Fishy Predictions for the First Semi-Final

It's been a long two years, but finally a Eurovision Day has come again! 🥂 For the first time in over 15 years I won't be spending it on location or in Syden, but rather in a rainy (shocker) Bergen, but I'm not planning on letting that dampen the mood!

I've been twisting my slightly May 17th affected head to see if I could not only figure out which ten countries will qualify tonight, but also which order they'll actually turn out to have placed in, once we get ALL TEH INFO some time after Måneskin's Destiny's Fyr & Flamme's thank you speech very very early Sunday morning. So enjoy my mistakes, but most of all enjoy the show, because Eurovision is back!

1 Malta | It was my main contender for the win before the rehearsals started, but seems to have faded a little compared to the likes of Italy and France, and due to boots and wigs and colour debates. (My take: If in doubt, always go for the brightest colour!) I still think it has a chance on Saturday though - and certainly tonight.

2 Ukraine | That bit where it slows down and builds and builds and builds to PLING * POW * RUN gets all my geese out bumping every single time!

 

3 Cyprus | Solid feels like the word best describing this, I'm expecting it do to very decently with both juries and televoters, without anyone getting overly excited.

4 Russia | My favourite in this semifinal, but probably a bit too odd to go higher.

5 Lithuania | Had its moment to shine when it came out in January, but gosh, it feels like years ago... Still very obviously qualifying, still very obviously getting the 12 from Norwegian televoters tonight.

6 Israel | This keeps getting stuck in my head, which should be good. But seeing as there's no natural flow between all those individual bits of song, it just ends up being one little bit in an eternal loop I can't get out of, and I end up considering a head amputation to get rid of it. I've had it down as my tip for 'forgotten and ignored, accidental last place' in the semi for much of the season, but Eden and her boys are selling it well, so suddenly it feels like a qualifier, and somehow even a safer one than the following bunch.

7 Norway | I can never quite decide whether I think Tix is annoying, nice, manipulative, a hero, or just a combination of all, but at the end of the day I really do like the song.

8 Belgium | It's mix of boring, pretentious, dark, nostril and grumpy. It's Belgian speciality, you will enjoy.

9 Azerbaijan | If it hadn't been for the last 30 seconds of pyro extravaganza I'd say this was as dead as the Tix+Efendi relationship will be next week.

10 Romania | I originally had Sweden instead of this, but seeing as almost everyone else seem to have the same ten as me, I figured it was time for some risk-taking. And I can somehow see this working on some level for some people, despite the mainly quite awful singing.

11 Sweden | The exact opposite of Norway and Tix - I'm sure I like Tusse, but the song... Surely juries can't be quite as forgiving about Swedish averageness as they have been the last few years? And thinking back about it, I actually think both 2019 and 2018 are very good songs, so it shouldn't really be comparable at all. Could they possibly lose out...?

12 Slovenia | Probably getting 15 televote points in total, all from Croatia and North Macedonia, but I can see some juries appreciating the loudness here.

13 Ireland | I've been hoping and thinking this should make it all season, but no, it just isn't working, is it... What could've been a joyous, confident anthem of finding one's way in life just ends up being poor Lesley getting lost in a paper forest.

14 Croatia | I don't feel hate, but why would anyone vote for this when there are better songs, better singers, better dancers, better stagings, better backdrops... Even the other Tick Tock is better - a far worse song, but at least it had #hamsterbutt.

15 Australia | Very interesting entry, and I really appreciate it being there and Montaigne seems great when she's not dressing up as a clown. Just such a shame it's not, like, you know, good.

16 North Macedonia | I don't think they could've done much better with this than what they're doing on stage, but it's still the same song, so... I miss You :-(

ESC week | Monday | First Semi-Final | First Dress Rehearsal

It really is all about to happen now! In the next few days we will be blogging about all the dress rehearsals, starting today with the first dress rehearsal of the first semi-final.

It's again a rolling post, so keep your finger glued to the F5 button, or whatever you use to refresh on a Mac.

Thirty seconds past three ... Te Deum! We start with some Dutch scenery, we see sheep, Rotterdam Central Station, a windmill and more and after 1 minute 30 we're in the arena. Some quick lookback to 2019 and then Duncan's on stage dressed in red in an augmented reality setting, singing a new song (i.e. not 'Arcade') It's a pretty short performance .... the stage is revealed in a spectacular way before all four hosts come up on stage.

Hosts are full of energy, talking quite fast, Jan's English has definitely improved it seems. Chantal also speaks a bit of French. Hell, they're quick. 

After 7.5 minutes we start with the first postcard. 

Lithuania - Lithuania is 'virtually' on the Rotterdam central station square for the postcard. Before the song starts the stage lights take the colours of the Lithuanian flag. Not much to mention about the Lithuanian performance, it's not much different from what we've seen from them. There are some split-screen moments between Vaidotas and the backing dancers. The hall is empty - yet we're hearing 'fake' applause. But it sounded already a bit less 'fake' than in ESC 2015.

Slovenia - Postcard in the dunes. Stage is mostly golden with a globe projected in the background. During the bridge the transparent LED screen comes down and shows what I think is Slovenian mountain scenery. Decent performance but not as impactful as I would have thought. The ending was very abrupt. She just stopped in the middle of a sentence 'Hey Child ...' ... not sure if that was a failure or intended, but she didn't look really surprised ....

Russia - Bad Dutchie, I have no clue where this postcard was recorded. Egg-shaped houses? [I later learned that these are the 'bolwoningen'/'sphere houses'  from Den Bosch aka 's-Hertogenbosch]. The bloggers before me have already described this performance pretty well. I have not much to add to it I'm afraid. Energetic and fun as usual. 

Sweden -  Postcard is filmed on Museum Square in Amsterdam. Some pretty awesome light effects for Tusse. There's also people on the LED screen at one point and it truly looks like they're actually on stage. Last minute looks quite impressive, light-wise. Vocally this is all very okay too. Not as hopeless as some may have thought. But of course the song is still what it is.

Australia - The football themed postcard this time is not for Spain but for Australia. Montaigne could not be in Ahoy, but she could 'be' in the Rotterdam stadium. No special announcement or so, we just get a postcard and the live-on-tape recording gets shown directly. Of course we do miss the stage lights going all Australian and there's no 'dumdumdum' moment, but the transition is seamless. Montaigne and dancers are doing a (sort of) yazbitti! \o/. Lots of visual effects here, where we see copies of Montaigne  as if she's doing a yazbitti with herself.  Montaigne sounds much better than in some clips we've heard so far. And it *is* very colourful. At the end we see the camera zooming out from the LED wall, bringing us back to Ahoy so the audience can do some cheering.

North Macedonia - Postcard is in a forest, where Vasil is climbing the wall of the tiny house. Much gold on stage again. During the part where Vasil is not singing he shows the disco ball on his costume, which looks very nice. Vocally fine even if he seems to be not giving it all yet. All in all, I think this wins the battle with Slovenia, but probably that's still not enough to make it.

First commercial break. Nikkie is now on stage to show 'the best off online reactions'. She calls it the 'online update'. There's also clips from the Looklabs. We see fans dancing. Surprise appearance by Conchita Wurst. Edsilia then interviews a fake The Roop. She doesn't use the stick herself. Nikkie also connects to Montaigne.

Ireland - We see the 'Skinny Bridge' in Amsterdam over the river Amstel in the postcard. Vocals are not very good I'm afraid. The 'book' part goes a bit quicker and smoother than we've seen in the rehearsal clip but is still not very impressive. So she's walking in all directions amonst all sort of cardboard objects like waves and trees and sometimes interacts with them, but it all looks pretty forced. It look fine - but not spectacular - and also a bit distracting at times and most of all unnecessary. She looks exhausted by the end of the performance. Sorry to say but this feels pretty hopeless :-(

For some reason we now get another break with Nikkie and Edsilia. We also see the billboards announcing what's to come next Saturday as interval act, much like we saw them in Europ Shine A Light last year. Of course this break is meant to get all the stuff Ireland brought on stage back off stage.

