First rehearsal: UK, Spain, Germany

Germany

Pre-opinion: This one actively annoys me, which is good news for Germany: Better some emotion than no opinion whatsoever as I had for their recently failed songs. And for every hater, there's a lover or two. So this could make an impact.

First run-through: Michael in complete darkness, yellow-ish projections start at the first chorus. Parts of the lyrics, family pictures (not his), a road and a home. Michael in good voice. Projections go crazy near the end with his body throwing shadows in spirals, and then it's red, and damn, I'm starting to like this.

Second run: Still looking and sounding effective. The black-and-yellow road projection may remind you of the 1991 Belgian national private final stage:

Spain

Pre-opinion: One of the strongest melodies this year, but the hyperglycemic performances we've seen so far might turn people away. Especially now that Lithuania does sugar so much better.

First run-through: No pianos. They start out standing in two different time zones (very Waterfall) in a dark stage, then getting close and holding hands. Amaia in white, Alfred in burgundy. Not much happens, apart from them touching each other in different angles.

To give you an idea of their choreography, this is how they move about on stage:

And from about 2:00 they're in each other's arms until the end.

United Kingdom

Pre-opinion: This stood out in the UK final as the only confident performance and memorable song. It won't be so easy when the competition level is 100 times stronger. Hoping for a full blown storm effect with sprinkles in the arena and everything.

First run-through: SuRie is inside a dead whale skeleton made of LED and sharp angles. This looks really cool. Backing singers are off-stage, but they're really loud in the mix.

Second run: We have dry ice, and it looks like the whale skeleton is floating on a cloud. This is all very symmetrical, with the thing in the centre of the stage and SuRie in front of its centre - fans of symmetry will love this. She sings well but looks a bit lonely.

Pyro run: I only saw a bit of pyro during the last chorus, almost like a birthday cake firework.

Good afternoon

I went to see Portugal (the country) and missed Portugal (the song). I'm in love with Lisbon, but my feet don't share that feeling. They cobblestone anything and everything, even inside the arena(!)

First rehearsal: Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain and Germany

Germany

I am on the team of lovers of this song. I was a proud member of that team through the first part of this rehearsal too. However, the change of graphics after a while (going from cartoon-y illustrations of words from the lyrics, to psychedelic white/red and black patterns) made it look tacky, I'm afraid. Still love the song, but I'm hoping they will try out different visual endings and go for something else.

After the rest of the runs I'm even less convinced when it comes to the graphics.

Spain

Amaia is in a plain white trouser-suit and half white, half glittery shoes. Alfred has been talking to the Icelandic designer, and gone for a wine-red suit with a little miniature map in gold on one of the sleeves. Visually there are no major "special effects", they are rightly focusing on the two cuties on stage, who are looking at each other and holding each other.

The camera crew have some more rehearsing to do, but this is still looking good despite those few minor mistakes. 

Third, last run and the camera work was good too!

United Kingdom

SuRie is up on a platform in a white creation with very flared legs. She's in a tunnel of blinking squares as well, shifting between pink, purple, blue and turquoise. Yair has joined me, and I'm happy that;
1. he is here.
2. he is the one making skeleton associations today.

I like how this looks, dry ice, a tunnel and sparkler looking pyro in the end is a good combination. The song is too anonymous for me though. 

Portugal

Cláudia is in her (or someone else's) grandmothers over sized well washed nightie, showing the contours of her black bra and trousers/tights. She sings a little differently compared to how I have heard the song before in the studio version and from the NF, staying on the notes longer. I like that change!

The backingsinger is in black and turnes up unexpectedly, unless you're expecting her to turn up :)


Time for first rehearsals again, so we are kicked out of the arena and now waiting for the break to be over. Stay tuned, Portugal is next in line!

Meanwhile, in the Serbian press conference, the designer is being held accountable for the change of costumes. However, she did mention that some people, especially the bloggers at ESCnation, liked the liquorice worms so much that the delegation insisted on keeping some of it. Thank you Serbian delegation for reading our blog and taking our advice!

Liquorice worms in the hair.

Day 8 - 2nd Run Through : UKR / ITA / ESP / GER / GBR / FRA

FRANCE

And guess what, once more the frock is the same as in the first rehearsal! Alma had also worn it when coming into the Norwegian press conference yesterday after it ended and requested a selfie with Joakim and Aleksander! Back to the rehearsal however and Alma is not the strongest we've seen her. She is still delivering adequately but not as good as we've had. The camera angles work nicer than what we saw previously but still getting dizzy with the flyover view of turning Paris.

2nd Run - Adequate once again. Alma is not really bringing the best of herself to the camera but is trying to be playful. It will be a bit hit and miss on the night I believe.

3rd Run - And this concludes the second rehearsal for all countries. With Alma going off the stage, we are now done for the day. Who do you think did better than expected in this round? And who fared worse? You can always comment in the message board.


UNITED KINGDOM

Only Ukraine seems to have opted for a different look today. Lucie is also wearing her same dress from Friday. Camera angles have been worked a bit and now we have three of her in one shot - just like Croatian Jacques! Putting the multiple versions to one side, Lucie is delivering this song with the professionalism you expect from her. Pitch-perfect even though after performing she compains "my ears are so low!" Wouldn't have known unless she mentioned.

2nd Run - Another pitch-perfect rendition. Since there is no dancing there is not much that can go wrong with this. Possibly the UK's best result since 2009?

3rd Run - And more pyro! Not much but enough. This is looking like a very good package, and would be suprosed if it ends up with a similar result the UK has been getting in the past few years


GERMANY

No costume change for Levina today either. She's looking confident on stage and even though she doesn't have an entry with any belter moments, she does her best to give it the best she can. Unfortunately we think the song itself is not able to carry much weight when compared the the likely rivals that will be in the final - however, hopefully, this will not end last.

2nd Run (or possibly 3rd) - We could hear the backing track but the microphone wasn't very loud for the first couple of lines. The song itself is harmless and Levina is just doing what she can. She's singing well but she must know there are not very high hopes for her. This run had pyro which is why we were a bit confused on which run it is since we only saw two but it's always the last one that has the extras.

3rd Run - Germany has just changed the game! This third one did not have pyro! What are they doing to us? Don't they know the sacred rules? Joking apart, unfortunately there is nothing more to add to Levina's routine. It's well sung, confident and reasonable staging but at the end of the day the song is what it is and this cannot be changed regardless of camera angles and lighting effects.


SPAIN

So, the guys are still seeing the Earth from the beach they're supposed to be on while Manel sings the first verse. Nothing strange at all. The guys are wearing the same Hawaiian shirts they did on Friday but in fairness they're doing their best on stage. It's still likely ending last, but they try.

2nd Run - The team seems to be going through the motions. There's no real emotion being shown to camera and the other band members just seem to be doing their own thing without any real choreography being planned for them in most parts of the song.

3rd Run - As much as I hate myself for knowing that I'm going to write this, and it could be because I'm running on the last bits of energy I have left running in my body, but this is not seeming as terrible as it did just a couple of days ago. I'm attributing this to the 'seen it multiple times' effect which as we know makes anything with familiarity more appealing to the brain and therefore we have better feelings about it. Europe will not have these feelings.


ITALY

Francesco didn't start with the first line - did he just forget? The cameras have been worked on and, as to be expected, the package is working a lot better than during the first rehearsal we saw. The team is wearing the same attire they did on Friday and it is likely that this is what they will be wearing come Saturday. Francesco is loving it on stage and is good with the camera - although not perfect. Also, dad dancing is having a revival in Eurovision.

2nd Run - All the lyrics are available this time round. Camera is still being changed to view new angles and the backing singers do the Alé/Allez! And oh, no dad dancing this time but a statue-still Francesco with the dancing ape doing all the work. Another large applause from the people in the arena.

3rd Run - It seems we have the same person with 'issues' we've had a couple of times before this year. The video in the press was only switched on for the chorus so we have not seen the first half of the third run. Although we doubt anything major happened in the part that we missed, it is kinda the point of us being here to see these things in full and comment. But oh well, not like anyone was doubting this wasn't going to be good and further solidify the likeliness of an Italian win this year.


UKRAINE

Well, the giant head is still there but Yevhen at least has changed his costume from the first rehearsal. We're trying to check the others to see what they're wearing but the run was a bit fast. Again vocally this is doing quite well and visually it's appealing - apart from the scary eyes at the end.

2nd Run - Someone forgot to press the button so all we saw from the second run was the last three verses of the song. Not much we can do with this.

3rd Run - There aren't many close up shots of the other members of O.Torvald however we *think* they also have changed their outfit since last Friday. Another good rendition of the song and with home advantage it should see decent scores coming in howsoever should not be troubling anyone at the top of the leader board.


MORNING JOURNEY

Well, let us just say that possibly maybe I am still not yet to bed but since today is only six songs we should be able to get through this pretty easily. Coffee is aplenty and we'll also have lots of water to keep hydrated - even though the current situation may in fact lead to better comments.

Day 6 - 1st Run Through : GBR / FRA

FRANCE

Dressed in a pretty sparkly black and white with hints of gold number, Alma seems to be enjoying her time on stage. She may have a tad more make-up than needed but we shouldn't judge. Once again she is alone on stage throughout the song - as many have chosen to be this year.

The backdrop starts as a skyline of a city (we cannot see any distinctly Parisian buildings therefore cannot tell where it is - if anywhere). In the bridge however we can clearly see that this is Paris since it is a night cityscape and the Eiffel Tower is centre-stage. The landscape (or city lights if you will) then start playing in the backdrop. Since this is the first run through it was a bit hard to concept everything but one thing sorely missed is the dancers from the video. They would have fitted so well in this with that simple choreography they do but nope, once again a lone singer on stage.

2nd Run - Not much to comment extra from the first run. It does seem a little bit disappointing from what we could have had from France this year but let's wait and see how it will look in the second rehearsal on Sunday once the team has had time to look at it in the viewing room and decide which best angles to use.

3rd Run - There was no pyro, no petit sparklies, NOTHING!

But thank you anyway Alma! We can now close for the day. Many thanks to all!


UNITED KINGDOM

Lucie is dressed in a gold sleeveless dress. She is inside a mirrored shell and the camera starts as if it looking from up above her but in fact it is filming a reflection and Lucy is camera left. We've got another simple starry night background with various hues of gold every now and then coming from sunbursts. Vocally Lucie is doing well, not excellent but good enough. She still managed to get a large applause in the press area - but that may be since most of the people here seem to be coming from this land.

2nd Run - It took a while to get started with the second run however this may be due to the microphone stand now becoming gold also! But ooh! There is an issue with in-ear sound and Lucie stops this.

"Let's try again!"

2nd Run Take 2 - Lucie doesn't seem fussed by what happened moments ago. She is also better vocally and finding her feet. She is static in this shell so there is no dancing or much movement to be done. And Henrik just mentioned the word which excites all us little boys (and some girls) here in the press - our friend PYRO!

3rd Run - And pyro there was - but not that much. Boo - not really that impressive, not when you see what Germany has. Everyone claps and Lucie gets off stage. We're waiting for our 42nd country to take the stage now!

Day 7 - Germany, Italy, United Kingdom

UNITED KINGDOM
Much like the first rehearsal. Much mediocre as the first rehearsal. There is still part of me which is just waiting for Jake's guitar strap to break and see the guitar crash to the floor while he's bouncing up and down. The ending with Joe putting his arm around Jake just looks fake and over-rehearsed. It still gained an applause in the room but I think it's just because there are quite a number of British people here. It is completely forgettable performance and if it is placed between two good songs it will be likely bottom 10.



ITALY
The microphone stand has more coloured ribbons than just blue and yellow as was seen in the first rehearsal. Francesca is no longer clad in the brown dungarees and white t-shirt but in a black number. Camea angles have changed as have some of the added screen graphics. The LED backdrop has had a few additions to it but nothing majorly different - mainly some outlines of fluffy clouds floating accross the sky.

In this rehearsal you see Francesca picking up the apple with the seedling growing out of it. I would personally avoid this since you can see Francesca concentrating on doing it without being able to see since she is looking into the camera which is straight on. I would say this is the one that will be top out of the direct finalists this year.  


GERMANY
Same as most other times it has been performed. The outfit is the same as was worn in the first rehearsal as are most of the camera angles. This is the best so far today and by a long shot. Vocally Jamie-Lee is still strong and the backing vocals are on the correct strength. It would predict it to be second out of the direct finalists but I am sure Europe has it in it to blind-side us. Good effort and hopefully should get a decent result. We will not be seing Germany last as we did in Vienna.

The not-press opinion - FRA, ESP, GER, ITA, UK

Overview

France gave what I expected them to give. They are still a contender for challenging Russia and they certainly win against the similarly simply staged Sweden imo. Italy's staging is not to my liking, it really destroyed the feeling for me. However, it seems that people who were not into it find it very appealing. I'd be happy if a song I liked gets a good result, although I won't like the live performance video in the end. Germany gave me goosebumps, but I do realise that this is not going to happen to the average viewer. Hopefully, the juries will help her placing rise, but then will the outfit ruin her? The UK delivered, they made me like the song more than I ever had. Although it's instant, its appeal will depend a lot on the draw and what precedes/follows them. They would benefit from a clinical performance, like Czech Rep. for example. Finally, Spain's incompetence is beyond words. My first reaction two days ago was positive, but no improvement on the vocals has been made since then and the fall is captured and implemented in a very fake way.

United Kingdom

First shot the one not holding a guitar (I suspect that's Jack?). The shot widens as the background is filled with purple/blue dots. Two blocks with the drummer and the guitarist. Random faces appear during the second chorus on the floor. And the background as well. Stage turns black with white lights for the bridge and then some strong purple ones for the last part. Vocals are not bad, but not very strong. It ends in a mid shot with them hugging (in a friendly way). Personally, I like the far shots of this more, but for the vast majority it's the close-ups that will matter. It wins the battle against what I've seen from Denmark, but not much else.

Faces during the first chorus as well. Oh, it's actually two sets of drummers on the podiums. Not very noticeable anyway. For the second chorus, camera starts with them facing each other as they sing the first "You're not alone" and then pans away for the "We're in this together". This is effective camerawork. Some awkward jumps in the last part, somehow too co-ordinated, like they're standing on a mini trampoline. The vocals have improved.

Third run. Their vulnerable look in the beginning is much more preferable to the other opponents in this category, DEN, IRL, LTU. Or arrog-Frans. But I'm still not convinced they will avoid something like 18th. Good pyros by the way, timed with the I,I,I and sky,sky,sky parts (three each).

Italy

People loved this yesterday, but the stills didn't convince me. First time for this too, then. The stand has blue and purple shades around it. The flower arrrangements right and left of her are a nice touch, but it's too linear. Balloons all around and yellow spheres on stage. She's convincing when faceing the cameras. The tree on the back is just there, which is good (I wouldn't like any more movements and distractions on this). Some effects of white something on screen, like bubbles. The language change is here and I love that moment in studio, but here nothing special happens. The white thingies are like fireworks and bubbles, and little hearts. Ok, a bit silly. She gives us a potato? So many things happening, I didn't notice the song that much, which is certainly not needed. I'm cautious.

The white sparkles/clouds/hearts are already present in the opening shot. The close-up shots where not much is going on are the best moments imo. It happens during most of the 1st chorus. She gets the right angles every time, but then something appears at a random point in the screen and you watch that instead. Vocally perfect. I don't particularly like these ideas, but maybe others will? It could be because I also had a totally different staging in mind.

Warming to it in the third run as I focused more on what I was listening and her instead of everything else. It needs for the viewer to not be too distracted by all the staging and realise that they are actually listening to a decent song. In the end, it might prove to be a wise choice, but it's certainly risky.

Germany

First time watching this. Stage is purple while we first get to see a close-up of Jamie-Lee after 30 seconds or so (might be for the best). Camera are too shaky. Purple naked trees with green laser beams towards above (as leaves?). She is spot on in her vocals. Cameras are finally steady and she hits the shots. A weird shot of the backings in the dark before the second chorus, during which she walks the catwalk and arrives to the end of it just in time for the Ahhh scream. Ends with a far shot with her in the middle and the huge moon behind her.

We will need the next run to properly judge this, as the camera crew had a collective stroke or something.

Steady shots this time and identical performance. The weird dark shot of the backings is still there, though. It's so dark, this still counts as "hidden backings". She arrived a bit earlier to the end of the catwalk, which is less effective than before. She looks happy. Being a big fan of the song, I can't help but sing along. Although I love it, I do realise there might not be enough amount of connection developed during the night. Not much to say about the third run either, she's perfected it already.

Spain

The opening minute is vocally and visually problematic, unfortunately. The backings are clapping at the first "Say yay yay yay" very not to the rhythm. The fall was too fake again and did not happen during the close-up shot at her dancing feet. Much less convincing than her first rehearsal. She lifts it with the catwalk and this time she does one accidental Hooray (which exists in the studio version, but she's not supposed to do it live, from what we've seen so far in Stockholm. Let's wait for the other two runs, but I'm doubting her chances for a decent result after this.

More parts I find awkward. Why does the screen go black after the fall? It doesn't seem realistic, they should have stayed with the initial thing, where we get to look at her on the ground for more seconds. They've unfortunately managed to make what was a refreshing and contemporary performance into something over-rehearsed and obviously fake. The silly choreography of the backings doesn't help.

Good luck to her, because she's the best that happened to this entry.

France

Again, like with its first rehearsal, I am satisfied while mostly everyone around me is not. I think the performance is very sincere. My favourite part is during the bridge when the moon approaches him on the floor projections and he stands on it and then makes a glowing effect. There is one thing that's missing; audience. I am still optimistic about this, although I agree it is not a front-runner, like Russia clearly is.

Day 6 - Germany, Italy, United Kingdom

UNITED KINGDOM

Before the Rehearsal
The UK decided to move away from their format they chose for the past few years of internal selection. Admittedly, they did not have much of a lot to choose from and probably did choose the best option for the show. No one is expecting this to really do anything in Stockholm (apart from the British media who keep on asking people if they are going to win - just to have people disappointed and angry when they don't even finish top 10), but we should be seeing the UK reach a higher position than they have seen for a bit.


Rehearsal
Starting on a darkened stage, we open with Joe's closeup. The shot changes which then brings Jake into the picture for the second verse. The stage also lights up in blue, white and red lighting. There are two drummers on podiums. For the intro to the chorus, photos of people take the stage. For the second verse, the stage goes back to its original colourings and changing back to new photos for the chorus. These photos change with the rhythm of the song. This unfortunately does look like a bad performance in an X-Factor style show. They would be in the sing-off and probably get eliminated this week. The third run-thorough has some pyro on the last chorus but I doubt this will gain many extra points (if any) due to it. Don't expect any "Royaume Uni, douze points!" being uttered.


ITALY

Before the Rehearsal
Well, at least we have someone who wanted to come to Eurovision rather than the group Stadio who let's face it, would not have any interest in coming here. Italy is one of those nations who everyone wants to see but has no real following at home. This is the first year that the contest will be shown on the first channel - until last year it was on Rai2 with the semifinals still being on Rai4 until today. Will having it on the first channel make any difference? I believe it will all depend on what happens. If they do well like last year, then it is likely that the interest will remain the same. If however Francesca fails to light up Europe, then it is more likely we see it go to Rai2 and stay there for the duration of Italy's comeback - which in itself might not be greatly long-lived.

Rehearsal
She's definitely not wearing her outfit for Saturday. Brown sparkly dungarees on top of a white t. There are a lot of digital effects on screen like we saw in her music video. They take a bit of getting used to. Staging, well, it's nice, it's different, it's unusual... we have a couple of platforms with a lot of items on sticks around the edges. I'm sure I can find better words to describe it but it is quite difficult to explain. A yellow balloon, a seagull, a sunflower, a parrot, an umbrella, 3D glasses (blue/red) and much, much more.

Unfortunately I seem to be the only one who does not get this. At all. Everyone around me is telling me how amazing it is but I clearly am (as has been told to me) "dead inside". The staging starts with a bare tree on a cloudless, sunny day. Francesca is on a grassy circular platform. The background turns into night for the chorus. The tree is lit up as is the floor and we have fireflies buzzing around it. For the second verse, the floor is an ocean. This continues throughout the rest of the song while the time of the day changes from day to night depending on the chorus. Her microphone stand has ribbons in blue and yellow - unlike in Rimini where this was in the colours of the rainbow flag.

At least for this rehearsal there has been no pyro or any other effect. If there was going to be it would be likely that Italy would have paid for it but maybe we just need to wait for the second round of rehearsals. A lot of people here are already talking about Turin 2016, could this be just press-centre emotion like we had with France last year?




GERMANY

Before the Rehearsal
What are we to expect from Jamie-Lee. The good thing is that we really do not know. The staging for this song is one of the things I've personally been looking forward to. we know that she is quite a character and that it is hard to point out what she will want to do next. Will the artistic director want to change from the staging in Cologne or will we see something similar to that?

Rehearsal
Well, it is similar to the national final. You can see the outline of Jamie-Lee in front of a moon. She is in the forest which we saw in Germany. Wearing an outfit not too dissimilar to that we saw in the national final, consisting of a Japanese schoolgirl shape however being a sparkly silver top, turquoise skirt with sparkly blue circle stones, and frilly shoulders. She is also wearing a headpiece in the same colours of her attire. Socks are knee-high and in blue and purple. White sparkly flat-souled shoes with a silvery bow complete the outfit.

The backing vocals are unfortunately quite off in the first round, unlike Jamie-Lee who is giving a good performance. There is, as you can imagine, not much choreography. Jamie-Lee walks along the stage rather calmly but never moves too far from her original position on the main stage. She does however later use the bridge to the satellite platform which is where she completes her performance.

