Our predictions for the second semi-final

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

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

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

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

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

Fishy Predictions for the Second Semi-Final

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 Denmark | Pretty please?! 🥺

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 6 | Second Rehearsals | Both Semi-Finals | 🇲🇹 🇸🇲 🇪🇪 🇨🇿 🇬🇷

Good morning from, well, not Rotterdam (Notterdam?). While I'm sure you're all waiting for the Big 5 (will there be an LED middle finger? A giant inflatable baguette?) which Jordy will bring from the real press centre later on, here's a bunch of mostly microstates first.

🇬🇷 | Greece

After all those overly coloured entries, the minimalist purple-white-grey theme works wonders and the stage (and Stefania) look stunning. The transparent dancers trick will be the talk of the day and they've impressed me where other trickeries failed. Not quite sure that Stefania is a strong/experienced enough singer to carry this, but maybe she's holding back.

Sedond and third runthrough and she's singing better (not great, but adequately). This is the best rehearsal I've seen of all - one criticism is that the 'rotating screen' effect while she's on the stairs is already done before (by Sergey, at least). Other than that, transparent is the new black. Or is it 'invisible'?

Over to Roger for some more excitement.

🇨🇿 | Czech Republic

The first thing I notice is that Benny's glasses are very reflective, both lenses and frame. Or did they get steamed up in the mask-mandatory dressing room? There's nothing exciting about this act, it's just Benny & co having fun on stage. He's very likable (both in the attractive meaning and the charismatic meaning) and seems to be quite the professional, visually and vocally. I don't know if this will be remembered by song 17, but I'm liking what I see.

Actually there is something exciting - a really clever way to reveal the female dancers who join the male dancers in the second verse. One of them just appears out of thin air. Magic! There's also a sideways jumping routine when they sing the title, that's going to become a gif as soon as it's allowed. Something like this.

Last runthgough was without glasses. Probably better this way (said the blogger with glasses)

🇪🇪 | Estonia

Trying to find something nice to say here, ok: Everything about this reminds me of Lithuania 2019, and that very nearly qualified (the Irish televoters loved it!). And it's wise of Uku to use loud backing vocalists, because during the first line of the first verse you can hear him alone and he's really not great. The moon backdrop is kinda nice too, as is the ripply floor effect... running out of nice things to say here, help me!

The online press centre are chatting about coffee, that's nice too.

🇸🇲 | San Marino

The main question I've been concerning myself was - would it be possible for the real Flo to perform without having rehearsed? And the answer is - yes, Faux Rida just walks in and sings his bit, never finding a camera and is just there - something that should be easy enough to replicate without any previous training. Hell, I could do it.

Besides him, there is a lot going on  - Senhits everywhere, including the LED floor, and everyone crowding on a rotating stand, like a giant Lazy Susan.

The're really doing the most to cover Senhit's lack of singing abilities and the rather average song, and it's working, but on Saturday it's still going to be mostly a novelty. The last runthrough brings the pyro, including on the catwalk box which works really nicely.

Oh, and the fully-masked-bar-star-shaped-eye-hole dancers are terrifying. Like some kind of clown ninjas. At one point they're surrounding Senhit and staring at her like they're about to murder her, but so far thankfully she survived.

🇲🇹 | Malta

Well, they tried. They really tried. They brought in their best gun. But the whole thing still feels very... Maltese. As in, amateur - although perhaps less so than 2019. Destiny is cute and her new burrito-wrap dress will make sure she's noticed, but you can still tell that she's a bit too young for this song.

The best moment here is perhaps the vertical split screen during the first chorus with lots of hands doing the familiar routine. Othere than that, there's not much else to say - it's very much focused on Destiny with lots of different solid colour backgrounds. One of those is very yellowy yellow, and to my eyes it's really not the best background for pink and silver dresses. It's not bad (and the pyro curtain helps a bit), but if I had lots of money on this to win I'd be worried. Maybe live audience will help and she'll own it when it really matters, so not all is lost for them.

Second rehearsal: Romania to Denmark

Denmark

Sounds and looks exactly the same to me. I will run over to the arena to see if the fake snow (which will probably still be a part of this performance, at least in the last run) is more convincing "in person"!

There was no fake snow this time. No real snow either. Thank you Rasmussen for reading our blog and taking our advice!

The song/performance is powerful from inside the arena. Writing press is allowed in at the very back of the hall, but there was still a good view from there. If you have tickets for the back rows for next week you will still be able to see the show well!

San Marino

The famous Robot Nr. 4 is also my favourite, now presenting a sign saying "This is just a rehearsal", and a bit later, the sign "Justice for Valentina!", flashes by, which about 80% of the press centre found hilarious, yours truly included. Vocally, Jessika is struggling in all the runs today.

Outfits have changed. Jessika is in a short red glittery lace dress today, Jenifer also has different clothes compared to what we saw earlier this week. She is wearing a white sports bra looking top, white flighty trousers and a pink see through rain coat looking creation.

