Friday evening rehearsals

Still a bit goosbumpy after seeing Moldova in the hall, but anyway...

IRELAND
Those of you who will be seated close to the catwalk are in for a treat, as the dancers will be bodhráning right above you throughout the intro and first verse, much of this isn't caught on camera unfortunately.

Not much has changed from their first rehearsals - a lot of choreography involving the dancers on the drums (looks great), the actual drummer playing about with the red-illuminated hive of bombos (fits the act), and very shiny people - the dancers' oily torsos and Ryan's jacket (not sure about this...). The biggest problem here remains the backing singers being too loud in the mix. But we gave up on them fixing this because they seem to think it's a good idea.

A bit of pyro towards the end now (a smidge of fireworks blowing up from behind and then in front of them), not really helping it, but it's nice to see a bit of yellow among all this black and red I suppose.

CYPRUS
Again, not much to say about this one. The intro with the spotlight behind Despoyna looks nice, and the Sara Varga split screen thing works well. And I like her shiny earrings. And with full makeup now, some viewers might wonder what the Slovenian singer is doing on stage again.

BELGIUM
A very dark setting, combined with Roberto's black suit and the dancers' black dresses, there's a lot of floating heads going on. He sings well and the sound mix is great. The press area chuckled when the dancers were wriggling about with their hands fixed on their crotches (or was it an "I'm pregnant" dance?), but otherwise the choreography comes across fine. And there was the mandatory DUBSTEP moment during the DUBSTEP:

This song feels very much at home in this MF semi arena, but Roberto's terrified child look (whether he's actually terrified or just naturally looking like this) remains its biggest problem, and this one's still very hard to call.

SERBIA
We didn't see the first runthrough, just the photo of the swirly coloured butterfly on screens. Not much different from what Moje3 looked like on Tuesday when I think of it...

We see them now, and yes, they look the same. It sounds great, but the cameras are still quite a mess, as well as the lighting, with some of them that are supposed to be in focus left in the dark. This needs a lot of work, and time is running out... We'll probably still see this on Saturday, but I wouldn't be saying this if this wasn't Serbia and sung last in a small semi. Hmm.

Friday afternoon rehearsals (part 2)

MONTENEGRO
Much the same as it was on Tuesday, just tidier.

The guys emerge from smoke, backlit in green in a nifty slow motion shot to start the song. Nina doesn't join them on stage until the first chorus, popping up from below the stage, using a lift that nobody else has used, which is a little surprising as it's very effective.

They're very much going for the 'sexy cyborg' look for Nina, and the guys remain in their spacesuits, complete with helmets lit from inside. The whole look is very dark - it's only for her second chorus that Nina comes forward into the light - which is an interesting choice.


Either way, it's very distinctive, and I really hope this does get through to the final, if only because it'll be great TV for the Saturday night audience. And based on this, it stands a pretty decent chance.

LITHUANIA
Uff... what to say about Lithuania? He stands in the middle of the stage, he sings it fine, he wiggles his eyebrows far too much... It's purple...

I don't like the song, so I'm biased here, but this is just completely underwhelming. To be honest, they'd do well not to come last.

BELARUS
Oh dear... Alyona Lanskaya obviously overslept this morning, because she's run to the arena in such a hurry that she's forgotten to put her trousers on. How embarrassing...

A much better rehearsal for Belarus today - much tidier after the messes we saw on Tuesday. There's a few camera shots that aren't there yet, including the first zoom in to Alyona's face as she emerges from the giant disco-ball at the beginning, but other than that, it's all very tight.

Her dancers have once again got their arms out, and are showing a bit of chest this time too! And speaking of arms, there's a great Yaz Bitti Moment in the second verse. We love a Yaz Bitti Moment.

As for the song's chances? Obviously qualifying, but it's not the contender it seemed a couple of months ago. There's something very joyless about the whole thing, as the Alyona-bot goes through all the motions, smiles into the camera, but somehow never fully connects.

MOLDOVA
On Tuesday, we were basically thinking that they had this perfect already. Today, it's the same - it all looks great, very slick, really coming across on screen. So it was interesting to overhear the delegation on the arena floor seemingly unhappy, and a clear "we'll fix it" from the producers.

