Eurovision semi

Not just the sublime but also the ridiculous – the 67th Eurovision Song Contest has landed in Liverpool with a bang. Extravagant costumes? Check. Nonsensical lyrics? Check. Folky flute-playing dwarf? Check. If this is your first foray into Eurovision, welcome. Lean in, it's worth it.

Liverpool hit the mark perfectly between reverence and self-ridicule in this evening's first of two Eurovision semi-finals. Hosting alongside and on behalf of last year's winner Ukraine, the UK put on a show to be proud of, paying tribute to both host countries while showcasing an incredibly diverse group of performances from across the globe.

We hit peak Eurovision early with Croatia's cacophonous fever dream of an act, Let 3: moustachioed and in military uniforms, their entry combines opera, pop and rock with just a dash of the macarena – though they had an important message. Their song, "Mama ŠČ" slyly took aim at Russia (absent from the contest since 2022), but before things got too serious, they stripped to their underwear and fired enormous pyrotechnic missiles into the air.

How they managed to bypass Eurovision's "no politics" rule is anybody's guess, but judging by the crowd's roar as they made it through to the final — the first Croatian entry to do so since 2017 — their brand of chaos has broad appeal.

Alongside them in the "decidedly unusual" category was Finland's Käärijä, a fan-favourite whose entry "Cha Cha Cha" somehow successfully blended sinister techno rap with K-pop. His heavy metal vocals are perhaps a reverent nod to Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah", the first and only Finnish winner to date.

Käärijä gleefully cavorted around the stage topless except for enormous green Michelin-man sleeves, flicking his tongue suggestively and, to the crowd's delight, riding his fuchsia-clad dancers in Human Centipede-esque choreography. It was an intoxicating, hallucinogenic performance, and though it was never really in question, he had the good grace to look surprised to have been voted through at the end of the night.

In a Eurovision first, this year's semi-finals are judged exclusively by the public vote. While this is great news for those unique acts who easily draw votes, it makes things trickier for the less attention-grabbing entries. What's more, the luck of the draw left the contest's strongest acts all in tonight's semi-final, making the battle to the top even tougher.

The result was a night of two halves: the crowd-pleasing songs soared, but the weaker entries were a little too obvious to create any real tension for the results.

Those not passing through to the final unfortunately included Ireland, who were undermined by some pitchy vocals (though their puzzlingly tight jumpsuits will be burned into our collective retinas for some time). They weren't alone in their disappointment. Azerbaijan and Malta didn't manage to break through with their quirky busking vibes, and the Netherlands’ "Burning Daylight" never quite caught fire.

It's particularly unlucky for Latvia's experimental entry "Aijā", which was refreshingly different and took itself rather seriously. They may have made it to the finals had they drawn a different lot and competed in Thursday's semi-final instead, where there are less Eurovision heavyweights.

Where some acts floundered, others flourished under the pressure. Until now, Israel's entry has flown under the radar but tonight's electrifying performance truly put Noa Kirel on the map. While it's difficult to invest in Noa's singing so earnestly about a unicorn, her dancing was phenomenal.

The performance of the night, however, came from Sweden's Loreen, who made her much-anticipated return after winning 2012's contest with "Euphoria". It's a brave choice to re-enter the same act given that in Eurovision's 67-year history just one person (Ireland's Johnny Logan) has won twice. Though if anybody's going to do it again, it's Loreen.

Her song "Tattoo" built to a cinematic climax as the staging shifted from the intimate to the epic. Starting crushed between two screens, she slowly pushed them apart until she was left surrounded by pulsating lights and swirling smoke. It was a true goosebumps-inducing moment and based on this performance alone, Loreen is entering the final as the one to beat.

Presiding over proceedings, hosts Julia Sanina and Alesha Dixon were a little strained and thoroughly outshone by Hannah Waddingham's natural wit and warmth (though an honourable mention must go to Alesha's surprise Eurovision-inspired rap which will surely be memed before morning). In the commentator's box, Rylan and Scott Mills kept things moving, though they seemed a little surplus to requirements given that there were no foreign-language parts to distract viewers from.

While the UK gets well-deserved plaudits for the production, it truly felt like a combined effort. Ukraine's people, music and stories were prominent from start to finish, including a cameo from Ukraine's commentator, Timur Miroshnychenko, who worked on last year's show from a bunker in Kyiv.

The interval act, a touching duet between Liverpool's own Rebecca Ferguson and Ukraine's Alyosha, provided an unusual but welcome emotional weight to the evening. Inspired by Alyosha's own story of becoming a refugee, the performance beautifully evoked the plight of the people Ukrainian, paying tribute to the power of community and setting out this year's theme — United by Music — loud and clear.

After an evening of heavy-hitters, Thursday night's semi-final has a lot to live up to. But from tonight's winning acts alone, it's clear we’re in for quite the show at Saturday night's grand final.