Round and round again we... rehearsals start again!

So, after a delightful day off from rehearsals we're back at the wonderful press tent ready to start a full day of eventful singing, dancing, pyro and wind-machine action. Long day ahead but we will get through it if we all give a little!

Armenia
Good rehearsal for the first two rounds. Quite slick and working well. Not sure about this song going the full journey and having us in Yerevan next year (where will the Maltese 12 points go if that happens?) but it is not in any fear of a non-qualification.

There is a test in round three, not sure if this will be in the show or not. Not sure what the test is though, we went through the whole thing and I did not see a difference. Oh well, I'm sure whoever was in charge of the test is happy.

Question to the audience: Where do you think DR will place Aram on Saturday night?

Latvia
Was going good until he nearly dropped the microphone from the stand by hitting it with his face. First run stopped and we restart.

I'm quite impressed with the vocals of this - mainly because of all the partying going on in this years' Latvian delegation. Joran has been in Euroclub every night and he is not shy of having a drink or two while there. This is the essence of the Eurovision fan, even though you know it's a very bad idea, you go to Euroclub anyway. I would love to see this go through and it could be the dark horse of the night, unlikely, but wouldn't it be great if it were?

Estonia
First run was not able to be seen in the press area since the screens were down. In the second round there seems to have been a few issues in timing and then trying to get back in synch (Tanja and dancers). At one point Tanja starts furking under her top and you can see something is going wrong and she is trying to fix it. At the end of the second run, the mic pack fell off completely which clearly was not what Tanja wanted. I even if this is not fixed right now, it will definitely be something worked upon before Tuesday.

Another run to follow soon.

And the second run is a lot better. As long as the mic pack stays in place there is another song to go to Saturday.

Just announced that they are seeing if they can make the change in time. Sweden apparently has a lot of props to bring up on stage... wonder what they are!

Sweden
Well, I guess that there must have been some kind of confusion since I see no props - which is a good thing since it really doesn't need them. A good rendition of the song even though a couple of notes were not completely there.

The following run throughs were just as good, and the notes are improving. Another good contender and an entry to be proud of!

Iceland
And oh my! Seems like we've already reached the loving everything stage of Eurovision. The camera angles work very well and the guys have this atmosphere which is quite catchy. I can see people in their living rooms boogying along to this sing-a-long. If this had been in Semi 2 would be questioning its ability to qualify? But alas it is in Semi 1 and after a good couple of songs, so could it be unlucky because of the draw? Or is this blogger just a but too positive and out of touch with the Eurovision community? Why not comment below to let us know?

AlbaniaGood try, and it seems more polished than before. Does this mean it will get through? Unfortunately not so sure of that since it does not have the fun-factor that Latvia or Iceland have, which would also be borderline qualifiers. Albania also doesn't have enough diaspora who vote in Eurovision to practically guarantee them a spot in the Final show. The visual and audio part of the song is good, but unfortunately maybe missing that little something that would push people to vote song 6.

RussiaStill need to find love for this song, and admittedly I am warming to it, but that is what always happens in this show. The hair gimmick is working better than last time and the show itself is coming together quite okayish. Regardless of the political situation, I don't believe the sisters (or Kirkorov) need to worry about missing out. Will Europe really use the Song Contest to show Russia it's disapproval of their actions? Should the twins be punished for something they personally have nothing to do with? 

Final note: We have addition of small hats, yes, little white hats, one worn to the left, the other to the right - just so you can distinguish Tolmachevy 1 from Tolmachevy 2 - not however able to distinguish who is Anastasia and who Maria.

 

Philip Kirkorov during the Russian press conference

  

As opposed to the Tolmachevy Twins during the Russian press conference

And there is a break. Back in 30