09:45

Good morning Europe (and the world!). Welcome to our live blog from the third day of rehearsals in Copenhagen, where we’ll be seeing the first runthrough of the remaining competitors in semi-final 2. Just grabbing a coffee now, then we’ll get started with the much awaited Conchita Wurst!

10:05 AUSTRIA

Up first today is the FABULOUS Conchita Wurst. The song starts with Conchita in dark with a background that looks like a golden shower of pyros. The lighting changes to have Conchita highlighted by a spotlight, and the theme of the lights is fire. Conchita is dressed in a lovely sparkly dress and she is standing on a small platform. She is in VERY fine voice and sings the life out of the song. We even have a wind machine and it all looks very simple and effective. She gets a rapturous round of applause from the press centre for every single run through of the song, which is a first! It certainly has the support of the fans here who are all willing for her to go through. Will the voters feel the same? Based on this, I think she SHOULD qualify, but there’s still that niggling feeling that the more conservative voters from the east might not quite get this. However overall, it was one of the strongest rehearsals we have seen so far, so I think it could do well.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

10:37 LITHUANIA

ATTENTION! Vilija is up next and she’s wearing a black tutu which has two holes in it. The reason why becomes apparent later!  Staging wise, it is pretty much the same as the national final with Vilija and her rather attractive male dancer centre stage busting their moves, and at one point the dancer puts his hands through said holes in her dress. The lighting for this one consists of  lots of bright white lights. The whole thing comes across a little bit messy on the first run through but this tightened up on the later run throughs. Most people seem to think this isn’t making it but this is Lithuania, and they seem to have a habit of qualifying when you least expect it, so I’m definitely not writing this one off yet!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

11:20 FINLAND

The young Softengine boys are up next, and they give a slick, professional and polished performance. on the first run through. The lead singer Topi is wearing a silver suit jacket. WANT. There is a great use of spotlights moving around during the chorus which looks very good. However on the second run through there are a few dodgy notes when the singer goes into his falsetto. On the third run through his voice sounds even more tired, so I think he probably needs to tone it down a little bit or he will end up with no voice at all come the live semi-final. I do think this is a qualifier though, but then I’m struggling to find a song in this semi that WON’T qualify. Except Georgia. Obvi.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

11:55 LUNCH BREAK

So now we have an hour’s break for lunch! Off to get some food and sit in the sunshine for a while! We’re back at 12:50 for Ireland! See you soon!

12:52 IRELAND

And we’re back! There’s a slight false start with Ireland at first as they sort out some technical issues. We can see text displayed on the floor which tells the artists where they need to stand. Kasey stands at the back of the stage with a female violinist in the front who walks around the stage during the song. The sound in the press centre seems to have been turned down a bit and it’s more difficult to hear. There’s also two dancers on stage wearing kilts. Kasey seems not really to know what she is doing and struggles a little with her long gold dress, she doesn’t connect with the camera and she needs more power in her voice. The first rehearsal is a little bit underwhelming overall. There is a very long gap before we get the second run through which isn’t much better either and I think they need to do a bit of work to increase their chances of qualifying for the final. Song wise, it definitely deserves to, though.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

13:41 BELARUS

TEO is joined on stage by four male backing singers, and another one shoved to the back of the stage Israeli style. The whole performance is definitely challenging Robin Thicke. TEO is wearing a simple black suit and white shirt and is sporting a rather large quiff. There’s a bit of dancing going on – well I say dancing but it mostly involves moving from side to side. Not exactly anything mind-blowing, really. The dancers move to the catwalks for the bridge of the song before joining him again on the stage for the end of the song which ends with TEO “kicking” the camera. Overall, it was okay. Just okay. I think this is the kind of song that people will quite like but not bother picking up the phone for and therefore I don’t think it’s a qualifier. Then again, only five songs aren’t qualifying from this semi, so you never know!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

14:10 MACEDONIA

Tijana’s on next wearing an AMAZING black T-shirt that says “That’s bullshit, darling”! Somehow I don’t think this is her final outfit, but it would be interesting if it was! She has a dancer and three backing singers on stage with her, one of whom is her sister Tamara who represented Macedonia in 2008 with Let Me Love You. The song starts with Tijana standing front centre stage on a lit square with a dancer doing a complicated ballet style routine behind her. Tijana then interacts with the dancer doing a kind of push/pull routine with him from a distance. The three backing singers stand behind to the left, moving to the back before joining her and the dancer at the end of the song where they all twirl their hand in the air when they sing the title of the song and at the end they all point upwards to the sky. Funnily enough! Overall, a fair performance, but I have to say this section of the contest isn’t my favourite. It’s been quite a while since something really grabbed my ATTENTION!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

