Semi finals were back in December 2006, with the 21st edition of the World Song Contest. A new format was chosen, and it led to the qualification of 26 countries which joined four direct qualified in the final. After the surprising choice of the previous edition, it was time to see if it was only a one shot or if players of the contest wanted to show they could be open-minded, and not only stuck to Eurovision Pop Song. This time, they had the opportunity to choose between so many different kind of music. And they voted for the only one without lyrics. It's not the first time that we have an instrumental "song" in the contest. If they reached some good positions, they were not closed to win. So Finland tried something else, even if the song had some rock elements in it, which from Finland is so natural. But if there were no lyrics here, Belgium decided to be represented by 2 songs... Well in fact it was the same one, but in two different languages: English and French. The first time this happened in the contest. Even if the record of participants wasn't broken, news countries joined the contest, or were back, and for the first time we had at least two songs from each continents. Even Oceania was represented by two countries, Australia was joined by Fiji while South Africa was back and represented Africa with Algeria, which made its first appearance in the contest. A really good first try as it became the first African country to reach the top 10, and even more to be the runner up. The live coverage was really interesting once again. And Finland had to battle against Algeria and Turkey for victory. Finally, Apocalyptica's anthem, Farewell, gave its first victory to Finland with a total score of 137 points. >> Your Comments
| THE WINNER Country: Finland
|
>> Semi Finals >> Scoreboard
| 1 |
| Finland | Apocalyptica: Farewell | 137 pts |
| 2 |
| Algeria | Faudel: Mon Pays | 123 pts |
| 3 |
| Turkey | Gülsen: Yurtta Ask Cihanda Ask | 122 pts |
| 4 |
| Norway | Christine Gulbrandsen: Surfing In The Air | 101 pts |
| 5 |
| Andorra | Rebeca: Que No Daria Yo | 99 pts |
| 6 |
| United States of America | Mandy Moore: Only Hope | 98 pts |
| 7 |
| Monaco | Françoise Hardy: Tant De Belles Choses | 90 pts |
| 8 |
| Ireland | Eimear Quinn: Voice Of An Angel | 90 pts |
| 9 |
| The Philippinnes | Pussycat Dolls feat. Timbaland: Wait A Minute | 90 pts |
| 10 |
| United Kingdom | All Saints: Rock Steady | 89 pts |
| 11 |
| Sweden | Marie Serneholt: Oxygen | 87 pts |
| 12 |
| Romania | Mihai Traistariu: Dimmi: Si O No ? | 81 pts |
| 13 |
| Mexico | Thalia: Seducción | 80 pts |
| 14 |
| France | Emma Shapplin: Da Me Non Venni | 78 pts |
| 15 |
| Belgium | Daan: The Player/Le Joueur | 77 pts |
| 16 |
| Iceland | Daníel Ágúst: Sparks Fly | 75 pts |
| 17 |
| Denmark | Outlandish: I Only Ask Of God | 74 pts |
| 18 |
| Russia | Alsou: Run Right Out Of Time | 71 pts |
| 19 |
| Slovenia | Omar Naber: It's All Up To You | 70 pts |
| 20 |
| Australia | Sia: Breathe Me | 68 pts |
| 21 |
| Serbia | Zana: Rane | 65 pts |
| 22 |
| Liechtenstein | Nu Pagadi: Dying Words | 65 pts |
| 23 |
| Austria | Fop (Forms Of Plasticity): Poland | 62 pts |
| 24 |
| Bulgaria | Gravity Co.: Empty World | 56 pts |
| 25 |
| Poland | Novika: Depend On You | 55 pts |
| 26 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | HARI Mata HARI & Ivana Banfic: Navodno | 54 pts |
| 27 |
| Venezuela | Aditus: No Pasa El Tiempo | 47 pts |
| 28 |
| South Africa | Tammin Sursok: Pointless Relationship | 45 pts |
| 29 |
| Israel | Rinat Bar: Kmo Chalom | 39 pts |
| 30 |
| The Netherlands | Kane: Rain Down On Me (Dj Tiësto remix) | 32 pts |
| 31 |
| Malta | Indigo: Scarecrow | DSQ |
| 32 |
| Luxembourg | Mylène Farmer & Moby: Slipping Away (Crier La Vie) | DSQ |
| 33 |
| Italy | Elisa: Una Poesia Anche Per Te | DNQ |
| 34 |
| Hungary | NOX: Szeretem | DNQ |
| 35 |
| San Marino | Dolcenera: Siamo Tutti Là Fuori | DNQ |
| 36 |
| Canada | Maren Ord: Perfect | DNQ |
| 37 |
| Fiji | Paulini: Rough Day | DNQ |
| 38 |
| Taiwan | Jolin: Mr. Q | DNQ |
| 39 |
| F.Y.R. of Macedonia | Dani: Crveni Dozdovi | DNQ |
| 40 |
| Chile | Chancho En Piedra: Historias De Amor Y Condón | DNQ |
| 41 |
| Japan | Gackt: Saikai ~Story~ | DNQ |
| 42 |
| Estonia | Zorg: Voices Of Silence | DNQ |
| 43 |
| Greece | Dimitris Mpasis feat. Anemos: Spasmeno Karavi | DNQ |
| 44 |
| Vatican City | Tiziano Ferro: Mio Fratello | DSQ |
| 45 |
| Latvia | Putnu Balle: Sparni Un Vejs | DNQ |
| 46 |
| Portugal | Humanos: Muda De Vida | DNQ |