Serbia

Oh no. The Serbian backing dancers/singers are no longer dressed in liquorice worms! The tops of the dresses are now completely black instead, with a discrete pattern. The fabric/design in a too bulky if you ask me. Sounding and looking the same apart from that.

Romania

Romania sounds and looks very similar to the previous rehearsals. However, we need some hair Product to make all the Little baby hairs that are now standing right up, behave. Unless it's the look they're going for, who knows, it might the the start of a new trend!?

Day 3 of first rehearsals - Norway to San Marino

San Marino

The cute little robots are with Jessika and Jenifer in Lisbon! The press centre, including myself, is LOVING them. One robot held a "Will you marry me?" sign and our hearts melted. It was the awww-iest awww so far. And the song needs it, I think, it wouldn't do much for me without the robots.

Robot number four has "I'm not your robot" - Brilliant! #ThisRobotToo!? - written on the platform it's standing on, it then flips over to the "Will you marry me?"

Rehearsals are breaking for lunch. I wonder what robots like to eat.

Serbia

Huge oil barrel looking drums - yes, they are standing in a (semi)circle - an older man playing and/or pretending to play the flute are combined with outfits that makes me think of ancient times. This is one of the songs I have really enjoyed listening to the studio version of, and I'm happy that it's sounding and looking ok so far!

Yair's description "liquorice worms" is spot on! Something like this in combination with the ancient style dress:

Romania

The protesting security check has something to do with a power problem, apparently. We were asked to move from the newly opened part of the press centre during Romania's first run through. Some of the computers had blown up for some of the journalists, and they didn't want that to happen to us (OK, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but someone in there had had some damage to his charger and was a upset). From what I saw and heard of Romania, the only things that stay with me are the colours blue and pink and the creepy white face masks. The song doesn't stay at all unfortunately.

Trend spotting part two for Eurovision 2018: props in circles. Yesterday we had planks from Armenia, today we get mannequins from Romania.

Norway

We got to see the second to last run through from Norway, a cheerful Alexander (is he ever anything else?) on a stage lit up in blue, turquoise and pink and the "clip art gone wild" in white.

Last run was with pyro. I want more pyro. Always more pyro. This run went what seems to be according to plan as well, tons of energy from Rybak. Nice wake up call in the morning, good way to start the semi. I have a feeling I will be singing this song today, torturing Yair with it. Better put Estonia on to get it out of my head!

Step one, get out of bed, shower and put on clothes
Step two, just brew a cup
That's how you wake up smart

(work in progress, by Polle and Elin)

First rehearsals: Norway to San Marino

San Marino


Pre-opinion: Haha. Well, this song surely has zero televoting potential (except in Malta), I do sometimes enjoy it. Really hoping for robots or a similar concept.

ROBOTS ARE HERE! At least three.

First runthrough: Jessika starts in a cape, which is helped off by dancers. There's a fourth robot in the back, all robots doing some kind of hand choreography. Press is loving it. Jenny B does her thing, then Robot 4 is holding a sign, something along the lines of "will you marry me" (another Portugal 2011 tribute, clearly). Huge applause.

Second run: There's a lot of Verka-style up and down arm dancing. The robots are the true stars, getting a lot of camera love. In the bridge, Jess interacts with one of them and places her hand under the robot's, feels like it's meant to be holding something we haven't seen yet.

Third run: Sign says "I am not your robot" in the back. Clearly someone there is having fun, and so are we.

Serbia

Pre-opinion: This has been a complete mess so far, but has a certain fun potential to it. Let's see if they sort out the vocals, at least.


First runthrough: Yellow-black stage that becomes blue when the beat kicks in. Fancy drums with patterns on them, similar patterns on the women singer's tan dresses. Men are in black.

Patterns on women look like liquorice wormsSanja Ilić

Second run: This sounds fine, looks like they solved the singing issues by bringing in a third girl. That means they had to get rid of someone - Sanja? No, he's not there. Now it's Sanja Ilić (In The Audience) Feat. Balkanika. The act is less messy than it was in Beovizija, but still a bit all-over-the-place.

Last run looks about the same. I wonder why they decided to place Serbia right after Romania, both have an "ancient Greek theatre" style choreography.

Romania

Pre-opinion: One of my favourites this year since I first heard it in the salt mine (or was it Sighișoara?), I was gutted when it got such cold reaction from the fans and betting odds. Everything seems to be against it, but I still have my hopes. They'll have to work hard to follow-up this opener.

First run-through: Mannequins! Lots of them. Black shiny plastic bodies with white mask. The band also wear the masks from the NF, but on the back of their heads. A very dramatic staging.

Think Elouiz (from MGP 2016) meeting Schmetterlinge.

Second run: First shot is the woman who isn't the lead singer (Corina, I think) taking off her mask and walking about. Everyone's in white except Cristina's purple dress and the black mannequins. Male band members touch her dramatically and trying to keep an expression-less face. She's singing well. The white suits and back-head masks make the male Humans look like they're lab workers who try to contain Cristina with some kind of microbiological pandemic, and I'm not sure it's intended this way. But I like it.

