This post is now in chronological order – auto-refreshing is deactivated.

09:55 MORNING

Good morning people! We are here again ready to blog for you – this time it’s the turn of the big 5 plus Denmark! Let’s see what they have in store for us!

10:00 GERMANY

Up first today are the Germans who have a very simple staging with the three girls standing centre stage with no-one else on stage. The song starts with a close up of the accordion before panning out to see the rest of the band. The lighting for this is very colourful, starting off with blue before changing to hues of gold – the backdrop has the band name with a chess board on the floor and they are dressed in simple outfits. Third time around there is a gold streamers effect which looks good. Overall this comes across as more confident than the national final performance but I still have this down as my favourite for last place in the final as I really think this is going nowhere fast and I just cannot see anyone voting for it in great droves. A decent rehearsal but as a certain Swiss band would sing, they are swimming against the stream, and I think my initial prediction of this coming last could perhaps come true.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

10:45 UNITED KINGDOM

My home country are up next and Molly takes the stage wearing a simple top and trousers which are obviously not her final outfit. There’s a few issues in the first run through where she asks for more volume in her earpiece during the song. The drummer is behind Molly with two backing singers situated at either side. There’s some great camera shots for this but I do feel that Molly is quite static for this as she doesn’t really move from her starting position, only taking the microphone in her hand for the final few seconds of the song, I would prefer it if she moved around a bit more, maybe the backing singers could join her at the front of the stage? There’s a lot of dry ice and on the last run through we get some pyros in the form of the golden shower! This looks fantastic! The whole thing comes across as quite understated, but perhaps this is deliberate. I think they need to ramp it up a little more though performance wise. One of the shots in particular just at the bridge when it goes quiet is in complete darkness but I think a solo spotlight on Molly would work better. Overall though, it is a good rehearsal, but I think it could do with a little bit more, but for a first run through they should be happy with that. Top 10 is definitely within their reach. Some people here are mumbling a possible win though!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

11:27 FRANCE

Twin Twin are on stage with two dancers and a backing vocalist off to the side. Despite it being a performance with a lot of movement it kinda feels a little empty and on the first run through it’s a bit messy and as if they’re not really sure what they are meant to be doing. Indeed on the second rehearsal, François, the guitarist ends up standing in front of Laurent, the singer and Laurent has to push him off to the side! Haven’t they been rehearsing this much beforehand? Staging wise, it’s very bright and colourful and images of moustaches (appropriately enough) flash on screen. By the third rehearsal they have definitely improved. I find it rather difficult to predict how well this one will do though. It could get a bunch of televotes from people at home but not sure whether it’s jury friendly at all. Mid-table at best, I would say.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

12:10 DENMARK

The hosts are up next and Basim is wearing a black tuxedo with his dancers also decked out in black suits either wearing red ties or matching bow ties . This performance hasn’t really changed much from the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. During the second verse they walk halfway down the catwalk before heading back to the main stage. The lighting for this consists of lots of spotlights and gold lights. Vocally, it’s fine and it’s catchy and competently performed, and I can easily see this in the top 10 but based on this rehearsal, I don’t feel that it has that extra something to go all the way. On the last performance there’s a HUGE red flag that comes down with a picture of Basim’s face and the word LOVE written in white letters and I think this looks AWFUL. Probably the WORST gimmick of the year! Get rid of it!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

13:45 ITALY

We’re running a bit behind schedule now, but Italy are up next. Emma is wearing a blue and yellow jacket and is accompanied on stage with a band consisting of a drummer, keyboardist and two guitarists. She walks around the stage making use of both of the catwalks and then gets on her knees and crawls around . There are images of her face during the chorus. She’s not working the cameras but actually, for this performance, it kinda works. Overall, it feels more like a performance at a concert than one for the TV. You can tell that she has a lot of experience. Vocally, it was better than the German national final performance but I think she was definitely holding back and I think this will likely be the same for all her performances until the ones where it really matters. She does give us a little bit more on the following run throughs though. I think this has the potential to do fairly well, but it’s not really a serious contender.

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

14:25 SPAIN

It might be nice and sunny outside, but here in the press centre it’s time for THE RAIN as Ruth Lorenzo is last to take the stage today. There’s a HUGE gasp as the screens switch on for the start of the song. There’s about a 8 second gap as we see a shot of the rain falling before the song starts, this is VERY effective, and then we see Ruth standing in the darkness with the rain falling behind her. She is wearing a simple white dress with her hair tied back in a ponytail. The staging is very simple for this one, there are 4 backing singers off to Ruth’s left, but no dancer which I think is a good thing. We also have the backdrop of falling rain with the raindrops appearing on the floor and it’s also a static performance with Ruth just standing there singing her heart out. And by God she does SING. Unlike most of the other artists in their first rehearsal she is clearly not holding back at all. As the song ends the press centre erupts into a HUGE cheer, but then there are loads of Spanish fans here! Second time around she seems to have a problem with her earpiece and misses a few lines. I think this is a nice understated performance though I do feel that it might need something more in the last minute or so – maybe a wind machine or some pyros maybe? On the third run through she seems to be saving her voice, which is probably a good thing, as she still has a long time to go!

© Sander Hesterman (EBU)

14:50 AND THERE WE HAVE IT

So today is all done and dusted and now all 37 countries have performed on the stage! The winner for today in the press centre seems to be the United Kingdom as pretty much everyone was impressed with the performance, and it has now shot up in the bookies to be third favourite behind Armenia and Sweden! Could it possibly be? Who knows! Tonight is the official opening party but it is invite only so I am off for a bit of a rest and power nap before tonight’s fun! Thanks for sticking with me!