© Andres Putting (EBU)

10:45 SAN MARINO

Eurovision stalwart Valentina is up next for the third year in a row! You can tell she is now a dab hand at this as presence wise, she is much stronger here than she has been the previous two years. She has a head mic and is wearing a long flowing white dress with a light blue backdrop, very reminiscent of the San Marinese flag! She is standing on a small podium with a Grecian fan behind her and joined on stage by a pianist. It looks rather pretty visually. Vocally, she is very good, but there are a few technical hitches with the second and third runs. Overall it looks and sounds okay, if a bit dated, and I think she is facing an uphill struggle to qualify from this semi final – she seems to have a lot of support from the fans who are willing for her to finally qualify, but I think she will be going home disappointed.

© Andres Putting (EBU)

11:25 PORTUGAL

FUN is the order of the day with Portugal! Suzy and her crew are really enjoying themselves on stage, and after a run of three ballads in a row, this one really stands out, however I am not sure in a good way! The background is very bright and coupled with the rather frantic routine it all looks very messy. Also, Suzy’s vocals aren’t exactly on point today, and it seems like there are a lot of sound issues with this one. She is joined on stage by her two drummers and three backing vocalists, and I think she is going to need all the help she can get for this one. It doesn’t have a hope in hell of qualifying, but it is nice to have Portugal back in the contest. Let’s just hope they don’t pull out again.

© Andres Putting (EBU)

13:20 THE NETHERLANDS

Hello folks! Apologies for the delay in today’s blog, a few things out of my control, but we are here now in the arena ready to blog the remaining songs, and also take a look at what went on this morning! First up are The Netherlands with their lovely country ballad. This is performed exceptionally, both Ilse and Waylon are playing their guitars and are standing facing each other separated by a moving road in the middle of the stage which looks great. They are also joined by a cellist, drummer and a bass guitarist. The lighting for this looks great, and they are both singing perfectly. Simple and understated are the words to describe this performance. Country music definitely has a fan base, but the question is will they be watching Eurovision next Tuesday? I think based on this rehearsal, The Netherlands will be qualifying for a second year in a row.

© Andres Putting (EBU)

13:42 MONTENEGRO

Sergej starts the song alone on stage before being joined by a female skater on the first chorus – didn’t they see Dima Bilan’s winning performance in 2008? She is wearing roller blades and not ice skates though. The floor is blue and with white specks and there are a lot of shots concentrating on the ice skater for the first half of the performance. There’s also a nice little effect when the skater’s tracks are marked on the stage. He is also joined by some backing vocalists halfway through the song. It sounds good vocally, however very reminiscent of Željko Joksimović. There’s a very long gap before we get the second run through, but the poor skater took a tumble! On the third run through, the song is stopped halfway through the first verse due to camera problems. We then get another run through which is the best so far. I think this is a decent song if a little bit “heard it all before” but this is definitely Montenegro’s best ever chance at qualification.

© Andres Putting (EBU)

14:00

I’ve just noticed we are also getting the captions for the song, the flags are shaped like the crystal of this year’s official logo. They look good!

14:20 HUNGARY

András starts the song sitting on a stool in the centre of the stage before running (aptly enough) down the catwalk for the first chorus. There is also a female pianist stage left, who leaves the piano is joined by a male dancer halfway through the song. They then go into a rather elaborate dance routine which depicts the theme of the song. It looks very striking, especially the final moment of the song when the female dancer runs to be embraced by András with a look of sheer terror on her face. During the verses, the stage is very dark and this turns to bright reds during the chorus, and there’s also a neat little camera shot which shows the stage upside down at some point during the song. It sounds very impressive vocally, and I think this is an excellent closer of the semi final and is a sure fire qualifier for the final.

© Andres Putting (EBU)

14:55 MALTA

So we’ve had the last song of semi 1 and we are now on to semi 2, and the honour of opening this semi goes to Firelight, from the lovely little Mediterranean island just south of Italy. This is such a perfect opener for the show. It’s bright, colourful and happy. The band are all in a line with the main singers Richard and Michelle in the centre, and there are some crates and boxes surrounding them on the stage. Michelle in particular is stealing the show for me, and is really giving it her all, and it all looks slick and professional but simple. There’s a really great bit where selfies of the band appear in the squares of the metal framework. You just cannot help but have a huge smile on your face when watching this. I am getting good vibes from this and I think it is going to do very well for them! Best rehearsal of the day so far, I’d say!