Last run: Still sounding good, act however comes out a bit over-choreographed and feeling very much like a #2, unfortunately.


Norway

Pre-opinion: I have a love-hate relationship with this song - annoyed by the lyrics and infectiousness, but for all it's given us, I'm glad it's there. Perhaps I won't be so glad if it wins (and it can)... If they keep to the MGP concept, the first rehearsal will probably not look good, because they need to align the screen graphics.

First (visible) run-through: I say visible because it looks like they've done a few already. Colour scheme is similar to Finland (pink-purple and turquoise). About the same routine screen graphics we expected (with some added hearts I think?). Álvaro & co sound good. Rybak himself has obviously done this before, he's not giving it all and saves energy for the live shows.

Last run: We're getting pyro, apparently. Rybak takes off his jacket and throws it to the audience before the scatting part. Pyro fountains shoot when the violin goes 'wheeeeeh'. Another pyro coming from the arch at the last boom. Visually, this all makes sense as an opener.

A luta é alegria

The Portuguese take their worker's rights very seriously, a demonstration was setting up near our apartment and the security scanner at the press centre gates decided to protest too, causing a long queue. But Norway isn't starting on time either, so all is good.

[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 : NED / HUN / DEN / IRL / SMR

SAN MARINO

While Jummie is wearing pretty much the same as in the first rehearsal, however he is wearing a black t-shirt instead of the sleeveless v-neck. We do not approve. Someone needs to have stern words with the delegation. Valentina now has white stripes down the sleeves of her jacket and her pants are now black at the front, white at the back. For the rest, the two are vocally compatible and the backing singers do not overtake the show as we've seen in some other entries. Looking forward to the next rounds.

2nd Run - Oh! And the handbag is gone. Valentina seems to be a hoot to go out clubbing with. Might even be worth befriending her. Does she still live in London or has she moved again? But back to the contest - much colour, very spirit, wow - no hashtag. I would love to give this a spot on Saturday but do I really believe it or is it just wishful thinking?

3rd Run - And since there is no fog, or pyro, there is not much more to comment on the song. We will just have to wait and see if Europe will be feeling this duo's spirit on the night.


IRELAND

Brendan is wearing pretty much the same however the shirt is now unbuttoned and he has a white t-shirt underneath to stop his belly showing. Other than that it seems there were not any major changes made to the package being shown. Few colour changes of lighting but that's all we could notice. Coming after Anja however, unfortunately this entry seems a bit amateur. Brendan does his best but he's not the strongest singer here by any means. And we're still waiting to see that damned balloon fly somewhere. Why have such a prop if it's not going to do anything. At least the giant head has lazers and scary yellow-glowing lights coming out of those eye sockets!

2nd Run - Well, I don't see it personally but I've been suggested that apparently the balloon looks like it's actually moving since the wind machine is pretty strong. I'm not totally convinced but thankfully there is another go to help me make my mind up.

3rd Run - I don't see it. But the fog works nicely. I however don't think we need to worry about which half of the final Ireland will be singing in.


DENMARK

After that disaster she wore on Tuesday, it seems Anja went back to the frock she wore in Dansk MGP. Camera work needs a bit of improvement, quite a few funky shots and also we get to see the steady-cam people filming her ... that is not supposed to be the case - ever. Vocally this girl can give it though. We heard her warming up earlier and now she is belting the song out perfectly. There are also rumors at the table that this could be the semi winner. I probably wouldn't go that far but I'm sure she'll feature in the top 5.

2nd Run -  Another good run. At least this time we didn't see the steady-cam people. Confident and composed.

3rd Run -  Pyro curtains are the accessory of choice in Denmark it seems! Although the stage is already mainly just golden hues (sometimes purple) the effect adds a little bit but it's not as breathtaking as we've seen in other entries. Still, doubt we'll not be seeing her on Saturday.


HUNGARY

Joci's shirt has change from a simple black t-shirt in the first rehearsal to a blue shirt with golden embroidery. The dancer is wearing the same while the violinist is now fully clad in black. Joci is performing adequately vocally but there is just something missing about this whole package. The dancer looks scared (maybe she's supposed to be but we don't know) and there is no real chemistry between the two. The violinist (Emese) is just on Stage B minding her own business, getting involved when she needs to. I wouldn't want to have lots of money on this reaching the final.

2nd Run -  Still not sure why the milk jug is on a stand. It could have simply been handed to him or left on the floor. Another decent rendition but not giving me any palpitations and I doubt it will give much to Europe either.

3rd Run - There is pyro in the instrumental and have to admit it works well - but since when has pyro ever failed us? Joci and Alexandra (aka Mulan - thanks to Bálint for the comment below) dance around in the fiery circle which has been created until this turns down and we go to the rap section.


