Stockholm Calling: First rehearsals of semi-final 2 underway

by Jessica Weaver 1,403 views

This morning sees the first set of rehearsals for the semi-final 2 participants of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, and we here at ESCToday are ready to bring you the latest news live from the arena itself.

With rehearsals starting at 10:00 CEST, today we’ll see the first 10 acts of the second semi-final take to the Eurovision stage for the first time for their initial rehearsals. Each act will receive 30 minutes’ worth of rehearsal time on stage, with a 20 minute press meet and greet session to follow from 12:10 CEST onwards.

Day 3 of rehearsals: The schedule

All times listed below are in CEST.

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Latvia, Poland, Switzerland, Israel and Belarus will be the first 5 countries to rehearse on the Globe Arena stage this morning, with a further 5 nations embarking on their first rehearsals this afternoon. A first impression of each of today’s performances will be uploaded via the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

01 Latvia: Justs – Heartbeat

Justs is first to rehearse on-stage this morning, performing at the arena complete on his own. Reds and whites fill the stage with triangular images taking over the sides of the stage; a tunnel effect features on the LED screen in the centre of the stage. Justs uses the whole stage throughout his performance, moving and singing in different sections. The singer wears a black outfit including a leather jacket, jeans and boots.

02 Poland: Michał Szpak – Color of your life

Joined by 5 backing musicians who stand all around the stage, Michał Szpak is next to rehearse at the Globe Arena. Wearing a black vest and jeans, Michał’s performance includes a number of lights which shine around the stage, with Michał standing at the centre of the stage throughout. To fit with his song title, the words “What color is your life” were projected on the backing LED screens.

03: Switzerland: Rykka – The last of our kind

A barefooted Rykka took to the Eurovision stage this morning for her first rehearsal. Wearing a long black dress, Switzerland’s staging for their performance in predominantly blue, with a mixture of pyrotechnics being used including a waterfall. Special smoke effects also take over the lower part of the stage throughout the singer’s performance. Rykka also performs along with a number of backing vocalists, however they cannot be seen on the stage itself.

04 Israel: Hovi Star – Made of stars

An excited Hovi Star entered the stage this morning, with crystal stars shining through the darkness of the arena. Hovi is joined by 2 acrobats on stage who perform together in a spectacular hoop act. The hoops itself is a golden colour before changing to blue towards the latter half of the performance. A pyro of  ashower of lights fall over and around the stage towards the end of the performance as the song builds. Today, Hovi wore a fully black outfit including a sparkling shirt and shoes.

05 Belarus: IVAN – Help you fly

A fully-clothed IVAN took to the stage today, initially wearing a black robe to cover his body and face. The camera work used throughout the Belarusian performance focuses on both the singer himself alongside the projected images appearing on the backing screens. The LED screens show images of 3 wolves in the background behind IVAN alongside a singer/performer. The projected singer in the background performs with a number of different instruments throughout the performance, including a drum kit.

Day 3 of rehearsals continue from 14:20 CEST where we will see Serbia, Ireland, FYR Macedonia, Lithuania and Australia take to the stage.