News - Day 1: Sweden, Armenia and Andorra | Eurovision Song Contest News - Azerbaijan 2012 

Song 5: Sweden

Next on stage is Sweden, represented by one of the country's most sought after opera performers Malena Ermans. She performs the Fredrik Kempe composition La Voix. This song blends pop with opera which perfectly highlights Marlane’s classically trained voice. She is joined by 5 female backing vocals, Jessica Marberger, Dea Norberg, Tine Matulessy, Malin Nilsson and Anna Maria Hallgarn all of whom are dressed in black.  Malena, the Ice Queen as the concept of her appearance is, is dressed in a champagne coloured outfit with feathers at the base of the dress.

The five female backing singers give that song a softer feel than the version performed at Melodifestivalen. The routine is very similar to the one we saw in the Swedish final with the same Comedia del' arte masks being used and the same  white and green colours being used as the stage backdrop. Malena gives a charismatic and elegant performance.

Song 6: Armenia

Inga & Anush from Armenia are next on stage with an invitation for Europe to dance the Nor par, a dance which they hope will spread hopes for a new and better life. Singing their song Jan jan in both English and Armenian, the Armenian sisters will be hoping to became the fourth successive act representing Armenia to qualify directly to the Eurovision song contest final and with today's strong vocal performance there will be every chance of this.

The girls give an uplifting performance to this up-tempo dance/folk song.  The influence of famous Russian trio Fresh Art employed to develop the stage image and the performance has certainly paid dividends. The song starts will the 2 singers joined on a platform onstage to some gyrating by four dancers dressed n blue and black.  This song has been developed by combining a strong  R&B groove with ethic elements which combine very well to produce an unique sound.  Torwards the end of the song green laser light are projected from the hands of the backing singers.

Song 7: Andorra

Denmark-born, Susanne Georgi will be aiming to become the first Andorran entry to qualify directly to the final in six attempts as she takes the stage for this afternoon technical rehearsal. She performs her fresh pop song La teva decisio with plenty of energy and creates a nice vibe for the song.  Parts of her song are performed in both English and Catalan.

She is joined on stage by five female backing singers who also play guitars.  This adds some freshness to the number. At the start of the song Susanne also plays a guitar but this disappears who she briefly dissapears from the stage and reappears with a hand held microphone.  The staging of the show is completely white and a wind machine is used for the last third of the song.