Cyprus - First notes were horribly off tune. Elena starts lying on the floor. Vocals get somewhat better further into the song. Visually this is very well done with the mirrors and fire effects during the last minute. It looks like more fun than the lyrics suggest, which I think is a good choice. Safe for qualifying, but not winning material.

Norway - I think that's the Muiderslot in the postcard? Never change a winning recipe, performance is again much alike the MGP one (but with less creatures around TIX). Using the stage doors with light coming from behind makes for nice effects. In the last minute the stage turns into gold. Looking good for Norway to qualify I'd say at this point.

Croatia - Postcard in a random polder. Some visual tricks make Albina appear on stage out of nothing. She's standing in front of the transparent LED screen and the effects look awesome. Dancers join her during the chorus. At one point we see five Albina's and no dancers though. The 'oh noooooos' sound a lot better than we've heard in earlier clips. I think visually this is pretty cool. The fake? applause seems to be much louder here than it has been for others for some reason.

Belgium - First minute of this performance is one long shot from one camera turning around Geike and the musicians. It must have been intentional but with the musicians so close to Geike it looks a bit messy to me. But that may be a personal thing. It's a decent staging ans well sung, but I may have expected more 'magic'.

Israel - Postcard shows Utrecht Central Station. Eden is amazing! This is a fun performance with Eden and dancers moving to the sattelite stage halfway, and then back to the main stage where she does the high notes, and they sounded near perfect to me. This has such a nice energetic vibe. Probably the best performance so far!

A break with Chantal now. And Måns. We can actually see him, so probably not live, but you won't notice. It's of course all to get people warm for the Saturday interval. Hmm, if it's not live the timing is perfect. After this interview Edsilia and Jan announce Romania's performance.

Romania - Roxen's vocals are much better than we've heard in some clips, but she seems to have a bit of trouble with the timing (think Zaleilah but less dramatic). All in all, it's still not very convincing. They should be a little worried now.

Azerbaijan - Postcard from Giethoorn (the Dutch more rural answer to Venice - at least I think it's there). Song and staging is Eurovision by numbers obviously. Lots of gold, pink and turquoise again. And another yazbitti. What did I say? Eurovision by numbers. Well enough performed. Is there still a place for this in ESC 2021 though? I'm inclined to say there is, despite the song being rather weak. 

Another billboard moment, with Jan and Chantal quickly announcing Ukraine.

Ukraine - Had some serious internet issues here, so missed part of it. Well, it's definitely standing out. Graphics look impressive too. I have a blind spot for this entry, never really got it, and as such this performance wasn't winning me over. But I acknowledge that it is probably making the final anyway.

Bit of a hiccup before Malta was going to start, with Chantal quickly standing by to interrupt.

Malta - Destiny has gone for the silver dress and high silver boots and a totally different haircut/wig, which I suppose fits with the 1920's style. Not sure if she's giving it all yet, but vocally she was already more than fine. But I feel this is not a winning performance, neither is the song. May actually be totally overshadowed by Israel earlier on. 

Some pyros before we start the vote. As usual we see the recap with the artists shown at the end of their snippet. For Montaigne we have a live connection. It's apparent that the sound quality of the Australian snippet is much worse (less rich) than the others.

After the recap there's an interval by Davina Michelle about 'The Power of Water', which is partly pre-recorded and there's dancing on stage with lots of bare-chested men.

Quick prediction: Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, Cyprus, Norway, Israel, Azerbaijan Ukraine, Malta. Then there's one left and it's between Croatia and Belgium, I'd say Belgium now, but not extremely convincedly. If there's going to be a huge surprise it may actually be North Macedonia, but I wouldn't count on it. 

All four hosts are back on stage to explain again how you can vote. And we get another recap. With again shots from the green room. At this moment none of the artists are really there, so it's just volunteers and they are having a good time it seems :-)

After the second recap there's about 40 seconds left to vote, so we quickly get to a countdown with Jan and Chantal. After that there's another break with Edsilia and Nikkie. They're standing next to each other in one shot and that looks a bit ... odd (because of the height difference). There's a flashback to ESC history with Johnny Logan, Katrina, Anne-Marie David, Lenny Kuhr, Marie Myriam and Eimear Quinn. They all tell about their experiences. And they're all sooo positive.

We then get a pre-recorded 'Eurovision Tutorial' with Nikkie. Which is very tonge-in-cheek and fun :-)  It has Manel,  John Lundvik with a sad face, Justine Pelmelay and more surprises. The theme is 'How not to win Eurovision'. Obviously we're experts on that subject.

Then we look back for a minute or two at 'Arcade' with Edsilia and Duncan Laurence.

After that there's an awkard break. But apparently this is the point where we'd get to the interviews and presentations of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Instead we now get to see the postcards for these three countries. 

Oh they're actually performing now!

Italy - Just looks so cool on stage. There's some parts though where Damiano is drowned into the light, not sure if that's intentional. So much pyros at the end. Yes, this is definitely a performance that could do it!

Postcard at Scheveningen beach for Germany, appropriately considering its popularity with German tourists. After the German postcard we suddenly get another intervention with Chantal explaining the theme 'Open up' and a pre-recorded video about the theme with Duncan as narrator. Not sure if and when they will actually show this in the real show.

Germany - Very colourful performance with a prominent role for miss Finger. Jendrik improvises vocally. At the points we hear a male voice 'you did not just say that' the camera zooms on the finger as if she is saying that. All in all, I feel it is missing the clever fun from the video and falls a bit flat on the stage. In the talking part he adresses in German ladies, gentlemen and everyone who's not either. And he ends in Dutch with 'tot snel!' ('see you soon').

Netherlands - Wonderful visual opening with the LED wall 'breaking open'. Jeangu is doing an amazing job vocally. During the brigde all move to the sattelite stage, before the stage turns all colourful. Obviously a lot of applause. That was a very nice performance, and very different from a lot of other things in this ESC. Not saying it is a top 10'er but it doesn't look like certain bottom 5 either.

Okay ... they're now improvising a bit because it's about time to rehearse the qualifier revelation. But first we get a look-ahead to Thursday with the usual billboards. It's mainly about the extra acts though.

They then introduce Martin Österdahl. And it seems like we have a 'valid result'! And he tells Jan and Chantal that they're 'good to go'.

We get to see three-letter country codes with square flags in the 'waiting list' below the screen insert of Jan and Chantal. When they are announced we see the full names to the right of them, as usual. [addition: as far as I recall there were no animations with enveloppes or anything of the sort appearing on screen, so it's just one of the hosts shouting a country name, and only then the name appears in the 'qualified' list]

First fake finalist is Romania, then Israel. They do this pretty quickly again. Cyprus, Lithuania and Norway are next. Also Azerbaijan makes it, it looks pretty realistic so far actually :-) Australia also qualifies and we see a happy volunteer on a couch probably not in Australia. They take a little more time now. Sweden is fake qualifier number eight. And number nine is Malta. And finally it's North Macedonia! We don't get to hear snippets of the songs when they qualify but we get a recap in the order as announced right after the last qualifier is announced.

After that the credits start running and we get views from the hall, also from the green room, which may be interesting because we'll probably see both happy and sad faces there, unlike usually when we only got to see the happy ones.

That was it for the first dress rehearsal. Tonight we continue with the jury final, for which Yair will provide commentary in this blog!

Day 5 | Second Rehearsals | First Semi-Final | 🇱🇹 🇸🇮 🇷🇺 🇸🇪 🇦🇺

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

Good morning from the remote press centre! While Jordy is on a photography mission, the rest of the team will fill in with what's happening on screen. So here they are with some fresh eyes.

🇦🇺 | Australia

I guess we won't be seeing anything today, not before the first dress rehearsal (and possibly not even then?). Sild will take over for the next few rehearsals.

🇸🇪 | Sweden

If symmetry is your thing, this is the staging for you. Everyone is positioned in a straight line, and the backdrop is a very centred vertical centre line in the centre. If you took half of the screen and mirrored it onto the other, it would look just the same (except that Tusse would be holding two microphones).

