ESC 2015 - 1st Semi-Final

Guten abend, good evening, bon soir and welcome to my view of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.
It's the 60th edition, and sixteen countries will take part.
The TV set is tuned to TVR International, the international Romanian public service channel. Cue EUR(O)VISION logo and a colorful into, plus a Romanian commentator who is speaking at a pitch higher than the audio of the broadcast. My TV set automatically detected the 16:9 transmission.
A quick look back at 2014's edition, with Conchita Wurst.
Wow, what a pretty stage. Year after year after year, always improving.
The opening act is a performance of last year's winning song, the first ESC song created by an alter-ego.
Welcome to the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, live from Vienna.
My mother couldn't stand TVR International, she wanted to watch the news. Anyway:
The hosts are "Alice" and "Annabella".
The usual rules. Onto the songs.
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MOLDOVA: The theme for the postcard is tractors. The song is called "I Want Your Love" and sounds like a song you've already heard on radio stations years ago, and the kind of song that is rarely aired nowadays. Pretty much OK. Is it me or do the singers look like they're homosexual? Not wanting to be a homophobe, that is.
ARMENIA: The postcard is an amusement park in Vienna. The band's name is very nice: Genealogy. I do like the song, very top indeed, and a nice song to listen when you feel so sad.
BELGIUM: Wow! A cassette. Very rhythmic, but not that good.
NETHERLANDS: Postcard theme: hot-air balloons. In my opinion, it sounds like a mixture between American chart-topping songs and Morango do Nordeste. Eugh. I don't like where this is going...
FINLAND: Postcard theme: trains. The song is in Finnish and is another metal effort. What's wrong with the Finnish singer? He looks like he's trying to emulate a metal voice but it sounds like an old man.
That was quick.
Something I've decided to quote: "Hey gorgeousness of the Netherlands!".
Conchita Wurst is hosting the Green Room.
And now, a good morning to Australia.
GREECE: Bulding a boat is the postcard's theme. She looks like Suzy, Portugal's awful singer from 2014. It's another song like Rise Like a Phoenix in the sense that it should perfectly be the end theme of the next James Bond film.
ESTONIA: Postcard theme: skiing. I do really like this song, very fine, a sign that we must leave the past behind.
MACEDONIA: Someone kissing a portrait of a woman, then actual skiing. At night. Fantastic visual effects on the stage. The song wasn't that good.
SERBIA: I thought that they were making a cake, but they were making curtains for a bathtub. Another favorite for the final. Fantastic visual effects too. I should be dancing to this.
HUNGARY: Firefighting is the postcard's theme.  The Hungarian artist helped extinguish a fire at a school. The song is very beautiful, see Armenia to see what I mean.
BELARUS: Dressing and photo-shooting is the theme of their postcard. Yet another song with the same effect as Armenia, before it changes tack later on. Nice use of violin.
RUSSIA: Impressive architecture. The song sounds vaguely American.
Back to the Green Room. Among the Estonians, a man says that he's not a cat. He doesn't have nine lives. Aha, sim gatòoooo? The Serbian interpret was nervous when she was a child and she eventually started singing.
DENMARK: Sleighs make the postcard. Yet another up-tempo song, but I don't necessarily like it. Sounds like it comes from a movie.
ALBANIA: Lots of snow here, but anyway: pretty nice.
ROMANIA: The song is bilingual: English and Romanian. Horse-racing is the theme for the postcard. Their song is another well-made one which I want to see on the final.
GEORGIA: Making clothes is the theme of the posctard and she looks very gothic. The song itself barely emulates the genre, and is OK to me.
We've gone past the sixteen entries and voting is set to start.
Time now for "their biggest applause ever" and the return of a tradition from an unusual point of view: a total cat person, a total dog person and someone allergic to both of them. Next we see a trip of Vienna with the pets. A cat pays 10€. I like the Vienna University campus, very modern.
It's now time to talk about Austria. They like music that isn't yodelling, they like their hospitality and showed us some musicians from the country. And some other personalities.
And now an interview with Guy Sebastian from Australia, trying to represent a country that is a guest. And some Australian-born singers who were guests. They are also plugging the Vatican which can't properly join because they are too religious on their radio station.
Lisa Angell from France is a long-time fan. Since she was very young. Could not understand parts of what she was saying.
The ten countries that qualified were:
1: Albania
2: Armenia
3: Russia
4: Romania
5: Hungary
6: Greece
7: Estonia
8: Georgia
9: Serbia
10: Belgium
And that's the end of this rather long off-topic post. More to come on Thursday night.