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The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 is just a few hours away, and so it’s time for us in the escgo! team to predict the ten qualifiers for the grand final on Saturday.

You can see the choices of Martin, Felix and Shi in the table below – followed by a brief summary of their views!

Country	Martin	Felix	Shi	TEAM
1. Azerbaijan	Q	Q	Q	100%
2. Iceland				0%
3. Albania				0%
4. Belgium	Q	Q		66.7%
5. Czech Republic	Q		Q	66.7%
6. Lithuania		Q		33.3%
7. Israel	Q	Q	Q	100%
8. Belarus				0%
9. Estonia	Q	Q	Q	100%
10. Bulgaria	Q			33.3%
11. Macedonia				0%
12. Croatia			Q	33.3%
13. Austria		Q	Q	66.7%
14. Greece	Q		Q	66.7%
15. Finland	Q	Q		66.7%
16. Armenia	Q	Q	Q	100%
17. Switzerland				0%
18. Ireland		Q	Q	66.7%
19. Cyprus	Q	Q	Q	100%

Martin:
And to think the second semi-final was supposed to be the one with the big hitters in it. How do you even begin to choose ten qualifiers from tonight’s show? There are only four I’m really happy with, namely Israel, Czech Republic, Estonia and Cyprus. Even the supposedly guaranteed Bulgaria should have a question mark over it really, but the delegation seem keen to ensure that things go right for them, so let’s call it five. I’m also going for Saara Aalto to win over the doubters (and Belgium to win over the jurors). As for the rest, take your pick!

Felix:
You might consider Ireland a daring prediction, but its big bonus is the late draw, the touching stage show, as well as Ryan’s vocal performance. Belgium and Finland are the ones I am most unsure about, while the Czech Republic might be a shock non-qualifier. This is all about Mikolas and his performance, while neither the draw nor the actual song are brilliant, there is no vocal bonus either, and the country lacks friends as well. Greece might be a daring NQ prediction too, and I love both song and staging, but seems like I am in the minority.

Shi:
Every year, when we get to this point of time, I start to feel like I have absolutely no clue. This year it’s worse because at no point did I ever have any clue. I think that most songs in this semi have a good shot of qualifying, so we’re going to end up with a few songs that feel like surprise non-qualifiers, even though it makes mathematical sense that some of them have to NQ. Having said I wanted surprises this year, I’m looking forward to seeing which of my obvious qualifiers and non-qualifiers I got wrong.

Will we be right or completely wrong? There’s only a few hours left until we find out – so whatever you’re doing and whomever you’re watching the show with, enjoy the evening and may the best songs qualify!