Day 2 is over and not really more highlights. My compatriot from Austria had probably the best vocal performance, but the song is awful, and the stage 'work' wasn't good at all. The best stage performance had Cyprus, but with a mediocre song and the singing wasn't remarkable, too. Belarus had a really good song, but the singer was very weak. The only act I saw above average with song, stage performance as well as singing, was Estonia, although not extraordinary.
The disgrace of the contest was Ireland. The song was infantile, their stage appearance simply ridiculous and the back singers were several degrees better than the 'soloists'. Mika Newton from Ukraine was disappointing too. Way too much 'hard work' . She did it much better on the national qualification.
Moldova was of course the most entertaining act, loved their performance, although I have to confess that I am Zdob-si-Zdub-pre-ruined
. From the promo tour I learned to know the Macedonian singer Vlatko, who had a cultivated drunken stupor then and misbehaved enchantingly. Well, at the ESC performance I couldn't get rid of the impression that he was rather bottled too. A big yippieee for him! My personal vote was for Bulgaria - the playback track was played by my friends and (almost) neighbours, the rock group 'Krautschaedel', and part of the composers were Austrian acquaintances too.
The finalists of the second round:
Estonia
Romania
Moldova
Ireland
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Denmark
Austria
Ukraine
Slovenia
Sweden