Eurovision 2022: Ukraine among 10 to reach the final as world's biggest pop music contest kicks off

The biggest pop music competition in the world commenced with the first semifinal on Tuesday night, seeing 10 out of 17 countries earn their place in the final -- including the Ukrainian entry, widely expected to finish on top of the podium.

Lithuania, Switzerland, Armenia, Norway, Moldova, Iceland, Greece, Portugal, and the Netherlands also made the cut.

They are to compete with another 10 that will get selected on Thursday and the "big five" who qualify for the final automatically -- France, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, and Germany -- for the big prize of the continent's best on Saturday.

Here are the main takeaways from the first night of this year's Eurovision Song Contest:

The first elimination test of the event, held this year in Turin, offered a welcome respite for the war-torn old continent, and the theme of the evening dubbed "Sound of Beauty" saw a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci create a drone that took flight across Italy, introducing the 17 competitors as they appeared on stage.

The hosts -- Italian singer Laura Pausini, comedian and TV presenter Alessandro Cattelan and British-Lebanese pop star Mika -- did their best to keep the audiences across Europe immersed in the almost-three-hour programme. 

The recent crises, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, were either left unmentioned or casually brought up as the three hugged on stage with pandemic measures mostly relaxed.

Similarly, there were no mentions of the war in Ukraine, apart from a few contestants such as Lithuania briefly flashing a Ukrainian flag backstage.

However, all eyes were on the Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra who remain favourites to win ahead of Italian duo Mahmood and Blanco, Britain's Sam Ryder and Sweden's Cornelia Jakobs, with the