Eurovision 2016 Day 4: Rehearsals from Slovenia, Bulgaria, Denmark and Ukraine

Eurovisionary is back in the press centre this morning to bring you the latest news about the second half of the second semi final rehearsals. You can read all the details below.

Slovenia: Manuella – Blue And Red

First up this morning was the country style song from Slovenia. Manuella appears in a cloud of light, standing there looking like a Greek goddess strapped into her very tight dress which drew attention to some of her best features. Her white dress was split to the thigh showing a bit of leg.

An array of red lights illuminated the stage floor while a video backdrop of Manuella’s eyes were shown. As the song progressed there were flashes of blue lights too as befits the song. The staging gave a impression of more X-Factor than Eurovision.

She continued to sing the song straight until the second chorus, when out of nowhere appeared a male Danish acrobat who swung round on a wire until the end of the song. Manuella sang the song better than she has ever sung, while hidden backing singers accompanied her in the chorus. On the third showing fireworks exploded all around the stage.

The staging did not fit for what sounds to me like a country song as Manuella has chosen to go with a more high tech production. We will see what the voters think.

Bulgaria: Poli Genova – If Love Was A Crime

Starting with a close up of Poli’s face, you can see she is wearing very futuristic silver or grey earrings. Camera pulls back to reveal an indescribable costume of a tan like dress, and black cloak with white bands. Poli does a bit of gyrating and dancing to a backdrop of several male robotic dancers, which look like policemen.

.As she walks forward on the stage, it lights up with her every step. As the song lifts and Poli dances along , the bands are illuminated. The video walls shimmer with blue lights. On the final run through Poli slipped a little while dancing.

On the last chorus Poli is joined by three female and two male backing singers to bring the song to a climax. At this point the stage looks a bit messy but will no doubt be fixed in time for the semi final performance. Again the singing was up to par and Bulgaria has made a great return to the contest.

Denmark: Lighthouse X – Soldiers Of Love

Not a good start for the Danish rehearsal with Johannes missing the first note, so they started again and something happened to his microphone. So take three.

The staging starts.very dark which helps to illuminate the microphone stands. White lights are raised up behind the singers and they turn quickly to blue. This was the first rehearsal which actually sounded live. The guys were all dressed in black similar to when they won the Danish final. All three of them work well together as a cohesive unit.

The stage lighting is blue and flashes on and off at regular intervals. At the second chorus blue flashlights add to the effect. The performance at times is a little messy as the group walk around the stage, but that can be cleaned up before the semi final.

Pyrotechnics appeared on the third rehearsal just before the final chorus.

The boys walk forward on to a runway and end up climbing stairs onto a square platform in front of the main stage where they finish the song, on a floor of square lighting.

Ukraine: Jamala – 1944

Jamala appears on the stage wearing a black leather dress and sporting her great grandmothers ring. The stage starts of with a blue visual effect which makes it look as if she is walking through a wall of  water.

The stage is then illuminated with yellow lights and then blue is soon added making the stage look very big, with Jamala just a tiny figure in the centre.

By the second verse the stage starts out with hints of red lights before becoming more intense until the whole stage is awash with red. The performance features a lot of colour

At the wailing part of the song, the colours swirl around again, while yellow lights shoot up from  behind Jamala in a sort of reverse waterfall type effect. Jamala sounded a little angrier on the second rehearsal , vocally perfect whereas on the first round she seemed to just want to test the vocals.

Stay tuned this afternoon for Norway, Georgia, Albania and Belgium

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