The first semi-final has taken place and we know the first ten finalists to join the Big 5 and Portugal. As you may have read earlier, Ireland have qualified for the first time in five years, after been revealed as the tenth qualifier – nothing like a bit of tension.

The other qualifiers joining Ireland are: Austria, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Israel, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Albania and Finland.

Video: YouTube/EBU

Joining Portugal, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom in the First Half of the Final are: Albania, Austria, Estonia and Lithuania. This leaves four spaces in the First Half of the Final.

Joining Italy in the Second Half of the Final are: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland and Israel. This leaves six spaces in the Second Half of the Final.

After the ten qualifiers, we also have nine losers. The biggest loser of the lot has also lost their 100% qualification record – that is Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has taken part every year, making the final since 2008. They won the Contest back in 2011, therefore bypassing the semi-finals in 2012, when they hosted.

The other eight losing countries joining Azerbaijan are: Iceland, Belgium, Belarus, Macedonia, Croatia, Greece, Armenia and Switzerland.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: EBU