Our predictions for the second semi-final

After watching rehearsals for the second semi-final this is who the ESC Nation bloggers predict to qualify tonight:

	SM	EE	CZ	GR	AT	PL	MD	IS	RS	GE	AL	PT	BG	FI	LV	CH	DK
Ben	X			X			X	X	X			X	X	X		X	X
Jonas	X			X	X		X	X	X				X	X		X	X
Jordy	X			X			X	X	X		X	X	X	X		X
Roger	X			X	X			X	X			X	X	X		X	X
SamB	X			X	X		X	X			X	X	X	X		X
Sild	X			X	X		X	X			X		X	X		X	X
Yair	X			X	X		X	X	X		X		X	X		X

Full marks for San Marino, Greece, Iceland, Bulgaria, Finland and Switzerland. Mixed feelings about Austria, Albania, Moldova, Portugal, Serbia and Denmark. At least two of those twelve of course will definitely miss out.

We're unanimous in predicting Estonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Georgia and Latvia will not make it to the final.

Are we up for a shock though? We'll know in about six hours. Enjoy tonight's show!

Fishy Predictions for the Second Semi-Final

A last-minute, foolish decision to kick out Sweden in favour of Romania in my prediction for Tuesday's semi-final resulted in getting 9/10 right, instead of my first ever 10/10...

So can I make up for it today, I wonder? Unlike Semi 1, I've been thinking for weeks that Semi 2 has ten quite clear-cut qualifiers, and while some have improved or gotten worse during the rehearsals in Rotterdam, I don't think any of these changes have massively affected the qualification chances. Hence there are no weirdass, last-minute alterations in the list below - now watch that being the foolish decision...

I find it a bigger challenge to dig out a semi winner among this bunch than ten qualifiers, as I don't really think anyone has it in them (except Denmark, of course! 🕺). There's about four that feel like they should come 3rd, so I guess it'll just have to be one of those.

1 Bulgaria | It's not really for me, but it clearly is for many others, and I can't fault the performance, so here we are.

2 Iceland | Just to make sure I don't get disappointed when this does better than it deserves, let's just make sure I expect the worst, eh? I truly couldn't stand Think About Things last year, so it was no big surprise this was equally awful, seeing as it's pretty much the same content in the same wrapping. There was a couple of months of glorious relief when far less people seemed to take to 10 Years than to Think About Things, but then somehow people were sold again as soon as they stepped onto the Rotterdam stage and did exactly what everyone knew they would because they always do, dressed exactly like everyone knew they would because they always are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3 Switzerland | I never quite saw this as the winning candidate that the odds suggested a few weeks ago, but after seeing it in full in the dress rehearsal yesterday, I also don't think it's any less of a winner now than it was before, despite the somewhat controversial staging, outfit and hand-move choices. Maybe the staging somehow fits it perfectly, and finally shows off the song for what it always was? I'm not entirely sure what that is, however...

4 Greece | Great songs shine through no matter what, but there was no need for that complicated staging.

5 San Marino | I don't think Mr Rida's appearance is making much of a difference as such (whether he's famous, unknown, a has-been or what, would any of those lead to people voting en masse either way?), but it does seem to make Miss Hit very happy and cheerful that he's arrived, which I do think might make a difference.

6 Austria | It's just good, and it shows.

7 Finland | This will certainly have its audience, even if it'll probably have shrunk considerably by Saturday.

8 Albania | Unsurprisingly I've loved this for half a year already, and for once it seems I'm not completely alone in appreciating a shouty and dramatic Albanian lady. Could it be because they've included a [gasp!] tune and a [double-gasp!] structure for once?!

9 Moldova | Quite varied reports from rehearsals, but I'd say it's a strong enough song in its own right. And considering the people behind it, I'm expecting some calls to have been made.

10 Denmark | Pretty please?! 🥺

11 Serbia | I wish they'd gone a bit more overboard with this, for something as loud and chaotic, it comes across surprisingly boring on stage.

12 Portugal | Yes, it looks very good on stage. But let's not forget it's still a godawful song with a godawful voice and a godawful ponytail under a godawful hat.

13 Poland | There are some bits of the song I really like, but no no no. So amateur and average I don't even think UK would've sent it.

14 Latvia | I can easily imagine any of these last four ending dead last - it really is about time we get a four-way tie for last place like in the sixties, isn't it? This one is both awful and glorious though, so might manage to convince some freaks to vote for it. It could even be me 😳

15 Czechia | The sooner he doesn't qualify, the sooner we can elope 🥰

16 Georgia | Feels almost too obviously last to end last.

17 Estonia | Most things would seem bleak after Senhit and Flo's colour explosion, but it's as if they've arranged meetings to think of ways to make this as bleak and forgettable as humanly possible, and even forgot to attend those meetings. I challenge you all to hum this tomorrow at lunch. I'd offer a reward for those that manage, but it feels way too hypothetical to bother.

Day 6 | Second Rehearsals | Second Semi-Final | 🇦🇹 🇵🇱 🇲🇩 🇮🇸 🇷🇸

This will be a rolling blog, each country in running order, so please refresh to update.

Well, hello. Jesus is popping off to heaven today which means I have time to do a bit of blogging. Hope I can remember how.

But while we're waiting for Vincent Bueno to finish his lunch, let's take a moment to remember his grandma, Kay, from Eurovision 1965.

🇷🇸 | Serbia

Hajde da ludujemo.

Wear black, they said. It will look classy, they said. Stylists have been wrong before.

Struggling with this one. They sing well enough and gyrate all over, but the whole package feels a bit empty and without the necessary joy. Maybe it's just the lack of pink and purple that's confusing me.

Sanja serving some "C'mon Ahoy" realness during the bridge.

Nah, I'm just not feeling it and I'd really like to. It ought to be a right boppy banger.

So that's over and out from me for today. If you're very lucky I'll make another appearance soon, regardless of Jesus's travel arrangements. Jordy will be back to deal with the finalists. Tot ziens!

🇮🇸 | Iceland

The silhouette start is MAGIC. I wonder if they wrote the unnecessary slow bit at the beginning of the song just to include this?

I know I am meant to be bringing fresh eyes to this. But well, we all know the routine by now.  Excellent on camera, this should sweep up plenty of televotes. Juries, hmm, maybe less so? 

But anyway, me during this performance:

Ooh. And unexpected pyro.

🇲🇩 | Moldova

Good news: Natalia has safely removed herself from Kirkorov's lap. Although the fixed grin is still there.

She looks very comfortable singing this and I think will turn it up a notch when it matters. Does feel like she's very much in rehearsal mode. Some of the shots are a bit strange when she's turning on the turning thing. They film her from the side or back and it seems like the timing is a bit wrong. And the "body talk talk talk" choreo looks like she just needs the loo.

Impressive looooooong note towards the end. Not sure who's singing it though. 🤔

Camera work tighter in some parts on third run-through, but less tight in other parts. Hmm.

Dunno. It remains a bit of a let-down when you think of what might have been, with a huge prop and some more fun. Song is still a fave of mine but this performance is more low-calorie sweetener than a delightful sugar cube. 

So here's a delightful sugarcube I prepared earlier.

🇵🇱 | Poland

Talking of lights. But these are less impressive and can't distract from...well...I'm fairly tone deaf, but even I can hear those tones. 🙀

"I'll make it through..." We'll see Rafał, we'll see. Even with shades on. There's precious little to say about this. There's a bit of dancing, he takes his shades off and puts them back on. It's even more half-hearted than Azerbaijan. 

At one point he seems to be standing in the middle of the pyro.

Seriously, if that was the ride of my life I'd be asking for a refund.

🇦🇹 | Austria

This is very competent and he is in fine voice. I'm really not a fan of the song, but did wake up with it in my head the other day. If that means anything at all. Note to his Amen sister: It's possible to sing and walk at the same time.

Song really shows off his voice, much more so than I imagine last year's song would have. Not that I can remember last year's song, but anyway. Simple staging with some gorgeous white then purple then orange lights and a catwalk thingy that I'm worried is going to surprise him by moving like Sakis' giant stapler. 

At times he is trying to emote a bit too much. He should leave that to Vasil.

This starts with some lovely dry ice mist. He sings so clearly, the death and funeral lyrics can't be ignored and that could be a bit off-putting.  Vincent is clearly fishing in jury waters, and it worked for Cesár in 2018 with a similarly bland piece of competence, so who knows?

Gosh, this is a lighting orgy ❤️

Second rehearsal: Azerbaijan to Czech Republic

Czech Republic

Miki has stopped the music twice because his mic stand is too wobbly. It's pretty obvious he's been to a trauma (this was no publicity stunt) and he's careful not to angle his back more than 3° or so, but there's some routine there. He leaves the stand and walks about a bit, even doing the floss dance with the backpack. Still some potential to look good when he's allowing himself to move.

Belgium

Changes in the first shot (we see her arm in the beam of light, which later reveals her striking eyes). A good change, I think, as it draws my attention. It gets a bit dull after that and Sennek really likes showing her back to the camera. To be fair - I would too if I had hair like that.

Iceland

Thankfully, Ari has survived the car crash and he's alright. Sadly, his jacket is intact as well.

Some mic issues (crew gave them Belgium's microphones), but still the same good vocals and smiles from Ari, backing choir slowly joining him to form a line of unity, togetherness and world peace.

Albania

Eugent is once again giving it all, I was inside the arena for the first runthrough and I think my glasses cracked. This is still sounding great, although I find him clapping along to himself a bit silly (or a tribute to Marion Rung?)

We now hear the postcard music during the rollovers, it's a mix of Portuguese mandolin and the violin intro Nekonečná Pieseň.

Azerbaijan

A more polished version of what we've seen. Sparkle on-screen effects work really well here. Chorus sounding great, but she's a bit weak during the verses.

Albania is next because Iceland crashed their car.

Morning!

Today it's just me (Elin went to see what Portugal looks like during day time), since you already know most of the details, from now we'll mostly focus on what's new.

Congratulations, we are aboard! - Azerbaijan to Belgium

Lunch

Food is next in line. And inside info from Iceland tells us that Ari's suit is here to stay. I approve!

Our lovely lunch view.

Belgium

Belgium is currently setting up, right now all we see are eyes, well lit eyes! Which after the first run through seems to be the planned beginning of the performance, logically enough. I thought that was an interesting beginning, it stands out. Otherwise, the blue-ness of the stage continues, hints of blue on a mainly black setting this time. She is wearing a black sleeveless dotty dress with stripes and see through bits mainly on the top part, over black trousers. Nice stage presence from Sennek and she sings the song very well, Go Belgium! Our Belgian room mates were not happy with the performance though, I will convince them later that it was great.

Albania

The red and yellow theme of the stage continues, only a bit darker in the beginning. They're keeping it clean, so to speak, the feeling is "back to basics", letting the song and the band be the main attraction, which I like. The most striking thing is a back (of a leather jacket) that's missing! Or perhaps not missing completely, but it's a very open back solution of a jacket!

Iceland

Next in line for rehearsal was Iceland. We are sitting near our Icelandic friends, they don't like Ari's costume. A white suit with red stripes on the shoulders and arms combined with a red shirt is not their cup of tea. There is a nice re-creation of the outfit in Yair's post!

The stage is lit up in yellow, glitter and red at the end of the song, giving a warm impression after an icy blue start. The camera work is focused on going around Ari in half circles and the vocals sound really good to me!

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan started the rehearsal today. I always like going to the arena to start with, to get a sense of the atmosphere there, but it's not open for us yet. From the press centre screen my first impression was a calm one. There were not a lot of fast clips or unnecessary things happening on stage.

A first comment from a fellow blogger (not sure who to be honest) was "Her knickers are FANTASTIC!". I agree, very nice high waisted white undies! She likes to flash them a lot in the beginning of the song. She doesn't need to though, we can see them anyway.

First rehearsal: Azerbaijan to Belgium

Belgium

My pre-opinion: I like Sennek, and happy for her that her song is getting a lot of love from the fans. I just don't *get* it though. I find the song as engaging as Blackbird, and think she has to do something stand-outy (+sing it flawlessly) to be heard again on Saturday. Good luck to her.

First run:
Starts very dark with a thin light across her face so we can only see her eyes. A bit like Trijntje. When the song kicks in she pulls the microphone from the stands and walks about a bit. This will probably look better with the audience when she gets close to them. Singing is ok, I think there's an invisible backing singer or two but I'm not sure yet. (three backing singers, a Belgian informant whispers in my ear)

Second run:
The light thing is wobbly at the start, hard to tell if it's intended or RTP's light technician has unstable hands. (just then she sings "sometimes it feels like it's meant to be broken", so leaning toward intended). Another fine rehearsal, fans of this song should be satisfied (although I'm still not engaged myself)

Third run:
About the same, with the light a bit less wobbly and Sennek a bit more confident. The stage is black with light beams, and it's refreshing to not have a red or blue stage, but I have to say I'm not a huge fan of this stage. It was a nice idea to get rid of the LEDs, as long as there's some 'character' to replace them with, but there doesn't seem to be any. Rant over.

Fourth run:
The camera is doing its best to find her face, but Sennek is doing her best to avoid it. There's one moment of happiness that it finds her, but she quickly turns away and shows her hair. It's a very long hair that covers most of her back. Echoes echoes of her:

Albania

My pre-opinion: I'm a big fan of this, but knowing full well it won't be easy to make the final in this competition. They'll have to get a lot of things right, and I don't trust RTSH who are known to be average at best at staging (Suus did well because it couldn't not, really). Hopefully they've rethought the awkward dancing and will use a couple of mime musicians, and a good choir that can carry the oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-oh part.

First run:
Very dark stage, first shot on the hairy guitarist. Eugent in the dark. Lights up in the early keychange to reveal a drummer, two clapping female backing singers, another guitar player and Eugent's face. He's giving it all and sounds great. One of the guitarists seems to get bored and starts walking about behind him at some stage, but nothing else happens really (probably for the best - leave the focus on the singing)

Second run:
Someone needs to tell Eugent that this isn't the live show and performing the hell out of it now won't win you votes. A good applause in the press centre though.