NETHERLANDS

No costume change for OG3NE. Vocally amazing, these girls can really sing even at silly o'clock am. The camera work is spot on! The girls look extremely confident and are just beautiful in their simplicity. The backdrop accompanies the mood and melody and has some lyrics shown - choosing carefully which ones in order to make the best effect to the audience and viewers at home (even though these are not always seen on camera). Even though I am usually considered emotionless, heartless, a soul as black as the depths of the ocean (to name but a few) this song is actually the first time this year that I've been nearly brought me to tears. Qualifying.

2nd Run - Camera was not as good as it was in the first round but still the vocals are amazing! Unfortunately however the camera is what makes the package work as well as it does. Still qualifying but the Dutch need to make sure that their time in the viewing room is spent well.

3rd Run - *shiver* that is all.


EARLY MORNING REALNESS

What? No Uberdrama? No updates blocking my laptop for 45 minutes? Actually arriving at 09:32 instead of 09:56? There are strange mystical forces at work and I am not liking it one bit - this is going too well.

Day 4 - SMR-CRO-NOR-SUI

SWITZERLAND

Yesterday was blue+white day, today is yellow+purple day.  In this case the yellow is the singer's dress and mic stand.  She's on a giant plinth with steps which she descends. This could get precarious with the long flowing dress.

Vocally just about adequate. We're back to the hidden backing singers.

They don't seem to want us to see very much in the press room today. We've only seen half a run-through of this after only one or two of the first three. We've usually had three or four of each song.


NORWAY

And back to normality and more or less a carbon copy of the MGP performance.

Lots of purple light and not a lot going on in the middle section. There's a risk everyone will spend these three minutes talking about Croatia.

There is some live backing vocal here, but also the digitalised voice thingies to some extent.

It's competent. But maybe a tad dull.


CROATIA

Long time since there has been so much laughter in the press room.

Let's get the vocals out the way first - they are perfect.

Jacques does the duet by looking left, looking right depending on which voice (and getting it the wrong way round at one point). It looks quite silly. And then there are some very camp hand movements.

Backdrop is sunflowers and rainbows. Strangely, no unicorn.

Three backing singers help out, both vocally and visually (particularly the one in the middle). It ends with a bit of Molitva-esque touching.


SAN MARINO

Valentina is in da club, wearing a baseball cap and with her little shoulder bag she didn't want to leave in the cloakroom. Jimmie removes his jacket for the final chorus to show us his arms.

Bright colourful staging, nice overhead shot near the start which sets the mood. Three backing singers on stage, they don't do any choreo but help out with the hand-clapping.

So the baseball cap has gone, but the handbag stayed. Yellow and purple lighting, excellent vocals and good chemistry. Still it feels like a very long three minutes.


***
Good morning!

Day 4 already, and today we'll get the rest of semi 2, starting with the double whammy of San Marino and Croatia. Technically that might be a quadruple whammy, I suppose.

The eight non-qualifiers - why did they fail?

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


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


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

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

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

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


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


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


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

The not-press opinion - FIN, GRE, MLD, HUN, CRO, NED, ARM, SMA, RUS, CZE, CYP, AUT, EST, AZE

OK, this was it for me. Nothing to do with Samra and my ears. If you want my opinion and some (badly written) info on the rest of Semi 1, refer to my previous blog post. If you prefer well-written posts, then try the other bloggers of this website. Will be back for the other semi and the songs I missed from them.

Azerbaijan

First live performance, like in the actual stadium, ever for me was Samra Rahimli performing amazing Miracle. Certainly not the wisest choise I've made. But since I really love the song... And then again, she improved each time, also having very weak moments though. Loved the pyro show in any case.

Estonia

I expected something darker from them, but instead they went city-lights and Casino Royale. The camera closes in on him and then there's some prop with a card appearing and disappearing a couple of times, before he throws it to our direction. The end shot is a close-up on his face, but he obviously doesn't know what to do with it. He tries to be still, then smiles, then does a half-wink (like something is irritating his eye). I need to see this once more to be more descriptive.

Initial shots are well thought of, he appears to the right side of the screen before walking towards us, while the camers pans from above. Some far shots are closing in on him from the side. He has some issue timing the hand moves, they are looking a bit weird. Far shot closing ing again for the second verse. Camera then rolls around him slowly. Then he does the card thing. The card is thrown better this time. A nice red spade/heart shape on the floor. Nicer ending shot.

Austria

Long break followed Cyprus, I think we won't see this many times actually. Camera zooms to her smiling face. Then approaches her again from afar as she's walking towards us. Another close-up during the first en chante. She's a bit breathy. Many close-ups again, usually zooming out and showing the wonderful flowery backdrop. It comes across very optimistic, but then she misses some notes and the feeling is gone. Camera switching from far to close shots regularly. Then some more mid-distance ones. For the last sentence, it zooms out quickly. From some point on she looks really straining with keeping up with the notes. Not very sure about this.

