Semi Final Two: Albania, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Belarus

Olta Boka seems such a studious young lady, it's surprising she put aside her book of extremely hard sums for a fortnight to engage in the the fripperies of Eurovision.

As the entrants are in the host city for at least a week before the Contest, each delegation hosts a party to which everyone else is invited (it was a lot easier to attend each one before the EBU invited 43 countries to take part in a single Contest).

Boom Bang a Blog is hazarding a guess that this year's Albanian party will be held in Serbia's oldest library. Inside, Charlotte Perelli, Laka and the blokes from Azerbaijan will be invited to indulge in some crazy rounds of noun declension before the curtains are drawn and they crank up a smuggled-in cine film of vulgar fractions.

Now, the Albanian entry does have its fans, bit it's just so earnest. A fair few of the folk tuning in to the Contest would rather be entertained by a well-crafted optimistic pop song than something this dreary.

We'd best move on to Switzerland, before all this seriousness makes us demand 2,000 word essays from each and every one of you about alleged bloc voting and Irish broadcasters' wigs.

Boom or Bang?: Hopefully the position this plummets to in the semi final is a prime number - just to keep Olta happy.

Switzerland: Paolo Meneguzzi - Era Stupendo

This was another song unveiled at an early-ish date (the end of January) considering the competing nations don't have to slide their entries under the European Broadcasting Union's office door until mid-March at the latest.

After asking DJ Bobo to sing about vampires in Helsinki last year - a well-fancied tune which bombed in the semi final - the Swiss have returned to the type of ballad which reigned supreme when Eurovision was only ickle.

Paolo Meneguzzi was also an entrant at the 2008 San Remo festival, the Italian music competition which inspired Eurovision itself. It enjoys a far worthier reputation than the Song Contest, where credible performers aren't afraid to be seen plugging their latest single. Whoever wins San Remo used to be the Italian entrant at Eurovision (ANORAK MOMENT: At one point in the 1960s, the UK's Petula Clark came perilously close to being Italy's Eurovision contender when her contribution to San Remo almost took the trophy).

As Italy haven't been near Eurovision since 1997 (they prefer to focus on San Remo), this song, along with that of San Marino, is one of the few opportunities to hear Italian at this year's Contest.

Another big-belting, old school ballad, it's the sort of entry which will be big on lungpower and stage presence, but very low on gimmickry. At the end of the day, this is a *Song* Contest, but Eurovision stopped being just about the tunes a long time ago.

Boom or Bang?: The best performing of the big ballads.

Czech Republic: Tereza Kerndlova - Have Some Fun

On its 2007 debut, the Czech Republic finished last in the semi final with a hard rock number that gained a solitary point from the 30-plus juries voting.

In the months in between, there is a suspicion those responsible for selecting the Czech entry have been watching DVDs of the last few Contests, with a couple of hours wedged in front of MTV for good measure. Their second dip into the chilly waters of Eurovision conflict is far more like it.

Have Some Fun does share more than a few similarities with Britney-lite US pop (well, a 1999-era Britney) but this is the type of song that anyone with access to a mainstream satellite music channel can relate to. It's uptempo, it's memorable and (whisper it) shading towards a credible summer hit. Tereza's legs won't do her any harm, either.

However, Camp Eurovision shouldn't start checking out where in Prague to hammer their 2009 tent pegs just yet. At time of writing, Tereza is yet to rehearse in Belgrade, but all reports suggest her live singing voice is an experience akin to having people you don't like poke sharpened garden canes up your nose while inviting themselves round for tea.

Can't wait for this one.

Boom or Bang?: If she can sing live, this year's surprise package.

Belarus: Ruslan Alenho - Hasta La Vista

Belarus finally broke through to the Eurovision final in 2007 after three years languishing in the semis.

Under the old rule book, their eventual sixth place would earn them direct qualification to this year's final.That was before those nasty types at the European Broadcasting Union lumped everyone - except the host nation and the four countries who pay loads to keep Eurovision going - into the new two-semi qualification system. How mean.

Not to be deterred, those Belarussians (Oh, those Belarussians...) have rustled up a young buck called Ruslan Alenho with the so-Europop-it-is-officially-sanctioned-by-Brussels ditty, Hasta La Vista.

Belarus is - of course - one of those young Eurovision scamps which benefits from the support of the former Soviet and Eastern bloc, so it has a good chance of qualifying to the Saturday final.

As you may have worked out, the second semi final contains more potential winners than the first, so it's trickier to call who is going to make it out of this one alive (it's as if The Poseidon Adventure was a music festival - how exciting...). Belarus is still on the borderline, but that could change once Ruslan gears up for rehearsals later on today (Tuesday).

Boom or Bang?: This song title could be horribly ironic come May 22.