In the mean time, there's a storm outside which blew over the plants by the toilet cabin. Where's SuRie when you need her?

Third run:
About the same, so I'll comment on the outfits. Mostly black/leathery for the entire team, with plenty of silvery dazzles, mostly around Eugent's lapels, and a white undershirt that sticks out behind his bum, looking like a tail (think Iceland 1986). Leather strips on his right arm. There's some kind of image on the back of his jacket, but we only see it for a split second. *peaks over Elin's blog* oh, it's just holes.

Iceland

My pre-opinion: Ari is as cute as a puppy, a great performer and is going to enjoy these rehearsals, knowing that the odds are against him. As for the song's chances, well, I never say never, but they're going to have to pull off an unprecedented spectacle to have a chance.

First run:
Starts very similar to the NF, with the audience behind him. He wears a white suit with red lines on his shoulders that look like some kind of metro map - my guess he won't wear that for the show. Choir of five standing in the dark behind him, smoke on the floor.

Second run:
Not much to say about this, it's all as expected really. Stage starts in blue and during the high note bit changes to red/yellow, at least that's something.

This is (roughly) what he's wearing:

Third run:
OMG! Pyro! AMAZING! Þórunn Erna turns into a holographic fire puffin!
Or not really. Nothing to say about this one, it's as expected.


Azerbaijan

My pre-opinion: It's a decent Pop song and Aisel was surely trained to make the best of it, but will it be remembered by the time (the similar-ish) Cyprus has performed? They'll need a standout element, although going by Azerbaijan's historic semifinal televoting patterns, they have little to worry about anyway.

First run:
Blue stage, hurrah! Aisel in flappy white dress, four (visible) backing singers also in white, all on some triangular plinths with neon edges. Sounds fine, but it may be the studio version that we hear.

Second run:
Aisel starts lying down in a darkish stage, then sits up. Wind machine and transparent top leave very little for imagination. Stage manages to look quite sparkly for not having LEDs, There's also sparkle effects added on screen. Overall a professional, though not very interesting routine.

Third run:
Aisel does everything to point our attention to her mid-section (so much that the press area started calling it Crotch my Heart), it all looks a bit over-rehearsed and mechanic, but they have plenty of time to polish it and make it look natural I'm sure.

Greet

Good morning from a rather crowded press centre with very few seats available for community media with actual view of the screens. It's going to be a carnage, but we're being civilised so far.

At least the goodie bag is nice.

[LIVE] Semi 1 : Dress Rehearsal 1 - live reporting

CLOSING THE SHOW
The three presenters are on stage as are the qualified artists. A few general questions are asked in usual Eurovision style and then the show is closed. And that is also where this blog entry ends.


RECAP OF FINALISTS
The recap is in order of announcement.


FINALISTS
- Armenia
- Czech Republic
- Greece
- Finland
(six places remain now and I can feel my heart racing)
- Albania
- Slovenia
(our seventh finalist is)
- Australia
- Moldova
- Iceland
- Belgium

Congratulations!


RESULTS
'The yoda of the Eurovision Song Contest" (not my words) is introduced and Jan Ola informs that we have a valid result - or maybe he will, depending on if he can say so or not. If there is a valid vote, he will tell the two guys to "take it away".

"This is the moment of truth, the countries..." and that's where we currently end. The boys are just looking into the camera wondering what to do next.

Back, "the countries will be announced in random order".


GREENROOM
As a filler, Timur goes to the green room and interviews Australia, asking them why they are taking part. Volodymyr later also goes to the greenroom and interviews Manel from Spain. After the quick chat, we get the snippet of the song. The next artist to be interviewed is Lucie from the UK. Timur asks her how her experience of X-Factor has helped her for tonight. Volodymyr then moves on to Francesco Gabbani. It could be that they arm wrestle since "he's stronger than he looks!". The gorilla also gets a nod. We need to know more about the gorilla's movement.

Timur is then back informing us that that was three of the big five and Ukraine. If it weren't for him ...


JAMALA (AGAIN)
Jamala passionately performs another song (unfortunately we did not note the title) alone on stage. Dressed in what looks like a white poncho with multi-colored fringes.


VERKA SERDUCHKA
We start seeing views of Kyiv and a Ukrainian flag fluttering, the camera pans out and we see that it is being held by none other than Verka! Not to spoil it for you who are reading - you must watch this! It is actually quite funny! It's basically a clip of Verka and her mother, together with some other friends and family getting into comic situations in different parts of Kyiv and also a visit to Dolce & Gabbana.


VOTE WRAP UP
Apparently people from all over the world are voting! I thought it was only Europe and Australia but maybe they know something we don't! Only 60 seconds left. "All acts desperately want to be the new champion!" Who comes up with this? Oleksander and Volodymyr then start the countdown in Ukrainian from 10-6 and English from 5-Stop Voting Now! Again *eye roll*


INTERVIEW JAMALA
It's a bit confusing which microphone to use since apparently the one Jamala is holding is for singing, not talking - or so Volodymyr thought. We're therefore not sure what questions will actually be asked - or if Jamala is actually interested in answering them.

Another reminder of the artists which have performed tonight.


JAMALA
Oleksander and Volodymyr are on stage and they remind us of last year when Jamala won. She will be with us tonight with a special version of her song. Before that however, we see a montage of the voting and the 12 points to Ukraine.

9 dancers surround Jamala who is centre stage. From her nine roots are projected, each reaching a dancer. String instruments feature more heavily in this version of the winning song. Jamala does not move from the centre of the stage. No tree bursting out of her this time.


VOTING GUIDELINE
Let us just say that French does not seem to have been Volodymyr's best subject at school. Once we get the usual spiel of how to vote, and something which should resemble French, we go to the first recap of the 18 competing songs.


ITALY
Henrik is requesting some cleaners on stage. We do not know what happened and probably don't want to ask.

It seems we have a few minutes before we can continue so since apparently Jan Ola Sand has many jokes, we go to him. He's not ready yet but he'll have some for later. We're nearly done with this delay, and Henrik is asking the audience to help with the dance.

Performance: Francesco is delivering it today. With his cheeky smile he's making sure the people at home will want to jump up and dance with him. There are many shots where the audience is involved, and since it will be the fan zone you know there will be plenty of volunteers to be seen on tv. Although it was practically a given before we even stepped a foot in Kyiv, the more we go on, the less likely it is that anyone can take the trophy away from him.


UNITED KINGDOM
Since we've already seen the (Italian) postcard we can go straight to the song. However we would if we could. The United Kingdom's shell is not possible to get set up in 40 seconds, which means that the UK will have to come after a break.

This is taking a very long time so Henrik is informing that as in Stockholm, these will be 1 minute snippets of the Jury Final rehearsal. Timur is now taking over since we have "tecnical issues". He has "many questions in this emergency card". The poor guy doesn't really know what to do - it's a very long break. He therefore goes back to Alex who wants to thank his mum, but Timur says he should also thank his "daddy". Well now!