Last run and nothing much changed. A cute thing is her interaction with the backdrop during the second verse, where moving her hands creates red roses in the back. Vocals again a bit strained (but then this is her third run, so she is tired). For the bridge, the camera rolls around her and she makes good contact with it. The last part was really shouty and strained unfortunately. Must improve to qualify, I see it just missing out as it is now.

Day 5 Afternoon - Armenia, San Marino, Russia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Austria

AUSTRIA
Unfortunately still so sweet it gives you cavities. I can definitely see why some people really like this however I cannot say that I am one of them myself. I wold not be so totally surprised if it does not make it to Saturday and neither would the bookies. No sign of a treadmill anywhere.


CYPRUS
The cages have remained (which I don't believe was actually up for debate). In-ear still appears to be an issue for some acts. There are hardly any graphics of wolves appearing any more which is a good thing. Vocally not completely there but it works fine for the song. Is it enough or not however that is another question.


CZECH REPUBLIC
Wearing the dress from the first rehearsal, Gabriela is lit up a bit differently. Still vocally on cue. The song presentation is spot on. It will be really unfair if the Czechs do not see the stage on Saturday.

I know the post is small - but there is not really much to say about the entry - it simply works. J has written more so also check that blog to see comments!


RUSSIA
There are some evil people in this room. There was a large applause due to the technical mishap of Russia. The song started about four to five seconds before the technical image which meant that it was all out of synch. The song was stopped before the first chorus starts since there is no point continuing. Remember, each act has a specific amount of time and can do as many runs as they wish, however, once time is up, it is up. How long before Russia are back up and running?

Second run and this one goes a bit better technically but there are some mistakes which can be seen. The camera angles need to be exact in order for the effects to work but this is not happening yet. Likely however that these little tweaks will be done before Tuesday. And well, would this be in doubt even if there are some errors in it?



SAN MARINO
Well, Iveta he is *not* but he is still having a great time. The backing dancers are clad in silver while Serhat is in a maroon suit. He keeps on doing it so we believe it will happen - at the end of the song Serhat throws his hat into the crowd. We expect it to be on ebay within the week. What we unfortunately do not expect is to see him on stage on Saturday.

It seems that the afterbiib will consist of one goers. Russia on stage now.


ARMENIA
Iveta is lookin HOT! Hot and FIERCE! (OK, I promise that is the last time I write that). The projections to me are still not working but it has received a warm applause by the gathered europress. I am needing to start counting since to me they appear to all be qualifying now. Armenia however is not only qualifying due to my dubious taste but because it is a good song which is well produced and presented extremely well. The videos you will be watching soon will reveal the staging and the outfit and enough will be said.

Only country to only perform once. The screen came back up but it was definitely not Iveta on screen.

Last rehearsals of the day. San Marino and Russia

 We had a quick break to pop over to McDonalds to get something unhealthy to eat. On the way we made sure to ask the security people about what we've all been wondering. And yes, this year it *is* allowed to bring food into the press centre. That should be very handy, considering the food available here isn't very exciting.

Let's see what the last two rehearsals bring us...



Russia

Before the rehearsal

Vocally I'm sure this will be fine. All they have to do is a professional performance and not make it too messy, and it should be all right. Let's see what they've come up with

Rehearsal

So. The performance is basically all based on a project screen behind him. It's a mix of Iceland this year. Sweden last year. And Ukraine 2012. And Ukraine 2008. And Belarus 2007. Imagine all of those mixed together.

Sergey first is on the floor and the screen gives him wings and does a lot of stuff behind him. Then he starts climbing the screen, as there's things sticking out of it. At one moment he got quick high up on it and was lying down on something... but then he fell down, and they cut the live feed. Not sure if he injured himself, but hopefully the fall wasn't too bad.

Let's see how the next run-through go, if they do another one

Here we go again. He seems to be fine. He's wearing pretty plain black clothes.

The screen is white and has black shadows creating wings, and then in the first chorus there's thunder and lighting on the screen. Halfway through the first chorus 4 male dancers appear as well.

The screen ha some sort of invisuble steps that he's climbing around, which gives the illusion that he's walking on blocks and pieces of icebergs and whatnot. And eventually he ends up at the very top, as the screen turns into a sun.
It's really a LOT going on, and it's very hard to describe it all.

And at the very end, his one female backing singer walks out from behind the screen and grabs the sun in her hands.

Yes. I realise this is quite vague. You just have to see it for yourselves eventually.

So, is the staging going to help it win? Well it's certainly a staging that gets noticed. It's impressive, and it's expensive. This performance could either go "Heroes" or it could go "Be My Guest". I really can't tell what it might be. The people who already love Sergey will presumably love this performance as well and think it's the best thing ever, and those who don't like him will think the opposite.





San Marino


Before the rehearsal

This song will obviously depend heavily on the backing vocals. They have long solo parts and are quite prominent in the rest of the song as well, so it'll be important that they are good. Hopefully they are able to sing and dance at the same time. And hopefully they've found a way to stage this to make Serhat actually seem like he belongs on that stage.