This is really quite effective, especially after the overly busy first three stagings - and while Tusse is far from great vocally, he does have the personality to make up for it. I didn't like it in MF, partly due to a disturbingly horrifying velvet suit - but they took care of that, his new suit looks much better on screen (and even gets a close-up to show us the shiny bits). Thumbs up.

I had to look twice to see if the projected extra backing singers in the last chorus aren't actually there behind the real ones. And I'm still not quite sure, but leaning towards not real. That's how good the backscreen is.

🇷🇺 | Russia

This is a very very busy staging - everywhere you look, there's a highly detailed dress or something happening on the screen - a message, a sophisticated old Russian-style animation, or a modern Russian woman (I think I even spotted a transitioning woman, very cool). My favourite is the horses, think of some kind of animated version of this:

The best thing about this is Manizha herself and her facial expressions, although I can't help thinking it's sometimes a bit overdone and gives me Laka vibes. No, something is different in the last runthrough (other than the flame Pyro during the 'prayer' part) - this is super energetic and I'm loving it

🇸🇮 | Slovenia

To be honest, it was kind of hard to pay attention to Ana (despite the screaming) with all that's going on in the background - a dramatic space film (scary galaxy zooming into Earth) which turns into a National Geographic feature with various climatic landscapes. The one part that did connect with the song was in the explosive bit of the last chorus, with a supernova going right under Ana's feet.

We already know she can belt out, even so early in the day (which: well done), it's always been a question of how many juries are actually into this voice and song. Personally I cringed at the 'sing it!' to the non-present choir.

🇱🇹 | Lithuania

I can see why the producers put this on first, this is a very clever way to reveal the stage, which fully shows itself in the chorus. The routine is mostly familiar, although I think they've added a penguin-style jumping towards the end... was it there before?

Vaidotas is as charismatic as ever, at first pretending that he's confused by where he is and looking for the cameras, later "gaining" confidence. Holding back vocally in the first runthrough but singing just fine in the second, I guess they know that this could be their backup performance? 

The LED floor looks like a still image of the background, something like this:

Overall a solid entry, but (perhaps ironically) really feels like it will need an audience roar to stand out.

Second rehearsal: Lithuania to Bulgaria

Bulgaria


This is very much a performance made for TV, in the arena it's just dark figures on a dark stage. There's a lot of video effects happening, including three of the male singers merging into one, like a real life game of 2048. This sounds fine, although I'm not sure someone watching this for the first time will get what's going on.

Estonia

Elina is looking stunning and sounding confident. For those of you with tickets to higher seats in the arena, this will be a spectacle, because unlike most acts that look tiny, the ice cream dress you can actually see. Also the sight of how they set up the thing and take it apart in 3 seconds. €60,000 well spent.


Belarus

The one we've all waited for. Once again the rose that pierces through Alekseev's hand is pristine, despite what we saw coming out of the crossbow clearly losing some petals along the way. What is the magic.


Israel

We have soap bubbles!

Besides that, they seem to have worked out the fake looper sound at the start and it sounds good. Pyro geysers at the first chorus are not necessary in my opinion (but don't damage this too much). Best part: Side shot on the catwalk with the backing singers emerging behind Netta:

I'm sold, but then I've always thought everything in life needs a Yaz Bitti and soap bubbles.

Lithuania

Press Centre is showing Czech conference, so we're watching this in the arena. Ieva now sings the last sentence in English, although there's a bit of Lithuanian before that. Back to finishing in Lithuanian in the next run, then full English in the last. In the arena it's a bit dull, but on screen it's gorgeous and I can see this in the top 10 on Saturday with the right draw.

Still aboard - Czech republic to Israel

Israel

I'm scared I'll get hypnotised by the huge amount of "waving cats" (see Yair's post for photo!) on stage right now. But I like it!
The colour theme of the cats (yellow/gold, pink, read, sparkly) goes well with the chicken sounds, reminding me a lot of Easter. Netta was not as convincing as I would have hoped, but it's only the first run through of the first rehearsal yet, still hope for improvement!
There was some improvement second time around, and even more so in the last run through, her confidence came across a lot better towards the end. I'm pleased about that. She also made the whole press centre laugh when she worked wanting more vocals in her earpieces into the lyrics in the beginning of the song the second time. Netta is so cool!

Lithuania

Graphics in black and white of a family and after that a couple dancing, a child kissing another child (in a cute, not creepy way. Too cute in my opinion) is displayed now. Testing testing...
The first run through was surprisingly well received in the press centre. I think people were quite touched by this. To me it was a bit cheesy with the perfect family graphics, but the end was nice. Ieva's husband was suddenly there, held her hand and she sang the last bit in Lithuanian. In the second run through we could see him approaching, I thought the first variant was more effective. The third time was also the see-him-approach-approach, and the Lithuanian rehearsal ended with a husband kissing his wife on the forehead. People around me are loving this song and performance. I'm not convinced.

Czech republic

It seems Mikolas did the first run through half heartedly, focusing on *the jump* (a peek over to Yair for the proper English word: somersault) and problems he/they seem to be having with that. Half of the song he didn't even sing. We do however have pink lights, a backpack and a dancer with a trumpet. Second time around is happening now and it's more properly done this time. He survived the acro but lost his glasses in the process (I know the feeling)!

First rehearsal: Czech R. to Israel

Israel

My pre-opinion: Some here completely disagree with its bookie status, other think that as long as they don't do anything stupid, they'll leave dust behind them on the Saturday scoreboard. I sometimes enjoy this song, but upon first listening I was a bit confused, so it won't be easy to live up to expectations I think. IBA and their sponsors have invested unprecedented amount in this act, let's see if they spent it well.

Set up:
CATS! lots of small metal cats with moving hands on shelves that are on both sides of the 'looper' table. Although it's not the same looper we've seen, more of a Star Trek control board.

Yeah these:

First run-through:
Well this is taking forever to set up... finally. Netta is very pink, three dancers are on the bridge, but join Netta later when she leaves the Looper. This sounds different to what we've heard so far, the backing vocals are very high-pitched and Netta looks a bit awkward walking with these shoes. And there's actually not much happening though. Overall not a very impressive run through.

Second run:
They're trying new camera angles and Netta is giving it more, sounding and looking much better already. She's having issues with the looper and had to improvise a bit, and improvising is what she does best, showing her quirky personality. Her fans should almost hope something goes wrong on the night.

Third run:
Pink smoke when the first chorus starts got the fan-press excited. Camera angles much improved again and Netta finally singing like she cares, this should still be a contender if it was before.

Lithuania

My pre-opinion: This has been one of my favourites from first listen, but I'm well aware that I'm in minority here, and this will struggle to stand out. Still, Lithuania have always qualified when I thought they deserved it (and a few times when they didn't...), so a solid rehearsal should be promising.

First run-through:
Similar simplistic approach from the NF with her starting on the floor, with added b/w images on screen of couples dancing. These will need some work to align with the camera. I think there's a second vocal during the chorus, but some here say it's an echo effect. Towards the end she uses the bridge to meet her husband(?) and switches to Lithuanian, this is all really charming and everyone went awwwwww here.

Second run:
Still no improvement on the flash images, I guess that's homework for the video room later. They're trying a new approach of revealing her husband (now you can see him a bit earlier), I thought it's a bit less good but still works. Ieva's vocals are fragile, but in a good way, and overall this is the most effective package I've seen and heard today.

Third run:
Nothing much to say, still looking and sounding good. Saving words for the next country.


Czech (ia/ Republic)

My pre-opinion: It's pretty much a consensus that Mikolas is going to get his country its highest placing ever, and it's certainly doable if the Czech delegation has realised they have something good in their hands and made sure not to let it slip away. He'll need good backing vocals (which so far have been pre-recorded) and an engaging dance during the brassy bits, which has indeed been done well by a certain podium finisher last year, but it's perhaps easier if you have Epic Sax Guy on your team.

First run - or not? Stopped after five seconds when Mikolas said "it's dangerous".

Actual first run:
Mikolas starts without the backpack, but wears it later when we're not looking. There's a lot of focus on the two male dancers doing their own breakdance thing in front of colourful screens. Very very messy and they don't look prepared at all - will need a lot of work to do anything on Saturday (or even get there). The "la la la" bits are sung by female vocals, which I'm not sure was a great idea.

Second run:
There was a long wait, so clearly they had problems to sort out. Still a very messy act and the female backing singers sound weird, but Mikolas himself is a natural performer and just about sells it, adding an acrobatic somersault near the end.

Third and last run:
More improvement, added a split screen with him and the dancers which looks nice. Also added shooting smoke near the end. Now if they can only reduce the breakdance shots and change the gender of the backing singers and they're a shoe in the final.

While Lithuania is setting up, here's a drink that drew my attention.

Lunch

The sun came out, and there's a really nice mall right outside with lots of options and outside seating area. I have to say that the complex is planned really well.

[LIVE] Semi 2 : Dress Rehearsal 1 - live reporting

That's it for this rehearsal, people!
Was really fun to see how everything clicked together.

Me signing off!!

OUTRO
The 10 winning songs are being shown once more.

GOING THROUGH
-Israel
-Serbia
-Bulgaria
-Belarus
-Malta
-Ireland
-Austria
-Croatia
-Romania
and finally...
-Switzerland!

FAKE QUALIFIERS
Volodymyr announces Jon Ola Sand as the Mr. Miyagi of Eurovision. Does that also mean he can catch flies with his chopsticks? Before Eurovision once again turns into a cut-throat business, Volodymyr reminds the performers how amaaayzing they are and how great it is that they were allowed to perform in Kyiv.

INTERVAL ACT
The interval act is something dance-y. It's all very interpretative but looks slick because everyone is wearing black clothes with some red ribbon accent. In background of the predominantly percussion backtrack you can hear female voices singing Tatar-style melodic lines. Ukrainian horns warn us of Ruslana's arrival, but luckily for us, for the time being, she's not showing. Then it all ends.
Before we are officially introduced to the leftover finalists for next saturday, Timur gets to chat to Belarus.

VOTING COUNTDOWN
'They say time flies when you're having fun' Time was very slow today, I felt. Maybe there's a button to speed up time in a special app. The Eurovision App isn't the one though. After the countdown, they're talking to Macedonia.

VOTING REPRISE 2
Just before the second reprise Poland is being interviewed. Nothing earth shattering happening here...

VERKA II - The Rise
We now see Verka and mom live the independence of Ukraine, Dana International and eventually her taking part in Eurovision. Again, some of the years mentioned in the captions don't add up, but don't let that spoil your fun watching this.

VOTING REPRISE
Oleksandr and Volodymyr are bantering away as their life never depended on it. In any way the reprise soon follows.

HOST COUNTRY: UKRAINE
O.Torvald are bringing their show with gusto. They really enjoy performing out there. A bit screamy here and there, but I'm glad this type of song is in this year's final.

BIG FIVE: GERMANY
Same story for Germany in the camerawork department. But at least it starts really interesting enough. Sadly it quickly descends into dullness. Although I really like the stark architectural backdrop they've gone for, I feel a splash of ONE extra colour could've lifted it a bit. In this run there was new pyro too.

BIG FIVE: FRANCE
Alma is a bit breathy in the English bits during the first chorus. I feel that the camerawork could've been much tighter on Alma. The graphics are impressive in themselves, but do nothing to emphasize or help how amazing the song is. Instead it's almost off-staging the French entry.

ISRAEL
Imri's big hurdle throughout all of his rehearsals has been getting the vocals right. In this rehearsal he's much more in key. Occassionally 'just' getting away with sloppy singing. But dancing and singing at the same time is a challenge after all. If he repeats this in 6 hours, he'll be qualifying with ease.

ESTONIA-AH-A
What can I say, I love the 80s throwback. Koit seems to have finally mastered his cues and the entire thing is, to paraphrase mister Sofabet, a Telenovella fest. And they'll all repeat it on Saturday.

LITHUANIA
Victorija is wearing very long razorsharp white fingernails. If she would have a blackboard she could torture us all by scratching those of it. Instead she's singing her song. She sings it well though, and it's well performed. Well, as in, fully committed to annoy us for three minutes.

BULGARIA
I wish Kristian would stop hiding his mouth behind his microphone. Just keep it a tad lower. Still not sure of the line graphics that appear on-screen. I don't feel they add much. The more I hear the Bulgarian song, the more I feel it's a dull dirge. But he's quite good, being such a young singer.

BELARUS
The sound mix is off here once more. The male voice sounds much clearer. Kseniya is also a bit more shaky on the vocals. I would so love this to qualify, but they will need keep everything much tighter.

BREAK
Timur again singing his prepared script.

SWITZERLAND
That yellow... thing. Someone get me a bucket of anthracite gray paint now. Vocally she's fine, though in the high notes she clearly lacks power. Or confidence. I like this song in fact, but the dress isn't helping her. After the bridge, she tries channel Mariah, but sadly only Isaiah shows up. Luckily only us press center fanalists are the one subjected to it. Gosh. Not sure about this one.

NORWAY
Joust and his song 'Grab The Moment' is of course the streetcred that Eurovision has been craving ever since the mid 70s. However after Croatia it just seems a bit too mellow. The boys themselves are doing it fine, but I feel myself getting annoyed by the long fast sweeping cameracrane shots. Also not helping Norway's chances is the mumbling during the bridge. At this point in the show, it comes across as filler.

CROATIA
If San Marino was the appetizer in the car crash department, then Croatia is a full-on three course meal. But I adore it. Hope it qualifies, because I feel saturday night needs this. To be honest, I don't think Croatia's camerawork has improved since the last rehearsals. Still Jacques pulls it off. What 'it' is exactly, still remains to be determined.

SAN MARINO
They are very good! 'Nuff said.

IRELAND
Brendan is not doing well vocally. He sprinkles his performance with singing 'just' under the melody. The backing vocals are also all over the place. He was MUCH MUCH MUCH better during last rehearsal session. At least he's a way better body language performer than some of his age cohorts in this competition. It felt as something was wrong in the sound mix.

DENMARK
The backing vocals open the song a capella and the vocal balance is not there. The female voices in there just sound too shrill. Anja is moving professionally on stage, selling the song well. A bit slippery on some of the end-notes, but she's a great singer anyway. Songwise it's such a shame, just because she is so great. Pyro-curtain to end off the song.

HUNGARY
Joci Papai still looks a bit 'Blanche-y' when he starts his song. But I feel that he, just like Blanche, seems to have found his comfort zone on stage. And at the latest by the rap bit he's actually winning me over with his performance. Happy for him, but not feeling the song. But that's only me.

BREAK
Gosh. Timur's English is horrible. As he rambles off his Eurovision facts, he sings his phrases in a totally artificial manner. Luckily his bits are being kept to a minimum.

NETHERLANDS
Talking about vocal powerhousing. Although one of the sisters starts a bit early. The trio seem a bit more nervous than they have been throughout rehearsal week. And it's a bit audible in the voices. By the bridge they've all composed themselves and are vocally back on track. I seem to have noticed a few faintly flat notes. But nothing to be worried about.

ROMANIA
Finally! It's Romania. And nothing too soon. Not really fond of Alex's sleeveless jacket. Nor am I wild about the child letters that spell 'Y - o - d - e - l - i - t' on the big screen. It's harmless, unpretentious fun until the bridge, where they show that vocally they mean business. This is sailing through.

MALTA
We got the wrong credits. Those of Romania.
Claudia still has her breasts projected on the gigantic videowall behind her. This is Slovenia 2017 territory. Competent, yet somehow sleep inducing.

MACEDONIA
Macedonia's postcard has a bit 'NOT FOR AIR' message slapped over it, meaning this isn't the definitive version for the show tomorrow.
Backings aren't pitch perfect, but to the untrained ear they'll sound okay. I think Jana is doing well in this rehearsal. The entire package isn't in the top tier though.