Performance: Visually this is working extremely well - could it be that the UK appear to have actually understood how to stage a Eurovision performance? Surely not! Lucie does not appear to only be the 26 year-old she is. She may be saving herslef slightly vocally in order to be able to belt out later on in the jury final however by no means failing to deliver. The only comment we could make would be that the tattoo on her right arm should be covered up but since it hasn't been yet all week, it is unlikely to be later on.


SPAIN
Spain's postcard isn't ready so they're showing Italy's postcard now. In fact, all postcards from now on are going to be Italy. It's Francesco being in a postcard with all different Francesco's (as a waiter, as a chef, as a dining guest). The fun and playfull character that he is exudes here. What Manel's postcard will be will be anyone's guess. Apparently for tonight's jury rehearsal they'll just show Italy's postcard for all countries.

Don't be fooled, this is still as wrong as it always was, we're just getting used to it more. If this was the first time we'd be seeing it the comments might be a bit different. The group still seems like they should be a supporting band rather than actually in the competition but it is what it is. Manel pokes out his tongue to the audience during the chorus. Not sure we wanted to see that.


LATVIA
Latvia's postcard is a mixture of some of the members doing rope skipping, make-up powder tasting and roof-top sightseeing.

Agnese seems to be taken by surprise that the camera is on her. I'm sure she's done this before but oh-kay. Vocally we've had better and the backing is taking over. The group are using as much of the stage as is left due to all the props but there is possibly a bit too much going on on stage. Sometimes less is more.


SLOVENIA
Omar wants to seduce you with sunglasses. He's visiting the Sports Palace where he took part in 2005 and relives some of his memories there. He then finds a cafe to have well earned drink. Hope it's not spiked. He'll need all of his wits after Armenia.

And it's already nearly over! Omar said that his experience might help him over some of the younger competitors since he has learnt things over his career such as flirting with the camera's etc. He clearly can sing and the staging complements him very well. There are some shots which could have been better reviewed but again, we need to see them with a full audience. At the end of the day, he is confident and knows what he wants - it's just a question of if the people at home want the same thing.


ARMENIA
Artsvik is in an air balloon. Not a warning for hot air though. Nice vistas of Armenia in the background.

Still sticking to the claim that this song could have done so much better with more dancers. The mystical emotion from the music video is missing from the stage performance. Vocally you can't fault her but the backing dancers are (or she is) not always in correct place so some visuals are a bit of a miss. The ending also has had a change to it. No longer is the digital eagle coming from Artsvik herself but the screen goes black and the eagle from the darkness. Not sure we approve of the change. It will still qualify however.


CYPRUS
Hovig has his head down, but then looks straight into the camera. We see him hanging in the park with his bros but also practicing hard on the dance moves. He's having fun while doing it.

This started off as being quite cheesy and bad but over the past week Hovig must have really practices his choreography and it is now looking quite good on tv. He is also singing quite well, another case of 'bringing it when it counts' and answering his critics from the first rehearsals. Also, coming after the Czech Republic is not hurting his chances. Closing the song the backdrop no longer sees a digital Hovig in mid-air, again, very good move since it did not work. With this new package, it is a likely qualifier.


CZECH REPUBLIC
Martina decided to drive to Czech TV's studio and discuss her participation with the delegation team. They then sit outside drinking juice and celebrating their inevitable win in Kyiv. Martina practices a bit in the studio, but you know she's already won... or so the postcard says.

Well, we forgot about this. Lindita has some competition for Barbara Dex. Fierce competition. This unfortunately just does not work. The colours are just no, the golden jump-suit, the half-naked people in the backdrop ... vocally Martina is reasonable enough but unfortunately we cannot see how this can turn up enough votes to see the final.


BREAK
Oleksander and Volodymyr once again flog the app. They both appear to know the inside of a gym and in this rehearsal they're only wearing tight fitting t-shirts. Very pleasing to the eye.

Break-bumper again. And Timur has nestled with fake Finland-artist (aka volunteers).

Timur is doing some emogic (emoji + magic, get it?). It goes all downhill from here as the rehearsal grinds to a halt. Some tech guy jumps into frame to hand something. Oh. They're re-doing it now. The mic seemed dead. that's been fixed now. The bit doesn't go down any better second time round. *sigh*

Luckily he now doesn't dwell and moves on to Moldova's booth. More of the knowledge tidbits. This time a relevant one - they refer to Sergej's YouTube meme-fame as the epic sax guy. And now it's Martina Bárta's turn.


ICELAND
Svala is siting on hexagonal mirrors. She didn't break any though. So she can go home and sip some coffee and sing a bit in her home studio.

Although looking like some character from a superhero comic (we're not sure which side of good she'd be on however) Svala is on point with her vocals today. Hopefully the same will be true tonight when the juries will be viewing. She does look quite lonely on stage though but add a large dancing audience and it should be fine. There are a number of wide shots and she's playing around with that cape like I used to when I was dancing around my room also pretending I was on the Eurovision stage. Good times. After a couple of years out, could this see the return of Iceland to the final?


MOLDOVA
The guys are out for a quick walk and then they go and select vinyl records. They end in a restaurant and clink their wine glasses. Then they're in Kyiv, performing for the gathered crowd.

The question we're all asking ourselves, are all three skirts going to work. We know the guys have been solid throughout the rehearsal week and their confidence is showing. They feel at ease on stage. Solid. And YES! All three skirts worked. And also the choreography is getting much better, the team must have been practicing a lot during their time here. A good reaction from us and Europe (and Australia) will likely agree.

POLAND
The Polish postcard shows the Kasia with the dogs. She's the one who let them out!!! After she decided she doesn't need them back, she goes to listen to a rehearsal of a classical concert.

The violinist behind Kasia is a bit more visible than before and there are more shots of him too. Kasia is still trying to escape from her dress but the pressure must be doing something for her since she is belting this out well - or it could just be the post-Demy effect. Kasia was in the right place again when the doves fly out from each side of her. A good reception is heard.

GREECE
Demy is in her hotel room, sipping a coffee. Next she's walking in a park as she spots some dancy guys she quite fancies. But she's not deciding yet. She first wants to explore the Greek country side a bit.  But yeah, in the TL-lamp hallway she's brought them along.

Demy still looks like a dear in headlights when the song starts. At the beginning of the first chorus the vocals go quite wrong. She tries to recover but the damage has been done. There is a very wide shot when Demy gets off the podium which works fine but then the waterfall projection Demy is very close up - a bit too close, you can practically see her womanhood! No one needs to be seeing that on a family tv show! Messy end to the song and not a great response.


BREAK
Oleksandr and Volodymyr are seeing that the social media is being whipped into frenzy. They're now reading fake tweets. Not telling you lot what they are, but they do remind the viewers of the hashtags are.


PORTUGAL
Smattering from the press centre as Salvador seems to have managed to get a postcard produced. We see him in Lissabon. Smiling a lot, but also singing and riding the tram. First performance for him on stage.

