The first 2 days of first rehearsals came to an end last night, in which a total of 19 artists have currently taken to the Eurovision 2018 stage for the very first time. We’ve asked for your initial impressions, let’s have a look at the results!

It’s been a busy couple of days in the Eurovision 2018 host city of Lisbon, with plenty more hectic days to come in the lead up to the competition, set of officially kick off on our television screens on the 8 May (one week to go!).

Over the past number of days, the artists set to participate in the first semi-final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest have taken to the stage to embark on their first set of rehearsals. Nineteen artists have appeared onstage so far, with the semi-final 2 and automatic finalists to have their first rehearsals over the coming days.

Your initial impressions

Following each short impression of the rehearsal, we have been asking you to vote via our website to give us your first thoughts on each teaser you’ve seen so far. Voting has been based on the official clips and images uploaded via the Eurovision social media accounts, as well as descriptions made so far.

Based on the highest percentage of points received from each rehearsal, here are your initial thoughts of each country based on the last 2 days’ worth of footage available.

1. Cyprus (12 points: 68%)
2. Estonia (12 points: 54%)
3. Finland (12 points: 49%)
4. Greece (12 points: 47%)
5. Ireland (12 points: 45%)
6. Croatia (12 points: 44%)
7. Austria (12 points: 41%)
8. Albania (12 points: 40%; 10 points: 17%)
9. Israel (12 points: 40%; 10 points: 11%)
10. Lithuania (12 points: 39%)
11. Bulgaria (12 points: 31%; 10 points: 15%)
12. Armenia (12 points: 31%; 10 points 11%)
13. FYR Macedonia (12 points: 29%)
14. Switzerland (12 points: 25%)
15. Belgium (12 points: 23%)
16. Azerbaijan (12 points: 22%; 10 points: 19%)
17. Czech Republic (12 points: 22%; 10 points: 13%)
18. Iceland (12 points: 19%)
19. Belarus (12 points: 15%)

Whilst it’s difficult to have a strong opinion with little footage available, it’s interesting to see which countries have caught the eyes of the viewers from their initial rehearsals, whilst seeing which countries have seemingly dropped since first rehearsals.

The top rehearsals

Taking a strong lead is Eleni Foureira of Cyprus, whose fiery Fuego song already captured the hearts of Eurovision fans and has now grabbed their attention choreographically too. A fitting performance for the Cypriot representative and a great closer for the first semi-final, Eleni’s chances have only grown since her first rehearsal.

Following Cyprus is Estonia’s Elina Nechayeva. With an enhanced Eesti Laul performance and flawless vocals, Estonia could very well become a standout during the first semi-final, presenting the only opera-style song of the competition.

In third is Saara Aalto from Finland and her entry Monsters. Finland’s performance for 2018 is props galore! From spinning around as an opener to risky trust drops and difficult choreography throughout, it’s set to be a busy performance for the Finnish star on the Lisbon stage that could very well win the votes of Europe.

Following to make up the top 10 includes Greece, Ireland, Croatia, Austria, Albania, Israel and Lithuania. A number of surprising entries have gained the interest of fans since their first rehearsal, perhaps making for an interesting vote to come for the first semi-final.

On to the lower ranked…

Belarus is the country which has received the fewest percentage of 12 points to date in our polls, with the best of the performance itself potentially to be revealed in further clips over the coming days. It was certainly a stand out rehearsal at the press centre, in fact potentially a rather memorable one. Time will tell how Belarus will fare in the first semi-final.

Second to the bottom of the board is Iceland who gained 19% of 12 points, whilst also receiving 33% of 3 to 1 point votes. It’s a simplistic performance from the Icelandic team at the Eurovision venue which works well with the song itself, but could it potentially get lost amongst some of the high energy performances?

Perhaps surprisingly, Belgium has not fared as well in the polls to date as originally expected, receiving 23% of 12 points in her poll. Again, it’s another simplistic performance for the Belgian team in Lisbon, however this worked in favour of Belgium last year whose representative finished in 4th. Second rehearsals may see some changes ahead of the semi-final show.

Bulgaria has just missed out on reaching the top 10 in the poll, receiving 31% of 12 points for their first rehearsal. There has also been a small decline in the betting odds for Bulgaria since their rehearsal, however the performance itself is vocally flawless and it sure to impress the voting juries on the night. Bulgaria could surprise viewers on the night.

BNT presents the second half of Bulgaria’s first rehearsal for Eurovision 2018

All in all, semi-final 1 looks to be an extremely difficult and unpredictable semi-final, with a number of shocks and surprises expected in the live show next Tuesday. However with second rehearsals still to come, all is not lost and changes may be seen.

Who has surprised you the most from semi-final 1? What changes, if any, would you like to see to any of the first semi-final performances?