AUSTRIA
Nathan is his impish self throughout the entire performance. I feel that he'll go full on energizer bunny once the arena is filled with a responsive audience. For now the rehearsal is almost faultless. A bit slidey on the wailing, but apart from that smiles all round.

SERBIA
Tijana starts and the sound mix in the press centre is off. The music sounds way too harsh. She looks great this rehearsal. I wonder if the hair will stay the same. Vocally on the cusp of being shouty, but still powerful enough. Ok, now she does cross that line into shouty territory. She ends her song with overemphasizing the last 'p' in deep.

INTRO
The host boys are on stage now. Oleksandr takes the word. And again the guys try to be funny. They'll get it right by tomorrow evening. Also, they're still heavily relying on their cue cards.

Next they 'freestyle' with some musical instruments. Oleksandr is quite good with his flute. Volodymyr likes to handle an accordeon.

Hahaha! They're Ukrainifying some of Eurovision's best known hits. :-)
Awww... a glitch in the sound tape and they have to restart. Volodymyr calls out for his accordeon. Henrik keeps his cool as always. They restart.

Oleksandr's flute is called sopilka. Whatever you say Oleksandr. But keep playing it please.
So, the Eurovision hits... first Euphoria, which is actually quite nice and epic in traditional music style. Next up is Fairytale, which already sounded quite folksy. So not too much of a stretch there. Third hit is 'My Number One'. Think the male choir in 'Moja Stikla'. That kind of singing.
Wow. Even 'Rise like a Phoenix' gets a treatment. It's nothing short of impressive! I like!

As this is the first dress rehearsal, they get to do this intro act a second time. As the production team sets everything up for the second go, Oleksander occupies himself with the logistics of swapping his musical instrument with the cue cards. Quite ingeniously he suggests that one of the Ukrainian grannies has them stuffed in their skirt. It sounds more ridiculous than it is, really.

During the second go, 'Rise like a Phoenix' gets pyro during the final.
A few more hiccups in the transitions - The choir has to leave the stage immediately. But that's what rehearsals are for. Did you know that you can vote using the Eurovision App? It's like a Eurovision party.

16:05
The show starts with traditional dressed young Ukrainian ladies similar to Semi 1. I 'think' they're different but I can't be sure.

16:02
Still waiting. What did I rush for?

15:57
Right. So a bit later than usual.
I'm by myself this afternoon, so it won't be a verbatim report. Only the stuff worth mentioning.
Think performance, camerawork and the likes. For a description of the postcards, well, you'll have to wait for a bit more than a day.

Day 7 - 2nd Run Through : BUL / LTU / EST / ISR

ISRAEL

The high notes are still one of the few things IMRI is not able to do. Look good in absolutely anything - check, dance - check, break hearts - check, sing most of his song - check, but high notes - no check there. Shame really since that is what people will remember, and not the majority of the stuff he does well. We need to also check what reprise IBA will choose but if they don't get this right, it could possibly be that Israel does not qualify. It is borderline at the best of times, but in this semi you need to be vocally spot on in order to be sure of a place on Saturday.

2nd Run - All that we can concentrate on now are those bad high notes. Even though the rest is not terrible - it's not a masterpiece of Eurovision art but it's not a disaster in the making - the bad notes are all that we can hear. There is a battle brewing and the strom clouds are coming in!

3rd Run - Not even pyro is helping this. Yes, I have written it. Pyro has not actually saved the day. I feel dirty and need a shower after that. IMRI is smiling but you can tell on his face he is not happy. Did he not know earlier he cannot reach the notes he's trying?


ESTONIA

Koit's wearing a different jacket than on Tuesday while Laura seems to be in the same frock. The two are singing well and are matching eachothers' melody quite nicely. They are also finding the camera's which is an improvement but Koit is still quite robotic in his acting. It's not too distracting however and we can live with it. The two are making more of an effort after they find themselves (in Verona) to look more like a couple rather than two people who just bumped in the street. Unlikely to stay in the semi.

2nd Run - The camera didn't find Laura in the beginning. Great start! Other than that though, all fell back into place and another great rendition of a wonderful song and a good stage show.

3rd Run - Another good performance. People are still giggling at Koit's acting but I think now it's more their issue than his. He's not laughably terrible, just a bit stiff. If you see the people who are laughing I very much doubt they would be any better.


LITHUANIA

Everything is exactly the same as the first rehearsal. Dresses, cameras and lighting. Also the feelings that get produced when listening to this song. Everything is exactly the same. I know some people actually like this, but even though Lithuania has many times been the country that I got wrong - when I thought it would fail it qualifies, when I thought it would qualify (due to being wrong before) then it fails ... - but this year I cannot see this having a hope of getting through which is a sad thing especially when they had such a long selection process and had a couple of decent choices available in it. Oh well, you reap what you sow I guess.

2nd Run - It happened. It ended. We applauded (internally).

3rd Run - I apologise, nature called, I answered. I've been told not much has been missed however.


BULGARIA

Kristian changed the white oversized t-shirt which he wore on the first rehearsal with, well, something we can't see. All we know is that the white is not showing any more. Forgetting the hype that has been created around this entry, although the singing is very good, the staging and camera work is not giving chills. Kristian being on stage by himself just seems to make the song lose something. A few dancers or elements from the music video would have gone down well but this just appears to be a nice song with a flat presentation. Could this be losing the "top of region" spot?

2nd Run - A couple of changes have been made and they seem to work better but it's not suddenly become a super attention grabber. Bulgaria will not need to worry about qualifying but I doubt it be giving a real run for top place come Saturday. A strong top 5 contender however.

3rd Run - And this was much of the same. You'll see the clip online - let us know what you think.

Day 4 - BLR-BUL-LTU-EST-ISR

ISRAEL

Arms!

Imri is in black (or rather translucent), singing just about adequately. Not as much choreography as I was expecting. Two dancers and some backing singers.

More literal graphical interpretation for the 'walking on stars' and 'hour glass' parts. And Imri on the back LED breaking into pieces.

It's rather underwhelming. Nowhere near as much impact as Golden Boy. Someone here even mentioned a word to send fear into all Israeli supporters: "Tooji."

The jury final will be quite key here. If he sings like today, he will be punished.



ESTONIA

Staging is a mix of the Eesti Laul performance and Stig & Elina. Koit was a tad lost with some of the choreography on the first run-through.

Koit's acting skills haven't improved but I really don't think he's trying. It is a rehearsal after all. This should be fine once it all comes together.

Better for each run through. Laura in particular was very good.


LITHUANIA

Essentially the NF performance here, in red and black with some pyro graphics at the end.

Very grating vocals.

Poor things don't even have Georgia to vote for them.


BULGARIA

More blue lights, but with some rain effects. Kristian in black with white shirt.

Actually no, it's mostly black and white and he is swishing his hands about, so think there will be more stuff happening that we're not seeing yet, a la Dami Im.  At one point there are a few squiggles. It's still a work in progress.

Vocals fine.

Hmm, I think we were all expecting to be wowed and it's...just nice. Should be safe for a top 5 finish though.


BELARUS

The return of white clothes and blue lighting. They are standing on a boat. Not really sure why.

Shots of various buildings on the backdrop, giving the effect they are flying slalom on their boat. Maybe it's a plane?

They dance a bit towards the end, distracting from the repetitiveness. Vocally solid.


***
The after-lunch session. Let's see how much they show us in the press centre...

Day 6 - After Break: Ireland, FYR Macedonia, Lithuania, Australia, Slovenia, Bulgaria

BULGARIA
A great performance! Poli is playful with the camera and knows what she needs to do to gain the attention of the viewers. The errors that have happened (and there was a couple) where all technical in nature - mainly bad camera angles which either cover half the view or show the camera person walking accross the stage. The backing dancers come out as they did in the first rehearsal but this time they are clad in black. Unfortunately no light-up chevrons for them however.


SLOVENIA
Hope and Glory are still trying to escape but seem quite stable where they are. The stage seems to have changed however there are still undertones of blue and pink. We had to stop the first run through but the second one went through fully. Not much to comment about this apart from the dancer is hot as but even though his talent is great, it is not going to help them get through. They are just above the Swiss in the betting odds, and there is a good reason why.