And the first time we actually see Salvador and not his sister Luísa singing. He's dressed in a black suit with black shirt and red handkerchief in left pocket. He's also wearing his accreditation but that is likely to be taken off during the show - unless we have another 2016 Moldovan dancer moment. The vocals are decent enough however they probably would have been better if he had been doing the rehearsals since in some areas they are not the best. However this simple song gains a huge reception here and it is likely to have the same in Europe.


AZERBAIJAN
Dihaj gets some cheers from the press center. She's out in the streets, but then visiting her favourite spots: Where she likes to rehearse, where she likes to hang out with her friends, where she likes to get tattooed. We also get to meet her kid (?).

Diana has her covered in a black tightened scarf which is the first time we've seen this. She is trying to be softer on the fake walls while she's banging them however it makes her looks uncertain of her strength when the song demands her to be confident in herself. Once again, amusement at the 'horse-man' having a fit on the ladder while "thorns" is being written on the wall. Azerbaijan always manages to pull stuff when needed however. The whole show is looking a lot better than what we've seen previously and again another good reaction from the gathered (fan)press.


FINLAND
Buildings seem to be sparse in Finland. The two have found some urbex site where we can see them promenading through the abandoned rooms. Oh, and of course a piano is being played.

Leena is pitch-perfect again. Even though we mainly know the show from back in UMK, it's simplicity and harmony is all it needs. It draws you in, making you want silence in the room in order to be able to appreciate it in its entirety. The camera shots being used have been clearly chosen and they bring much to the table. There is a huge applause by almost everyone present. It would be an injustice if this did not make it to Saturday.


BREAK
Oleksandr and Volodymyr are still trying to flog the Eurovision app, and its amaaaaazing features: Voting, downloading the songs and finding bios and lyrics. They just still have to mention the telephone number and you'd be forgiven to think that you've accidentally switched to a teleshopping channel. After the break bumper, Timur is quickly introducing some of the countries that already have performed. Georgia, Australia, Sweden and Albania. He tells a few politically correct facts about these.

Oleksandr and Volodymyr introduce Norma John, and thus the Finnish post card.


MONTENEGRO
Slavko is a theatre animal and shows off his spiritual home. But he's also excited as drawings of his Eurovision outfit are being made. Dancing, performing in the theatre. It's all part of who he is.

One thing you can't fault Slavko on, is his attention to the fans and his willingness to do any piece of PR he can. For his performance however, well, the beginning starts off harmless enough but there are too many elements which do not seem to make Eurovision sense. Yes we know the fans love it, however the juries will not look favorably on this entry and the regular Joe's at home will need a reason to vote for this. The vocals are not great and the spinning pony tail is still as distracting as ever. We will have to wait and see what happens with this entry.


BELGIUM
Blanche is wearing a lacy dress in the first shot. She's still a schoolgirl, so we get to see that. We also get to see that she has to juggle school with being an up and coming artist. So lots of press and gig-shots. She looks frightened in the live shot just before she's on.

Blanche is dressed in black, like her heart. The camera work is a bit shoddy, a lot of frontal shots and many many wide shots. Vocals are what we have got used to. She still doesn't look at the camera when she should. The robotic arm movements are still there but a wide camera angle helps mitigate the issue - slightly. This is however her best performance since we've been here. And there was an applause in the press centre to encourage it.


ALBANIA
Lindita shows us her fingered heart. Lots of cuts here: she's dancing performing, working out, enjoying the Albanian country side while jogging, fitting her dress, singing, playing violin... she's multi-faceted of course. Let's hope her performance is up to scratch.

Who is Lindita trying to fool with that white veil? The whole ensemble is debatable. Could this be a contender for Barbara Dex? Forgetting the attire, Lindita is singing well and the backing singers compliment her rather than overpower. The backdrop visuals may not be as appealing as some other entries' but this package seems to be getting slicker than we had seen it before - or it could be just the problem of having seen it multiple times that you just get used to it.

AUSTRALIA
Australia's Isaiah gets up - he overslept probably. And speeds in his car to his next gig. Everyone's already left (we never get to see the audience at the gig place) but they decide to shoot him performing anyway. He reaches out to us before he too appears in the now familiar TL-lamp hallway.

For the first time since we've been here, Australia has actually followed Georgia on stage. A more-confident Isaiah is trying his best but there is something missing still. It's a decent enough package with the singer connecting with the camera and vocally pretty decent but the visuals are slightly distracting - especially the one commented before when Isaiah gets swallowed by his own eye-ball. Luke-warm reception in the press centre, cheering mainly heard by the Aussie fanpress.


GEORGIA
Georgia's postcard then. Tako Gachechiladze wants us to know she's very much into transparent fabrics. It's all about make-up and fashion with her. But also about her as a singer/performer. So we see her in the studio. The TL-lamp laden hallway is the recurring theme for ALL the participants it seems.

A big pause before the song however - who wasn't ready for this? The fog is now on stage and we start closing in on Tako. Her hair still seems to be a bit of a mess, maybe she's half-way through getting it ready for tonight when it actually counts. Her vocals however are here and present. Girl can sing. Visually, like many others, this needs a large audience to be present to make it more appealing but but grand dramatic show is already enough to get most of the visual across. Another likely qualifier.


SWEDEN
Robin is being shown as he prepares but also during his pass-times, being on a motorbike. Next he suits up and finally readies himself with his dancing cronies in a TL-laden hallway.

Robin is dressed in his favourite fitted suit while the backing dancers are again in their grey/black combo. Slight error on the lighting of the front two dancers when the treadmills work them however this was quickly rectified - but noticeable. That however seems to be the only mistake made. Robin is looking like he's enjoying his time and the dancers are on form. No real worries for this entry.


16:18
They thank Sweden in their best and almost cute Ukraidish. Next they acknowledge the fans.
They banter on for a bit. Timur is going to be the greenroom Cinderella. Since he's the Eurovision nerd. Or so it is claimed.

Next they give an overview of the countries taking part in this semi final. They also mention the Eurovision app and tell the viewers not to vote just yet.

After it is established that Kyiv indeed is ready, the first postcards roll.

16:17
An out of breath Monatik announces the hosts and now we get to see them (Oleksandr Skichko.
Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko) for the first time. They of course say 'Good Evening Ukraine and Europe' as well as the now more familiar 'Australia'. Planet Earth also gets a mention. Though it is morning over there. You can't claim that you haven't been informed. As a side note, we don't know which is which, and to try to explain who exactly of the three is doing what over a rolling blog is like trying to explain Australia taking part in Eurovision: A futile exercise.

16:14
It took a while for the repeat to start. In the beginning of the dance act a female dancer dressed in white has the spotlight on her and this goes on and off a couple of times before Monatik appears from behind her. The female dancers are all clad in white while the male ones are in black. In total we count five female dancers and three male. "Heads are spinning!" If you say so dear. It's not the worst opening act we've seen.

16:09
Repetition of the opening act and the hosts this time will actually come in.

16:06
Monatik : Spinning - The first dance of the event. Monatik Sergeyovich is the full name of the artist. There are a number of dancers on stage with him. He thanks Eurovision Song Contest 2017 and then introduces the presenters.

