Düsseldorf 2011: The Jury Rehearsal

Welcome back to Düsseldorf everyone, where tonight half of the vote from the first semifinal will be decided. Over the next two hours, five jurors in each of the 19 participating countries, plus those in Spain and the United Kingdom, will sit to consider their verdict. These votes will then be added to tomorrow night’s televoting results to complete the scores for each country. Emma Backfish will take you through the show.

With a welcome to the stage we’re underway!

Poland
Magdalena’s vocals are on point here,  and her routine is carried out quite well.  This is actually a strong opener but might lose out in the end.

Norway
We had a bit of a snafu here with the postcards, and Poland’s was played for a second time before Norway.  Stella’s vocals aren’t as strong as they were earlier in the day and she actually looks a bit tired.   People are still pretty convinced she’ll qualify, but this wasn’t her strongest performance.

Albania
Aurela’s voice is strong as ever, and the explosive performance does come across powerfully on screen.  The only problem is the severe intense nature of her appearance, and this could lose support from the entire look of it.

Armenia
It seems like someone hasn’t told Emmy that this performance is quite important, as the choreography of this isn’t as on point as it usually is!  Emmy’s vocals sound quite weak actually, and this could actually be in a bit of danger from the Juries after a subpar performance.

Turkey
The vocals on this are great, but the only problem is that the lead singer doesn’t feel as engaging as he probably should be.  It feels very methodical and not exactly like they’re “living it up”.  Everything is done well, but there really does need to be a personal edge to this.

We’re now treated to a segment with two of the hosts teaching several of the contestants a German folk song.

Serbia
Nina’s voice sounds a little bit strained, but she is engaging enough and performing so well that it might not matter.  The visuals are gorgeous and Nina is so charismatic that this is probably going to do well with the juries.

Russia
The vocals, look of the stage and overall feel of this is incredible, and it’s hard to think that anything could really win semi one with such a strong performance.  Alexey is spot on and he will be sailing through to the final with this, the only mechanical problem was one of the shoes not lighting up on one of his backing dancers and a screen not working, but clearly this can be fixed.

Switzerland
Anna’s vocals on this are excellent and the understated nature of this performance is wonderful.  The problem is that following Russia, this really doesn’t fare well – and will probably go unnoticed.

Georgia
This is just as powerful as usual, with vocals that match the song well.  With Georgia’s history at ESC, and the fact that it does sound out from the pack, this will probably go on to the final.

Finland
After Georgia, Paradise’s performance is so beautifully understated that it makes such a great impact.  His vocals are great, and his interaction with the camera is excellent for a song like this.  With the gorgeous staging and sentimental message of this song, he should be in no danger to go through tomorrow.

Malta
Glen’s vocals are great, and his energy level is off the charts.  He hits all of his moves perfectly and really seems to visibly enjoy just being up on stage.  This feels like it gets quite buried, though – and will probably not be moving on.

San Marino
The whole feel of this is good, but the problem really is that it feels like Senit is coming across flat.  Her vocals just aren’t sounding like what they should be, and it’s a shame because she can actually sing.  She visibly doesn’t look like she is confident with this either, and this probably won’t make a great impact.

Croatia
Daria’s vocals are as good as they can be, but her backing singers are falling flat and not supporting her well.  The “tricks” here are pulled off and overall, for what this song is, they’ve managed to pull it off.

Iceland
After a bit of a hectic rehearsal this afternoon, this is miles better.  The six are all vocally spot on, and their interaction with the cameras is fantastic.  The heart and passion behind this, and the wonderful job the guys have done have many people thinking this will go over well and possibly qualify.

Hungary
This song is one of the strongest in the semi, but it feels like it’s falling flat a bit, performance-wise and vocally.  Kati looks quite nervous in some parts, but has managed to pull of a good performance overall.

Portugal
For this not being a great vocal performance, they make up for what they lack with excitement and an ability to engage the camera and the audience to come, who, for the most part, will not know what this is about.  There is a whisper amongst us here in Düsseldorf that this could possibly qualify.

Lithuania
Evelina’s vocals are gorgeous and she is able to work what is a lackluster song quite well.  The problem is still that this song doesn’t make that great of an impact, and even though everything about the performance is strong, there needs to be something else that would bring it further.

Azerbaijan
As usual, Nigar’s vocals are lacking, while Eldar’s are great.  Nigar does look less frightened than she had been appearing in rehearsals earlier, but this still feels quite stagnant on emotion.  This also looks visually nice and will probably be in no trouble to qualify.

Greece
This has improved a lot since open rehearsals, and both guys are on their game tonight.  It feels very electric and the guys are engaging more on stage with each other and the dancers now.  This is coming together more as a song than before, and this will surely be joining the the final on Saturday.

With the performances over now, we’re onto a recap and then a longer look at sights around Germany.

We see another recap, and now we see Cold Steel Drummers as our interval act.

And before the results, we’re getting the preview of the Big 5 countries.

Results of the fake qualifiers:

Croatia
Lithuania
San Marino
Portugal
Greece
Finland
Azerbaijan
Hungary
Iceland
Malta

With that, the show is over and we’re off for the night.  We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.  Goodnight from Düsseldorf!