15 facts about our 15 First Semi-Finalists

It’s been a busy week of rehearsals, and now the First Semi-Finalists are ready to perform in Malmö. But there’s more to Eurovision artists than their performances. We’ve gathered all the facts, and found out some of the most surprising things about the stars of Eurovision 2024. If you want to know who's had a Eurovision-related dental emergency and who's picked first for sports teams, read on...

🇨🇾 Cyprus | Silia Kapsis – Liar

When Silia Kapsis needs to relax her vocal chords, she has a special technique – she blows bubbles through a straw into a glass. After a busy week of rehearsals in Malmö, she’s no doubt been putting this into practice.

🇷🇸 Serbia | TEYA DORA – RAMONDA

It was TEYA DORA’s birthday during rehearsal week in Malmö, and she celebrated in style. She hosted a party alongside Baby Lasagna, where they both showed off their Eurovision entries. To close the party, TEYA was presented with a cake topped with sparklers, while Loreen’s Tattoo played in the background. Happy birthday, TEYA!

🇱🇹 Lithuania | Silvester Belt – Luktelk

Silvester Belt has got a trademark nose accessory, and he told the Eurovision team about its origins. He chose it after he got bored with rings and earrings, and wanted to find a new style of jewellery to add to his look. There are plenty of style trends started at Eurovision, and maybe this will be one of them.

🇮🇪 Ireland | Bambie Thug - Doomsday Blue

If you’ve seen Bambie’s rehearsal clip, you’ll know they’re putting on quite the show at Eurovision. Bambie and their choreographer Matt go back years — they met when they were studying musical theatre in London. They bonded over their shared lack of talent for tap dancing, but Bambie has kept hold of their tap shoes.

🇺🇦 Ukraine | alyona alyona & Jerry Heil - Teresa & Maria

alyona alyona and Jerry Heil both love pets, but only alyona has any. She’s got a cat called Morrison, who lives with her parents, and she describes him as a king. Jerry would love to have some pets but doesn’t think she’d make a good pet parent. She'll have to make do with visiting King Morrison.

🇵🇱 Poland | LUNA - The Tower

On the subject of towering buildings… LUNA’s photo was on a huge digital billboard in Times Square, New York. This was part of the Spotify Equal campaign, which promotes gender equality and gets more eyes on artists. LUNA was the first Polish woman to be invited to take part.

🇭🇷 Croatia | Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim

Baby Lasagna says the craziest experience on his Eurovision journey was singing in front of thousands of fans at one of the pre-parties. As if that wasn’t daunting enough, he also sang in front of Käärijä, of Cha Cha Cha fame, and has had the whole of Croatia doing the Rim Tim Tagi Dim dance. Next challenge, the whole of Europe.

🇮🇸 Iceland | Hera Björk - Scared of Heights

Hera has competed at the Eurovision Song Contest before, and she’s got some great stories from that time. Just hours before her performance in the 2010 Eurovision Grand Final, Hera broke a tooth on a sweet. Thanks to a sprinkling of Eurovision luck, her dentist was in the audience, and even more luckily, they had some glue. Just in time for the show, Hera’s tooth was back in her mouth. Someone please remove all chewy sweets from Hera's dressing room.

🇸🇮 Slovenia | Raiven – Veronika

A lot of the Eurovision class of 2024 have pets, but Raiven’s might be the most unusual. In keeping with the bird theme, she has a macaw called Georgie. Georgie is blue and yellow, which are of course the colours of Sweden’s flag. One of her close friends, who happens to be Bojan from Joker Out, is terrified of Georgie.

🇫🇮 Finland | Windows95man - No Rules!

One huge inspiration for Windows95man is Gina G. She represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996 with the song Ooh…Aah…Just A Little Bit and came in 8th place. He says it was the best show and the best Euro-dance.

🇲🇩 Moldova | Natalia Barbu - In The Middle

This isn’t Natalia’s first time at the Eurovision Song Contest, and last time she landed in 10th place. She competed for Moldova in 2007 with the song Fight, and her performance included a fiery rock performance, scarf dancing, and impressively high notes. She's back fighting for a place in the Grand Final in 2024, and this time she's brought her violin.

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | FAHREE feat. Ilkin Dovlatov - Özünlə Apar

FAHREE is certainly multi-talented. Until recently, he was pursuing a career in law, spending 6 years studying towards his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. He switched to a life of music, and on top of that he’s a professional basketball player. Is there anything he can't do?!

🇦🇺 Australia | Electric Fields - One Milkali (One Blood)

Electric Fields singer Zaachariaha often sings in Yankunytjatjara, the language of the Anangu peoples, which is rooted in his culture. You’ll hear Yankunytjatjara in Electric Fields’ Eurovision song One Milkali (One Blood), making it the first time an Aboriginal language has been sung on the Eurovision stage.

🇵🇹 Portugal | iolanda – Grito

The strangest place that iolanda has ever performed is an outdoor climbing centre. And when she’s finished her Eurovision Song Contest journey, she’ll be heading back to Lisbon for a sold-out show – not in a climbing centre this time.

🇱🇺 Luxembourg | TALI – Fighter

Luxembourg hasn’t competed in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1993, which means that TALI, who was born in 2000, has never actually seen a live performance of her country in Eurovision. She’ll get to experience it this year, but live from the stage.