And that concludes the first session of today’s rehearsals from the Stadthalle in Vienna! We’ll be back with a separate rehearsal article for the performances from Malta through to the Czech Republic, which you can now read here!

MONTENEGRO
The prevailing visual theme from the land of the black mountain is “dark”. The backdrop is a mountainscape that evolves from dark blues and blacks into a deep red as the song progresses, the video floor displays rippling purples and blues, the backing vocalists/instrumentalists are dressed in a kind of smoky blue-purple, and Knez himself is clad in black. If you remember the Albanian entry from 2007, “Hear My Plea”, that’s the kind of impression I’m getting from the whole thing. For better or worse.

As expected, it’s the Željko Ballad Staging to a certain extent, with the five girls evenly spaced behind Knez, a lot of terribly meaningful arm-waving, and a certain quantity of ethno-headgear on show. There’s a focus on the violinist at first, before Knez walks to front of stage during the instrumental opening section and delivers the song in a predictably professional manner. He keeps his eyes closed a lot, which isn’t great.

Oh, and then the backing group does a curious twirling and hopping dance in the instrumental section! I’m instantly reminded of “Kloden drejer”, because that’s how my mind works. (We’re now having a competition at our desk to see who can pronounce the word “Gry” as Danishly as possible.) It’s a bit jarring and will be fodder for Eurovision clip shows in the years to come, but it doesn’t not work in the context of the performance. Very strong last 30 seconds, and you can generally tell Knez has been doing this for years.

The more I see it, the more I’m concerned about the colour scheme here. It comes across as quite elegant but it is very dark and gloomy. But everything else seems to be working well enough for Montenegro, and the assured confidence and professionalism of the performer should make a positive impression sandwiched inbetween the timidity of San Marino and the aggression of Malta.

image copyright: Elena Volotova (EBU)

SAN MARINO
Almost as if they’re aware of the cult status it’s obtained among the online fan community, the long shot that opens this performance cuts very briefly to Michele for his opening “…no” before returning to the establishing shot again. Meme videos will inevitably follow.

Like with Russia yesterday, the first surprise here is that there are no gimmicks. It’s a quite straightforward and somewhat tame and tentative performance from Michele and Anita, with very little interaction between the two of them (camera interaction is favoured instead). There is – of course – a globe on the video wall at various points in the song, because that seems to be the theme of the year, and there’s a lovely shot during the “light a candle” section where the two of them walk towards the back of the stage and we’ll see the whole of the audience behind them. Presumably this is the point at which they’re expecting everyone to form a chain of lights in the background.

Honestly, Michele and Anita come across as so, so likeable here, and I think that could work in the song’s favour. What won’t work in its favour is if their vocals on the higher sections (and particularly the last notes of the song) are as uncomfortable as they have been during every run-through so far. Anita generally sounds quite piercing throughout, but a winning smile and a confident, committed look can compensate for that.

Whereas the worst thing a song like this can be is just a bit cautious and underwhelming – it’s better to go out in a blaze of glory (hello Serbia!). But this has got better with each performance, and they are quite sweet and endearing. Is that enough?

image copyright: Elena Volotova (EBU)

IRELAND
It’s a band staging for Ireland, with a seated (and singing) cellist, a standing double bassist, a drummer and two backing singers. Molly herself, with ironed blonde hair, is seated at an upright piano in a shade of wood that is somewhere in the vicinity of beech. Or birch. Or maybe walnut? I’m starting to realise that I have no idea about carpentry.

Anyway, the stage is a warm autumnal red-yellow for this one, with a kind of dark (not Irish) green forest in the background. It has an ethereal, almost fairytale vibe to it, and it’s nice. There’s absolutely no interaction between Molly and the cameras at this stage, and further run-throughs will tell us whether that’s a deliberate move on her part or whether they’re just getting the angles right first before focusing on Molly’s eyeline. If it stays like this, I think it’d be a shame – Molly’s giving us a nice smile or two while the technicians work around her between takes, and a bit of that personality would work well with the voters too.

The most notable thing for me so far is that the backing vocalists are, well, loud. Not in a bad way – coupled with the rearranged backing track, they really give some “oomph” to the song in the chorus, almost taking it in, I don’t know, a kind of soulful or gospelly direction. (I mean, as gospelly as something by a pale Irish girl can ever be!)

Yeah, more looks to camera from Molly now, after we see her getting some very specific instructions about following the red light! Second time round and it’s better already – not overselling it, just the occasional glance to let us know that she knows we’re here. Pretty big applause in the press centre for a song that I wouldn’t have expected to be a fan favourite. There’s still some work to do on the camera angles here generally, but Molly is in good voice and things are starting to come together for Ireland.

image copyright: Elena Volotova (EBU)

LITHUANIA
If the last few rehearsals yesterday were notable for their monochrome staging concepts, there’s certainly no lack of colour where the Lithuanians are concerned. Monika is sporting a somewhat frilly skirt and top, Vaidas is in a lilacy-blue wedding-suit waistcoat and trousers with a striped shirt, and the video wall and floor are overflowing with light and movement – purple and yellow are the main colours here, with sunshine-esque rays rotating like a 2015-era reimagining of the 1999 ESC stage, but every other colour is on offer too.

First and most importantly: the backing track does indeed stop for the “one kiss” line, and they do indeed kiss. If anything the pause is a little too long – it risks seeming unnatural, but then the whole performance is over-the-top and that’s clearly what they’re going for, so hey. There are a few solo lines to camera and the occasional bit of focus on the backing singers (who, unlike many this year, are not invisible!), but mostly it’s all about Vaidas and Monika’s cheesy but personality-packed interaction with each other – which is getting picked up more successfully by the cameras with each run-through.

By the fourth run-through, the… let’s call it “choreographed spontaneity” of the entry starts to feel a bit forced, but that’s totally irrelevant as far as the wider world is concerned. This is a light and airy start to the semi-final and is being staged as such – I reckon they’ll be happy with how it’s coming together already.

Incidentally, we’re having a few technical issues with our auto-refresh function, so if you’re used to these rehearsal posts refreshing themselves, I’m afraid they won’t today – so you’ll have to do it yourself!

image copyright: Elena Volotova (EBU)

Introduction
It’s the third day in the press centre at the Wiener Stadthalle, and it’s time to see the first rehearsals from some of the countries in the second semi-final. This first session of the day will see our introduction to the staging and performance concepts from Lithuania, Ireland, San Marino and Montenegro – stay tuned to escgo for all the latest live coverage!