Rehearsal

There are five "real" backing singers/dancers. All female, and they carry their part quite well.

The song starts off with the five of them moving seductively on a podium in the back, with Serhat in the front slowly swaying his hips while trying to be seductive as well. Not too successfully.

Serhat is wearing white trousers and a blue jumper. Which is too short so when he lifts his arms we see his belly. Neither his clothes or the outfits of the girls are likely to be the real outfits. The girls are wearing silvery high heels though, which might give an indivation of the colour theme.

They're using a sort of hologram effect here too, to make it seem as if there's a lot of more dancers than there are. But unlike Armenia, it's just images on the LED screen.

The song ends with Serhat throwing his hat (The Serhathat?) into the audience.

Somebody will get rich on ebay.

Rehearsals Day 1 - what can we expect?

Tomorrow morning sees the starts of the first round of rehearsals for this year's contest, and as always we begin with the first half of Semi 1. Now that we have our press passes safely round our necks and can stop panicking about the prospect of queueing up at the accreditation centre while half-hearing Sandhja singing it away to an empty Globen, we can contemplate what we're most looking forward to.

The most highly anticipated rehearsal tomorrow will probably be that of Russia, this year's favourites. Sergey is due on stage at 4:40 local time, so keep an eye on the blog and our Twitter account. There's rumours of a technologically advanced performance from the Russians, who have told us to expect a completely different performance from the live routine they've been doing around the preview circuit, and from that we saw in the video.



Earlier in the day, another country we've got our eye on is Croatia. Over the last month we've seen a wide range of performances from Nina Kraljić, starting with that performance on Serbian TV that sent 'Lighthouse' crashing down the rankings. We'll see tomorrow at 1:40 what the Croatians have planned, and if Nina can bring across the charisma she'll need on camera.

We're also quite looking forward to seeing how the Greek entry comes across in its first rehearsal. They're one of the few this year whom we haven't seen a proper live, televized performance from. They're rank outsiders to qualify, but if we've learned something from previous years, it's to never count Greece out, especially when it's with hopeless-seeming combinations of rap and singing in Greek and English.

The Netherlands are on directly after Croatia, and it'll be interesting to see if Douwe Bob's authenticity lends a breath of fresh air to proceedings, and they'll be followed by Armenia, the first of this year's highly produced entries. We're very curious to see if they can bring across the atmosphere of the studio version on stage, and indeed what they have planned for us visually - so far we've had no clues.

And then of course, we have San Marino.

Tell us who you're most looking forward tomorrow in the comments below - and let us know if you have any special requests for our bloggers to focus on when they're casting their expert eye over the rehearsals.

Just one more sleep! We can't wait.

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!

Semi-final 2 betting guide: A chain of bets for you

Good afternoon everyone. I hope you had a successful and profitable semi-final on Tuesday; I just hope you didn't do what I did and pile more money on Denmark as their odds went out throughout the evening. Oops.

As always, oddschecker is your friend - I'm not listing which bookmakers are carrying the best odds today, as several of them are very even, and they'll continue to change throughout the day.

Unlike the first semi-final, the betting market has very much coalesced around ten qualifiers. It's unusual that all the fancied acts do qualify, so it's definitely worth taking a look at the qualification market to see if there's any money to be made. The one country that immediately stands out to me is Malta. They haven't failed to qualify since 2011, and in a semi-final that has Azerbaijan, Montenegro, San Marino and the Czech Republic voting, I'd be very reticent to write off their chances. Odds of 2.2 seems a decent bet for Amber to qualify, and this is one I've personally backed quite heavily. It's also one time I really won't be sad if I lose my money!

On the other hand, if you think the bookies have mainly got it right on the qualifiers, you could go in on some more safe bets, and try and make your returns with some larger bets at lower odds. 1.29 is available for Cyprus, which seems safe based on rehearsal reports, as does 1.36 on Israel, though both of these have come in considerably during rehearsals. Alternatively, you could just place all your money on Måns to qualify, and take the 1% interest rate that a 1.01 bet offers you.

With ten such solid qualifiers, the not to qualify market is an interesting one today. Of the ten considered most safe, Poland and Iceland are (perhaps rightly) seen to be closest to the cusp, and if you think they'll miss out on a ticket to the final the bookies will offer you 2.62 and 2.75 respectively. I personally still have my wonderings about Slovenia. For a song considered by many to be very contemporary, it's been met with bemusement and indifference from several of the non-fans I've encountered. If you're brave enough to think that Marjetka and Raay could be on the first flight back to Slovenia on Friday morning, odds of 7 will see you making a very tidy profit indeed.

As clear favourite for the contest itself, it's no surprise that Sweden's odds to win the semi-final tonight are very low, with 1.4 the best you'll be offered. Disappointingly, none of the regular bookmakers seem to be offering 'anyone other than Sweden' odds tonight, but if you're willing to get into laying on betfair (see sofabet's excellent guide for more details), lay odds of 1.38 on Sweden effectively translate to odds of 3.63 for Sweden not to win the semi-final.

