Eurovision 2017: Rehearsals start on Sunday 30th of April (UPD)

The EBU has released the second version of the rehearsal schedule for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. In the preliminary schedule we see that the rehearsals start on Sunday the 30th of April with Australia third on stage at 10:20 CET.

In the last four years the rehearsals did not start on Sunday. Instead they started on the Monday before the week of the contest, to reduce costs. In the second version of the schedule, the EBU has removed Russia from the schedule, as the country is not able to take part in Kiev.

Between Sunday the 30th of April and Wednesday the 3rd of May all countries in the semi finals take the stage for the first time. Between Thursday the 4th of May and Saturday the 7th of May, they will return for the second round of rehearsals. The six direct qualifiers for the final will go to the International Exhibition Centre on Friday the 5th of May and Sunday the 7th of May.

Please note that the second version of the schedule listed below is still preliminary and can be changed by the EBU. The latest version has some adjustments and does not include Russia anymore. The times in the pictures are the local times in Ukraine, which means that CET is one hour earlier. The Eurovision liveshows therefore take place at the usual time: 21:00 CET.

Watch the full Eurovision rehearsal schedule 2017 here: