In 2004, the Eurovision Song Contest introduced a semi final stage before Saturday night’s show to accommodate the rising number of countries wishing to compete at Europe’s favourite music competition. And ever since 2008, this has become two semi finals in which countries must compete in order to join the host and the Big 5 in the Grand Final.
For many fans, the First Semi on the Tuesday before the contest is the real start of Eurovision! It’s the excitement of a new contest beginning combined with the thrill of finding out if your favourites will make it to the Grand Final! And knowing that there’s still the Second Semi Final to look forward to as well!
So before you decide who gets your 12 points this year, here is how to say “First Semi Final” in the 50 languages of Europe in a Day!
- Albanian – Gjysmëfinalja e parë
- Arabic – أول نصف نهائي (Aawal nisf nihayiyin)
- Armenian – Առաջին կիսաեզրափակիչ (Arrajin kisayezrap’akich)
- Azerbaijani – Birinci yarımfinal
- Basque – Lehen finalerdia
- Belarusian – Першы паўфінал (Pershi paowfinal)
- Bulgarian – Първи полуфинал (Purvi polufinal)
- Catalan – Primera semifinal
- Croatian – Prvo polufinale
- Czech – Prvního semifinále
- Danish – Første semifinale
- Dutch – Eerste halve finale
- Estonian – Esimene poolfinaal
- Faroese – Fyrra hálvfinala
- Finnish – Ensimmäinen semifinaali
- French – Première demi-finale
- Georgian – პირველი ნახევარფინალი (Pirveli nakhevarpinali)
- German – Erstes Halbfinale
- Greek – Πρώτος ημιτελικός (Prótos imitelikós)
- Greenlandic – Siullermik semi-finale siulleq
- Hungarian – Első elődöntő
- Icelandic – Fyrri undankeppnin
- Irish Gaelic – An chéad babhta
- Italian – Prima semifinale
- Jèrriais – Preunmyi d’mi finnal
- Latin – Primus semifinalis
- Latvian – Pirmais pusfināls
- Lithuanian – Pirmasis pusfinalis
- Low German – Eerste Halffinale
- Luxembourgish – Éischter Halleffinale
- Macedonian – Прво полуфинале (Prvo polufinale)
- Maltese – L-ewwel semifinali
- Manx – Yn chied lieh-yerrinaght
- Monégasque – Primu mesu finale
- Northern Sami – Vuosttaš oassefinála
- Norwegian – Første semifinale
- Polish – Pierwszy półfinał
- Portuguese – Primeira semi-final
- Romanian – Prima semifinală
- Russian – Первый полуфинал (Perviy polufinal)
- Scots Gaelic – A’ chiad iar-chuairt dheireannach
- Serbian – Прво полуфинале (Prvo polufinale)
- Slovak – Prvé semifinále
- Slovene – Prvi predizbor
- Spanish – Primera semifinal
- Swedish – Första semifinal
- Swiss German – Erschtä Halbfinal
- Turkish – Birinci yarı-final
- Ukrainian – Перший півфінал (Pershiy pivfinal)
- Welsh – Rownd gyn-derfynol gyntaf
If you’re a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest, remember to check out my Eurovision titles on Amazon and Europe in a Day’s own Birthday Eurovision, returning in August for 2021!
Author: James Scanlan
Banner Image Source: ESCToday.com
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