Anyway, as far as we could see, everything seems to be pretty much in place. Aliona perhaps isn't nailing it as much vocally as she did in the first rehearsal - in particular, she didn't go for the big high note going into the last chorus on any run-through today - but she doesn't need to.

Some of the camerawork is a little different - the initial shot at the piano is now behind the pianist (who wasn't Pasha today!) rather than in front, and I'm pleased to report, again, that the backing dancers have got their arms out. They're dressed in something tight and form-fitting - we've seen one of them in something even more small and form-fitting, but we're keeping quiet about that one.

More trivia from the arena:
- Aliona's dress is actually white in its natural state
- it takes all three backing dancers to carry the rest of the dress as she walks on and off stage

Surely a comfortable qualifier for Moldova, even if the delegation don't seem so sure just yet.

Getting into business

In our quest to test out the various facilities, we have now officially had a go at the press centre printers. We felt it was fittingly retro. But then, what to print?

A photo of a cat looking at iPhone covers with pictures of itself on them, of course.

A sign with DUBSTEP also seemed vital, for those earth-shattering, crucial moments, so it simply had to be done. Photographic evidence to come! We're just waiting for some dubstep. I don't think Moldova has added any since their first rehearsals...

Friday afternoon rehearsals (part 1)

So the task on reporting the next batch of songs is mine! Yay. Here we go:

DENMARK
I'll say one thing first; the dress is NOT very flattering for her legs. Or maybe it's her legs that just aren't very flattering in the first place. But she does come across slightly like an etherial wood nymph (waist up) with treetrunk legs.

Anyway, the colours are the same as before. She sings well but doesnt give it all her energy, which makes sense.

It's all hard to judge because we have seen this exact same performance a million times by now. But it was effective the first time, back in the danish final, so there is no reason why it wouldn't be now

RUSSIA
Nobody else has internet now but me! The internet seems to have gone down in the press center, but I'm just using my 3G anyway. One of the advantages of having Eurovision in your home country. :-)

Anyway, Russia just started. But we now have almost no sound. Hmm
I'm gonna sound really superficial now, commenting on people's bodyparts, and I apologize for that. But she really has quite hairy arms. Sleeveless dress and a massive screen in the press centre is not a great combination then...

The lights does seem all off at the moment. It looks quite unfinished, and the backing singers throwing white XXL gooseberries into the audience is a quite lame anticlimax.

Dina and the backing singers sing it perfectly though.

Second run through, the lights make a bit more sense now. It's all very pink.

UKRAINE
We now got to see them in their outfit. Zlata in a multicoloured metal christmas ornament mermaid tail, and the giant dressed up as Roger Pontare.

Somehow it really doesnt look horrible though, but kinda works. The colours in the dress and the stage backdrop blend well together. It might not be everyones taste, but it is sure going to get noticed.

Vocally there are no problems and Zlata seems to.know what she is doing. One of the backing singers seems to be hungover and is missing, with a standin taking his/her place.

Secong runthrough. Zlata is still looking like she knows exactly what she is doing, and as she really has fun being on stage. I do suspect this could do quite well, if it gets a very late draw in the final. It's slightly like Ukraine 2011... memorable!

They keep "forgetting" to turn on the screens for the first 30 seconds. But one of the times we did get a brief peek of the intro. Sam says it seemed like they were doing some sort of camera effect when the giant walks. The picture flickers with each step he takes, as if the ground is shaking.

NETHERLANDS
I still wonder what this will be like when there is audience in the hall. Standing on the satellite stage, she will naturally be surrounded by heads, flags, boas and happy people. And its just not that kind of song...

Anouk looks a bit tired today (rough night?) and seems to basically just do what is required but not more. Which makes sense considering she has already rehearsed this and there just isn't anything to rehearse for her, having the possibly simplest staging of all.

She sometimes does manage to look at the cameras... but it's as if she's looking AT the camera, not INTO it. She could definitely connect better with the viewers.

Interviews: Austria, Slovenia, Finland

Natália: Latin is not my thing

Hannah sings I Feed You My Love

Krista: Alcohol is Free in weddings