10 countries make it through first Eurovision semi-finalMay 15, 2019 - 11:34 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The first semi-final of Eurovision, Europe's largest entertainment event, kicked off at Expo Tel Aviv in Israel on Tuesday, May 14. . France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Israel have been pre-qualified for the Grand Final, meaning they did not compete on Tuesday. Traditionally the host country, along with the "Big Five" in Europe, automatically qualify for the final, euronews says. The 10 acts that earned the most points and qualified to participate in the final on Saturday are: Greece – Katerine Duska Belarus – Zena Serbia – Nevena Bozovic Cyprus – Tamta Estonia – Victor Crone Czech Republic – Lake Malawi Australia – Kate Miller-Heidke Iceland – Hatari San Marino – Serhat Slovenia – Zala Kralj and Gašper Šantl The event was opened by 2018 winner Netta Barzilai from Israel, who kick-started the show with a rendition of her winning song "Toys". Armenia's representative, Srbuk, will open the second semi-final on Thursday. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |