The rehearsals finished today with Croatia taking to the stage. It looks like Celebrate still needs a bit of work, but it has lots going off to keep your interest. Daria Kinzer gives us a lot to think about in her performance. It’s a genuine floor-filler disco number, but did not really hit all the… Read more
Malta’s quest for their first win continued this afternoon when Glen Vella had his second rehearsal. We saw how the three minutes of One Life will look on Tuesday. How would it come across? Big Eurovision fan Glen is living the dream by actually performing a Eurovision song. You can tell that he’s really excited about… Read more
We took another trip back in time just now when the very retro Caroban was given its second rehearsal. We saw more of the outfits on the night, and how the choreography will work. Nina continued to impress this afternoon, as we got the full effect of how Caroban will be performed next week. They… Read more
The rehearsals moved into another gear this morning, as Poland became the first country to appear on stage again. A vastly improved performance gave us the perfect start to another day. Magdelena had had a few problems with her first rehearsal. Being on first is never easy, as the broadcaster often has to make a… Read more
Our final rehearsal of the day saw the contest’s other twins take to the stage. This was the most entertaining rehearsal of the day, and you know Jedward will endear themselves to the audience. There was a huge amount of interest in this final song of the day. Jedward are well-known in the UK and… Read more
Trio Hotel FM come to Düsseldorf with high hopes for Romania. This upbeat song is staged fairly simply and hits a lot of the right buttons. This could well become a favourite with the press. Some four months ago, Romania picked Change in a marathon national final. Hotel FM won the ticket with a half… Read more
Previous winner Dana International graced the Düsseldorf Arena stage today, aiming to achieve a double victory. Judging by this morning’s performance, she has a lot of work to do. Dana International always generates a lot of interest. In that respect, she’s good for giving the contest a high profile. But with this profile comes a high… Read more
Day four at the Eurovision house kicked off with a lively rehearsal from Poli Genova. Rock is an interesting way to start the day and she didn’t disappoint. We start the day with a song that’s not in English. Poli appears to be the classic rock-chick, but she’s glammed herself up for the contest. Along with her… Read more
Day three of rehearsals ended with one of the most dramatic performances so far. Cyprus has put a lot of thought into their stage show, and it didn’t fail to impress. In terms of staging, it was a complete contrast to their song 12 months ago. Breaking the long run of songs in English, Cyprus opted… Read more
Euro-veterans Zdob si Zdub were back this year, with a song that flies in the face of the several slower songs that have gone before. It’s upbeat and very quirky. We only got a couple of run throughs of So lucky this afternoon, as the staging proved to be a little complicated. The thing that… Read more
Slovakia made history this afternoon as they took to a Eurovision stage performing in English. Last seen backing Tereza Kerndlová in 2008, the TWiiNS were now representing their own country, and didn’t let it down. Many of the press centre were actually wondering whether the TWiiNS could sing live. Their rehearsal, to be fair, was not brilliant,… Read more
Belgium rehearsed today with a rare attempt at a capella. Witloof Bay are taken from all areas of Belgium, and this show of unity was much in evidence. But what would Europe make of it? The arena had emptied a little for Belgium’s first rehearsal. In the past a capella has not always fared very… Read more
Austria’s self-imposed exile from Eurovision came to an end this morning, as Austrian starlet Nadine Beiler took to the stage for her first rehearsal. Many styles would be in evidence today, but Austria has opted for ballad. And this was one of the best performances we’ve seen in the rehersals so far. Nadine, like all… Read more
Azerbaijan’s participants Ell & Nikki have a tough job on their hands, trying to follow in the footsteps of their fellow country-people qualifying in all their previous attempts. Ell & Nikki come here with high hopes of making it through to the final on 14 May. An international team has written this song. Unfortunately, the… Read more
Portugal has qualified for the last three Saturday night finals. Qualifying for a fourth one in a field like this will be a tall order. With a quirky entry, can Portugal win in a fight for the final? Homens da Luta were arguably a controversial choice to represent Portugal, and won the final in a… Read more
The statuesque Daria Kinzer got her first opportunity to Celebrate her song on stage today. Her song, which has gone through three title changes involved the first long-awaited use of the catwalk. We hoped she wouldn’t break a leg. The general effect of this was very similar to Daria’s national final performance. On stage with… Read more
After standing on the sidelines for three years, San Marino returns to the Eurovision fold. Senit had already spent most of the first day in the press centre, but now was her time to shine. San Marino returned to the Eurovision stage this morning and gave a reasonabvle rehearsal. After the madness of the previous… Read more
The first song to be chosen for Düsseldorf was from Switzerland, back in mid-December. After all the waiting, would Anna Rossinelli be able to recreate her winning formula some 4½ months on? Switzerland was last in a Saturday night final in 2006. There have been some valiant and innovative attempts since then, but not enough to trouble… Read more
Serbia were next to rehearse, and we had another break from the all-pervading English language. Will this break from the norm yield a place in the final? Caroban gave us a flavour of the 1960s swinging music scene, and it does actually work. For the first time today, we didn’t actually get to see what Nina… Read more
Armenia compete for the sixth time this year, and hope to make it six years in Saturday night finals. How will they fare with this year’s on-stage gimmick? Emmy performed all the songs in the Armenian national final, with Boom boom winning the ticket. Her first stage rehearsal revealed the on-stage prop that followed on from… Read more
Sunday morning rehearsals continued with Norway’s Stella Mwangi taking to the stage to set out her stall for a week on Tuesday. Would this fan favourite come up with the goods? The one thing we all noticed about Stella Mwangi is that she is always smiling, and she put in a very confident rehearsal. Unusually… Read more
There are two sets of twins participating in Düsseldorf next month. EuroVisionary managed to catch up with Daniela and Veronika Nízlová, the Slovak TWiiNS, and found out a little about their personalities, Belgrade and Justin Timberlake. First, can you tell us how you first got into singing, and how your first album recorded in 2000… Read more
The much-anticipated TV premiere of the United Kingdom entry for Düsseldorf took place tonight on BBC One. For the first in the UK’s 54 year Eurovision history, the British public have had no say in the selection. How would it sound? The UK are again one of the final countries to reveal their song for… Read more
The UK branch of OGAE is one of the larger national fan clubs of Eurovision. For the past few years, it has held a preview party, and this has become one of the must-attend events for all British Eurovision fans. This year Manchester will again be hosting the event on Saturday 16 April. Music fans… Read more
Nadine took time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions about Starmania, law and Helena Paparizou. Nadine is Austria’s first representative in Eurovision since 2007 – they haven’t been in a Saturday night final since 2004, so the pressure is on. Can you first tell us about how you got involved in ORF’s Starmania… Read more
Dora came to a thrilling finish tonight, as Daria Kinzer was picked to represent her country in Germany in May. The televoters of Croatia have chosen Lahor to be the song to hopefully carry them to success. Seven weeks after Dora began with 24 performers, it was finally brought to a close with Jacques Houdek and Daria Kinzer battling for the… Read more