Oh, You're Two Semis!

The results of the votes from the two semi finals have revealed a few surprises.

• Russia did not win its semi-final (indeed it came 3rd - trailing Greece by 21 points and Armenia by 4).
• The 20 countries with the most points from the voting public (over both nights) would not include Poland nor jury-selected Sweden - Macedonia and Bulgaria were the two countries in the top 20 who were eliminated.
• San Marino was last overall, getting 5 points. They were one point behind Hungary. Estonia (who truly deserved nul points) got 8 points and were 3rd-last overall.
• All countries who performed 2nd, 10th (middle), 14th and 19th (last) on both nights qualified to the Final.
• Those performing 5th, 8th, 12th and 15th got the Kiss of Death - with all countries being eliminated.

Most of the feedback we've received from regular ESC-viewers and un-initiated was that they felt the best nations got through to the Final - with Switzerland missing out due to a lacklustre performance rather than conspiracy of the East. No one has had a big wrap for Poland, Sweden, Macedonia or Bulgaria - so any argument over whether they deserved to be or not seems moot.

EDU will reserve its judgement til next year - but the signs are good that the Two Semis are less affected by bloc voting than previous systems. (Now, if they'd only limit the Final night's voting to the 25 nations in the Final - this would be sorted for good).