The second day of rehearsals are now underway. This morning, Israel, Bulgaria,Iceland & FYR Macedonia will complete their first technical rehearsals and press conferences. You can read the reviews below from the rehearsals and later today eurovision.tv will provide video footage.

Song 10: Israel

First on stage this morning for the technical rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest semi final are the Israeli duo Noa & Mira Awad with their entry There must be another way. The song is being performed in three languages, English, Hebrew and Arabic. Not only this will be first time that a song from Israel is being sung in an Arab language, this will also mark the first occasion that an Israeli song at the contest will be sung by an Arab artist, Mira Awad. Fittingly, the lyrics are a message of peace expressing the hope that there must be another way than war and suffering.

The both girls are dressed in sleek black outfits with long black trails. This presented problems this morning for the two girls as the walked around the stage, particularly for Noa as the heels of her high healed shoes became stuck in the trail of her dress on several occasions. For the the second run through of the song the trails were removed. This is a more acoustic version of there song There must be a another way, than we saw in the Israeli final. Both ladies deliver powerful vocal performances and harmonise very well. this is an authentic performqace which truly fits the message of the song. Noa & Mira are joined on stage by a percussion player and two guitarists.

Song 11: Bulgaria

Next on stage is Krassimir Avramov the first male solo performer to represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is joined on stage by his backing vocalists Petya Buyuklieva, Ani Lozanova and Albena Veskova and the two dancers from Stilt World. Together they present their entry which is a contempary ethno pop song called Illusion.

Krassimir is blessed with a very rare male voice, the tenor-altino, which makes a powerful impression in the first technical rehearsal this morning. One would expect that is would be rather difficult to harmonise with such a high pitched voice, however the vocal arrangement with the three backing singers works well and adds an extra dimension to the song. The vocal pitching of the song is not always perfect, however it does add strong character to the powerful rhythm and drive of the song. We also we some of the most effective stage presentation with burning flames being projected on the screens behind the artists and dynamic dancing by two performers on stilts.

Song 12: Iceland

Next on on stage is Yohanna the 16 year old singer from Iceland with her beautiful power ballad Is is true. She is joined on stage by one cello player, one guitarist and three backing vocalist, which include Fredrick from Euroband, who provide powerful vocals.

The stage is covered by heavy fog and a wind machine moves this to one side of the stage to give a haunting presentation of this emotional song. Blue background is used to show clouds and the moon. Yoohanna is dressed in red and does not move on the stage, however, cameras shots are used to good effect. She has has a crystal clear voice and the song is delivered with great maturity and heavenly vocals.

Song 13: FYR Macedonia

Following Iceland on stage we have the twin brother from the FYROM who make up the band Next Time with their rock song Nešto što kje ostane. Performing with the brothers on stage are three guitarist and a drummer. We see glam metal celebrates its return in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.

The choice of the Macedonian language obviously adds to the song and makes it more unusual although the stage performance is kept in a very classic way, just like in the national final. Flashing red, green and blue light are displayed on the stage throughout the show. The band provide a very strong vocal performance and the rock sounds blasts the arena for last of the opening group of rehearsals this morning.