Neither Latvia’s guitar-driven duo of Fomins & Kleins, nor Estonia’s heavy ethnic Neiokõsõ, nor Lithuania’s lovelorn duo Linas & Simona have made it past the semifinal of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. All three countries failed May 12 to make it to the final, which is scheduled May 15 in Istanbul, Turkey.
The three Baltic countries were among 22 nations competing in the semi-final. Ten of those proceed to the final, based on telephone voting across Europe, according to the song contest’s official Web site.
The semifinal winners, which include several Balkan and Mediterranean lands, are Serbia and Montenegro, Malta, the Netherlands, Albania, Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Greece and Cyprus.
Estonia received 57 points, placing 12th, according to official Eurovision results. Lithuania placed 16th with 26 points, while Latvia was one spot behind with 23 points.
Point totals for the 10 semifinal winners won’t be revealed until the final.
Those 10 will join 14 other countries already in the final because of their previous performance in Eurovision or because of their size. Those already in the final include Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Turkey won the right to host the contest because it won the 2003 Eurovision competition, which was hosted by Latvia.
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