#ESC26: Live Blog Of Semi Final 2 Jury Show – #JoinUs From 20:00 BST/21:00 CEST.

It’s starting! Semi Final 2 of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is nearly upon us. We at Eurovision Ireland have access to the Jury Show, which may give us an idea of who will qualify for the Grand Final on 16 May.

As you know with our blogs, just click ‘Refresh’ on your browser for our latest thoughts. All times are in CEST.

21:00 – Te Deum plays and we are off! And we start with a reminder of Semi Final One.

21:01 – We have a video of sea scape scene, before Victoria and Michael take to the stage for their own interpretation of Wasted Love.

21:04 – Victoria and Michael welcome us to the show. They run through the rules, voting etc.

21:08 – DARA’s postcard features a regal building.

21:09 – DARA is sat with two dancers either side. The move well alongside each other and react well to the different genres/tempos within the song.

21:11 – Jiva’s postcard features an old viaduct bridge.

21:12 – Jiva appears from behind a white curtain. She is in a red and black dress. Silouhettes appear of possible backing dancers.The backing dancer finally appears on stage and walks around her/taunts her, on the stage.

21:16 – Alexandra’s postcard features a modern building.

21:16 – Alexandra is dressed in black, holding lit up ropes connected to guitars belonging to her band. She crawls up to the main stage. Her backing dancers/singers are in hooded white costumes.

21:19 – Eva’s postcard features a forest.

21:21 – Eva is stood in a spotlighjt at the start while the main stage stays dark until the first chorus. The forest reference from the postcard is replicated in cgi effects on screen. The microphone stand even takes the shape of a tree.

21:24 – Daniel’s postcard features a mountain range.

21:25 – Daniel is surrounded by mirrors to start with, giving a kalidiscope visual effect. The mirrors seem to stay throughout, until they open to reveal him to the audience.

21:28 – Michael is back ad-libbing.

21:29 – Monroe’s postcard features gardens.

21:30 – Some electric lighting welcomes Monroe, who is stood on a podium. For such a young voice, she can handle opera well. Her four backing dancers move with her vocal tempo.

21:33 – Professor Eurovision is back.

21:37 – Simon’s postcard features water.

21:37 – Simon and his backing dancers start the performance in a pretend lift. They are all in sync when it comes to the dancing. Simon is wearing his jacket covered in post-it notes. Its very fast tempo and it could be a question of blink and you’ll miss something.

21:41 – Veronica’s postcard features mountains again.

21:41 – Veronica is dressed in black. Her microphone is corded out of ship rope. Her backing dancers, also in black, are attached to red strings. This is quite a contrast to Simon from Armenia, in terms of tempo and beat.

21:45 – Michael is back ad-libbing.

21:46 – Antigoni’s postcard features marshes.

21:47 – Antigoni starts her performance on a table. She is joined on said table by four backing dancers. While they move in sync, it doesn’t give the impression of a party atmosphere like the official video. The projection screen graphics certainly makes reference to Fuego.

21:51 – Michael introduces Austria. Cosmo’s postcard features a desert.

21:53 – Cosmo starts laying down on the stage with some funky hand drawn graphics. The backing dancers have horses heads on – Dihaj anyone? It’s certainly a modern sound with a beat that you can clap or tap your feet along to. A stronger home entry compared to 2015.

21:56 – Atvara’s postcard features caves.

Let us know what you think about the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

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Author: Richard Taylor & John Stanton

Source: Eurovision Ireland