Eurovision Song Contest / Chicken Dinner / 13 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Time was when Chelsea fans were amongst the most fearsome in Europe - now they're reduced to online campaigns against camp pop. Meanwhile, Yohanna wows Jade and Slovenia's intro goes on and on and... Chicken Dinner report from the second semi-final...

Last week we joked that Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo's controversial performance in Chelsea's clash with Barcelona might damage his country's Eurovision chances. On Monday, that joke became a reality with the news that Chelsea fans have launched an internet campaign to try and rob favourites Norway of the Eurovision crown in revenge for the Norwegian referees robbing them of a place in the Champions League final. Not too bitter, then, Chelsea.

The murmur in Moscow (where the event is held this year) is that the UK will be handed a top-four finish this year because the Big Four (France, Germany, Spain and the UK) are tired of leaving empty-handed. In other news, Bosnia and Herzegovina shortened from [29.0] to [11.5] in the space of a week after some impressive rehearsals, but despite qualifying on Tuesday they have drifted to [18.5]. Iceland has been cut down to just 18 after progressing and singer Yohanna was identified as the star of the semi-final by UK entry Jade Ewen.

The second semi-final takes place on Thursday night with 19 countries fighting for ten places. Azerbaijan [1.08] to progress from the semi-final, Greece [1.03] and Norway [1.02] should stroll it. Sadly for Chelsea fans, the UK doesn't get to vote, although Russia does if Roman Abramovich feels the urge to run up a large phone bill in search of revenge (all the countries in this semi get to vote, plus France, Russia and Spain). Two of the last three outright winners also won their semi-final so Norway [2.02 to win the semi] will fancy their chances, although Greece [4.3 to win the semi] have more allies voting tonight.

Nine of the last 10 winning songs were English and of the nations in this semi-final that have ignored that trend, Croatia [3.2], Latvia [5] and Slovakia [5.8] are in big trouble. Serbia [1.53] is the only country since 1998 to have opted against English and triumphed and their double act - a man with crazy hair and another with an accordion - should qualify. Estonia [1.26] has never progressed from a semi-final and the Estonian entry is a dud, but they have been drawn second-last (the last five acts all went through on Tuesday, compared to none of the first four).

Slovenia [2.84] could be in trouble - their intro lasts over a minute. Ireland [3.25], the most successful country in Eurovision history, will probably fail for the third time in four qualification attempts. Sinead Mulvey sounds ridiculously cheerful while singing about being cheated on and an early draw and lack of allies will also contribute to Ireland's downfall. Hungary's [3.5] woeful Dance With Me is potentially too camp even for Eurovision and followed by Azerbaijan and Greece, it should be forgotten fairly quickly.

The Moldova [1.52] entry is one of our favourites in this semi-final its lively, unique, has a late draw and if the energy shown in the rehearsal is carried over then the audience will love it. Albania [1.72] has gradually improved with each performance and should be rewarded, although the country's traditional voting allies are thin on the ground. Lithuania [1.56] follow frontrunners Azerbaijan and Greece on stage, but with four of the five countries who give them the most points (Latvia, Ireland, Russia and Estonia) voting, their prospects are good.

With Norway certain to qualify, Denmark [1.4] will be confident of completing a clean sweep for Scandinavia. Ukraine [1.2] always reach the final and are a safe bet to join them. Countries whose qualification record alone should rule them out are the Netherlands [3.05], who havent progressed since 2004, Cyprus [4.7], who last went through in 2005, and Poland [2.96], who scraped through the semis for the first time last year courtesy of a jury only to finish last in the final.