Céline Dion appears rare as five countries are expelled

Céline Dion made a rare appearance during the first semi -final of the Eurovision Song Contest with a short, pre -recorded message.

The star won the Switzerland competition in 1988 and rumors that he would take the stage as the ceremony returned to the country this year.

“I wouldn’t enjoy anything more than being with you,” she said in a video, obviously excluded this opportunity. “Switzerland will forever take a special place in my heart. The country believed in me and gave me the chance to be part of something so extraordinary.”

The semifinals saw 10 acts qualify for the big final on Saturday, including the Swedish participants Kaj, whose song Bara Bada Bastu is the running favorite.

Their song, a comedy number led by accordion, whose title is translated as “Let’s take a sauna” has a 40% chance of winning, according to bookmakers.

If the forecast comes true, it will be the eighth title of Sweden in Eurovision – which makes them the most arrival country in the history of the competition (at the moment they are bound by Ireland, with seven victories each).

Fifteen acts carried out on the semifinals on Tuesday in St. Jacobshale of Basel. These are the ones who made a cut.

• Norway: Kyle Alessandro – Lighter
• Albania: Shkodra Electron – Zjerm
• Sweden: Kai – just swim a sauna
• Iceland: wæb – calmly
• Netherlands: Claude – it’s life
• Poland: Justyna Steczkowska – Gaja
• San Marino: Gabro Ponte – all of Italy
• Estonia: Tommy Cash – espresso Macciato
• Portugal: Napa – displaced
• Ukraine: Ziferblat – a bird of prayer

This means that Eurovision dreams of Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia and Slovenia have ended in 2025.

Of these, the biggest surprise was the Red Sebastian in Belgium, whose enthusiastic anthem stripes were designed to end in the top five.

His disqualification came on the day of his 26th birthday.

Another ten acts will move to the main competition after the second semifinals on Thursday.

The large five countries that contribute most financially to competition (France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy) are automatically ranked, as well as last year’s winners, Switzerland.

Dion’s video came during the ceremony interval as the votes were filed.

Although she failed to be there personally, it was a coup for the organizers. The singer has withdrawn from the spotlight in recent years due to health problems related to the syndrome of the human (SPS), a neurological condition that causes muscle spasms and makes it difficult to walk.

After a four -year vacation, she made an emotional return to the Paris Olympics last summer, singing Edith Piaf’s classic anthem from the Eiffel Tower.

Speculation about the potential emergence of Eurovision increased after the Swiss singer Nemo won the competition in 2024.

In her video, Dion said she was “beautiful and emotional” to see the young singer raising the trophy and recalled that her victory in 1988 “is a change of life for me.”

“To the people of Switzerland, thank you for your love,” she continued. “This night is yours and I hope you feel as proud as I do.”

After repeating his message in French, several former Eurovision athletes appeared on the stage to reflect Dion’s winning song since 1988, Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi (don’t leave without me).

However, the organizers said they did not give up the star’s hope to appear in the final this weekend.

“We are still in close contact with her,” they said in a statement.

The semi -final on Tuesday opened with an Icelandic group Væb, two brothers with the unauthorized energy of former Irish participants Jeduard.

They were followed by Polish star Jostina Steakovska, who hung uncertainly over the scene of two ropes as she sang her witch on Mother Earth, Gaja.

The acrobats continued with Slovenian musician Clemen, who was stopped upside down during his ballad, how long did we have left?

The song was a tribute to his wife, who recently recovered from cancer, but the emotional performance was not enough to get his position in the final.

Taking a lighter note was Tommy Cash of Estonia, whose bizarre espresso Makiato was interrupted by a stage invader – in fact, a dancer who reproduced his dance moves with the noodles.

The arena was strewn with Ukrainian flags for Ziffblat, whose prog-pop hymn bird of prayer is a message of hope and stability of families separated by the country’s continuing war with Russia.

Italy Lucio Corsy brought vibrations from the 70’s Glam Rock with its Volevo Esse Un Duro track, which even introduced itself as a visual call to Starman’s emblematic performance of David Bowie and Mick Ronson on top of PopsS

Bosnian singer Marco Boshnyak was a completely black eye line and ominous energy for his cake for the anthem of the murder, while the Dutch singer Claude took the opposite approach by performing with positivity during his sublime performance by C’EST La Vie.

And Swiss singer Zoya Maya was bathed in a sea of ​​mobile phone lights while performing Voyage, a low and quite beautiful request for kindness and understanding.

Kaj, however, were the artists who won – with the whole audience rushed to their anthem of the sauna (“Damn it heal the heat! “

The song, performed on the Vörå dialect, is a radical deviation from the tried and tested formula of Sweden from smooth pop hymns.

The winner of the surprise at The Melodifestivalen, the hotly contested show, which selects the Eurovision entrance in the country and continued to head the Swedish pop charts for 11 weeks.

Speaking to the BBC, the group – which is actually from the Swedish speaking part of Finland – said it was strange to participate in the competition as an alleged favorite.

“We feel a little pressure,” they admitted, “but we will go out there, we will have fun, we will bring the steam, we will bring the culture of the sauna and see where it goes.”