16:04
Young girl dressed in Ukrainian traditional garb falls into screen. More Ukrainian female beauties of different ages all dressed in traditional garb from different areas of Ukraine end up gracing us with their presence. They represent the diversity of Ukraine. Doesn't last very long however and we are soon in the arena.

16:04
Stand by everyone!

16:03
We're getting clearance from the track that they're slowly getting ready!

16:00
Henrik is explaining what is going to happen - he seems quite excited about it all. We're not 100% sure what he's going on about but from what we heard even though now there's only 7 (somethings) when there was 25 (somethings) he doesn't mind because he's still getting paid.

15:58
We are a couple of minutes late but that is fine, gives us more time. There are some postcards which aren't ready so we're going to have Italy instead "because they paid the most money" Henrik informs.

15:56
Jon Ola Sand is there.
Henrik warns us with the final countdown.

15:55
Platforms are being wheeled on and off the stage... The press center is a lot more busy than it has been for the past week. It's almost as if something is about to happen.

Day 5 - 2nd Run Through : POL / MDA / ISL / CZE / CYP

CYPRUS
There is only one question we have - will he be able to keep his balance this time? Did he practice at all?

The answer is yes! And he actually walks on the lines which he did not do before either. He seems to be more confident in himself and the camera angles are helping him in the sections which could go terribly wrong. All in all it seems like the delegation really looked at the footage and possibly even the comments and have worked on it. Hovig stumbles a little bit on the last chorus but if that is the only one it's a lot better than the first rehearsal where he could not hold himself at all.

2nd run - In the instrumental bridge just before the second chorus Hovig gets tossed around from side to side by the backing dancers. Quite a decent effect! Also visually appealing is when Hovig is on the ground in the last chorus. It does give you a bit of a Sergey-inspired vibe but if it works why not? Comments have been made that this should be the reprise take.

3rd run - The sound in the press room (at least where we are sitting) is really bad and the audio cuts constantly. Performance is getting better and Hovig is looking more and more confident. Don't discount this me thinks!

And there we have it. End of day, now off to go and grab food, and drink (plenty of drink) and back to do it all tomorrow! Hurrah!


CZECH REPUBLIC

Martina is wearing the same outfit she did in the first rehearsal. We though (read: hoped) that it was just a joke and her real dress will be revealed later on, it seems we were wrong. Staging (purple and gold) - meh, song - meh, vocals - meh/good, qualifying - no. That is all.

2nd run - If you thought I was going to be able to come up with anything brilliantly funny or informative, you were wrong.

We thought we were getting another go at this song since the first run through was stopped but it seems we are not. Oh well, bye Felicia!

Oops, we were fooled! FOOLED I TELL YA!

3rd run - Ooh! Actually they changed a few camera angles in the first part and it works a bit better. Don't worry, it's still not qualifying but it's working better. We also have the backing singers of Hey Mama (Moldova) singing their chorus in the press rehearsal which is completely drowning out what we are seeing on screen. Now it is over. For real this time.


ICELAND

Jeezus christ I stand corrected. Iceland this year beats Poland in the tits department. Wearing white latex, Svala's figure-hugging attire leaves not much to the imagination. Her huge platforms would also put Dihaj to shame. She also shows Tamara from Georgia how to work a cape.

Svala sounded a lot better than she did in the first rehearsal but it is still a bit 'out there'. Coming after Moldova doesn't help her either. The performance in itself needs a bit of interpretation - which I am not really getting - and cannot really put my finger on it.

2nd run - Better camera shot at the beginning of the song, me likey! When Svala sings about the paper cutting 'right through' she uses hand genstures in her cleavage. Yes dear, give the audience what it wants! Another decent vocal rendition - quite likely going through to Saturday me thinks.

3rd run - Much the same as the other two. One thing that I've been noticing however today is that there are so many acts which seem to just have the single artist on stage and they look SO tiny on it. Svala at least seems to avoid most (not all) of these shots however you can still tell.


MOLDOVA

Flawless! Absolutely flawless! The three backing singers have all become brides now that the switch between black short skirt to white long worked for all three of them. The song has energy, fun, and connects well with the audience. The choreography is down to a tee, the backdrop works extremely well with the song and the guys make you want more. There is absolutely no way that this will not be in the top 10 come Tuesday.

2nd run  - Another great performance however one of the backing singers' changes didn't work. Also, this time they throw their bouquet's in the audience - I hope they have spares since they know they ain't getting those things back, unless they buy them off ebay where they undoubtedly will end up.

3rd run  - Yet again, great performance. The skirt change worked for all three again *good times* however the bouquet throwing techniques have deteriorated at a phenomenal rate. Only one managed to actually throw off stage, the other two just, well, had a bit of a girly throw which fell short of the audience. Now, cue hungry aggressive fans trying to grab that bitch of a bouquet at all costs!


POLAND

It exists. That is as excited as I can get about this song. Poland seems to go for the 'when in doubt, show tits and legs' method. Vocally Kasia is fine, but the backdrop of that stage just does not make any sense what-so-ever. Then again, when did that ever trouble the Eurovision gods?

2nd run  - Trying to pay a bit more attention to what is going on. In fairness, until the random animals and the pointless "FREEDOM" appear in the backdrop the song does pretty good. The entry didn't need any silly gimmicks (or whatever one might call them) to get noticed. One thing that does get noticed however in this run is that Kasia is not standing where she should be when the doves start flying out from behind her, she is too much to the right (facing the stage). She will need to work on this.

3rd run  - Well, she found her spot again this time. Vocally quite adequate but not filling the room with energy. Would still be on the fence with this one when it comes to qualification or not.

Day 2 - GRE-POL-MOL-ICE

ICELAND

Initial relief that they have dropped the national final performance.

Svala is looking less agressive, dressed in white with a cape. It's essentially the white version of Tamara's red net curtain from yesterday. Odd floral leggings though, which possible are not part of the final outfit.

Some nice graphics and lighting, but overall maybe a tad dark. And camera work not very tight yet.

Like so many others, no sign of the backing singers. Svala looks a bit lonely.

This is one of my favourite songs, but this is all very pedestrian.


MOLDOVA

Black and white lighting, the weird foot-tapping dance, the bridesmaids, the sax, it's all as you'd expect.

In a dramatic twist, one of the bridesmaids turns into a bride!

(Edit: Later run-throughs they were all in full bridal get up)

Epic Sax Guy get plenty of the focus of cameras, which is obviously a good move. Images of the boys themselves doing the dance on the back screens. It's cheesy, it's not groundbreaking, but it's fun.

They also have enough choreography to distract from the repetitiveness of the actual song. Lining up, twirling around. Left, two, three, four, right, two, three, four.  And before one of the last chorus they have a couple of seconds of silence and freeze their poses, which oddly adds something.


POLAND

Animals, animals everywhere. The backdrop has a number of animals on it, a deer, panther, dog and dolphin. And at the end the word FREEDOM. For no apparent reason.

Kasia is in white, there's also a violinist on stage.

