News - Live: Second semi-final dress rehearsal | Eurovision Song Contest News - Azerbaijan 2012 

esctoday.com is reporting live from the Press and Media Centre, watching the screens with the live feed that will be almost identical to what the transmission will look like tomorrow night. The dress rehearsal will start at 3 pm CET.

The show is now underway and the three hosts wish the audience welcome to the second semi-final. The voting procedure is explained and we are advised that apart from the 17 participants hosts Norway, Germany and United Kingdom will vote in this semi-final.

Song one – Lithuania

First off is InCulto from Lithuania. Five lads in shirts and check trousers start off playing the kazoo, which has probably never before appeared on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. The message is a little bit political, as it jokes about Easter Europeans being seen as second class citizens in Western Europe. It is all about having fun though, and after ditching the plastic toy instruments the stage goes dark and the trousers come off, revealing shine shorts with sequins. It will most likely have a big enough impact to qualify.

Song two – Armenia

Eva Rivas is the second on the stage with a starry background and blue lights hanging from the ceiling. The number starts with an elder man playing the flute and the second camera shot reveals a small apricot stone on Eva's hand. She is wearing apricot-colored dress over jeans. There is a big replica of the apricot stone in the back. The choreography was fluent and the vocal performance confident.
 

Song three – Israel

Harel Skaat sings the Israeli entry about words, Milim. This handsome young man stands in front of the stagein a dark suit and white shirt for the powerful ballad, a pianist sits on the left two backing singers are on the right, and the pianist also sings. Many people hear hints of Jacques Brel in this song and it certainly has a lot of fans around Europe. Harel gives it his all vocally, but his voice also breaks down once today. Will this be instant enough to qualify will be seen tomorrow.

Song four – Denmark

Chanée & N'Evergreen take the deep blue stage. They start the performance on each side of the screen separating them and they come together when the chorus starts. In the second verse they are standing on the moving platforms which separate and then unite when the chorus starts. That's when they go to the front part of the stage where they stay until the end of the song. Their performance has improved significantly since the first rehearsals as well as the emotional impact of the song.

Song five – Switzerland

Michael von der Heide sings his song about gold that rains down decked in a golden outfit and stage. He has a guitarist at the back and three female backing singers to help him. It is all very visual and we even get some pyro effects. Michael’s vocals are faultless, but today the backing vocals might be a bit too loud. The Swiss will find it hard to qualify even if it is one of the few songs sung in French in the whole contest.

We now get a voting reminder and meet the winner of the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, Lys Assia, who is in the audience.

Song six – Sweden

Anna Bergendahl's performance of This is my life is staying very faithful to the one from Melodifestivalen. She has been changing dresses at previous rehearsals. This time she is wearing the same dress she used at the Swedish preselection, along with Converse sneakers. The main color of the stage is red, the backing vocalists join Anna in the back of the stage. Another very good vocal performance and great general feel of the song.

Song seven – Azerbaijan

Safura and her water fantasy song Drip drop have been touted much as the pre-contest favourites. The colours are all blues and greens to create the underwater effect. Her problems negotiating the steps in her heels have now been helped by a male dancer holding her hand while she walks down. The intricate choreography designed by the man behind people like Beyonce is still in place. She runs up and down the catwalk to the wind from a wind machine. It is all a very powerful entity and is seen by most commentators as a sure qualifier.

Song eight – Ukraine

A completely dark stage awaits Alyosha's performance of Sweet people. She is alone on stage and as the song builds up red lights start flashing to enhance the effect. She is wearing a  peach dress with silk straps floating when the wind machine kicks in. Alyosha delivers an impressive performance of the song. Her voice is very strong and expresses the message of the song confidently.

Song nine – The Netherlands

Sieneke brings some traditional Dutch schlager to the Eurovision stage. A modern version of a traditional Dutch street organ with a LED screen is on the stage. Two dolls often seen with organs are played by two dancers. Sieneke has her hair down today and is smiling a lot. She is wearing a pinkish top with frills hanging from the sleeves. She gives a very confident vocal performance and this will get the votes from those who want to smile while watching the Eurovision Song Contest, after some very serious numbers this is like a breath of fresh air, even if Sieneke looks old for her age and the song is from a different era.

