So there we have it! The second rehearsals of the first semi-final are complete, and now all that remains is for us to tidy up our stuff and head out for the evening. The San Marino and Nordic parties await (apparently there are separate gatherings for Montenegro and Serbia too, but one can only quaff alcohol-free cocktails in so many places at once). We’ll be updating the liveblog on the right-hand side of this page with all the gossip and photos!

Do check out all the lovely photo galleries on our Vienna 2015 page, and join us again tomorrow morning for another marathon day of rehearsals, this time with the second semi-finalists. There will be blue stages, blue stages and… *checks notes* oh yes: blue stages.

GEORGIA
Hm, OK. Second run-through much better than the first, which felt particularly half-hearted, but I don’t think Nina’s giving her all today anyway. At least there has to be some reason why I’m slightly underwhelmed by this. Maybe it’s just the end of a long day.

Nina stares dead-ahead throughout the entire performance, which works well on the longer shots, but there’s one closer shot that’s used a lot where she’s always looking very slightly to the side of the camera, like that old Albanian spokesperson who was so proud of having learned how to say “Merhaba”.

Vocally, the only issue is with… oh, it’s with the title of the song. Hm. She’ll nail it on the night though, I’m sure. And if she doesn’t, she’ll scare you into pretending that you didn’t notice.

Yeah, only two runs of this in total, so either they’re having a technical issue in places, or they’re so confident with the kick-ass impression they made on Tuesday that they don’t feel the need to try too hard today.

Is it qualifying? Yes, though I’m less convinced of its “top 3 in the semi” potential now that we’ve seen it again.

ROMANIA
One notable change already: The suitcases that were on stage are now accompanied by images of kids (including the one from the music video) on the video floor. Overdoing it much? Maybe they think commentators won’t make the message of the song clear enough.

That’s pretty much the only change I can spot. (EDIT: Sharper eyes than mine have noticed that the suitcases on the backdrop are now shipping containers!) The chorus is still a little bit forced vocally, not as smooth and, well, produced as in the studio version. I realise that’s an obvious thing to say, but it does make a difference to the “feel” of the song. Still, it’s a professional and real performance of a professional and real song by a professional and real band. As long as they don’t make it come across as boring – and I think they escape that fate – then I think all should be well for Romania in terms of qualification.

Călin’s head is very shiny today. I wonder if he went to the same barber as me during the tea break.

Is it qualifying? You’ll have to feel sorry for whoever finally breaks Romania’s 100% qualification streak, but it won’t be Voltaj.

ALBANIA
There was a very telling moment at the “jam session” party on Wednesday night. Elhaida Dani had just performed the hell out of a cover of “Quédate conmigo” – not an simple task. She then introduced “I’m Alive” by saying she wished she could be performing Pastora’s song at Eurovision instead, because it’s much easier to sing.

No wonder she’s looking so uncomfortable and miserable on stage here. Don’t get me wrong, this is loads better vocally than the ropey first run-through back on Tuesday afternoon. But she still spends most of the song wandering around aimlessly and making ugly faces while singing. I guess they’ve decided against any kind of real stage direction on the assumption that juries will fall for her vocal charms alone, and that may still be the case, but this isn’t an easy package to like.

While writing this, I’ve just been disturbed by the “FREE HUGS” people you can see in our liveblog on the right-hand side. I’ve told them to go and find Elhaida, because christ knows she could use one.

Is it qualifying? It might still. The song underneath it all is still a contemporary enough slice of R&B-tinged warbling. But if she doesn’t look like she wants to be singing it, why would a televoter want to vote for it?

DENMARK
Anti Social Singer Dude is trying out a range of jackets here. We’ve had a black-and-white baseball jacket (think Marty McFly), and now he’s in a more standard thin black summer jacket over a white shirt. Third run-through, and it looks like he’s sticking with the black one.

We’re disillusioned with this song, and indeed this kind of song generally, so we’re absolutely the wrong people to be blogging about it. So I asked a volunteer, and again, “normal” people seem to think this is uplifting and happy. And there’s your voting audience right there.

Plus some people like singers who look like a young David Cameron if, by some peculiar accident of birth, he’d ended up being both posh and Scottish.

Anti Social Singer Dude’s vocals are absolutely fine; the backing girls seem a bit weak, but that only becomes a problem in the last chorus or so, and by then you’ve either decided to vote for this or throw your beer can at the TV screen.

Is it qualifying? Denmark can’t fail. Except when it does. But that doesn’t happen often. It is largely friendless in this semi-final, but the right song would pick up points across the board even if it was representing ISIS.

RUSSIA
Forget what we said yesterday, this is the one that’s evoking Disney’s Frozen in its staging, isn’t it? Polina is a bit too ballsy and confident to be a real Elsa, but there’s a striking resemblance once you piece together the dress, the background colours and the sugary feel of the whole thing.

Anyway, another superbly assured set of run-throughs here. I feel as if they’ve made the backings even more twinkly during the verses. The inside of Polina’s mouth is also quite twinkly – I keep thinking she must have a tongue-stud in there.

Since I’m supposed to be looking for weak points too, I suppose I’d have to say that the a cappella intro is a bit lame where it should be really striking. But, christ, within seconds you’ve forgotten about that and you’re being merrily dragged along into schlager-country-pop-bombast-ballad territory, so who cares?

I don’t think it’s Moscow 2016. But that might just be because they’d stage it in Sochi or Vladivostok instead.

Is it qualifying? If you bet your house on this, you’d win your house + 1% of your house. The front door or a drainpipe, maybe.

Introduction
I bloody love city-centre Eurovisions. In the half-hour break between Belarus and Russia, I’ve managed to pop out to a barber’s named after the mad conductor from Turkey 1989, get my hair cut (well, shaved) and get back again, all in time for another slice of quite seedy melon. Seriously, can the Wiener Stadthalle host this thing every year?

Anyway, our “evening” session tonight will feature the rehearsals from Russia, Denmark, Albania, Romania and Georgia, after which we’ll be done for the day. Should be an interesting couple of hours ahead, so keep refreshing this page! (I mean, not every five seconds or something, that’d probably break the site.)