These are Tali's competitors for the final

Out of these, ten acts have successfully advanced to the final, joining Tali on stage on Saturday, 11 May:

• Latvia / Dons – Hollow
• Austria / Kaleen – We Will Rave
• Netherlands / Joost Klein – Europapa
• Norway / Gåte – Ulveham
• Israel / Eden Golan – Hurricane
• Greece / Marina Satti – ZARI
• Estonia / 5MIINUST x Puuluup – (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
• Switzerland / Nemo – The Code
• Georgia / Nutsa Buzaladze – Firefighterer
• Armenia / LADANIVA – Jako

Tali reflects on semi-finals success: 'I can't believe we're in the final – it's insane'

However, several countries failed to secure enough public votes to progress. As a reminder, jury voting in the semi-finals was eliminated in 2023. On Thursday, the public decided to vote Malta, Albania, Czechia, Denmark, San Marino, and Belgium out of this year's competition.

Additionally, three other 'Big Five' countries, France, Spain, and Italy, debuted their acts on Thursday, being automatically guaranteed a spot in the final alongside the UK and Germany.

The surprise of the evening was without question Israel's successful advancement to the final. The country is heavily criticised for its actions in Gaza and its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is highly controversial. The performance by Eden Golan went more or less smoothly, but accusations are circulating online that the European Broadcast Union (EBU) intervened in the television broadcast to suppress negative audience reactions.

Certain gestures by performers from other countries also drew attention. Joost Klein of the Netherlands, for instance, draped a flag over his head during a press conference while Eden Golan of Israel was addressing reporters. When Golan was told that she did not have to answer a question, Klein could be heard interjecting: "Why not?" These events coincided with peaceful protests outside the Malmö Arena, where approximately 5,000 demonstrators gathered.