After the First Semi-Final of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, the 10 qualifiers headed to the official press conference, to answer questions from fans and the media.

The Grand Final of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest now has 10 more participating countries. The results of the First Semi-Final of the 2023 Contest saw Croatia, Moldova, Switzerland, Finland, Czechia, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Serbia and Norway progress to Saturday night's Live Show.

Emotions were high, but our artists got just a few moments in their dressing rooms before they headed to the official qualifiers' press conference - where we got to hear their first reactions to their much-desired results.

Not only that, but our qualifiers also got to draw the halves they would be performing in during the running order of Saturday night's Grand Final. You can read which half that our acts drew - First Half or Second Half - right here .

The group Vesna have gotten Czechia into the Grand Final with their song My Sister's Crown , and after the Semi-Final they had a message for all their sisters out there:

"To all the sisters in the world, choose love over power. It's a very feminine thing to feel a lot. It's a principle of having empathy and solidarity with someone who is going through a hard-time. That's why we sing our lyrics. If people in the world really felt things in their hearts, things that are happening now - wouldn't be happening."

Noa Kirel has achieved a lot in her native Israel, but she's aware that participating in the Eurovision Song Contest brings with it a whole other level of support:

"I am very excited, very honoured to be here and on this stage. To represent my country and to take them to the final. I'm so happy. Here, you're part of something really big, with your whole country behind you. It's something that's very different."

From Finland, Käärijä was humble when asked about how he feels about his success in the First Semi-Final. And he has a clear strategy as he heads into Saturday night's Grand Final:

"I just wanna have fun, and give you energy and power and hope. This is a once in a lifetime experience, and I just want to enjoy it. I want to focus and to practice. I want to go and do my best and see what happens."

Mimicat understood the assignment when she got selected to compete for Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest, and she reveals that she knew she had the tools to complete it:

"The minute I started singing this song, I knew I had something special there. Tonight all I thought about was singing my ass off and giving the best performance. Once I understood this Contest, I knew I had to make my people proud."

Remo Forrer is overjoyed at his result in the First Semi-Final, but he was honest about how he has also taken to heart some of the negatives on his Eurovision journey thus far:

"It's the biggest dream to get to the final. In the beginning, a lot of the Swiss media were saying that it would be difficult to get to the Grand Final. And I was actually starting to believe them. But tonight I'm really pleased to see that it all worked out."

Back in 2012, Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with her song Euphoria . When asked if she ever expected to return, she hints that it was her 2023 entry Tattoo that made all the decisions for her:

"Honestly, I never thought in my wildest dreams that this would be my path. But you never know. I took a leap of faith into the unknown. I recognised that this is good energy. And I went with the flow."

Pasha Parfeni is competing for Moldova for a second time in 2023, and he believes that a part of his success in the First Semi-Final is the increased amount of time he's been giving it:

"To Moldova - thank you to my people who voted for me. The message of my song is all about finding the right balance in life. It's from an old Moldovan ballad. This time around we've worked even harder than last time at Eurovision. There's been more hours put into it, for sure."

Luke Black from Serbia was asked by a fan if he planned to change anything about his performance before the Grand Final took place. The talented creative joked about just how likely this probably was, given his usual nature:

"Well, I do have a few things in my mind. I'm sure my team is not going to be happy because I've been changing everything in every performance. But I'm an artist - every performance is going to be different."

One band who had home on their mind was Croatia's Let 3, who didn't let the moment pass without thanking everyone back in their country who had voted for the group at the Croatian pre-selection - Dora - to represent the nation at Eurovision.

"Of course we are happy. We are proud that we didn't disappoint those Croatian people that believed in us and believed that we could get to the final. It's a great feeling, really. Thanks to everyone who voted for us."

From Norway, Alessandra reflected on the stress that she felt when her country was left until last to be announced as a qualifier:

"Me, my dancers and my team wanted probably to faint! It was terrible - because you're last. I was thinking - 'we did the best we could'. And then they said Norway and it was like.... 'whoooah'. Now we're here and I'm very thankful and I'm super happy."

You can watch the full press conference of the qualifiers of the First Semi-Final right here;