We have now gained ten more participants in Saturday's final, and they are:
Greece
Romania
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Finland
Russia
Israel
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Poland
Norway
Greece, Armenia and Russia really come as no surprise to those that have been following along with the Contest this year - these entries are hotly contested to be possible winners this year, and their places in the final are keeping these bets on track of course.
Favourites among those currently in Belgrade that went through were definitely Romania and Poland, the vocals for both performances were highly regarded by press and fans alike that had been present at rehearsals.
The "political/voting for a first time country vote" possibly played a hand in Azerbaijan's entry into the final, with what many thought was an over the top performance, but then again, this is Eurovision - and we do love a spectacle!
The surprise of the night was no doubt Finland and maybe Bosnia & Herzegovina, both have seldom been mentioned (more so the Finnish entry), but in consideration it might be easy to understand Finland going through - as they obviously won with a similar style song in 2006. Bosnia & Herzegovina's entry was a unique stage act, and set itself apart from many of the other acts - and this might be why they have gone through tonight.
In trying to figure out which two entries were granted "jury votes", the oikotimes staff have thought the possible choices were Norway and Israel, who were not highly regarded for entry into the final before this, at least among some of the other qualifiers. Both presented what could be considered "classic" Eurovision entries and the fate of these two songs could have been left in the hands of the jury.
Some facts to consider from tonight:
The OIKOTIMES poll guessed 8 out of 10 qualifiers for tonight correctly.
Greece, Poland and Norway were ahead in the live poll during the live show.
6 out of 10 Eastern European countries made it through to the final, and because of this, we estimate that the final victory will go to an Eastern country, the Oikotimes reported.