Russia crashes out of Eurovision 2018 in semi-final dominated by dancing robots
The Eurovision stalwarts will miss the Grand Final for the second year in a row
Eurovision powerhouse Russia crashed out of the 2018 song contest in the second semi-final in Lisbon, Portugal.
The country's act, Yulia Samoylova, failed to convince the voting public to put her through to the Grand Final, meaning Russia will be missing from the line-up for the second year in a row.
She wasn't the only casualty of the night, though. San Marino, whose dancing robots were the talk of Twitter, also failed to qualify.
Some were really unhappy about it.
A total of eight acts were eliminated, including Poland, Latvia, Romania, Malta, Georgia and Montenegro.
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- Who is Russia’s Eurovision 2018 entry Yulia Samoylova and why did she withdraw from last year’s contest?
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Former Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak secured a place in the Grand Final for Norway, performing the 1,500th Eurovision song to open the show.
His track, That's How You Write A Song, really divided the audience, though.
Some loved it.
Others weren't so sure.
Many poked fun at the song's name.
2014 Eurovision runner-up Waylon will also have a second shot at glory, having impressed viewers with his performance of Outlaw in 'Em.
Sweden's Benjamin Ingrosso, who hit the headlines for critiquing his fellow competitor's songs, qualified with Dance You Off.
Jessica Mauboy secured Australia's spot in the Eurovision Grand Final for the fourth year in a row.
And the European Broadcasting Union announced that it had revoked China's rights to broadcast the song contest after broadcaster Mango TV censored two performances - including Ireland's LGBT dancers - from the first semi-final on Tuesday 8th May.
The full list of qualifiers from the second Eurovision semi-final is as follows:
The following acts have all been eliminated from the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, but their countries will still have the ability to vote for the winning act on Saturday night
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Croatia
- F.Y.R. Macedonia
- Georgia
- Greece
- Iceland
- Latvia
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Poland
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Switzerland
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 takes place on Saturday 12th May.