Oh there are doves too. All the animals. Vocally this is fine apart from an unnecessarily long last note.


GREECE

She's on a plinth, There are topless boys. She's behind a hologram thingy which makes her look a bit like she's in box.

The topless boys splash about in some water. And touch each other a bit.

Demy is singing adequately and looking great in a beige ("nude"?) dress.

At one point the hologram shows what possible is meant to be Demy underwater, but just looks a bit odd. Overall this looks good though, some lovely yellow lighting at one point. Will be a nice contrast to Portugal coming before.


****
Good morning!

I'm just about ready for another day.

The eight non-qualifiers - why did they fail?

So last night we once again saw ten lucky countries advance to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. As usual in a Eurovision semi final, the outcome consisted of a mix off expected and unexpected results. And as much as all ten finalists very much deserved to make it, plenty of people were hoping that other entries would be among that top 10 as well. Some might say that some songs deserved it even more than those who did make it, while other songs suffered the fate they deserved. I thought I'd take a look at the countries that didn't make it, and try to figure out why...


Estonia
This is perhaps one of the biggest surprises among many fans, and hashtags such as #JusticeForJüri are currently being spread on twitter. Personally I had a hunch that this was coming. The song itself was possibly strong enough to be a qualifier, but Estonia royally messed up the performance. Or rather, they didn't mess it up as much as they simply made us bored. Why was Jüri completely alone on stage? Why did absolutely nothing happen? (Except a card trick which you'd miss if you'd blink). Sure, he's a charming and handsome guy. But while standing still completely alone on a stage made sense for a big ballad like the Czech Republic, it made no sense for Estonia. The big issue here was simply that their bad staging decisions lead to a performance that failed to entertain the viewers and failed to stay in their minds.


Greece
This was perhaps not really a surprise for anybody. But being the first time a Greek entry fails to qualify for the final, it may have still come as a small shock to some people.
In theory, the concept on it's own could have been enough to make Greece qualify. On a superficial level, the song had a lot in common with their 2011 entry (traditional ethnic music mixed with rap verses and a sung chorus) which won the semi final. But this year's entry lacked a strong melody and lacked cohesion. I suspect it might have done better with the televote than the jury vote. Performance-wise I think they did well with what they had, but I suspect the biggest reason for the failure was simply the song.

Bosnia-Herzegovina
Just like Greece, I don't think the staging was the main issue here. Sure, it was a bit over the top with the thermal blanket capes and the camp outfits. And the song itself sounds like something that would normally have been strong enough to qualify. However, the backing track of the song does have a very bad production. It still sounds like a rather low-budget demo recording. There is really no excuse to send a production to Eurovision where the drumkit sounds as a badly sampled loop from 1971. And when compared to the surrounding entries which all had very full sounding high-quality music productions, the Bosnian song fell rather flat. This, combined with the fact that they came across as four solo acts rather than a group of performers, was probably enough to give Bosnia-Herzegovina their first ever non-qualificaton.

Moldova
Sometimes it's hard to pin point just one reason. In most cases it's simply a combination of several issues. And in this case there wasn't really much that worked in Moldova's favour. The song wasn't the strongest to begin with, and Lidia sure wasn't the strongest singer of the night. The ad-lib she decided to do for the final chorus (and which unfortunately also became the section used for the recap) didn't do the song any favours, and the dancing astronaut came across as a silly gimmick. And once again, being (almost) alone on stage didn't help either. With so many elements working against it, the Moldovan song this year probably never stood much of a chance this year.

Montenegro
Another song that probably never really was among the songs that would find it easy to qualify. But in spite of the song and genre being a difficult choice for Eurovision, the camerawork didn't really help it either. The fast flashing clips resulted in a performance where the viewers would have had difficlt making any sort of connection with the singer. We barely even got to see their faces long enough to see what they looked like, and anybody watching this on a very large screen would probably be feeling quite sea sick. The random half naked woman surely didn't help either in terms of convincing the jury to give them points.


Finland
The only thing that I thought would maybe help this qualify was the fact that Sandhja is a hell of a fantastic singer. And she did deliver vocally, even if I would have liked to hear her vocal higher in the mix. But it simply wasn't enough to make up for the bad styling choices (her jewellery even started falling apart during the performance) and the slightly weak song. A totally different visual performance might have helped it, but most likely not.


San Marino
Let's face it. This probably wouldn't have had a chance regardless of the performance. And staging-wise they did the best they could. It had life, it had energy, and it had all sorts of silliness which is what makes many of us love the entry. But it was always going to suffer from both juries and televoters finding it too old fashioned and too gimmicky. San Marino were never really competing for a place in the final this year, but they did put on a really good and entertaining show that people will remember. And they should be proud of that.


Iceland
And last but not least, possibly the biggest surprise in this semi. This one still baffles me a bit. The song is not bad at all, and it sure doesn't just blend in with the big mass of similar-sounding songs this year. Greta sang it well, and it had the draw really working in it's favour. Was it maybe the technical aspects of the performance that proved too messy? Was it the staging's similarities to previous entries? Was it the extremely ugly boots? I'm not sure. But I guess a combination of everything. And with more niched musical styles, there's always the risk that the people in the juries just happen to not be fans of that genre in the first. Every year there's always a few unlucky entries that in theory seemed like pretty safe qualifiers, and mostly it simply comes down to the fact that the jury and the televoters simply preferred ten other songs more. 

Semi 1 surprises - what did the bloggers miss?

I'm not in Stockholm this year, so, like you, I'm relying on rehearsal videos and the descriptions of bloggers watching rehearsals in the press centre to get an impression of what's going to do well. And as you'll have seen, I only got seven qualifiers right out of ten last night. So what went wrong? Who can I blame other than myself?

Croatia
A key example of an artist turning it on for the night. Where did all Nina Kraljić's personality come from? She found cameras, she smiled, she was warm - it was almost enough to make you forget the dress! And she sang really well! An obvious qualifier seeing it on TV last night.

Photo credit: Andres Putting (EBU)

Netherlands
That silence. We were told by several bloggers that the Netherlands had put in a short silence in order to encourage a crowd singalong. That never happens, and it seems it was never the intention. Perhaps an example of the groupthink that can sometimes afflict a hermertically sealed-in press centre, and something I've certainly been guilty of in the past.

I was expecting Netherlands to be great, based on reports, and found it only okay. Throughout, Douwe Bob seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open, and I didn't feel a real connection from him. And I suspect the silence was meant to lend authenticity - in a 'real' country gig, it wouldn't be uncommon to have a period of quiet like that, to bring up a swell of noise and applause from the audience, which would grow and grow to make a massive reaction. The gap in 'Slow Down' was too short for that to work, but just long enough to be awkward.

Russia
Nowhere near as impressive as we'd been led to believe, I felt. The first minute to so is underwhelming, you can see the shadows of both Sergey and his dancers separate from the projections, and then for the second verse and chorus, we lose Sergey's face; as the camera zooms out to show the impressiveness of the technology, we get no close-ups of what is a very warm and charismatic performer. Why get someone in like Sergey, with that beautiful face, and fail to show it? The last 20 seconds, where he could stand on the top, be natural, stop concentrating on stepping and show his face, were easily the best of the whole song.

