ESCXTRA are live from Kyiv for day five of rehearsals ahead of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest! For the first time, we can bring you live audio from the press centre television screens that show each rehearsal. The countries rehearsing today, in chronological order, are Sweden, Georgia, Australia, Albania, Belgium, Montenegro, Finland, Azerbaijan, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Moldova, Iceland, Czech Republic and Cyprus. Furthermore, read our handy guide for a more detailed look at this contest’s rehearsal schedule.
In addition, for our immediate reactions to every single rehearsal, you can follow our live stream from the press centre at the International Exhibition Center by visiting our YouTube channel. Also, you will also be able to listen live to each rehearsal as it happens and give us your opinions in our live chat.
The next artist to take to the stage for their second rehearsal is Norma John from Finland. We have just watched their first run through of Blackbird live from Kyiv and here is our reaction.
Staging overview
The LED backdrop begins with black and blue stormy imagery. For the final chorus of the song, this imagery turns red. Leena and Lasse are both dressed in black, in a very similar set-up to that in UMK.
Qualification prospects
I think this is probably just a qualifier thanks to the juries and has a 55% chance of qualification. Brent and Wivian are both even more positive about its chances, going for a 70-80% likelihood of qualification.
Press centre reaction
There wasn’t any reaction from the journalists in here, but we have been seeing this performance for 5 months now considering the UMK similarities so perhaps it isn’t unexpected.
Watch the rehearsal!
Stay tuned for our reaction to Dihaj as she rehearses Skeletons next for Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, remember to tune in to our live stream from the press centre. There you can see our instant reactions to each rehearsal and listen to live audio to judge for yourself!
