The second Eurovision semi-final of 2019 has taken place in Tel Aviv , Israel. Contestants from 18 countries performed their songs in the hope of making it through to the final this weekend (18 May), but just 10 made it through.Those countries were: North Macedonia, The Netherlands, Albania, Sweden, Russia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Malta.From extras.They join the 10 countries that made it through the first semi-final on 14 May : Greece, Belarus, Serbia, Cyprus, Estonia, Czech Republic, Australia, Iceland, San Marino and Slovenia, plus the "Big Five" and this year's host, Israel. The Netherlands is the one to beat at the final, as our Eurovision Correspondent Rob Holley comments: “Arcade” sung by Duncan Laurence has long been the pre-contest favourite and has been doing well in rehearsals."There’s absolutely nothing in the way of Duncan winning the contest," Rob says, "though the presentation veers worryingly close to 'I’m just going to let the song do the talking' – which regular viewers will know doesn’t always cut it at Europe’s biggest circus.""Arcade is based on someone close to me who I lost when I was younger," Duncan Laurence explains. "She always longed for her love to come back after they’d split up, but until the day she died they never came back. I wanted to tell her story."