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1st Dress Rehearsal semi 2 – LIVE!

by | May 23, 2012 | 2012 Rehearsal Liveblogs, escgo at Eurovision, Uncategorized

1st Dress Rehearsal semi 2 – LIVE!

by | May 23, 2012 | 2012 Rehearsal Liveblogs, escgo at Eurovision, Uncategorized

Hello and welcome to the press centre for the first dress rehearsal of the second semi-final for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest!
The show begins at 15:00 CET, also join the chat for our Live-Chat, where we can comment directly from the press centre.

18:03 And we’re off! The dress rehearsal starts on time today, which is good! Similar start to the first semi, really…and we have the Serbian postcard!

18:04 SERBIA Serbia starts concentrating on the female violinists. This looks good on stage and Zejlko performs well. Some nice sweeping shots of the stage. His outfit could be a bit more interesting though. It’s not really any different from any previous rehearsals, and he gets a nice reaction from the folk in the press centre. I’d say this is a definite qualifier!

18:08 FYR MACEDONIA Slight pause before the start of the song. The stage is dark to begin with before lighting up Kaliopi, then the stage comes alive when the song begins to rock out with the two guitarists by her side. The scream is perfect as always and her vocals are flawless. Kaliopi gets an even bigger reaction than Zejlko. Could she cause an upset and finish higher than him? It’s possible…

18:12 THE NETHERLANDS Joan is next in full headdress and her turquoise outfits. It looks good on screen but her voice is ever so slightly off though. We think she looks a bit tired. The shots of the backing band are good. Overall, it’s not too bad, but I think she needs to step it up a little bit to ensure a qualifying space in this tight semi. At the moment, I think it’s 50/50.

18:16 MALTA The song opens on the DJ before sweeping round to show everyone else on stage. The screen behind them shows people dancing and clapping their hands. It looks not too bad, but they’ve still kept the female backing singer doing the “This is the night” bit towards the end and it’s a nice surprise. Not quite sure the screaming from Kurt is really needed though. A muted response from the press centre. Don’t think this is qualifying.

18:20 BELARUS The start of the song looks really good with the lighting behind them, but then the sound dies as there is a technical fault and the song stops. Then starts again. Then stops again. Oh dear. And finally we’re off. Their outfits are terrible though, but they sound fine. Still think the lead singer is a ringer for Magnus Carlsson! After Hungary qualifying last night, this could be in with a shout.

18:25 A short break now where they show the televoting numbers on screen and remind people not to vote to the end of the song. Then we have a VT where the presentrs are going around the arena giving some of the technical staff roses and hugging them! Okay then…

18:27 PORTUGAL Back to the important bit, the songs. Another postcard showing the arena. Portugal opens in dark blue and Filipa is looking lovely in a sparkly silver dress, not too dissimilar to Charlotte Perelli’s in colour. Some lovely shots of Lisbon on the screens behind the stage. Filipa is in fine voice but I think the song suffers from being after the break. On quality this song should probably qualify but it will probably miss out as it’s just not instant enough.

18:31 UKRAINE Gaitana is up next and is wearing the same pink headband thingy she’s been sporting all week. She appears from behind the screens. Her voice is ever so slightly ropey though. But she definitley fills the arena with it! the screens look good though with the people dancing behind her. Loads of shots of the audience, let’s hope that they’re all up dancing or it will look a bit rubbish. Not as good as previous performances, she’s another one that’s going to have to improve but will probably make it over the line.

18:36 BULGARIA Sofi starts the song off key but manages to pick it back up, mostly. She’s wearing what looks like a white and gold PVC outifit with her hair in a high ponytail. She’s looked worse though! With just her standing on stage it all looks a bit flat. Such a shame as we love this song a lot but based on this, she is a candidate for last place in the semi final.

18:39 SLOVENIA esc-chat.com favourite is up next and Eva even gets an applause from the press centre before the start fo the song. it opens with Sandra singing and walking towarfds Eva. Eva looks really pretty in a flowery dress with matching earrings. Some nice shots of the choreography too. The song really builds up towards the end and the screen lights up accordingly. Eva sounds great and the ending of the song is really powerful. After the Bulgarian disaster this is a vast improvement!

