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In Tuesday's semi-final, Portuguese singer Salvador Sobral
drew some of the loudest applause with his song 'For The Both Of
Us' - a lilting, jazz-style ballad written by his sister.
The pitch-perfect performance was not typical fare for
Eurovision, an annual contest watched by millions across Europe
that is better known for its flamboyant costumes than its
polished vocal acts.
Among the recent qualifiers, Sobral, Armenian songstress Artsvik
and Sweden's Robin Bengtsson are in the top five favorites to
win Saturday's final.
Italian singer Francesco Gabbani, whose back-up dancer is a man
in a gorilla costume and bow-tie, is seen as the frontrunner.
Tuesday's other qualifiers for the final were Moldova,
Azerbaijan, Greece, Poland, Australia, Cyprus and Belgium.
Eight countries missed out on a final place, including
Montenegro's Slavko Kalezic, whose hair-twirling performance in
a see-through shirt and long, silky skirt recalled the 2014
champion, bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst.
The competition has a political edge this year due to the
absence of Russia, whose entrant Kiev barred from entering
Ukraine because she had performed in Crimea after its annexation
by Russia.
Ukraine won the right to host the contest after its 2016 entry
came first with a song about Stalin's mass deportation of ethnic
Tatars from Crimea during World War Two.
The full list of finalists will be announced on Thursday, after
the second semi-final.
(Reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Additional reporting by
Margaryta Chornokondratenko; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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