"If YouTube provides a clue as to who will qualify from the first Eurovision Song Contest semi-final, there could be some major surprises in store.
Rehearsals for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest kicked off Sunday, with the first half of the first semi-final taking the stage in Kyiv. On Monday, the second half of the first semi-final got their turn on the stage in the International Exhibition Centre. As has been customary for the last several years, Eurovision has released teaser snippets of each rehearsal, giving home viewers a glimpse into what is in store for next week's competition.
You know what that also means? MORE DATA TO SPECULATE UPON! We have been tracking the viewership of these snippets and have discovered some surprises that may reveal some potential shakeups to previous expectations for this year's Contest.
As of this writing((12:06am, Wednesday, May 3)), here are the Top 10 first rehearsal videos from the first semi-final:
- Greece
- Belgium
- Finland
- Poland
- Montenegro
- Portugal
- Sweden
- Azerbaijan
- Iceland
- Latvia
There are quite a few countries on that list that haven't been part of the conversation this season, including Greece, Finland, Poland, and Iceland. Noticeably absent from the list are Armenia (11th) and Australia (13th). It's possible that the videos provided weren't intriguing enough to demand repeat viewing. I suspect that is the case for Sweden, as the performance looks pretty similar to the Melfest presentation, so nothing new could be gleaned from the teaser.
What I find most intriguing is Finland's surge in the field. In the overall YouTube rankings (Official Video + Rehearsal Video), the country is ranked 16th. However, the execution of the performance on the stage may be enticing shares and repeat views. It will be interesting to see how Norma John holds up when the second rehearsals take place on Thursday.
The second semi-final had its first half of rehearsals Tuesday, with the second half taking place today. We'll weigh in on how the second semi-final looks Thursday evening."