Hallo Kopenhagen! The show starts at 15:00 CET and I hope you will be joining me. The second dress rehearsal, otherwise known as the Jury Semi-Final, is at 21:00 tonight. I will be with the ESCDaily.com team inside the arena to enjoy the show but if there are any major differences to what I report on today I will add them to this article later. I will also add some photographs by David Ransted throughout the article.
For me personally today is one of the highlights of the year as so much comes together. We get to see the presenters presenting and all the postcards along with the opening and interval acts.
One or two minutes late and we start.
The last note of Te Deum is played out of tune and we are shown a recap of last year, including Cezar, and Krista’s kiss.
A little tour of life in Copenhagen, Emmelie de Forest walking and the scenes changing around her to some folk music.
Now the virtual choir, clips of fans from all over the world coming together on screen ending in “Come and Join Us” the logo appearing on screen and now we are in the arena.
Emmelie de Forest is singing last year’s winner backed by a large choir. And in the background the clips from the virtual choir again. The hosts are announced. There are some large gaps between the end of the song and the hosts entering.
We are back to the clip of Emmelie de Forest walking and to the virtual choir. I was never a fan of Only Teardrops but this version is pretty beautiful.
The hosts enter holding hands, men in suits and Lise in a white evening dress. “Good evening Europe!” Malmö is thanked for an amazing show, most of all because Denmark won. And now some fun at Sweden, coming 14th last year, and victories in football. “The world’s best neighbour.”
We see a list of participating countries and the numbers, and an explanation of the voting rules and system. Nikolaj is translating into French.
A very short introduction script and the first song is announced.
In case you do not already know, the postcards this year show the artists making the flags of their countries.
Armenia
Aram sure makes an intricit flag in his postcard. He does some type of metal work, then sewing and then pomegranate seeds, photographing the end result with his phone.
I thought Aram was holding back on vocals until the song turned. The pyrotechnics look superb as does the lighting on stage. He gives a very confident performance and receives a big applause here.
Latvia
The Latvians really are baking a cake for their song. Berries and cream make up the colours. Jöran then jumps on the table to photograph it from above.
The performance has been like in previous rehearsals.
Estonia
Tanja makes the Estonian flag out of shipping containers, lifting them herself with a crayon before photographing them.
Sweden
Sanna is in a swimming pool and puts some yellow beds floating on the water. She then goes to a diving board to photograph the flag from above.
That was a strong performance.
Iceland
Pollapönk project their flag onto a waterfall.
Nothing new in the Icelandic performance. Nikolaj speaks briefly.
Now a look into the records book, the record for highest hair. Jedward wins and are there to wave from the audience.
Another hello from the hosts before the next song.
Albania
Hersi gets a tattoo of the two-headed eagle. She then asks her tattoo artist to take a photo of it through a red sheet of plastic to make the flag.
A flawless performance.
Russia
The Tolmachevy Sisters are walking around a room of stripes of light searching for three that together make the Russian colours, to photograph with their iPhones.
They are not wearing the hats. In some rehearsals they did. They are giving a very strong performance. So far there is no booing!
Azerbaijan
Dilara seems to use trick photography to make the Azerbaijani flag.
I do not think she gave everything in her performance.
Ukraine
Mariya covers a train in yellow Post-it® notes and waits for a blue train to come to photograph her flag.
I think her vocals are better, especially when she jumps off the wheel. She had problems with this earlier in the week.
Belgium
Axel is in a laundrette. He knits the flag, then launders it to shrink it a bit before photographing it.
“Thank you Europe!” he shouts after a very strong performance.
Moldova
Cristina is working on a pottery wheel, she makes three vases, paints them the colours of her flag and paints the crest before photographing the flag.
She also did not hold back on her performance!
San Marino
Valentina paints her flag on canvass and photographs it.
She is wearing the same dress as the second rehearsal.
A quick hello from Lise to advertise the app and website, and show us the trophy.
Now a look into the records again, this time biggest shoulder pads. Jedward win again.
Both Gentleman presenters argue about which one of them Suzy is singing her song to.
Portugal
Suzy paints a portion of the flag on herself before standing in front of a flag painted on the wall to blend in with it. It is very impressive!
The Netherlands
