Stockholm Revisited Part Eight: Semi-Final 2

22 July 2016 at 19:00 CEST
On Thursday 12th May 2016 the second live show of the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast from Stockholm's Globe Arena. 10 more countries competed for a coveted place in the Grand Final. In part eight of our Stockholm Revisited series we look back at the Second Semi-Final which completed the line-up of the Grand Final that took place two days later. 

As with the First Semi-Final, hosts Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw opened, with the audience spontaneously chanting Petra's name in a warm show of appreciation. Petra and Måns' opening number, The Story of the Eurovision Song Contest, took viewers on a musical journey providing them with a humorous lesson on the history of the show. 

Ukraine won the televote ahead of Australia, which won the Second Semi-Final overall. FYR Macedonia narrowly missed out on a place in the Grand Final, after Kaliopi, who represented her country in 2012, finished in 11th place. Ireland failed to qualify for the third year in a row despite being represented by one of the biggest names in the country, Nicky Byrne. Bulgaria qualified for the second time after a strong performance from Poli Genova who also participated in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. 

The ten qualifiers from the Second Semi-Final:

  • Latvia
  • Georgia
  • Bulgaria
  • Australia
  • Ukraine
  • Serbia
  • Poland
  • Israel
  • Lithuania
  • Belgium

After the Second Semi-Final the producers of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest decided on the running order for the Grand Final. The final line-up was proposed by the producers of show (SVT) and approved by the EBU Executive Supervisor, Jon Ola Sand and by the Chairman of the Reference Group, Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling. The following morning the qualifying acts took to the stage once more to begin rehearsals for the Grand Final and the biggest audience of their careers.