14:48 SWITZERLAND

SEBalter is up now in full whistling mode and he’s accompanied with a group of five musicians which includes a drummer and a tambourinist amongst others. He picks up a violin and starts playing it before going down the catwalk and then starts banging a drum with one hand, the rest of the band join him on the catwalk apart from the drummer. It’s all very happy, SEBalter looks like he is really enjoying himself on stage unlike a few of the other acts we have seen today and I think it lifts the mood after a run of average performances. Said whistling sounds note perfect, but it must be live because the EBU wouldn’t allow it otherwise. He’s dressed in a simple white shirt and black waistcoat. Overall, a very competent performance and I think we’ll be seeing this again on Saturday for sure. I just wish his annunciation was better though as I cannot understand a word he sings about!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

15:28 GREECE

We miss the first minute or so of the first Greek run through as it comes on rather abruptly, giving me a little fright! We manage to see the beginning of the song on the next run through. The stage is bathed in white and there’s a lot of energy in this performance with the guys jumping up and down and moving around the stage and making use of the catwalk. Towards the end of the song, we see a guy on a trampoline who is doing somersaults – there’s a nice slow motion camera shot of this like the ending of Euphoria before we see that the guys join him on the trampoline and they start jumping up and down, this looks quite dangerous, but to me it just looks like a bunch of kids playing! I really don’t think there is any need whatsoever for this gimmick and it looks shoved in for the sake of it.  Some mixed reactions from some of the others in the press centre for this. A few LOVED it and think it’s winning the semi, others think it’s very messy. Interesting. It’s a definite qualifier though, especially coming so late in the running order.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

16:00 BREAK

Now it’s time for another break, this time for 40 minutes. Check back with us later for the last 2 rehearsals from Slovenia and Romania!

16:40 SLOVENIA

We’re back after the break with Tinkara who is wearing what looks like could be her final outfit which is an indigo dress with black lace. She looks a bit like Petra Meade! She starts the song playing her flute standing in the centre of the stage with three backing singers to the right who are featured quite prominently on the cameras during the song. There are swirly effects on the floor emphasising the theme of the song. There’s also a wind machine! On the second verse, Tinkara takes her microphone and in her hand and spins round slowly. She doesn’t play the flute during the instrumental break, not sure if this was meant to happen or not, as she looked a little but unhappy – I guess we will see on later run throughs. The microphone stand covers her face a little bit at the end of the song which is a little bit distracting – lets hope they fix that! Right enough on the second run through the mic stand is replaced with a head mic but there’s some missed camera shots, but these can be fixed. She plays the flute on the instrumental break this time. Third time round the mic stand is back, so it seems they are trying a lot of different things out. I think the head mic was hindering her vocals. Vocally, it’s average, and the muffled vocal effect is there but some of the ad-libs sound rather strained on the third time around. Tinkara doesn’t look very happy having to keep taking the microphone on and off the stand! We end up getting five run throughs of this and it their rehearsal time runs to over 40 minutes – they are only allotted 30! Overall, this needs a bit of work, but this has a good slot so I think it still has a chance of qualifying. Then again, I was convinced that Verjamem was going to qualify in 2012 and look what happened there!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

17:34 ROMANIA

Last up today are returnees Paula and Ovi. The song starts with Ovi alone on stage and then we get Paula on the catwalk. Or is she? Turns out it’s actually a hologram which dissipates and cuts to Paula joining Ovi on stage. It didn’t quite work, as at one point the hologram is super-imposed over Ovi. In the second verse, Ovi moves to stand inside a circular keyboard, this to me feels completely pointless, and it got a few laughs from the press centre. The lighting for this is very bright with lots of butterflies projected onto the screen and spotlights pro. Vocally, it seems like they are shouting a little, especially at the end and we get the trademark mega long note from Paula who just about manages it, then they walk hand in hand down the catwalk. There’s no one else on the stage apart from the two of them and overall, it comes across a bit, well, boring. Not convinced by this staging at all. There’s at least a 10 minute gap before the second run through. This time they are both wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with “Miracle”, and there are shots of the hologram of Paula projected on the LED screens when she sings her parts. It’s better vocally but I still think it’s messy. Third time around the hologram part seems to work and it looks good. They didn’t walk down the catwalk the third time though. The whole thing seems to come across as Paula Seling FEATURING Ovi, and he kinda feels like a spare part. It is very messy but this is qualifying for sure, as it has an excellent draw, but I think it is likely to do a Hera Björk and do nothing in the final.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

18:06 AND THAT’S A WRAP

So there you have it! All the semi finalists have now completed their first rehearsal, and they’ll get another 20 minute rehearsal on Friday or Saturday. Overall, most of them have been decent, with a couple that need varying levels of work. By the second rehearsal we will have a clearer picture of how they will finally end up. I’m not ready to make any predictions JUST yet, these will come after we’ve seen the first dress rehearsal in full. Tonight, we are off to EuroFanCafe finally to see Suzy and Pollapönk in a talk show and then head to EuroClub for some dancing and karaoke! We have the day off tomorrow so we area hoping to see some of the sights that Copenhagen has to offer and we’ll share them with you! Laters! 🙂