After a spectacular first semi-final last night, the second semi-final had it’s first dress rehearsal inside a packed B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen.

Opening Act

The second semi final begins with a flashback of the first semi-final. The opening performance begins with a video of a young girl stacking cards into a triangle shape. This shape then enlarges around Copenhagen as the young girl travels around the city. The squares that are used on stage are digitally shown around the Danish capital before floating to the stage inside the B&W Hallerne.

A violinist then appears followed by several dancers. All dressed in silver, the performers carry out a hip hop dance routine. Towards the end of the performance, the violinist seen at the beginning joins the stage for one last violin solo. The act is then finished.

The three presenters, Nikolaj Koppel, Pilou Asbæk and Lise Rønne walk on stage. In their opening monologue they mention that Australia will be performing on the Eurovision stage for the first time.

The postcard videos will show the participants making a special picture of their respective countries’ flags.

 

[Malta] Malta

The Maltese performance involves all 6 members of the band on stage. The performance is pretty much identical to the national final. One powerful element of the act is the use of photos appearing in the squares. This works well with the theme of Coming home to loved ones.

[Israel] Israel

Mei’s performance begins with herself on stage. A gothic background is also displayed. Soon joined by two dancers, the background turns to red during the dance part of the track. The choreography from the video is performed at this part. The song finishes will all three performers going down stage left.

[Norway] Norway

Like Sweden, this act involves members of the audience using flashlights on their mobile phones. Carl is wearing a blue shirt with a black jacket. The lyrics at the start are echoed around the arena. At the second verse four violinists join Carl on stage by walking on a ramp that is located upstage right. A storm is displayed in the background.

[Georgia] Georgia

With Georgia, the key part to this performance is the background. Planets from our solar system are displayed which works well with this song. As the performance goes on, the background changes to Earth’s blue sky before finishing on a green field. There’s not that much movement from the artists.

[Poland] Poland

All of the performers appear on stage wearing the outfits from the video. The music video is displayed as part of the background. On each side of the stage there is a woman carrying out a job. On one side there is a woman washing clothes and on the other side there is a lady making butter. Traditional dancing is also performed.

After a quick break the competition continued with Austria.

[Austria] Austria

Conchita’s beard is the focus of this performance. The song begins with a spotlight on Conchita. As she sings, the camera slowly gets closer and the light eventually gets brighter to reveal Conchita. The background is used to display Conchita’s phoenix’s wings.

[Lithuania] Lithuania

For Lithuania’s entry there are 5 acts on stage. Vilija and her dance partner perform the same routine that was shown during the national final. One powerful effect that works is the breaking of glass. This happens when Vilija shouts Attention.

[Finland] Finland

Finland’s performance involves mainly flashing white lights. As the song progresses the more quicker they appear to flash. The three guitarist do move around the stage but this mainly happens in the final chorus.

[Ireland] Ireland

The only difference you can see in Ireland’s performance when you compare it to the national final are again the visual elements. A beautiful gold design is paired with a rough wave to make the background. Kasey is joined on stage by two dancers, one violinist and three backing singers.

[Belarus] Belarus

Belarus has simple staging. In total there are 5 performers on stage all wearing formal clothing. They perform a little dance to a catchy song. In all it’s simple but sweet.

[FYR Macedonia] FYR Macedonia

This performance involves all the artists wearing black and white. The most impressive thing about the performance is the connection between Tijana and the male dancer. Throughout the performance she is in control of how he dances proving that she can own the stage. The backing singers also get involved in the choreography in the later part of the performance.

[Switzerland] Switzerland

There are six people onstage for Switzerland’s entry. All are wearing black and white formal clothing. The performance is full of energy. Sebalter helps to create this energy by performing all over the stage.

[Greece] Greece

After a 5 minute break with our hosts it was time for Greece to perform on stage. The Greek performance begins with white light lines highlighting all of the squares that are on stage. The beat from the song explodes it’s way across the arena which is very exciting to feel. At the last chorus the artists jump on a trampoline with a gymnast. They were certainly rising up. A good performance from Greece.

[Slovenia] Slovenia

The performance of Tinkara who is representing Slovenia is mainly focused on the lighting effects. Several lights are spinning round and round on the floor. This does help to spread the message of the song. Also impressive was Tinkara’s flute performance.

[Romania] Romania

Paula and Ovi are masters of Eurovision gimmicks. In Oslo 2010 they performed on stage with a glass piano that could be played on both sides of the instrument. This year they are combining special effects with a circle piano. It does look odd but it does work. Paula and Ovi will do well with gimmick.

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Voting & Interval Act

The voting section of the show was filled with Australia’s entry from Jessica Mauboy and a special dedication to the slogan #Join Us.

After a fake simulation of the results the dress rehearsal was complete.