Day 5 Morning - Finland, Greece, Moldova, Hungary, Croatia, The Netherlands

THE NETHERLANDS
Unfortunately Douwe is not wearing his costume which he went swimming in on Wednesday. The stage has a big clockface with the hands slowly going anticlockwise. The five-piece band accompanying him are working well in harmony. The 10 seconds of silence are currently a bit 'out of place' but this will be filled nicely with the audience cheering him on. Another song which I do not see not qualifying for Saturday.


CROATIA
The 'dress' is still there! Nina is looking a bit nervous. The Barbara Dex award gets ripped with the help of the backing vocals to reveal a silvery number with a 'tail' coming from each sleeve. It is better than the first number but Nina's shoulder tattoo is showing and also, in one shot, her large back tattoo which would need to be covered up. The song/dress combination does not really match the look of her ink. Vocally a bit weak but she really only needs to get it spot on for the Jury and televised shows. Currently in 6th most likely to qualify will she be able to keep this spot?

*Second run-through was a lot better vocally. Good sign.


HUNGARY
Wearing the same attire as the first rehearsal, Freddie is seeming confident on the stage. The three backing singers are also doing well but the drummer unfortunately is not convincing at all. The husky voice still works amazingly well. Only two runs were done for Hungary due to the time it took between them but they were good enough. I predict it will qualify (bookies agree).



MOLDOVA
Well, the dress is different but it's still a NO! I don't believe we will be seeing it on Tuesday either. It is just to help promote some local dressmaker. Lidia also sang part of the chorus in French which is new but took a while to realise it. The dancer is in a new silvery outfit but is not fooling anyone on being a real astronaut. Vocally sound and the song is catchy enough but good enough to be in the top 10? Needs work to get there.

"Houston we have a problem" says stage director. We need to wait for the second run it seems.

Oh, I made a mistake, the French is in the second verse not the chorus. The song could do with Lidia dancing more. She is quite static in her spot which for the kind of song she sings is not the best. Her dancer is very active so it becomes quite confusing visually when your brain automatically expects her to start doing a chorographed dance with him.


GREECE
We finally get to hear this! The group appear to be wearing what could possibly be their outfits for the show. Christina and Maria are in loose white dress pants and top while the male members of the band and dancer are in white shirts (sleeveless for the dancer) and beige pants. Vladimiros seems to be concentrating too much before the moment he has to jump into the Greek dancing. Vocally not catching fire but I wouldn't rule Greece out ever in this competition. Dancers' shirt came off - not sure if this was intentional or not but appreciated none the less by many here.

Konstantinos starts the song off playing the Pontian lyra but, he stares into the camera and is a bit scary. Also in the bridge, the guys are all surrouding Alexandros (the tabor player) and the camera shot is from above. There is something a bit off with the picture just because Alexandros is in the centre of a sun motif and the two guys are on the edge of it. No problem there however the girls are inside this 'circle' making it look just not right. The dancers' shirt is back off for the third run but his microphone wire (and tape) is clearly visible. I am thinking this is not on purpose.


FINLAND
Wearing the same blue catsuit as the first dress rehearsal. We don't seem to be the only ones who are not good at the early start. Sandhja is a bit weak vocally at the moment. And another audio hiccup in the area - this is starting to get on our nerves. Although the performance is slicker, it seems to be missing something from what we had seen in the national selection. The bookies are also not convinced we will be seeing the Finnish colours flown on Saturday.
  

Before we Start
This early time of the morning should not be allowed - especially after a party. Last night we went to the Vodka Bar which had ESC Bubble as guest DJs. At some point Lighthouse X (sans Johannes) came along - which was just coincidental. Also, today the accredited fans and press are allowed into the arena so we are sure there will be much more video content online. The prospect of a dark and (hopefully) warm room however is very appealing.