Sofi Marinova is dressed pretty casually this evening, wearing a fitted red top and tight jeans. Again, the stage seems remarkably bare with just the one performer, but Sofi belts out her song with some definite gusto. She seems to be moving around more, possibly because she is more confident with the whole set-up by now – though she is still rooted firmly to the spot! Sofi will undoubtedly suffer as a result of her performance position, coming right after the visually more appealing – and arguably vocally stronger – Gaitana.

Ukraine are the penultimate to rehearse this evening, and spent so long setting up that they only got two run-through in their allotted time. In fact, they were lucky to get the second rehearsal as the clock showed only 2:30 of time remaining before the backing track came in. They’ve also lost a backing dancers which means they’re down to four for the performance. Gaitana’s vocals are fine, as expected, however the full performance still looks a little messy on stage. The flash mob at the end also looks wrong when it’s not shot from a head-on angle, as you can clearly tell that the ‘people’ are on a screen and not there so the effect is lost.

Filipa from Portugal takes to the Baku stage now. This is another assured, confident performance, and the team have clearly decided to keep the ‘Lisbon’ backdrop, which has proved to be popular among the journalists and media professionals here in the Press Centre. Filipa is wearing a brightly-coloured dress which features a striking, large paisley print – it’s not clear whether this is the actual stage outfit, however, as her backing vocalists seem to be dressed far more casually.

They’re also using their silver ‘futuristic’ microphone stands now. The Belarusians do love their microphone stands.

Litesound are on stage now. This stands out as being the only rock-influenced song in the Semi. It’s performed quite well today, a lot slicker than their first rehearsal a few days ago! The backdrop is yellow and blue circles which looks quite good with the lasers being used.

Malta’s Kurt Calleja is up next with his mid-tempo number This Is The Night. The LED screens at the rear of the stage are looking great in this, possibly one of the best ones we’ve seen with mainly orange effects. His vocals are competent and professional. This song is likely to suffer from a poor draw, however it could still do well, depending on how well it sticks in the memory of viewers.

Kurt and his crew are setting up now.

Joan is wearing a turquoise dress this time.  The background and stage are full of images of fire.  Joan’s headdress is on full display of ourse, and her backup band are in Americana styled costumes.  She’s interacting well with the camera and this is looking quite good as of now, a possible qualifier for sure!

And the stage is now being set up for Joan Franka of Nederland.

Macedonia to stage now – Kaliopi’s voice and her high note are on point, and the rocky sound is very much complemented by the lighting used during the performance; there are very few colours used but – appropriately enough – the stage remains ‘Black and White’ throughout.

Serbia are on stage now and the first run through is a lot better than it was the other day. The backdrop is a sky with dark clouds creating a very dramatic effect and fitting the song very well. Vocally it is very well performed and it’s a strong, solid start to Semi Final 2 which should have no problems at all getting through.

So before we take a break, a little news – Mr Lordi will read the Finnish points in the Final this year!

Jedward have come on for their second rehearsal, which sees them in white jackets with European flags on. The fountain goes a little higher in this performance which gives a nice background to the performance. The camera shot before the final chorus looks a bit awkward – possibly something to be flagged for change? The boys are looking a little tired at this point – though there are a few more run throughs today than in other rehearsals, so it’s easy to understand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IT’S JEDWARD TIME!

A very good vocal performance from Pasha once again but there seemed to be a few issues with the cameras and the backdrop looks a bit too much.  The part where Pasha ‘rides’ one of his dancers has been taken out which is a shame but apart from that the choreography remains slick. At the end of the song all six performers use the catwalk which is effective.

Pasha and his girls are on stage now for Moldova!

As Trackshittaz carry on going through their song there are still some issues with the neon lights, the breakdown just doesn’t seem to work on stage at the moment. But that’s what rehearsals are for!!

Austria have just had their first rehearsal, which is looking a bit more polished this time round, with improved camerawork. The boys are looking great, and dance around the poles set up on stage with their troupe of dancers. In the middle part of the song, the lights go out, and the dancers have glowing lights on them, although the effect is lost a bit, as the lights are probably not bright enough, and the camera angle too wide.

Our boys Lukas and Manuel of the Trackshittaz will be up next!

A strong set of rehearsals from Compact Disco today, no major flaws.

All of the performers on stage are dressed in black and lead vocalist Csaba is sporting some sparkles. There are a lot of camera shots of the hall during this which will look good when the audience are there what with the anthemic feel of Sound of Our Hearts. Vocals were always the fans concerns with this song but from what I can tell, there isn’t much of a problem at all.

We have Compact Disco of Hungary setting up on stage now

Russia are up onstage now – the grannies have had another little staging malfunction but have gotten back on track – this is still just as endearing as usual, and the last camera shot of the littlest granny shows us that Russia know what they’re doing with their camera shots!

Really nothing much to say about this one, it’s the same as the other day. However, Soluna is wearing a black and white striped outfit today (she still has the hat!) but not the red jacket. Very solid in all aspects and a sure qualifier.

And finally for today, we have Denmark!

As the rehearsals go on, Ivi is struggling with some of the notes. Ropey vocals.

Ivi is up for Cyprus now with her stage outfit, a sparkly light colored dress.  Ivi’s vocals are consistent with her dance routine and are actually looking (and sounding) good.  This is looking very impressive now and is looking more and more like a qualifier now.

