The fifth day of rehearsals saw most of the countries participating in the first semi-final rehearse for the second time. The day started in the Balkans with Montenegro and ended, well, in the Balkans with Bosnia.
The Montenegrins were happy with their rehearsal and declared the atmosphere as “perfect.” Dana International did not appear with Boaz at the Israeli press conference as promised. However, the delegation assured everyone that she will be in Belgrade to support Boaz.
When questioned about the popularity of their entry in their own country, the Estonian head of delegation and Executive Producer of the 2002 contest, Juhan Paadam, stated that it is important that the Eurolaul is able to entertain the Estonian public and the Kreisiraadio have been popular in Estonia for more than fifteen years. The Moldovans gave more clues to the actual staging of ‘Century of Love’, particularly the outfits. Geta is wearing nothing……..on her feet and a purple dress with a red scarf.
San Marino gave a very assured rehearsal. The stage setting for ‘Complice’ is very dark. The Belgian song is based on memories (some good, some bad) of the writers childhood. Crocodiles get a bad name in the song but Ishtar have adopted a crocodile at the local zoo and will pay for it’s food for the next six months.
Azerbaijan has more or less perfected their performance. Rebeka Dremelj from Slovenia thought today’s rehearsal was better than the first and that the microphones and camera work were perfect. The Norwegian singer, Maria, continued to impress at her second rehearsal. She sang beautifully on each run-through of ‘Hold On, Be Strong.’
White is the order of the day for the Polish. The performers are all wearing white outfits and the musician’s instruments are white. Dustin the Turkey again entertained everyone at the Irish press conference. He said found his backing singers "two weeks ago on a trip to Amsterdam".
Representing Andorra, Gisella said she felt much happier with today’s rehearsal. Neither herself nor her backing group gave any clues during their rehearsal of their outfits for the big night. Like Poland, white is the predominant colour for the Bosnians, although they use other colours as well. Laka’s shoes are red, which also features on Mirela’s dress, and not just on the apples!