18:43 CROATIA We move next door to Croatia where we get a shot of Nina waving before coming to the stage. The damcers are wearing what looks like black skirts and the choreography is pretty good. Nina looks great, but the song is just a bit boring, we think. The dancers also wave around a white banner which doesn’t really add to anything. Don’t think this one is going to make it.

18:47 SWEDEN The fan favourite is up next after a nice postacard showing Baku at night. The song starts with the lights going crazy amd looks really good. The performance is much the same as we’ve seen before but it’s better than the second rehearsal. The snow looks great and the dancing at the end is fine, and the slow motion bit is great. It’s all very dark though, will it have mass appeal? Definitely a qualifier though.

18:52 GEORGIA Looks like we have another technical problem as there’s a bit of a delay before the Georgian song starts. Anri starts the performance in a red monk’s outfit before ripping it off to show us his black and silver outfit. He cavorts round the stage with his back up singers. It’s incredibly messy and his screams were really screechy. But it’s definitely a WTF moment and as such is looking very likely to qualify!

18:56 TURKEY Seems to be more technical problems as there’s also a delay in starting the Turkish song, and the sound has been turned down a bit in the Press Centre but we can just about make it out. The dancing is great and Can looks really comfortable on stage. After they missed out last year for the first time, I don’t think they will have any problems making the final this year.

19:01 ESTONIA Ott is on stage in a simple waistcoat and trousers, it’s all very simple with just him and a female backing singer. He sings well and gets a massive reaction in the press centre. I don’t think it’s quite as strong as Albania was but I think this is a definite qualifier now!

19:05 We have another break where we go to the press centre where we have a bit of an awkward interview with Tanel Padar for some reason, before walking past Sweden, Georgia before stopping to have another interview, this time with Can Bonomo. Think they need to work on this as it’s a bit rubbish.

19:07 SLOVAKIA This starts with similar lighting to Sweden and it looks really good on screen. Max is obviously confident on stage and performs great! This kind of music has a lot of fans, but will they be watching Eurovision on a Thursday night? Coupled with the fact that it’s Slovakia who don’t really have a lot of friends, I’m not sure that they will qualify. But I could be wrong.

19:11 NORWAY This is another one that hasn’t really changed much from the national final at all. The dancing is slick and looks really effective but Tooji loses his way a bit vocally in the second verse and doesn’t quite get it back fully. He’s had much better performances in rehearsals. I still think it’s a qualifier though, but will stuggle to make top 10 I think based on that performance.

19:15 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA Maya is wearing a rather, shall we say, unique outfit and starts the song sitting at the piano. Some of the shots hide her face which doesn’t quite work. She sings well but it’s all a bit boring. There’s a wind machine and some nice lighting but it’s a bit too anonymous I think to get many votes. The juries might like it though but I think Bosnia are in danger of losing their 100% qualifying record.

19:19 LITHUANIA Last song now, phew. According to the postcards, Baku is “City of Drive” – we don’t disagree! Donny is on stage in his suit and blindfold and does his flip before a few suspect dance moves. He sounds great though, but the song just seems to plod on and on. It’s got a great draw though, so I’m not sure about this one.

19:22 We’re back with our valiant hosts who explain the voting again before we get a recap of the performances, Macedonia gets the scream! We’re busy doing our predictions for this semi, it’s a bit easier for us than the first one. Stay tuned for an article from the team to see who we think will qualify!

19:41 After what feels like ages, we get the interval act which starts with Dima Bilan singing a short bit of “Believe”, looking like he’s been at the gym a lot recently. Then it’s Marija Serifovic in HUGE glasses looking like a schoolboy! Alexander Rybak is next, followed by someone that we THINK is Lena, as she looks really different! Last up it’s Ell and Nikki performing “Waterloo” before being joined by the rest of the past few winners. No “Running Scared” though – I guess they’ll be keeping that for the final, then!

19:50 Now it’s another recap of the Big 5 plus Azerbaijan again. Spain gets a predictable round of applause from Los Eurofans! Finally, it’s time for the big reveal! The fake qualifiers are: Bulgaria(!), Belarus, Croatia, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Portugal, The Netherlands, FYR Macedonia, and the last one after a hue dragging out is Malta. If that happens in the live shows, my prediction score won’t be very good! Right, we’re off to have dinner with the the ESC Nation gang! Be back tomorrow with another diary entry!

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