Now on to the second rehearsal from San Marino. Though it isn’t a requirement for this series of rehearsals, Valentina and her crew seem to have opted to wear their stage costumes for the performance; among other professions, there appears to be a cheerleader, a doctor, a pilot represented on-stage! It will be interesting to see if this song suffers any as a result of its placing, directly after the Israeli song, which is also bright and bouncy. The group make full use of the stage and there are lots of sweeping camera shots. Valentina’s performance is very much delivered to the hall however, rather than to the cameras – it might be wise to include some more camera interaction, in order to appeal to the voters watching on television.

We’ll have the videos from Finland and Israel coming very soon!

Well it’s very well performed vocally but, as said, there needs to be some camera changes.

We’ve lost sound again so I can’t really comment on the sound, it does look a little messy though.

The clocks on the backdrop are back and the stage is a bright pink colour. Some bad camera angles during the first run through but good vocals.

Oh actually maybe we’re not having a break! Israel on now…

So we have another break now, just 20 minutes this time though. Then we’ll be back with Israel, San Marino, Cyprus and Denmark!

On a trip outside we just bumped into Greta and Jonsi and they decided to do some press-ups, it was a very joyous sight and we’re getting the video up on the YouTube channel now!

So Finland is on stage now – Pernilla has employed a wind machine, and it highlights her green dress well.  Her vocals are spot on and the emotion is presented well.  There seems to be a few changes here and there in the middle of the performance so it seems there are tweaks being made still.

Finland is on stage now!

We hope you enjoyed seeing our girl Eleftheria on the live cam then. What a doll <3

As we get treated to more rehearsals from Belgium, Iris’ vocals seem to be improving a little which is nice.

The video of Belgium will be uploaded very soon…

The stage looks good and at the end we pan out and there is a pink heart on the stage floor.

She’s a little out of tune on the first run through and the outfit is a little unflattering, a sort of floral white mess of a shirt and a cream skirt.

Iris is on stage for Belgium now.

Sinplus on stage for Switzerland now.  The boys are in leather jackets and keeping a rock band setup for the performance.  The vocals are sounding a bit rough, and the whole performance, though powerful, feels a bit static, and will probably have a bit of a climb if they want to qualify.

With a late draw in the Final, Romania is a serious contender.

Mandinga are rehearsing now in their stage outfits – the boys in white and Elena is in an orange and black dress. The lighting on stage is overwhelming, but very impressive at the same time. This will probably do quite well as it is consistently strong.

So we now have Mandinga setting up on stage for the Romanian rehearsal. This entry has seen its odds shorten since the first rehearsal and many here see it as a contender.

Time for some lunch – Azeri style.

Here is Latvia too, I thought I’d posted that but obviously not. I dropped the ball!

The video for Albania is on its way now and then we have an hour break before continuing with Romania! Stay tuned!

Rona Nishliu took on stage, and she took it big time. She’s alone on stage, but this song truly doesn’t need any backup singers. She had a bit of a problem with her voice at the very beginning of the song, but afterwards just freaking nailed it. Her performance, as usual, was incredibly emotional.

The stage is black and red and the catwalks are lit up with red lines at either side and it looks very good.

Albania is looking good on stage and from the small bit that we did get to hear it was very good.

So we have no sound in the press conference now but we did get treated to Jonsi singing Heaven from the conference hall.

Rona is on stage now to rehearse Suus.

So Latvia is doing one last run through. It does seem as though the performance is missing something though, it feels a little flat.

And now we’ve lost the sound in the press centre again. Boooooo!

Anmary is wearing a blue dress for her performance and her backing dancers are in a mix of pink and turquoise coloured outfits. The backdrop is red and orange so it’s a very bright performance. Vocally it’s good, as it was the other day but there’s still no fun in the performance which is what this song needs.

Latvia are setting up on stage now!

Second run through of Greece was a little better. Elle is giving some fierce shots to the camera and it’s looking good!

We have an oyster as the backdrop for this performance this time which looks good but seems a little odd. Vocally it was better than the other day, the choreography is slick and it’s a very typical Greek entry and baring that in mind, it will most likely get a typical Greek result!

Eleftheria is coming on stage now and she’s going to treat us with some Aphrodisiac!

Sorry the delay, videos are coming up now!

A ropey rehearsal from Iceland today, needs a little work…

Third rehearsal is a little better, more in tune at least however it gets a little shouty at the end. Overall it’s a good performance but definitely not as powerful as the other day.

It would seem as though there are some problems with the sound levels or ear microphones here because, again, it doesn’t sound very good. We all know both Greta and Jonsi can sing the song well but today Jonsi is certainly off key. Memories of Jemini…..

Iceland are on stage now. Greta has a wind machine while she plays the violin on stage today, camera shots are all very good but vocally Jonsi sounds a little off and that has totally taken away from the performance. If he does that on Tuesday then Iceland may have some trouble…

We’re just having a little bit of trouble uploading the video for Montenegro but it will be up very soon for all of you Rambo lovers.

It looks as though Montenegro will have one more run through and then we’re off to Iceland for a little of bit of Jonsi and fake tan Greta.

 

Each country only gets 30 minutes to perform today so we’ll be moving through them all pretty quickly.

Rambo comes on stage wearing a kind of shall covering his head as he saunters on the stage past his cardboard donkey at the opening. He’s wearing a suit for the performance, as is everyone else on stage including his monetary break-dancers. Halfway through the song his dancers bring  out a poster which reads “Euro Neuro Monetary Break Dance”. So the performance was kind of what we expected, very similar to the other day but with a few more props and costumes. It’s certainly an interesting opener to Eurovision 2012…

Good morning, we’ve arrived at the press centre just in time for the beginning of Rambo Amadeus’ sound check!