We now have a look into the green room and get a voting reminder.

Song ten – Romania

Paula Seling & Ovi take the stage with their see-through double-keyboard piano. They are joined by four female backing vocalists. The stage is lit in blue which enhances the effect of the flames flaring up at the back of the stage. The lights turn yellow-gold in the chorus. After Paula's impressing performance of the operatic middle section of the song there are some minor pyrotechnics used on the piano along with the flames in the back of the stage. One of the strongest performances so far.

Song eleven – Slovenia

Now we get some alpine folk from Slovenia combined with Yugoslavian style rock. The song is like a combination of almost two separate songs, just like they performers are dressed in two different styles on the stage. The vocals are totally faultless in this catchy number, and even if Slovenia has not qualified as often as its other Balkan neighbours anything can happen in the contest.

Song twelve – Ireland

Niamh Kavanagh is back on the Eurovision stage with a classic ballad It's for you. She is wearing a beautiful long, deep-purple dress covering a small pedestal where she stands. Her vocal performance is nice and clean and the backing vocalists combine beautifully with her voice. The stage is mostly black with dark-green rims and lights up in yellow when the song reaches it's full potential. The flute adds a touch of celtic vibe and add up to the magic which Ireland isn't lacking of this year.

Song thirteen – Bulgaria

Miro brings some more wings to this year’s stage. His song starts off as a ballad, but turns into powerful Balkan disco quite soon. There are some very effective dance routines in this song and Miro is no doubt a very confident vocalist. The male dancers show some naked torsos too. Part of the song is now in English. The song ends perhaps a bit suddenly, maybe a more powerful ending would have helped it to stay in the minds of the voters more?

Song fourteen – Cyprus

A deep-blue stage is ready for the Cypriot song Life looks better in spring. Jon Lilygreen is wearing jeans, t-shirt and an open white shirt, singing very well while playing his guitar. The Islanders are accompanying Jon behind him and when the stage turns golden-yellow at the chorus of the song the climax isn't as effective as expected. The performance is good but lacking some movement.

Song fifteen – Croatia

The trio from Croatia are next in turn. Feminnem sit on a park bench to begin with. They then stand up when this love ballad gets properly going. There is some dance moves from the three girls and the two backing singers during the instrumental bit. Some confetti gets strewn on the stage. It is very difficult not to compare this with the 2007 Serbian winner, but whether it will repeat the success of Molitva will remain to be seen.

Song sixteen – Georgia

Sofia Nizharadze is joined by three dancers and two female backing singers dressed in white on a dark stage with red-lit rim and red ribbons in the background. She is wearing a long red frock. The number is very well choreographed and helps enhance the feel of the song especially in the last chorus when the stage rim and ribbons turn white. Sofia was holding back vocally but still managed to pull off an excellent performance of Shine.

Song seventeen – Turkey

MaNga performs the Turkish entry. It is all based on the black and white colours. The rock sounds are softened with a strong string arrangement. A lot of smoke is used on the stage for this band that is used to big arenas. The female robot brings another element and some fire is being used. The cameras struggle slightly still today to follow all the action in this number, but hopefully it will look perfect tomorrow to ensure a qualification of the strong rock number.

We now get a voting reminder after all the songs have been performed and a recap of all the songs.

After that we get a montage of short video-clips of the songs that ended up on one of the last three places in the Eurovision Song Contest. Fans will appreciate many unforgettable moments such as Bebi Dol's Brazil from 1991 and Pan's Bana bana from 1989. After that we are greeted by the hosts again and then we see a recap of all the songs again.

After another voting reminder we get some more Voices of Europe like in the first semi-final. This time it is based around a young boy, who starts off in front of his computer and is seen to travel around Europe following the Voices. He then comes on the stage for some street dance moves with a few more youngsters.

Live reporting by Primoz Poglajen and Juha Repo