The rapper known for hits including 2008's Low joined singer Senhit on stage for her song Adrenalina as the first of 17 performers in the second semi-final at the Ahoy arena. He then sat in San Marino's booth to watch the rest of the show along with 3500 fans who had tested negative to the coronavirus.

Flo Rida said he was enjoying the Eurovision vibe as San Marino reach the final for just the third time.

"I love the energy, you know, to be up there," the rapper said on Thursday night. "I mean, it's just amazing, man. The whole set up, it's like over the top. So, you know, I'm embracing it very well."

Iceland also was among the 10 national acts voted into Saturday's final despite not even performing because one of the band members tested positive for COVID-19. The crowd instead watched a recorded rehearsal from last week of the kitsch act Dadi og Gagnamagnid.

Band members were shown on giant screens in the arena cheering from quarantine in a Rotterdam hotel room as presenters announced they had progressed.

Also voted through to the final by viewers and national panels of experts were acts from Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece and Finland.

Greece's singer 18-year-old Stefania was a local favourite in host nation the Netherlands. She was born to Greek parents in the Dutch city of Utrecht and said she was proud to sing for Greece.

Saturday night's final will be the first since 2019 after last year's musical spectacle was cancelled because of the pandemic. The final features 20 nations from the two semi-finals along with the big five nations of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, plus host nation the Netherlands.

The 2019 winner, Duncan Laurence, had been slated to play live on Saturday but he has tested positive for COVID-19 and and will not perform.

Australian Associated Press