© Andres Putting (EBU)

15:40 ISRAEL

Up next is one of my personal favourites, and the CHATVOTE WINNER! https://www.escgo.com/2014/04/27/israel-wins-chatvote-2014/ Mei starts the song alone on stage standing at the peak of the diamond and is wearing a black skirt and is sporting a long ponytail.  There’s a FABULOUS strut moment in the instrumental part after the first chorus when she is joined on stage by two gorgeous female dancers dressed in leather . There’s no props, just Mei and her dancers but they look FIERCE! The camera shots are not quite there yet as there’s a few missed shots. They lie down on the floor for the bridge of the song, but I think this would look better shot from above rather than to the side. And indeed four the third run through an overhead shot is used! I must be psychic! They then stand up and strut again down the catwalk to the small platform to end the song. Very America’s Next Top Model! I think this will look good on the live show with the audience there. Vocally, it seems like she is definitely holding back and her vocals are very low in the mix on the first run through, but it sounds much better on the second run through – Mei definitely has a powerful voice. I think this is a qualifier based on this, but I think it might be a little TOO aggressive for the general audience. The fans however, will LOVE it and it got quite a big applause from the press centre. My favourite from today BY FAR!

© Andres Putting (EBU)

16:40 NORWAY

After a nice break (we only got three run throughs of Israel instead of the usual four) we are back with Carl Espen. Joining him on stage are four female violinists on a sloping platform which looks suspiciously like the one Albania are using except turned to the side, and a pianist. There’s lots of dry ice surrounding Carl as he stands centre stage. Lighting is very dark and blue with the floor of the stage in white and looks like a cracked pavement. Vocally he is very good as always, and it builds nicely, but like all his other performances, I just feel he hasn’t really got much stage presence and he looks a bit miserable. Cheer up, love! I do think this will qualify thanks to the jury, but I can’t see the European viewers voting for it in their droves.

© Andres Putting (EBU)

17:30 GEORGIA

I really am struggling to write about this one! There’s a guy in a parachute banging the drums on stage with the Georgians – quite apt when they sing about skydivers! Each of the band get their own moment on camera starting with the drummer who wails for what feels like an eternity. There’s lots of sweeping camera shots which looks good. Mariko looks a little crazy with her HUGE hair and stands there flailing her arms around! There’s a psychedelic video effect which looks quite trippy, it does kinda suit the song though. Vocally it sounds fine for what it is, but the problem with this one is that it sounds about ten songs in one and none of them are any good at all! If this qualifies I will streak down the Eurovision Mile naked next Friday.

© Andres Putting (EBU)

18:12 POLAND

Last up today is Poland who look like they are in their stage outfits. And what a way to end the day! Cleo is flanked by three girls in traditional outfits and there’s a girl kneeling down washing clothes on the catwalk wearing a rather revealing outfit showing off her best assets, and the first shot of her gets a HUGE cheer from the press centre, which considering the make up of most of the fans here is quite interesting! Oh, and there’s another girl on the other side churning butter seductively! We’re definitely keeping the theme of the video here! The colours for this one are bright pink and red and there’s a kaleidoscope effect on the floor.  The song starts in Polish before switching to English halfway through and it sounds good, Cleo connects really well with the camera giving us just the right amount of sassiness. As the song ends, it gets the biggest applause from the press centre we have seen so far, they certainly like what they see here! I have a feeling this is the song that is going to get the “drunk” vote from around Europe, in particular from the UK, who usually like this sort of stuff. I think this has a huge chance of qualifying and could quite possibly give Poland their first top 10 in eleven years!

© Andres Putting (EBU)

18:35 DAY 2 DRAWS TO A CLOSE

And we’re done! The second day of rehearsals comes to an end! Overall, it’s been an interesting day with quite a wide variety of songs. I’d say today’s strongest rehearsals came from Hungary, Malta, Israel and Poland, and Moldova, Portugal and Norway need a bit of work. We’re staying in the press centre for a while until the next shuttle bus comes, and then we’re heading to EuroCafé for a bit to check that out!