Good evening everyone . Well, today saw the final day of technical rehearsals before the serious stuff starts on Monday with the live preview shows. The Big 5 plus Ukraine took to the stage to run through their second rehearsals. As yet we don’t seem to have an official footage as with the previous two days , however , we have pictures and there are snippets of mainly the first rehearsals available on Tik Tok .

First of all the draw was held today for Spain , France , Italy and Germany to decide which half in the Grand Final they will perform in .The results were :

First Half

France , Spain , Italy

Second Half

Germany

Ukraine and the UK as last year’s winners and this year’s hosts have already drawn their positions and Ukraine are performing 19th , while the UK perform 26th .

Germany

Lord of the L ost bring us red staging, smoke and pyros . Germany have been drawn to perform in the second half of the Grand Final. A late position in the running order could see quite a few televotes swing their way, if the pictures and footage are anything to go by.

Marco in a spangly top and black leather trousers,simple dark staging with spotlights .It’s typical Italian staging . I think Marco could do very well in the Grand Final, although he has been drawn to perform in the first half of the Grand Final.

Ukraine

Ukraine never fail to disappoint with their staging and Tvorchi seem to have brought the steel look to it . The LED backdrop shows several replicas of the lead singers face. This seems to be a popular thing to do this year , as other acts have done similar. However , one one side of the face you see a metallic like plate .Very futuristic looking outfits. I am looking forward to seeing the whole performance. Ukraine have been drawn to perform in the second half of the Grand Final and with the large Ukrainian diaspora throughout Europe now, I wouldn’t bet against them doing another top 10, if not top 5 .

Spain

Blanca Paloma brings us very much the same performance as in Benidorm Fest . Wearing red and white and joined by her backing singers , who are all in red, cavorting around her. It’s a good reflection of Spanish culture and it will be interesting to see what Europe and the rest of the world makes of this .Spain have been drawn to perform in the first half of the Grand Final.

France

Classy and elegant are two words that sum up La Zarra’s staging. She’s in a long spangly dress, stood on a tall podium, which is lit up at the top, a bit like a light house . Dark staging with a spotlights on La Zarra, very reminiscent of Barbara Pravi’s staging In Rotterdam 2021. This is winning material , however she has been drawn to perform in the first half of the Grand Final , which could impact on her chances somewhat .

I am delighted to see such modern staging from the UK . Mae is stood on a tall platform with her backing dancers. The LED backdrop shows Mae’s face split into two, which depicts the feelings of someone feeling their head is being messed around with from a relationship break up . There’s images of hands with long nails and eyes in the LED backdrops too. It gives you a girl power feeling . As we know Mae is singing last in the running order in the Grand Final. This will be a great song to close the show with.

So that’s it for today folks and that also brings to an end the first week of rehearsals. From Monday, the serious stuff starts with the preview rehearsal shows , which are attended by a public audience and the Media centre will be open to Press, so we can finally bring you more of what our coverage would normally be, including our live blogs!

Tomorrow is a rest day from rehearsals but we have the Turquoise Carpet ceremony at 15.00 hrs BST , which officially opens the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, where the delegations from each country will gather at St Georges Hall, Liverpool . You can watch the live stream of this HERE

Let us know what you think of Eurovision 2023 and what we have seen of rehearsals so far by dropping us a line in our comments box. You can also find us on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER feeds.

Author: Sarah Rudman

Visual Sources : BBC , Eurovision.TV , EBU , Sarah Louise Bennett, Chloe Hashemi