Hello from Felix in the Altice Arena! It’s this website’s first full day in Lisbon, it’s the first day of open rehearsals, and… well, let’s just say things went a bit differently to how we imagined. So we’re adapting to the situation and changing our plan to something a lot more freestyle.

In short, although we are allowed into the arena, there is a lot of confusion about whether people with F accreditation – myself included – are allowed to take photos of the rehearsals or not. I started by doing so but was then informed it wasn’t allowed, and since then every member of staff seems to have a different and inconclusive answer on the matter. So I’ve decided to play it safe and not take any photographs after all, at least until someone can tell me for once and for all that I’m not going to get into trouble for doing so!

We planned to cover all the open second rehearsals, but since even blogging them live is technically problematic for us this year (with no power points in the area for fans with F accreditation, battery life quickly becomes a fatal issue), we’re moving to Plan B instead. Or maybe that should be called “Plan F”. I’m going to continue to deliver occasional bits of news and insight via our social media channels like I have been already, but my full blog-based review of my impressions from today’s rehearsals will have to wait until my daily personal blog, which will be coming within the next hours. And that’s how we’ll proceed for the time being – at least until things change… again…

This much for now: Austria is simply stunning. At this point I even see it as a candidate for the trophy. Belarus is absolutely hilarious, and Macedonia comes with a new dress! I’ll be sharing more details and thoughts later today in my regular “A German from Lisbon” post, so look out for that very soon. Until then!