News - Third dress rehearsal for the second semi-final | Eurovision Song Contest News - Azerbaijan 2012 

The delegations of the countries participating in the second 2010 Eurovision Song Contest semi-final in Oslo have gathered in the Telenor Arena for the final dress rehearsal before tonight's live show. The broadcast begins at 21:00 CET.

Once again esctoday.com is reporting from the Press and Media Centre where we are watching the show on screens. Since it id the last dress rehearsal for the show it is expected that the artists will take the opportunity to give the best performance and get ready for the live broadcast tonight.

As the show starts we are welcomed to the show by the hosts. They explain the voting procedure and how the telephone numbers work. We are also informed that all the countries participating in the second semi-can vote along with Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Lithuania
Lithuania has the honor of opening the show and just like in the first semi-final we enjoy the opening with a fun up-tempo song. The members of the group InCulto are well choreographed and give us three minutes of pure entertainment. Their vocals are very good and in the middle part of the song when the stage gets dark they pull off their pants and finish the song singing in glittering shorts. It all looks like Lithuania will sail to the final with this performance.

Armenia
Eva Rivas gives us an amazing performance of Apricot stone. Just before the final chorus of the song the apricot stone gimmick at the back of the stage opens up and a tree with white petals rises from it. The act is accompanied by some very effective fireworks and the backing singers coming forward to join Eva finishing the song together. Great energy and brilliant performance assures Armenia to reach the final.

Israel
Harel Skaat is back on the Eurovision stage dressed in black suit with white shire under the jacket. His vocal performance was far from perfect and everybody in the press centre are hoping that he was holding back in order to give his best at the live show. Once again his voice broke in the last chorus and there was a slight pitch anomaly. Right now it is difficult to predict if Israel will qualify.

Denmark
After the performance by Chaneé & N'evergreen we just witnessed in the press center we can easily say that Denmark will sail confidently to the final. The performance starts very gently with the screen separating the artists and they come together by the time the chorus starts. With the final chorus the pyrotechnics are used and together with Chanée & N'evergreen's very much improved performance and expression of emotions the song builds up to the magical finish.

Switzerland
Michael on deer Heide is next on stage, dressed in gold accompanied by three female backing singers. The equilibrium between the main and backing vocals was improved and Michael sang flawlessly. The performance includes fireworks towards the end and is all in all very strong.

Sweden
Another confident performance by Anna Bergendahl. She is wearing a champagne-coloured dress and Converse sneakers. The stage is lit red in the background, turning yellow in the bridge and blue in the final chorus of the song. The backing singers stay at the back of the stage until the end of the song. Anna looks very charming and delivers a strong performance of This is my life.

Azerbaijan
Safura is wearing a beautiful blue frock and looks more confident than ever on the Eurovision stage. The choreography is very effective but is not used throughout the song. Safura goes to the forward section of the stage at the bridge of the song and then comes running back at the last chorus which looks a bit confusing. She could also be relating more to the camera to capture the viewer's attention. Nevertheless Safura's vocal was very good and the performance is interesting enough to qualify for the final.

Ukraine
Sweet people is brilliantly sung by Alyosha who is alone on stage wearing peach-coloured frock and she has a cloak on top of it which she takes off in the first chorus of the song. A very strong performance but the question is if the song has enough appeal for the viewers to vote for Ukraine.

Netherlands
Sieneke delivers a very fun performance of Ik ben verliefd (Sha la lie). It is a breath of fresh air after a couple of sombre songs and Sieneke looks very charming on stage. She sings the song flawlessly and the backing singers and dancers playing a part of dolls in the performance add up to the magic of the number. It is difficult to predict if it will qualify.

Romania
Paula Seling & Ovi are back on the stage and the up-tempo song works very effectively after the ballads and a mid-tempo song from the Netherlands. Their vocal performance was strong, they were great with camera work and the fireworks enhance the general feel of the song. Once again this was a very strong performance for Romania and it should easily qualify for the final.

Slovenia
Alpine folk sound combined with yugoslavian rock announce the Slovenian performance. The number is well choreographed and the group looks very confident on stage. The main colours for the stage lights are black and white. It is a fun and performance to watch and quite powerful but it is yet to be seen if it can get enough sympathy votes to make it to the final.

Ireland
Niamh Kavanagh delivers the best vocal performance of It's for you so far. She looks relaxed, and expresses the mood of the song brilliantly. The performance focuses on the song and therefore Niamh and the backing singer stay still throughout the entire performance which just adds up to the magic. Ireland is expected to reach the final after all these years missing out.

Bulgaria
Wings announce the theme of Bulgaria's song this year - angels. After a slow start of the song the performance builds up significantly into a power disco tune. Miro is a great vocalist and general sound of the song is very good but considering the complicated dancing moves by the dancers throughout the song they are capable of making a more memorable ending.

Cyprus
Jon Lilygreen takes the deep-blue colored stage at the Telenor Arena in Oslo. Another strong vocal performance but the visual presentation of the song is missing the energy that could be achieved if there were some light choreography added to the performance. It is borderline qualifier so far.

Croatia
The members of the girl-band Feminnem make another stunning performance of Lako je sve. A blue-colored stage turns into pink when the song builds up and the choreography in the middle section of the song looks impressive on the screen. The only minor error in this performance was done by the director of the show - not focusing on the choreography when the song "explodes" just before the last chorus. If they fix this the impact of the song would be even greater but as good as it was it should guarantee Croatia a spot in the final.

Georgia
Sofia Nizharadze appears on the Eurovision stage in a red frock with red-sparkling top. The best feature of this power ballad performance is the choreography. It is very well rehearsed and works well enough to capture the viewers' attention. Sofia did an amazing vocal performance of Shine and the ending of et song was quite impressive. It all seems that it should be enough for Georgia to make it to the final.

Turkey
We finish the same way as we started - with a powerful up-tempo song. Manga's performance was simply put - amazing. The contrast between the black and white lights works great with the feel of the song. The dance routine is very interesting and the fireworks enhance the melodic rock vibe of the song. It is relatively easy to say that we will enjoy this performance once again in Saturday's final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

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.