Rehearsals are now well and truly underway in the city of Tel Aviv, which will be hosting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Today sees the first day of rehearsals, with the first half of the first semi-final evening taking to the impressive stage of Expo Tel Aviv.

9 countries are all set to make their debut onstage, 10 days before the live show of the first semi-final. Following their rehearsal, a Meet & Greet session will be coming next. These countries are Cyprus, Montenegro, Finland, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belarus and Serbia.

Following a swap with Montenegro, Czech Republic is now the second country to take to the stage, while the former will rehearse 6th. The country of Central Europe is being represented by the boyband Lake Malawi, who are rehearsing their song Friend of a friend.

The boys from Lake Malawi are wearing similar casual clothes as we have seen in their video and their previous live performances.

Each band member wears a different coloured jumper, with the lights on the stage matching their theme. Albert is wearing yellow, Antonin is wearing black whilst Jeronym has opted for red. They pair these jumpers with skinny denim jeans, giving them a relaxed and youthful vibe.

Gallery from Czech Republic first rehearsal