Eurovision 2013

The choreography spoils what could have been a decent Joy Division Lithuanian entry.

The first semi-final will take place on 14 May. Out of sixteen countries ten will qualify. The running order is:

1) Austria
2) Estonia
3) Slovenia
4) Croatia
5) Denmark
6) Russia
7) Ukraine
8) Netherlands
9) Montenegro
10) Lithuania
11) Belarus
12) Moldova
13) Ireland
14) Cyprus
15) Belgium
16) Serbia

I think Denmark will win this semi-final,and Netherlands,Russia,Estonia,Belarus,Moldova and Ukraine should be safe.

This leaves three places for the rest. I've chosen Serbia,Croatia and Slovenia but it's really anyone's guess at this stage.

In the second semi-final the running order is:

1) Latvia
2) San Marino
3) FYR Macedonia
4) Azerbaijan
5) Finland
6) Malta
7) Bulgaria
8) Iceland
9) Greece
10) Israel
11) Armenia
12) Hungary
13) Norway
14) Albania
15) Georgia
16) Switzerland
17) Romania

The bookies have Norway as winning this one,but I think Georgia might pull a surprise. I have San Marino,Azerbaijan,Israel,Switzerland and Finland qualifying alongside. That's three places left which I'm going to allot to Greece,FYR Macedonia and Malta.

Thank you slick. I was beginning to think I was the April Fool..

Did you think it was all over? Far from it;it's only just begun. Denmark may have had the best rehearsal so far,but Daphne Du Maurier would be pleased with Netherlands Anouk.

Day 2 of the rehearsals. One hopes that Ireland has done enough to qualify.

Here is the line-up at a glance for those interested in this competition.http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline

For those of you suffering from withdrawal symptoms already from the rehearsals here's Jessica UK's(no relation)thoughts so far:

The Final is one week tomorrow Saturday 18th May. The semi-finals are on Tuesday and Thursday next week at 8pm on BBC 3.

Rehearsals continued on Saturday. It looks to me as if Hungary,Malta,Bulgaria and Latvia are out.Greece, Albania,Armenia,Iceland,Israel and Romania are fighting for qualification. Video comments are not mine.

I've managed to find a snippet of Sunday's rehearsals including Bonnie Tyler for the UK.

I am here and interested in gambling tips

Thanks for the write ups steve, ill place some bets before the kick off and also during the final depending how they all go. Dunno who to go for yet but I'm not touching anything shorter than 15s!

You're welcome Jezza but I have to warn you that I'm regarded as rather amateurish at this competition and you might get better tips on escbet(at the top of the home page)where many there would disdain my humble efforts.

Looking for an alternative to oust clear favourite Emmelie de Forest for Denmark(who should win tomorrow's qualifying semi-final on BBC3 at 8pm) I was looking at the Italian entry sung by Marco Mengoni. I've only seen a snippet of his live performance so far and as his country has automatic qualification he will not show in the two semi-finals this week,but from what I've seen he could give Emmelie a run for her money.