Welcome back dear readers and fans!

Today we have Day 6 of the rehearsals in Vienna , with remaining Semi Final 1 countries having their second rehearsals and the Big 4 plus hosts, Austria , having their first rehearsals . As with the rehearsal yesterday, we will get short clips via You Tube of the Semi Final 1 second rehearsals . However, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see clips of the Big 4 plus Austria as today is only their technical rehearsals.Hopefully we will get pics at some point . has also been the first opportunity to take a glimpse of the performances as we will see them on TV next Tuesday. As with yesterday’s rehearsals, I’ll be giving my thoughts on what we get to see in the short clips and how I think the countries will do on Tuesday night . So without any further ado, here goes …..

Belgium -Essyla “Dancing on the ice “

Now, I really like this song and would like to see Belgium qualify after a couple of years out of the Grand Final . As far as stagings go, this is good staging and Essyla and her dancers dressed in all white goes well with the song title. My only reservations are that while Essyla’s backing dancers are happily dancing away, Essyla herself comes across as very wooden, with barely any stage movement . A song like this needs the singer to be participating and interacting with her backing dancers more .However, this is only a 35 second clip , so hopefully we will see much more activity from Essyla in other parts of the performance The vocals sounded good today . I would say , from what I have seen so far that it’s 50:50 whether Belgium will make it out of the Semi Final, and probably will only just scrape through if they do. It would be a shame if they don’t make it as I really like this song.

Lithuiania Lion Ceccah “Solo quiero mas”

This is very similar to the National Final performance. I am not sure what voters will make of this . It’s a bit like watching something from a night at the opera .There’s no doubting the vocals, and Lion sings from the heart. The unique ness of it might just put Lithuania through.

San Marino -Senhit “Superstar”

Well, we expected to see a busy staging from Senhit and that’s what we have got in this rehearsal clip.And yes, Boy George is there !Although I really don’t see the point of him being so, as he is looking as if he’s wondering what he’s doing there.With Senhit looking as if she’s trying to jolly him along with the backing dancers doing their stuff in the background ! There’s pyros and very colourful, glitzy staging. I really don’t know what to make of it . It feels like something I would have seen on TV in the early 80’s . Well that was Boy Georges’s peak time ! At the moment, I would say that this will struggle to qualify but on the other hand ,may appeal to people who remember the 80’s and Boy George and Culture Club with fondness.

Poland -Alicja “Pray”

Well, I didn’t really rate “Pray ” before rehearsals started but this is a classic example of how staging can uplift a song. The backing dancers and Alicja make good use of the large plinth on stage and Alicja’s vocals are sound.It comes across well on screen.I think this might get through based on what I have seen in the 35 second clip .

Serbia -Lavina -“Kraj Meme”

Now I’m not a fan of this kind if music and I am seeing nothing here that changes my mind.You do get some rock bands who can appeal to every type of fan going, even those who normally wouldn’t listen to their type of music. Think Lordi in 2006. However, unfortunately, I don’t seen anything in this that would lead me to become a rock fan, judging by the 35 second clip. It’s loud , with screaming more than shouting . The staging is very in your face with pyros , flashing lights . I think this will appeal to those who like this genre of music but the average family viewer may not be so enamoured !

So that’s the second lot of semi Final 1 rehearsals done and dusted. Then we went onto the first rehearsals of the Big 4 plus Austria . As with both the first and second semi final first rehearsals,there will be no video clips as they are only technical rehearsals . but we hopefully will have some pictures and as soon as we get sight of them, you will get them here at Eurovision Ireland .

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Author : Sarah Rudman

Source : EBU ,You Tube , Instagram