First 10 Eurovision finalists announced

The first 10 finalists of the Eurovision Song Contest were announced last night after the first semi-final, held in Malmö, Sweden. Sixteen countries took part. The qualifiers were Moldova, Lithuania, Ireland, Estonia, Belarus, crowd favourite  Denmark, Russia, Belgium, Ukraine and The Netherlands. Austria was among those countries which surprisingly did not make it. Cyprus also failed to make the mark The second semi-final takes place tomorrow, with Malta's Gianluca Bezzina one of the singers, with Tomorrow. Ten other countries will be selected from that group. The two groups of qualifiers will be joined by Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and last year’s winner Sweden for the final on Saturday. Yesterday's show opened with a clip called 'Euphoria from Baku to Malmö,' showing interpretations of last year's winning song from different parts of Europe. Euphoria was then performed on stage by a children's choir and last year's winner Loreen. A brief history of the Eurovision was also presented. The show was presented by Petra Mede.