Azerbaijan
It seems everyone in the press centre focused on Samra's bad vocals to the omission of everything else, including how the Azeris had come up with some of the best uses of the screens of any act. 'Miracle' didn't sound great (though nowhere near as bad as we might have expected), but it looked fantastic!

Iceland
Okay, I have no bones to pick with the bloggers about this. It looked great, it sounded great - the projections looked much more impressive than for Russia, Greta Salome showed personality - I thought this was a nailed on qualifier and potential Top 5 contender. But then Måns said the word 'Malta' instead :(

Day 5 - Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Malta

Malta

Now, this has changed! She's in a totally different dress. And it's a pretty one. Gold sparkly top and a dark skirt. No projections or silly bulky fabric this time. They've clearly given up on that idea. (Thank god).
The dress is rather tight, and it very visibly confirms that she the rumours about her being pregnant clearly being true. Ira's dancer is wearing a grey flowy outfit with glitter details matching her dress.

The song starts with the same projection of her face as before, but this time it's projected on the floor instead of on the cloak of her dancer. The stage graphics seem mostly to be the same. And the choreography is mainly Ira waling around the stage interacting with her male dancer. She seems a lot more comfortable on stage and seems to enjoy herself a lot.

Basically, they did the right thing to change this. And among all the rehearsals, this is by far the one that imrpoved the most from the first rehearsals to the second ones. It's nice that they were able to see that the previous staging didn't work (and that a lot of other countries were doing projection-based performance) and decided to scrap it.

Second run-through and I noticed that the stage graphics are quite different too. Instead of the blue swirl the floor looks more like actual water. And there's a lot of smoke on stage too. The colours and images keep switching between gold/fire and water/sky.

Thir run-through, and Ira still feels very secure. The performance is basically mostly all about her, and she has the personality to pull that off.


Bosnia-Herzegovina

 Same performance as before, but with different outfits. The thermal blankets are still there. But Deen is wearing a long leather trench coat, and Dalal is in a tight red and gold dress with a mermaid skirt. It's not a great dress, but compared to a lot of the costumes we've seen earlier today, it comes across as fairly normal and stylish.


Iceland

Not much change here. It's the same interactive performance. But they've managed to get the lights more right this time. She's less in the dark, so her connection with the cameras is a lot better.

We couldn't really hear much of the first half of it, as there was a video-message playing for Samra from a bunch of random Azeri people who sent her get-well wishes. As in, "we wish you'll recover from whatever disease you have" not "we wish you'd suddenly start singing well".

Day 2 Afternoon - Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Iceland

ICELAND

Before the rehearsal
Greta is back as we all know and this time does not have her violin, or Jonsi (sad face). It is likely that the presentation will be an up scaled version of what they had in the Icelandic selection. We do hope however that the artist is better lit this time, it's always nice to see who is actually singing the song rather than what is happening to them - whether it be being pushed around by gigantic hands, random shadows running into you, or something that looks like an exorcised demon escaping from your chest cavity.

Rehearsal
After a 15 minute delay, we see the first rendition. Unfortunately our fears seem to have been well founded. The backdrop is definitely more clean than it was back in Reykjavik but apart from that it is much of the same. Greta's dress is the same, the visuals are (mostly) the same, and there is a screen which she is performing in front of which, unlike in Russia's performance, stands out quite badly in some shots. Not good. Vocally however she delivered an acceptable level - and we need to remember that it is a rehearsal so you won't want to stretch yourself too much in the beginning.

Second run - It seems that the music is too loud in the first verses. Greta is completely the wrong place throughout most of the shots which need her to be dead right. Hopefully this is just because it's a new stage and she needs to get used to where she should be standing however how long did she have to rehearse back home and we are seeing more of the same here. Will a few more days be enough to get her back on track?

Third (and final) run - Visually it is coming along. She managed to get better placed and it seems that there was some talk happening between the last run through and this. The camera angles are helping it better than before. Wouldn't rule it out but don't expect it to set Europe alight come the 10th / 14th. But more importantly - FOOD BREAK!


MONTENEGRO

Before the rehearsal
Let's just be honest here - we're not really expecting anything from this. After qualifying for two years in a row, after never having previously qualified, you'd think they would have thought to stick to what they know best. Especially when they were (internally) selected so long ago. Oh well, let us sit through it anyway.

Rehearsal
Camera doesn't know where it is or what/who it is looking for. But surprisingly enough that was the thing that put me off from the start. Lead singer is quite good - relatively speaking. And let's face it, coming after what we had before it's quite refreshing! Then again, by not having any expectation of something there is nothing for it to live up to. A couple of audio hiccups again during the first run. There is a backing singer who is in fact front of stage and seems to have much camera time. Not really sure why but I guess there is a plan going on. Song is over and... well... good enough. I am assuming that they are not revealing their outfits for this rehearsal. 

Second run - Again, capable and delivers the song. There are lots of lights flashing about everywhere which you could have predicted. Will this entice televoters though is another question.

Third run - Nothing else to comment on but can see that visually it is getting more together. Possibly quite enjoyable even - but yes, as others have mentioned, needs to come with an epilepsy warning.




AZERBAIJAN

Before the rehearsal
As mentioned, Azerbaijan is always one to watch for visuals. Due to the internal selection however, we have only seen her on promo tour in Moscow, Tel Aviv and Malta. It will be good to see how it all comes together on a much larger and professional stage. Looking good from what we can see for the preparation.

Rehearsal
Well, there's many visuals, but that might be to distract us. Samra starts by standing centre-stage, or rather, she should be, but she appears to be a bit too much to the left meaning the effect of the spotlights illuminating her is not working very well. She has four backing singer/dancers which try their best to help but vocally this is quite weak. The visuals also flitter off and calm down towards the end of the song. One lonely person clapped the end of this song. Could we possibly be about to witness Azerbaijan's first non-qualification?

**Taking a while to start again, could someone have disappeared since the first run? Bets on it being Samra?**

Second run - Samra is back. She managed the first verse. And now, "Can we start again please". Not part of the original lyrics. Samra is not looking best pleased at all.

Second run - Take two - Managed to continue for the full run. Well, the best thing about this is the Swedish backing singer/dancers. Samra holds her throat while delivering the chorus. It is not sounding as bad as it was during the first but something tells me, as the lyrics say "gonna take a miracle". Then again, wasn't this the Land of Miracles?

Third run - "We crash and we burn", you said it sister! The odds are currently placing this 16th overall. I doubt this will be the case after today leaks to them. Shame really, still, we can console ourselves with the fact that it is destined to be on euroclub playlists for years to come.

Before we start again!
So, the morning is over and we had a nice break but back to reality now. Up next is a concoction of the good, the bad and the messy. Azerbaijan is always one to watch for visuals, Montenegro is... well... Montenegro, and Iceland we need to see if there is still the miss-timed interaction between singer and visuals. Soon all will be revealed.