
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.
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
| 1 |
|
Andorra | Rebeca: Que No Daria Yo | 149 pts |
| 2 |
|
Algeria | Faudel: Mon Pays | 135 pts |
| 3 |
|
Sweden | Marie Serneholt: Oxygen | 134 pts |
| 4 |
|
Monaco | Françoise Hardy: Tant De Belles Choses | 116 pts |
| 5 |
|
Ireland | Eimear Quinn: Voice Of An Angel | 110 pts |
| 6 |
|
United States of America | Mandy Moore: Only Hope | 109 pts |
| 7 |
|
Liechtenstein | Nu Pagadi: Dying Words | 105 pts |
| 8 |
|
Mexico | Thalia: Seducción | 104 pts |
| 9 |
|
The Philippines | Pussycat Dolls feat. Timbaland: Wait A Minute | 90 pts |
| 10 |
|
Iceland | Daníel Ágúst: Sparks Fly | 89 pts |
| 11 |
|
France | Emma Shapplin: Da Me Non Venni | 88 pts |
|
|
|
Slovenia | Omar Naber: It's All Up To You | 88 pts |
| 13 |
|
Australia | Sia: Breathe Me | 87 pts |
| 14 |
|
Austria | Fop (Forms Of Plasticity): Poland | 70 pts |
|
|
Bulgaria | Gravity Co.: Empty World |
70 pts | |
| 16 |
|
Hungary | NOX: Szeretem | 69 pts |
| 17 |
|
San Marino | Dolcenera: Siamo Tutti Là Fuori | 69 pts |
| 18 |
|
F.Y.R. of Macedonia | Dani: Crveni Dozdovi | 66 pts |
| 19 |
|
Japan | Gackt: Saikai ~Story~ | 60 pts |
| 20 |
|
Estonia | Zorg: Voices Of Silence | 54 pts |
| 21 |
|
Greece | Dimitris Mpasis feat. Anemos: Spasmeno Karavi | 52 pts |
31 pts
1

Turkey
Gülsen: Yurtta Ask Cihanda Ask
177 pts
2

Finland
Apocalyptica: Farewell
166 pts
3

Norway
Christine Gulbrandsen: Surfing In The Air
153 pts
4

Romania
Mihai Traistariu: Dimmi: Si O No ?
147 pts
5

Denmark
Outlandish: I Only Ask Of God
128 pts
6

Russia
Alsou: Run Right Out Of Time
120 pts
7

United Kingdom
All Saints: Rock Steady
112 pts
8

Malta
Indigo: Scarecrow
100 pts
9

Luxembourg
Mylène Farmer & Moby: Slipping Away (Crier La Vie)
99 pts
10

Serbia
Zana: Rane
93 pts
11

The Netherlands
Kane: Rain Down On Me (Dj Tiësto remix)
86 pts
12

Bosnia & Herzegovina
HARI Mata HARI & Ivana Banfic: Navodno
85 pts
13

Venezuela
Aditus: No Pasa El Tiempo
83 pts
14

Italy
Elisa: Una Poesia Anche Per Te
74 pts
15

Canada
Maren Ord: Perfect
73 pts
16

Fiji
Paulini: Rough Day
72 pts
17

Taiwan
Jolin: Mr. Q
71 pts
18

Chile
Chancho En Piedra: Historias De Amor Y Condón
68 pts
19

Vatican City
Tiziano Ferro: Mio Fratello
51 pts
20

Latvia
Putnu Balle: Sparni Un Vejs
41 pts
21

Portugal
Humanos: Muda De Vida
Apocalyptica is a Finnish band consisting of three, formerly four, classically trained cellists and, since 2003, a drummer. Their speciality is heavy metal music played on cellos, though they also play classical music. They are all former students of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Their first album, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, consisted solely of Metallica covers. For their second album Inquisition Symphony, they added covers of Faith No More, Sepultura and Pantera, as well as three original songs. For their fourth album, Reflections, they developed their style of cello rock further; adding drums and developing a more electronic sound, instead of the previous acoustic style arrangement found on Inquisition Symphony and Cult . In 1999, Antero Manninen left the band, being replaced by Perttu Kivilaakso. Max Lilja left in 2002, leaving Apocalyptica with only three members. Dave Lombardo did the drumming for five tracks on Reflections and for one track on Apocalyptica. Lombardo was unable to tour with the group from the beginning so Mikko Sirén filled the position and is now officially the fourth member of Apocalyptica. During concerts Antero Manninen also supports the group as fourth cellist. So far they have sold over two million albums worldwide, played in more than 30 countries, toured with Rammstein, and supported Metallica twice.
Official website: http://www.apocalyptica.com/