AUSTRALIA
Dressed in the same dress as the first rehearsal, this went quite well apart from the fact that Dami needed help to get off the box. However, even thorough this misshap, her voice did not break at all which shows her professionalism. Waiting to see what happens in the next two.

The holographic images still do not work since they are being mistimed by Dami. We can still see the guys taking her off the podium but hopefully there is another camera angle which hides what is happening on stage.

In the third run-through not only do we see her being taken off but also we see the podium itself being quickly rushed off stage back. We were not supposed to see that - althogh it was very entertaining for the gathered press.



LITHUANIA
After two false starts, both of which were technical, we had one full go. Donny's hair is a bit, well, interesting - I wouldn't personally choose it. Donny is wearing some random jacket with a bunch of writing on it, again, not my choice. He does a summersault through some CO2 bursts - and nearly trips on the landing. This could go wrong on the night. Vocally he is quite flat but it could be that he is just saving himself.

The second run-through and he has a different jacket. Not that it was very much better but still better than the first. Although it is expected to qualify, it is unlikely to be high up on the right hand side of the board.

The third run-through and we have yet another jacket, this time white leather. Out of the three we've seen, this is the best however would have preferred black.




FYR MACEDONIA
Staged beautifully, Kaliopi is wearing a mainly black dress with a white flowy underskirt. Four backing vocalists to her right and a drummer to her left (remember, mirror image if you're looking at her). Much use of the spotlights to a great effect. For the chorus this changes to tones of red and orange. We know however that the Macedonian team is perfectionist and they probably will be looking at this, going through it with a fine toothbrush in order to piont out any perceived inaccuracies. Kaliopi however is also saving her voice a bit, consciously deciding to not try and catch the high notes even though we know she can do so with ease. She is not hitting the money-makers alight with qualifying expectations and I would tend to agree but it is definitely not a showing due to her part but rather the fact that there are other, better songs in this semi final.

Ooh! Something happened mid-song of the third run-through. Kaliopi therefore has a fourth run though, we therefore assume the issue was technical rather than the fault of the delegation.
 


IRELAND
Not too much different from the first rehearsal. Unfortunately I do not think this will be the year that we will be seeing the Irish colours on the Saturday stage. Vocally Nicky is not the best and although the staging is good enough there is nohing that would make me want to vote for this song rather than any other which has before it. I don't think it would make too much of a difference to Nicky's carreer however maybe it will make RTÉ rethink their selection process. In fairness however, they have tried letting the public select the song, and done an internal selection this year so what they should be doing extra is really not for me to comment.

Day 3 - Last set - FYR Macedonia, Lithuania and Australia

AUSTRALIA

Before the rehearsal

The song has certain similarities with "Undo" and is the kind of powerballad that is normally quite easy to stage. The challenge is probably to stage it in a way that doesn't come across as something that's too similar to what has already been done before. Dami is a strong singer and I don't expect her to have any problems. I'm curious to see what they've chosen to do regarding backing singers.

Just had some secret information that Dami's backing singers are no other than Anna Sahlene and Dea Norberg. Dea being a very frequent backing singer in Eurovision, and Anna Sahlene simply being Sahlene :D Let's hope we get to see them.

Rehearsal

Dami is on the floor in a VERY sparkly silvery/white dress.
No, actually, it turns out she's not on the floor, but sitting on a large blocky pedestal. Which is also extremely glittery.
And. She has holograms projections (surprise surprise!) They're sort of random shapes that she moves around with her hands. For the last chorus she's helped down from the podium and walks around the stage a bit. Her dress is very princessy but pretty as it catches the wind machine. It has a very large shoulder piece on one side, and it makes her look a bit hunched sometimes. She may need to work on elongating her neck.

Vocally it's mostly fine. Towards the end there were some strained notes, but possibly just the result of Dami holding back for the rehearsal. The backing singers are pretty loud in the mix, but nowhere to be seen.

Second time around. The podium is is lit up and shiny front the start this time. And there's more lights on Dami too. It also shows off the dress better. But instead the hologram stuff are less visible. She hits all the notes even better this time. Unlike the studio version, there's a LOT of wailing going on in the last chorus. Dami is wailing, and the backing singers sing the lead melody. Which works really well.

My conclusion is that they've definitely managed to come up with a staging that's a lot more exciting than what power ballads of this genre have had in Eurovision before. The holograms are a bit unnecessary, but otherwise it's all looking really good. And sounding really good.



LITHUANIA

Donny starts off alone on a dark stage with a spotlight focusing on him. He sings the first verse rather shakily, while doing some spins and things. As the chorus kicks in the stage lights change a little bit. And he does a little bit of dancing. There's some starry-sky-looking backdrop effects. He remains completely alone on stage. The backing vocals can be heard very prominently, but not seen.
There's also a small trampoline that he briefly uses.

Vocally the first run-through was quite bad. There were a lot of off-key notes. Maybe he'll improve. But vocally it was probably the worst rehearsal so far today.
The performance itself came across as rather minimalistic. This is a prime example of when hiding the backing singers makes no sense at all. He could really have needed more people on stage to make this performance come to life. Right now it's just Donny running across an empty stage all by himself, and mostly it just looks as if they didn't make much of an effort with this.

Second time, and his vocals are a bit better. The stage graphics do look quite good, but there's just nothing very exciting about it. Except maybe for that one tiny jump on the trampoline.

One more run-through, and he changes his clothes. He's wearing a white oversized neoprene jacket that looks like something one goes jogging in. Not sure if he just got cold, or if it's part of what he's planning on wearing next week.


FYR MACEDONIA

Missed the first one, because we were out getting sushi and etceteras. But got back in time for the second run-through.

The stage is looking pretty nice but simple. There's some circular podium-looking graphics on the floor underneath Kaliopi that looks a bit like a digital donut (did someone misunderstand the title?). Or maybe it's supposed to be a Q?

Unlike many other singers, Kaliopi has decided to acknowledge that she has backing singer and has been polite enough to have them on stage with her. Four female backings are on the left side of the stage, and a drummer is on the right side. Kaliopi is in the middle and stays in position for most of the performance. She's wearing a black baggy top and black trousers. It's all rather shapeless and not doing any favours for her figure. So it better not be the real outfit.

The stage is first grey-ish, and then switches to gold, yellow and orange tones with flames on the screens at the back. For the second verse it then switches back to blue and grey. During the instrumental section the cameras pan over the audience and switches to different parts of what's now just empty chairs. But will probably look a lot more exciting once there's a crowd in Globen.

Vocally Kaliopi is mostly fine. In the second run she had problems with her earpiece and had to do the Zaleilah-point to get it fixed. It meant that she was very off-sync in the first chorus, but quickly managed to get back on track. She's a pro, after all. At the end she tries to do a high-pitched falsetto scream (similar to what she did in Crno i belo) but it seems as if she can't quite pull it off this time. But it might just be the rehearsal-effect. The backing singers sing well and also lift the song quite a lot.

Overall, the performance itself is visually nothing special. Not much happens, and just like the song, the staging and choreography could just as well have been in Eurovision 1992. But that's also what suits the song, and it's not trying to be something that it isn't. The focus is on the song and on Kaliopi, and that's probably what's best for this kind of entry. But just like with Ireland, it may still struggle with being memorable enough to make people pick up the phone and vote for it.

The not-press opinion - SRB, IRL, MKD, LTU, AUS

Australia

Blue city lights. She's wearing a silver dress and lies mermaid-style on a glittering blue box. The dress glitters as well. It sounds *perfect*. She lifts the key during the second verse. And then a high note before the second chorus. She's only just sitting there but it looks mystical. She's down from the box helped by two guys during the bridge. Perfect vocals and the high notes sound awesome. She's moving a bit forward. She has given it all, which is kind of risky, I think she will not strain herself as much in the other two. This is pleasing to the eye and the ear.

