First to perform in a semi-final? Is that a good gig or not? On the plus side, you’re the first to get those rehearsals out of the way. On the minus side, if you don’t make it out of the semi-final, you’ve got a lot of waiting until you see a winner.
Songs have won from first before, but it was a long time ago. Maybe having to warm up an expectant crowd is tough in the 21st Century. In 2019, today’s birthday girl Սրբուհի ‘Սրբուկ’ Սարգսյան/Srbuhi ‘Srbuk’ Sargsyan had the ‘honour’ of opening a semi-final. She did have a built-in disadvantage for certain reasons, but maybe the shot of an empty auditorium during her performance didn’t help matters. On the plus side, she did get 10 points from one country’s televote.
Srbuk is 28 today.
Ծնունդդ շնորհավոր, Սրբուկ!