Perhaps more interesting again is the top three market. With Sweden potentially sucking up a lot of votes, and the potential for fan favourites like Norway or Latvia to do less well than expected, this market is wide open. With an excellent draw and a compelling performance, Cyprus at 3.25 could be a very good bet here, or you can more than double your money with odds of 2.25 on Slovenia.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, if you have faith in a song and its winning chances, now is the time to place a bet for the final. Russia's odds came in dramatically following Polina's performance in the semi-final, and the same is likely to happen tonight. You can still get odds of 3 for Sweden to win the whole thing - if the performance is very strong tonight, and particularly if Heroes gets a good reaction on social media and iTunes following the show, those odds will tumble. On the other hand, if you really have faith in something that's still seen as a bit of an outsider, like Slovenia, consider taking the odds of 51 available now - if Europe really does love it tonight, they won't be there long.

Additionally, if you're keen on betting on the final and want to get in there first, you'll need to stay up late tonight. Once the halves have been drawn in the press conference, the producers will be getting to work on the running order. Last year they were pretty quick - and that moment in the early hours will be the first impression we'll get of how the final will really shape up. Expect the money to go flying thick and fast.

SEMI FINAL TWO - FIRST DRESS REHEARSAL

Opening is a mix of scenes from Semi Final 1. A voice introduces Mirjam, Alice and Arabella.

Fireworks, Wind Machene and quick costume change are mentioned!

But where are the artists? HELLO HI! Says Conchita from the green room.

Another parade in order of appearance from green room to stage.Waiting for how Monika is coming down. OK, she has helpers. But very tactfully, there is no big show of it. In fact, you need to be focusing to find it. Plus points.

All acts are now on stage "all good looking". Some more than others. We get a shout out to the direct finalists and a slight mention that 10 from the first semi have also joined. We get informed again on how to vote.

Pyro ready! Wind machene ready! And most importantly - VIENNA, ARE YOU READY?

LITHUANIA
Vaidas and Monika went bunjee jumping from a bridge over a river. And had a blast. 

His vocals are a bit off but gets better. No kissing by backing but the lead singers do. And cheer! You can hear the kids in the arena cheering their heads off. This makes such a good opener for everyone. It is a decent enough performance. I've always managed to get Lithuania wrong. Say it will fail, it qualifies, say it qualifies it fails ... I'm not playing any more.

IRELAND
Molly gets taken to a bee farm - to continue her addiction to honey. Added to her addiction to chocolate she should stay away from:

 

Simple enough staging for Ireland but is good for the song. It takes us back to how Ireland used to be when they used to simply win with a decent simple song sung exceedingly well. It's unfortunately a bit too early in the draw though I think. Molly smiles at the end, that simple sweet smile of a young artiste. Deserves good things.

SAN MARINO

Anita and Michele get taken to the Opera. They have a nice dance together dressed to impress. 

The world is still spinning in the wrong way - which probably doesn't make much difference to people - but to me it does. IT'S WRONG. There is so much chemistry between these two. You can see they love eachother so much. Really, warms my heart and I can say I feel jealous. I wish someone cared for me as much as the spark between these. I also won the lottery three times in a row and have been told by HRH Prince Harry that William is thinking of leaving Kate for me. 

MONTENEGRO

Knez goes finishing. Well, can't see him bungee jump or scale down buildings can we. Nice easy sport for him to do.

Well, this is still doing as well as any Željko song. I quite believe we will see it on Saturday. Staging, singing, lighting, performance - all works.

MALTA

Aber goes jumping out of a plane. She said she always wanted to do this ad it gave her the opportunity to do so. It was freezing. 

Coming after Montenegro this just seems, lacking. It's a shame since she is such a sweetie but the Maltese will need all their Saints and Demons routing for them in order to get this through. Then again, a couple of people said it will qualify. So I choose to believe them.

BREAK

Conchita talks to Michele noting that she remembers him from last year - giving the points for San Marino. Michele doesn't understand the question. Fail.

Next in line for a Conchita question, is Molly who is asked about bingo (reference to numbers). Cinchita is shit at maths.

NORWAY

Kjetil and Debrah go on a lake using some (I guess) traditional wooden boats. They go meet some friends. No drowning anyone, still no clearer on what this terrible thing was that he did.

Pure class. The camera work is great. Now, think of how little you will see with the numerous flags in the way. Just a little bit of a smile too quickly on the ending, Kjetil needs to remain moody for just a couple of seconds longer for the effect to take hold. 

PORTUGAL

Leonor goes rock climbing. And gets all the way to the top. Well, congrats dear. 

It's grown on us. But it took the best part of three months. Three minutes will not be enough for the viewers at home. To get into it I mean, to switch over three minutes is more than enough. 

CZECH REPUBLIC

They get a key and walk over a feckingly high suspension bridge to get to a castle. Václav is clad in a knights outfit including helmet.