Looks like no-one else agrees with me. Not sure how biased I am about it, but let's keep going.

The 3D effects are just there, don't really see the point of their existence. That's the only "negative" thing I can say about it. It's really, really pleasing (apparently even more if it's one of your favourites anyway!).

A bit more expressive in the last run and held back vocally. She's also satisfied, a big smile.

Summary: What I wanted it to be like, could have had just a tad more movement from her (it takes too long to leave the box). And the projections stuff does not really give anything to the song and happens too fast to understand. Apart from all this, it is really convincing and certainly a challenger for gold. See the odds shortening the next few hours.

Lithuania

Donny Montell is around 5 years younger than in 2009. He's alone on stage and dancing awkwardly in the beginning. Everything's blue and some dots, supposedly stars, appear. After the second chorus, it suddenly becomes more colourful. A prop appears, but he doesn't use it (?). He hasn't been very good vocally so far, then he goes melisma on the last part and somehow sounds okay. I guess he is not good at holding a tune, but he is good at "inventing" tunes? Nothing much, really. It was basically a blue Ireland.

Shaky start again, and his moves are of a poor man's Måns :) He even has his legs a bit wider apart than normal. The performance is very energetic, but the energy is inefficiently used. No point in carrying a prop (a tiny trampoline) if you are going to use it for 1 jump. It was a bad idea to have him alone on stage, the backing vocals could have appeared towards the end, when he does his solo.

The vocals have improved, or in more honesty, he skips the notes he knows won't happen. The moves keep looking a bit out of place. And then the prop is finally used. He does a backflip and smoke comes off from both sides of the trampoline as he is landing. More smoke and then it ends.

Summary: A bad decision to be alone on stage, but if he qualifies again, all credit goes to him. Coming after Macedonia is a plus for them, but then there's Australia after them, of which a classier staging is expected. The vocals are not perfect, however they've managed to make it less noticeable. And the melismatic part was flawless all three times.

Macedonia

Blue background and black clothes for her, her 4 backings and her drummer. Very strong voice and it's well performed. She knows how to make a live performance; she isn't trying to imitate the studio version, but finds ways to give some more life to it. Unfortunately, these ways include a very bad wail at the end. It plans on making the song more impressive but it comes across a bit forced. Literally zero movement on stage, except for some hand moves, on which I'll focus in the next run.

Turns out that this was the last run (McDonalds is far more time-consuming than expected).

Summary: Can't properly judge it, but it looked flat and unexciting. They haven't done anything to try and improve its chances. It's a much worse song than her other effort, so I don't think they are qualifying, based on what I've seen.

Ireland

Nicky appears in a red beam of light behind him on stage, wearing a brown-red jacket and black pants. He's a bit shaky at first but by the chorus the backings do their job quite well. Some problems along the next verse again. Nothing's really going on on-stage, with a drummer, a guitar and a keyboard player standing around him. No sight of the very audible female vocalists. The stage is too red, almost Dum Tek Tek red. It comes across as a filler, unfortunately and his voice doesn't do them any favours.

During the second verse the backdrop turns blue (innovation alert) and then back to red. Vocals much better this time round. He walks on the catwalk towards the end, with the last shot being him standing with the fist in the air. Improvement overall.

The place where he stands in the catwalk for the last few seconds has a very flamy sun on. No more improvement this time.

Summary: It is a very ordinary performance and it will probably be lost in this semi. There's not much going for him, although the catwalk was an effort to make him seem somehow charismatic and audience-friendly; this doesn't work. He needs to relax, smile a bit more and manage to hit some camera shots.

Serbia

Arrived just in time for her second (?) rehearsal. Sanja's dress is gorgeous, is there an opposite of the Barbara Dex award? I hope she actually wears this. Her strange moves have been reduced and the performance is much less weird; or I'm getting too much used to it already. A blue flower/star shape appears on the floor during the chorus. The staging reminds of Molitva's a lot, as expected. There is also a male dancer who acts like he wanted to be a female backing singer. Sanja misses one high note but rocks the ending.

Last run. The concept seems to be that she tries to escape the guy. She makes good eye-contact with the camera, as long as her eyes don't make the weird things. The dancer's moves are a bit too "aerobic" for the atmosphere at some parts. She fails the high note before the last chorus once again and makes the final note once again. The backings are staged identically to Molitva towards the end.

Summary: Well, it is much more polished and much less busy than I expected. She appears to be cool on stage and they are doing something that they've tried before and won. It should be safe, however the twice missed note is a bit concerning. Hopefully she will make it on the night (or they can skip it otherwise, because there is nothing else really wrong with this).

FINAL - FIRST DRESS REHEARSAL (Part I)

We've got 10 minutes before the first dress rehearsal for the final starts. Excitement aplenty!

Te Deum was playing in the background. We didn't have a screen view bbut now we have two guys on stage - the same which were prepping the audience up the last couple of days for the semi finals.

Seems like we're running a bit late, this is not part the of the show - unless we wer in Italy, it seems like something you would be able to see on Italia 1/Canale 5 or RAI1 on a weeknight.

The 'warm up' guys are still there ...

Still haven't started... nearly 10 mins late.

Te deum played by an orchestra in a marquee in the grounds of the Schlossbrun. We then get treated to a classical piece and then the intro to this years' building bridges.

Starting the show with another mix of last years' announcement of the winner - Austria.

We then go on a tour of Austira with the theme being circles - or at least that's the only connection I can see between the clips.

Circles, bubbles, running people, smiling children, all result in one sphere arriving at the Weiner Stadthalle and a real sphere travels down from the ceiling to the stage where it meets a violinist playing Merci Chérie and then flows into Rise like a Phoenix. During this performance the back of the stage opens up to reveal the orchestra.

Conchita rises up from under the stage.She sings the theme song of this year - Building Bridges.
Also joining her are the three other hosts - Arabella, Mirjam and Alice.

Conchita flies up into the airand is suspended over the audience moving from the podium to the main stage. In come the Vienna Boys' Choir. We move into a rap moment and the kids start waving Austrian and Australian flags. Really, this Australia stuff is starting to get to me - and I never really cared about them taking part, I thought it was a nice one off.

The stage is now for the 27 competing countries, however there was no announcement of the countries so the Slovenes were a bit 'do we, don't we' moment. They decide to take a leap and the camera moves on to Serbia, but the music is then stopped. Arabella then says "it seems that you don't need to rehearse but we do!"

"Good evening Europe!" and then music ... at the wrong time... so all three presenters laugh. Conchita looks pissed.

There is no mentioning of indicidual countries this time, just all come down at the same time.

Once all acts, flag bearers, remaining dancers and any other person wanting to go on stage has managed to get there, we continue singing Building Bridges. And the music stops.

"What a fantastic opening [...] thank you to our 265 artists here on stage"

Next we have the building bridges clips wich people were asked to submit. Not a "down down low" in sight.

Informing about the voting and we're about to start.

SLOVENIA
Extremely confident and compitent. Sounds like you're hearing the studio version. For someone who only qualified last night, Marjetka is doing very well. "Danke" and "Hvala".

FRANCE
Lisa is dressed in old Imperial robes and is having high tea. A picture is taken for her to keep.

The cameras failed right at the beginning. Director needs to be careful, rookie mistake. Still going on though, doesn't seem important enough to stop the show.

Lisa is not singing at her strongest, but we already know her philosophy - they need two good rounds, the one tonight and the one tomorrow. This is just a rehearsal.

ISRAEL
Nadav is not wearing his Golden Boy outfit - unless he wants to overly promote Nike t-shirts.

Some cameraman from NRK is blocking my view. But people seem to be clapping. It's good but maybe he's saving himself, maybe he partied too much last night ... maybe it's just getting a bit 'we've seen this already'? What am I saying? It's still fun!

ESTONIA
Something happened - so instead of listening to Estonia, we have facts about Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest read to us by Arabella. I am not sure if this is a rehearsal for 'should anything go wrong' or if it is actually just going wrong.

It seems it is going wrong. There is a technical (camera) issue. The three presenters are trying their best, but stand up comics they are not. Feel sorry for them. But oh well, it will be fine on the night.

