Azerbaijan in Semi vs Finals

[squallsquall]

Semi2:

Turkey: 118 pts
Azerbaijan: 113
Georgia: 106
Romania: 104
Denmark: 101

Final:

Germany: 246 pts
Turkey: 170
Romania: 162
Denmark: 149
Azerbaijan: 145


Granted, the scoreboards are very tight, but it's still interesting that Azerbaijan was passed by two entries the they beat in the semi, and also finished pretty far behind Turkey despite scoring close to them in the semi (where Turkey had a dream draw, as well).

I can see Denmark benefiting from the additional nordic countries in the final, but other than that? Comments?

[Gavster]

Well it comes down to the running order doesn't it Sqaull, but also what Beanie mentioned regarding the pop/upbeat characteristic to this year's top songs.

Had Azerbaijan been placed later in the draw, it would have done a lot better.

Have you seen the most out of tune league table? Germany are right up there. I must say, many people are scratching their heads at her win after her performance.

[Beanie]

Another variable to look at is the makeup of voters on the two nights - in the semis the hardcore fans make up a greater proportion of the viewing/voting audience - in the final these are diluted big time by the general population, and so the vast majority of watchers(and to a lesser extent voters as I imagine ESC fans are more likely to vote than casual watchers, but numbers still dwarfed) are hearing them for the first time.

So it seems to have done better amongst fans than it did amongst casual voters - I half expected the reverse to be true as it wasnt doing outstandingly well in the polls - ok but not great.

I do think being clear favourite is a curse, particularly if the song isnt outstanding. All commentators will introduce the song by saying 'And this is the favourite' and so unless it blows your socks off(a la Norway 09) people wonder what the fuss is about. Perhaps a reason why Azerbaijan lost a little ground on finals night?

Looking at it more simplistically, Azerbaijan did very poorly in Western Europe/Baltics, very little support at all. The second semi didnt have many Western European/Baltic countries in it, and so adding in France, Germany, Portugal, etc was enough to dilute the support a little.

Could be anything though, or most likely a combination of lots of little things!

[Beanie]

PS a few of the jury scores are out:

Portugal:

12 points to Greece
10 points to Romania
8 points to Spain
7 points to France
6 points to Belgium
5 points to Norway
4 points to Armenia
3 points to Germany
2 points to Moldova
1 point to Denmark

Turkey:

12 p: Azerbaijan
10 p: Albania
08 p: Bosnia & Herzegovina
07 p: Russia
06 p: Germany
05 p: Moldova
04 p: Ukraine
03 p: Romania
02 p: Georgia
01 p: Norway

Ummmm...I've no idea.