J. Cole showed up to a die-hard fan’s college graduation after promising to attend her high school graduation years earlier.

Sweden and Poland, both among the favorites to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, joined eight other countries advancing to the Grand Final on Saturday in Turin, Italy.

Also moving on after the second semi-final on Thursday were Finland, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Australia, Estonia, Romania, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

Failing to make the grade were Israel, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Cyprus, Ireland, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

The latest reports from the bookmakers who take bets on who will win Eurovision each year shows that Ukraine has a 57% chance of victory, followed by the United Kingdom with an 11% chance, based on averaging the odds from 13 different companies.

That portends a high showing for Sam Ryder’s “Space Man,” which would be a reversal of fortune for the U.K., which placed last in 2021 with zero points. The U.K. has not had a top-10 entry since 2009, when Jade Ewen’s “It’s My Time,” written by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren, finished fifth. The U.K. has not won since 1997, when Katrina & the Waves triumphed with “Love Shine A Light.”

If Ukraine wins on Saturday, as expected, it will be the country’s third championship, following Ruslana’s “Wild Dances” in 2004 and Jamala’s “1944” in 2016.

The “big five” countries — Spain, Italy, Germany, France and the U.K. — did not perform in the semi-finals. Because they contribute the most to the production budget they do not have to qualify and are always represented in the contest.

Thursday’s 10 new additions range from deeply personal and intimate songs to straight-ahead rock and country-tinged pop. Finland kicked off Thursday’s semi-final with a rock performance by The Rasmus, a veteran Finnish band that formed in 1994 when the members were in the eighth grade. They had four consecutive No. 1 albums on the Finnish charts and five No. 1 singles. Their Eurovision entry, “Jezebel,” co-written and produced by Desmond Child, peaked this year at No. 4.

Australia’s Sheldon Riley, diagnosed at age six with Aspberger syndrome, struggled with his sexual identity growing up until he came out as gay. He told Australia’s SBS Radio that feeling set apart from other children made “growing up a little bit harder.” That was the inspiration for his very personal Eurovision entry, “Not the Same.”

Following the broadcast, Riley was asked by journalists about the status of LGBTQ+ rights in Australia. “There is still a lot to be done, but I am happy for the strides that are being made,” he said.

Representing Estonia is Stefan, the son of Armenian immigrants, who has been releasing music since 2017. In 2020, he won the first season of the Estonian version of The Masked Singer. An avowed fan of Johnny Cash and the late film composer Ennio Morricone, his entry “Hope” starts off as a country song and grows into a cinematic power anthem.

Six-time Eurovision winner Sweden is making a bit of Eurovision history this year with Cornelia Jakob’s “Hold Me Closer,” co-written by Isa Molin. This is Molin’s first time at Eurovision, but her father, Bobby Ljunggren, has composed six Eurovision entries, five for Sweden and one for Lithuania. As of this year, he has had 50 songs compete in Melodifestivalen, Sweden’s national final for Eurovision.

This appears to be the first time that a father and daughter have written separate Eurovision songs. In 1996, Anna Mjöll from Iceland and her father Ólafur Gaukur Þórhallsson wrote her jazz-tinged entry, “Sjúbídú.”

“I’ve been involved with music all of my life and it has been awesome to have that in common with my father,” Molin tells Billboard. “It feels so good to have my parents here and my brother also arrived today, all the way from Singapore.”

The 10 countries moving forward from the second semi-final join the 10 nations that advanced after Tuesday’s first semi-final: Ukraine, Armenia, Greece, Iceland, Lithuania, Moldova, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland.

Additional Reporting By Silvia Danielli from Billboard Italia

A$AP Rocky joined N.O.R.E. for an unfiltered conversation about fashion, his new whiskey brand and more for the latest episode of Revolt’s Drink Champs, which arrived Thursday night (May 12).

Amid the wide-ranging discussion, the “Sundress” rapper explained how the Astroworld tragedy in November changed how performances are run. “I would say ever since that horrific night, they’ve been really adamant about how you mosh,” he told the host. “I was just out in Brazil and they just stopped the show like, ‘Yo, some people were getting a little rowdy in the front and trampled and stuff.’ They just stopped the show and I was like, ‘Aight, cool.’ I get it.”

Ten people died at Travis Scott‘s Astroworld festival, and according to a new filing this week, there were 4,932 total alleged victims. In addition to 10 people who died, the new filing said 732 claims have been filed by people who needed “extensive medical treatment” and 1,649 who needed less extensive care. Another 2,540 were listed as “other,” meaning the extent of their injuries was still being reviewed.

“I think everybody taking precautions now is just because of what happened,” A$AP added. “More so than ever, I don’t think even Live Nation or any venue has seen this kind of travesty of lawsuits before. This is new for everybody. So I think a lot are trying to take it easy.

“We’re still going crazy at my sh–,” he concluded. “We’re still going stupid. That’s part of our culture. We rap but we got a punk mentality to this sh– […] You go to a show, you get out anger, you get out energy. You get socked in the face.”

Rocky also briefly mentioned Rihanna in a conversation about his new “D.M.B.” music video, in which the couple, who are expecting a child together, enjoy an afternoon in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.

“You and RiRi going through the ‘hood,” N.O.R.E said. “That’s a real n—a, because I would have stayed in Beverly Hills. I would have stayed in Manhattan.”

“That’s my lady. She’s thorough,” Rocky replied as the group gave her a round of applause.

Drink Champs is airing now on Revolt. Billboard will add video when it’s available.