1st Dress Rehearsal - Semi Final 2 (Part 1)

And we start, back for another adventure in the bubble known as Eurovision.

We start with a dramatic clip of the first semi final reminding the people at home who watched it what went on and to warn those who are about to see their first show of what to expect.

We are then taken on a journey with a little boy in a car (are we in Belgium?!) and go around to see bits of Copenhagen. We start to see the cubes which are prominent on the stage also appear in the street - the street that leads to the B&W Hallarne - a very tarted up version of it anyway, looks nothing like that really. We follow a group of people into the hall and get greeted by a violinist on stage in a box.

But there is a surprise, from behind the boxes (there are three of them) three huge dancers appear and pick up the boxes which contain the small statured violinist, and dancers. These end up disappearing (it's all an effect) and the introduction dance proper begins.

After the dance routine we get welcomed to the Eurovision Song Contest and the presenters are introduced on stage. They are again, Nikolaj, Lise and Pilou. Australia gets a mention since they do not take no for an answer and have finally become part of the show - cue the couple of guys cooking on a barbie with a hand held sign saying "Cheers Mate". The presenters are making it sound like Australia is actually taking part - which obviously it is not.

As in semi 1, we get informed of how to vote since apparently someone alive still doesn't know how.

And we're soon to start!

Malta
The postcard sees the group heading down towards the beach with a large metal plank. They start attaching small fireworks to it which is a huge tradition back on the island. They wait until dark falls and light them up - which when lit, glow in the colours of the Maltese nation.

The group didn't go for any fancy costume and could easily be seen wearing this down the road when going about their daily business. Vocally doing well and enjoying their time on stage. The selfies are seen nicely and the lighting working well with the tempo of the song. A muted applause in the press area but there is not that many people here. Qualifier.
 
Israel
Another act which has chosen to take their picture next to the sea, this time courtesy of the Dead Sea. Sticks are placed in the sand and two blue separators put above and below. A plastic Star of David is hung from the top one and the picture taken with the white salt of the sea in the background.

Mei is wearing a fabulous black number and is singing very well - belting that tune out. The crouching is definitely working better than the lying on the floor was. Working very well on camera, and the catwalk use at the end just adds to the attraction of the song. Big applause in the room but many Israelis here. Another qualifier.

Norway
Carl is cutting glass for his flag making. After carefully cutting the coloured pieces he places them in a white holder (probably made of styrofoam) and takes the picture.

You can't really criticize Carl, he sings the song so lovely but could this be another Belgium? Granted the staging and the song in general are much stronger than the Belgian entry but how many people at home would vote for him? I am sure he would be one of the artists who would appreciate the final most since he is quite new to this and has no ounce of pretentiousness about himself. Unsure.

Georgia
Georgian do what Georgians do best - they go have a winefest! And by "fest" I don't mean they invited a load of people, no, it's just them having a massive wine intake session. They pour out untold number of glasses of red wine and place them on the very lightly creamish tiled ground. When seen from above, you notice they have created the Georgian flag and take a pic.

Mariko is dressed in green while the parachuting dancer is in black. I never thought I would be writing this but it's not as bad as I remembered it - could be the copious amounts of liquids I've been consuming the past few nights. Don't believe it will make it.

Poland
Cleo is in a recording studio and is singing notes. Her voice is seen as white sound waves while the rest of the track is a red background. Once she reaches the note Donatan wants, he signals it is ok and she goes into the studio to see for herself. We then take a picture of the bottom part of the sound wave with the red background making up the lower half of the flag.

Vocally it is not sounding as good as it had been but there is still enough butter churning and clothes washing and Slavic twirling for me to get in a fluster about it. Perhaps all the fuss about it has worked very well and has made Europe take notice? There have been quite a few entries which have qualified despite the bad sound emitted by their singer, ok, depends if we're talking Nonstop vocals here since then there is no hope but thankfully we are not. Could be a surprise qualifier!

Nicolaj then introduces the first break of tonight. We then go to the first record - Most Claps!

Lise and Pilou greet us at the end of the first record and we are off to the second part of the show!