Second run - the backing vocals have been lowered which is a good sign that this was noticed immediately by the delegation. Jamie-Lee is looking like she is really enjoying being there but is quite shy and has the 'I'm just a little girl' look. Mothers across Europe will be into this if she finishes her performance with *that* look - regardless of what they think of the song.

Third run - Addition of the dry ice to cover the stage to enhance the mystical look of it. Could do with getting the combination right, the platforms of the trees are visible which could be done without. Small issues which will be fixed before you know it.

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.  

Winners and losers on Day 7

Hey hey! It's my last day in Vienna, but before I head out to join the Nation boys at their villa in sunny Spain tomorrow, let's complete the set of "winners and losers" by taking a quick look at the big 5+1+1.

Oh, actual Chinese TV is here! And they just interviewed Felix and me! That's not random at all.

Anyway, the winners of today's rehearsals for me are Germany, who have a sensible staging concept and an Ann Sophie who's starting to come across as more seductive than shouty; Australia, which is basically already the complete package with no further work required, as Guy ably demonstrated; and France, where the potential of a highly conventional song is being maximised by an effective stage presentation.

Somewhere in the middle I'll place Spain - their entire performance is frankly ludicrous, but it's hugely entertaining trash and the final desperately needs a bit of that. Austria probably belong here too, if only because the Makemakes did exactly what we expected of them (well, with added fire) but nothing more.

The losers of the day? I'm going to put Italy in that category, because "Grande amore" is currently a bit of a mess in the filming department and the Il Volo boys seem reluctant to look into the camera; and, most notably of all, the United Kingdom. Even if they manage to get the camerawork right and inject some personality into the performance, the whole thing will still be a hot mess. If they don't, a very round score could beckon.

And with that, I'm off to eat some cake and actually see a bit of the host city, since it's probably better to do that before you leave than after. Laters!

Watching the first rehearsal of the final

The whole thing starts off with what can only be described as a Eurovision version of the "Parade of Nations" in beauty pageants like Miss Universe and Miss World. The stage shows the flag of each country, one at a time, while a voice reads the name of the country in three languages as the entrant walks across the stage and waves to the audience. Sadly, they aren't wearing ginormous feather-embedded national costumes :/

They managed to mess it up by announcing Greece as Poland and Poland as Greece, so they stopped it and will presumably start over...

One more try, and this time everyone entered when they should. A rather nice start of the contest

Something has actually changed in Ukraine. The whistle bits seem to be properly back. I can't tell if they are being done live or if they've changed to another backing track. But would this be the furst time (excluding 1993 and 1996) that a song has actually changed musically between the semifinal and the final?

The next few countries are all performing very similar to the semifinal, so not much to say there

Germany finally. In the postcard they're baking sweets in the colours of the German flag. The performance is quite basic, just the three members if the band performing it in the same way that someone would probably have performed this in Eurovision 1996 or so. Except for the pink confetti strips falling down at the end, which totally covered the lead singer making her look a bit like a pink egyptian mummy.

Now another Record book segment. The highest note ever is apparantly the one by Maja Blagdan. Congratulations Croatia, you managed to get a mention even though you're not participating this year.

Technical issue before France. But eventually it starts. The singer shouts random stuff in the intro and the rest of the performance is rather messy. But it might just be the kind of thing that works better with audience reactions.

Next country not from the semi is Italy, with the postcard of course being mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil. Visually I think the performance works well, even if there are a few notes that aren't quite working. 

Slovenia and Finland did their thing. Now Spain. Ruth made the Spanish flag with yarn. The stage looks really awesome, in my opinion. And the fake rain almost looks real, especially as Ruth performs with WET HAIR! (a first?). The white light at the end isn't that great though... And the backing singers are nowhere to be seen unfortunately. But overall the performance is very effective

Eventually we get to Denmark. Vocally it's not great today, but the camerawork looks good. 

Then there's some technical difficulties... They're taking quite some time. So they decided to cut to a clip containing a medley of "some of the greatest hits in Eurovision". I suspect this might be a clip they've created especially to use in case of technical issues on the final night, ans that we won't get to see it if there are no problems. Oh well, it was just "Fairytale", "Congratulations" (no, not the Silvia Night one sadly) and "Satellite", so no big loss :)

Now eventually the UK. Molly in a goldem short dress with a feather-like collar. Almost like something from the videoclip further up above. Vocally she and the backing singers are alright, but the performance isn't as effective as I hoped it would be. Maybe it'll work better with a more interested audience though.