Estonian postcard again - let's see if it works this time.

This time we get going.

Good performance, she doesn't cry but maybe it's not worth her while in this one.

UNITED KINGDOM
Bianca and Alex go flying drones at night with magical sticks - or at least that's whatt they want us to believe.

The pack has been covered by the fur throwover. Song is really not going anywhere. Need to grab that coffee? Why not use this as your break? Wouldn't be surprised if this came last. I think it will still receive points from Australia and Ireland but not many from anywhere else.

ARMENIA
Coming after the UK can only help Armenia. Another good performance and the circle is being nailed now. Should do decently well.

LITHUANIA
Harmless enough. Not going to do exceedingly well but not going to be really low in rankings either.

The more amazing thing I saw during this performance was that some delusional being has voted that the UK would win. I want whatever they're having please, and the suppliers' address. Danke. 

SERBIA
Bojana is lovely, you can see she's enjoying every minute of that stage. And so are her backing. I do hope she does really well on Saturday. 

NORWAY
Well, Debrah is trying on the Princess Merida look from the film Brave (2012). Good on ya girl! Why bother doing hair and make up for this... not like anyone is watching!

BREAK(Y)?
Not sure if this was a break or another issue. But we have a reminder of the voting numbers for the songs. And then we go to Måns. Is it just to build up suspence or is it to get the props on stage?

SWEDEN
Måns is also not worrying about costume. He's wearing a simple grey t which isn't as body hugging as his ensemble from yesterday but we get to see his arms which we enjoy.

He's not doing all the notes but that's could be for the usual two factors - tired from last night and saving for tonight. It's not an easy job doing this you know!

CYPRUS
Can Cyprus do another Lisa Andreas? This year probably not, but I can see this being top 10. Many artists are probably asking themselves the same question since thy didn't qualify last night or from Tuesday.

AUSTRALIA
Guy goes surfing in a freezing mountain river. He managed to get a cold because of it. But apparently recovered.

"This is one tough act to follow" until the EBU decide to bend all their rules when it suits them once more. I am not one for fairness and equality in the world but I am against two-faceism. If you have a rule, stick to it. Why don't we let the guys from FIFA manage - it seems they have the same ethos.

Having said that, this will do well, and if it wins so be it. But let us please keep it a one off.

BELGIUM
Again, this guy is amazing. He basically did the whole thing himself - song to choreography. And he is closing in on Italy in the betting odds. Expect good things fom this guy shortly. Could he be as big as Stromae?

AUSTRIA
Austrian postcard just shows us around Vienna. Nothing exceptional for the host country. Preferred some of the others.

The piano is on fire once more. Big cheer in the hall and press room - as can be imagined. Many 'mainstream' media representatives are now here and they are mainly Austrian.

BREAK
Arabella talks to Conchita - and congratulates her on a great job at the green room during the previous days. But, we also find out that she was at Eurovision previously - as part of the backing vocals for France 2008. We all laugh - not.  

SEMI FINAL TWO - THIRD DRESS REHEARSAL

Well, just like we did for the first, we will blog a bit about the rehearsal but only minimally. Will Portugal have to sing again? Will Iceland sound as bad as it has been? Will the 10 finalists be announced any slower?

Parade
Well, we already have a mistake - San Marino was called out but Montenegro stood up and was seen by the camera. The Slovenes are too slow so Polish Monika decides to overtake them in a move any F1 driver would be proud of!

LITHUANIA
No gay and lesbian kiss in this rehearsal again. Seems like they did it for the jury final so what are we to expect tonight?

IRELAND
Not sure what's going on with her hair with this one. Never really noticed it in any previous rehearsal so I'm assuming it's a new thing. Looks like he had a bee from the honey get stuck in it and she was scratching one part of her head to get it out. No dear. (San Marino intro ...) NO!

SAN MARINO
OH WHAT A SURPRISE! It seems we've been asked to switch the flashlight of the mobile phone on in this song. No one ever saw that one coming. Totally innovative idea.

MONTENEGRO
Knez has had a rough night it seems. He's never been looking like a spring chicken but it seems him and Lys could have been at school together here. Still, he still gets the song out.

MALTA
Apparently she was quite good in the jury final which should help. This is stronger than it was yesterday for sure. It will all depend on tonight I think.

BREAK
Green is the colour of hope "as you all know". I thought it was the colour of envy. But if Conchita says hope, it's hope. Obvi.

Conchita asks the same question to Michele as she did yesterday. This time he seems to have understood. Doesn't sound like a rehearsed answer at all. Molly from Ireland is cracking up at everything. What's you name? "HA!" Where do you come from "HA!" Where are you? "HA!" - OK, those were not the questions but answers were quite that.

NORWAY
LOVESH! Easily going through. He also stays moody for long enough at the end. Want to just give him a good long snog!

PORTUGAL
Ok, obrigado. Até  já!

CZECH REPUBLIC
Great again, would love these to go through.

ISRAEL
Show me Tel Aviv baby! Come on, this has to go through!

LATVIA 
And another sure qualifier if there is any justice in this world. Latvia is a class ahead of many this year. Unfortunately not sure about any problem-giving to the leaderboard, but a true song sung by a true artist.

AZERBAIJAN
Another decent rendition. Should be able to get through - although I just realised I said this for th past three songs. One of them will end up losing out probably - which unfortunately I would say is CZ *unhappy face :-(


ICELAND
Maria is a fairy in a stage play. She's light enough I guess, can't see Bojana having had this role. Although I would pay to watch that!

When not flying accross wooden planks supported by rigging, María is one step out of time. Well, she was yesterday, today it's not as terrible as it was. Seems like she managed to get it right at the end.

BREAK
Conchita small taks to Mørland (aka Kjetil) and then quickly move to talking fashion with Debrah. She then moves to Leonor who plays golf - of course she does. Why would she play anything else?

Charge your phones Europe!

SWEDEN
When something is good you don't change it. Congrats!

SWITZERLAND
The more I listen the more I like, but that's what happens with all the songs like is mentioned all the time. You cannot come here for two weeks and then not like every single one of them - or at least part of a song. Well, except Finland. That still hasn't had any likeable moment for me. Shame they've been kicked out *giggle with look of satisfaction*

CYPRUS
Simple, likeable - still needs to shave though. But if that is as bad as I can get on this then it's a good sign.

SLOVENIA
Camera angles are still a bit weird. Raay playing the airdrums, that random woman playing the air violin ... all a bit ... random. But in a good way? I love the song to bits, one of my favs, but watching it makes me feel stupid and confused - not nice. Then again, I'm in no way representative of European good taste so what the fook do I know.

POLAND
Still want some of that cake. There has been a sever lack of it here considering we're in Austria. Bad Vienna! WORST EUROVISION EVER! 
 
Monika seems to have slept in coz there doesn't seem to be much make-up going on. It's before the watershed dearie, there are children watching! Still find myself singing along to this - harmless enough.


EUROPE (AND AUSTRALIA) START VOTING NOW!

RECAP an History moment etc.

Bit of an awkward pause after recap 2 since Conchita didn't get her moment right (only a few seconds late but it was noticeable). She tells us to go get a drink - we approve.

Voting closed.

Mix of the voting clips still makes me laugh. Love this clip.

Bianca and Alex from Electro Velvet are being interviewed by Arabella. Italy's Il Volo are next to be questioned, this time it's Alice with the microphone. Yodelling is left in the hands of Edurne and the Makemakes are last to be talked to.

Videos of the finalists.

Jan Ola confirms once more that the results are ready.

"Thank you very much Jan Ola."

Qualifiers:

01. Portugal
02. Poland
03. Iceland
04. Cyprus
05. Sweden
06. Lithuania

(this is going slower thankfully)

07. Malta

Arabella is informing us this is fake since there seems to be enthousiastic cheering in the hall. "But thank you for the cheering" says Alice.

08. Israel
09. Azerbaijan

"And the very last country to qualify for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 is... "

10. SAN MARINO

Thank you and good night!