Marta was at the euroclub last night and said that Václav was feeling a bit unwell but you wouldn't know this listening to the two. Works great and we so want them to qualify - from all the artists I think these are the ones who want it the most - just so they can show what the Czech Republic can do. 

ISRAEL

Nadav is taken to spray paint a cable car. He does a good job and then enjoys a ride to the top of the mountain in his artwork.

The kids are loving this. When I first head this I was thinking no, just no. but now ... such a yes. Big fat yes. 

LATVIA

Aminata goes running through the streets and forms 'art' with her and her friends aruond the town. They select parts of town, walls, corners, holes, and fill them with their body ... it will make sence when you see it - and it's a good idea. 

Vocally it is great. Visually it's good. If Latvia do not get through with this then we know there is something very very wrong with Europe. What else do they need?

AZERBAIJAN

Always seems to be one postcard I totally miss due to some reason or another. Unfortunately this time it was the Azeri one.

The act is second to none. Great backdrop and the story flows and makes sence. Elnur sings well, and the backing accompanies him well. Should find it easy to qualify.

ICELAND

Mistake. The yshowed the postcard for Austria instead of the postcard for Iceland.

Awkward start. Starts too low. María gets back in eventually. You'd think we had northern lights every day in Iceland.  She's not managing to get many of the important notes. Has she broke? How will she become unbroken?! Comic genious I am!

 

BREAK

Apparently, 99% of Icelandic TV viewers watched ESC last year. Great.

Norway is next to be interviewed. Conchita then shuffles her way to the Portuguese table. Her Portuguese is a bit rusty - as is Leonor's answer. 

4 famous words - EUROPE, CHARGE YOUR PHONES. Only a few more songs to go.

"Hej to Sweden!"

SWEDEN

Måns is dressed in somethin that looks like a spacesuit. He is accompanied through a cave inside a mountain. The scenery does look moonline - which is why I guess the suit is there.

He is a bit too quick singing the first verse. The package is still exceedigly good, but with songs like Russia and France what will be chosen on Saturday? We are taking it for granted he is there. Huge roar of cheers from audience in hall and in press centre.

 

SWITZERLAND

Mélanie went ice hockey playing on a frozen lake. Lovely. Frosty the Mascot and all.

Her time to shine - apparently. I think Europe will disagree.

CYPRUS

John goes paddle boarding down a river. He seems thrilled about it. Good ol' John.

Another performance which went simply well. Will it be enough to see him through to Saturday though? Bets are open.

SLOVENIA

Where would they take the Slovenes if it wasn't going to be with Lipizzaner horses? Raay and Marjetka laugh and pet the horsies and then these go galloping though the field.

It's a great song but some of the camera work is a bit - well, not my taste. It looks like there is just something a bit missing. It will still qualify though.

POLAND

Monika gets taken to make tier cakes. We approve. Now let us taste it please.

Nice camera work and strong vocals from Monika but I don't know if this is enough to be in the top 10 on Thursday - which is a shame. 

BREAK

"Europe start voting". Recap over we go back to have information melanges about Eurovision and Austria. Austria seems to have invented the world. I thought that was the Greeks. I was mistaken it seems.

Plugging of the DVD and CD. And off to recap number two.

After the recap, jus over 60 seconds left to vote.

We love Arabella: "If you haven't voted yet, you only have ... wait ... look... blablabla seconds left to vote!" She can stay.

Arabella and Alice close the voting after a countdown. 

Mirjam then takes us to a mix of clips of when voting went wrong or the best moments from the voting past - you couldn't leave out "I don't have it". Loving this. 

We then have a chat with Monika from Poland. Well, her stand-in anyway. No pun intended, that's what they're called. Then on to John from Cyprus. And Måns also will get a quick interview.

Arabella talks to Amber, while Alice then talks to Maraaya. "Thank you and good luck". 

Back to the seven direct finalists. Alice announces the big 5, the special guest and the winner of last year.

The cut to the video for these did not work. 

They then need a microphone and start talking in German. Since I don't speak it ... 

This was the light check and now that it's done we can continue. "Question is, with what?" asks Arabella - again, I need to be her fan.

Repeat of the dialogue previously covered, and videos now work.

Mirjam is with us once the videos are over. She asks Jan Ola if the results are ready. He tries to say something but she doesn't hear him. He repeats that the results are ready. 

"That sounds good" replies Mirjam. Arabella and Alice are on stage behind the podium ready to inform us of the 10 qualifiers. Alice speaks in German so no idea what she is going on about.

01. Latvia

02. Switzerland

03. Sweden

still too fast

04. Slovenia 

05. Norway 

06. Lithuania 

07. Iceland 

08. Portugal 

09. Ireland 

"... and the very last country that made it to the grand final of the Eurovisio Song Contest 2015 is ... " 

10. Montenegro

It is the largest final ever with 27 countries competing. They do the whole "Good morning Australia, Good night Europe." and it's done.