto Mario Acampas, the presenter asking questions at the press conference, wrapping her legs around his waist and clasping herself tightly to his torso. 

He then walked her over to the bowl where the lots were lying. 

“I want you to choose the second half,” she said to him. “Imagine that I have a pistol here and on the count of three I’m going to shoot you if you don’t choose.”

He refused to pick for her so she took one herself and got the second half. 

Jakobs, with her song, “Hold me closer”, was the clear favourite to go into the final, and will go through alongside Finland’s The Rasmus, and his song Jezebel, Serbia’s Konstrakta with “In corpore sano”, as well as entries from Belgium, Czechia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Estonia, Australia, and Romania. 

You can see her performance on Thursday in the video below. 

In the final, she will meet the other favourites, which include Ukraine, Italy, and the United Kingdom. 

The final will be shown on Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT at 9pm on Saturday. 

SHOW COMMENTS