Eurovision: Australia among qualifiers from second semi-final

Australia’s long-distance love-affair with the Eurovision will continue at least until next Saturday as singer Dami Im was among the 10 acts to qualify for the Grand Final in the second semi-final in Stockholm this evening. Her song “Sound of Silence”, which is considered a Top Five contender by bookmakers, will be joined in the final by other high-ranked countries including Ukraine and Israel, which both eased through the semi-final as predicted. Both Ukrainian singer Jamala (second only to Russia in the betting odds) and Israel’s Hovi Star (ninth) have attracted attention for more than their music in recent days. Jamala, originally from Crimea, was allowed to compete despite its apparent references to Stalin, Crimea and claims of ethnic cleansing potentially falling foul of the organiser’s “no politics rule”. Hovi Star, meanwhile, claimed to have been “humiliated” at Russian passport control en route to the Eurovision in a homophobic incident. The other countries to qualify from the second semi-final were Latvia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland, Lithuania, Belgium. They will join Malta’s Ira Losco, who qualified on Tuesday along with the Netherlands, Hungary, Croatia,...