This afternoon the final five acts in the second semi final of Eurovision 2017 participated in their first rehearsals. We conclude our coverage with Belarus, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia and Israel.

The first act to resume this afternoon was Belarus.

Belarus

Back to the blue background for Belarus with clouds swirling all around. The duo are standing on an elevated stage, which looks like half a boat, with two large fans spinning to keep them cool. This whole stage design comes from the same team who did The Netherlands staging in 2014 for The Common Linnets.

Arciom Lukjanienka and Ksienija Žuk work really well as a team, with their song, Historyja majho žyccia (The Story Of My Life).

They are dressed, in what is presumably, traditional Belarusian costumes. Ksienijais wearing a long flowing white dress, while Arciom wears a tan waistcoat. A large blue globe can be seen in the background while white smoke blows onto the stage. A bridge is also on stage with them, while traditional symbols spin in and out of the video wall. Flashes of red burst onto the scenery now and again. Seems this is a nautical vision. The stage show ends with fireworks.

Bulgaria

A very long delay before Bulgaria became viewable, but it turns out there were technical issues with the feed. Therefore the first time we saw Kristian, was towards the end of his song, where we find him dressed in a black jacket, covering a white shirt. A rain effect appeared to be washing the stage.

From what we can tell, the stage is metallic grey and bursts of lightning shoot out at random moments.

Suddenly we are treated to the whole show. Kristian has some choreographed hand movements at the start of the song, which he continues, Donny Montell like, throughout the song. The whole thing is pretty dark and bleak with lots of bad weather related themes. Apart from the hand gestures, Kristian stands pretty still on stage. There really isn’t much life to this at all – a Beautiful Mess.

 Lithuania

After ten weeks of covering the Lithuanian finals, there is nothing more to write about this one.Viktorija has the same red dress on and Denisas Zujevas is playing guitar in the background all in black. The backing singers sang along as good as they did in the finals, and the special effects remain, with the circling fire over the stage.

The song starts of with a red background wall. Vicky has her hair down and is not wearing make up, yet is still very pretty. She is holding back with the singing, probably to shock the competition, at later performances. Let whatever will happen to it in its semis, happen. Good luck.

Estonia

The Estonian feed didn’t start at the beginning, so the first thing we saw was Koit walking down the stage guided by a pathed light on the stage. Laura was already there, so hopefully a second showing will tell how she got there.

Laura is dressed in a flashy white dress, Koit in a grey suit and white shirt. The beat of the song seems to have been beefed up. The artists at times seem disconnected to each other, as in the lyrics of the song, so it’s hard for them to have that disconnect, yet still look as if they are working as a team. The camera swings back and forth between each singer. The song ends with the pairs faces on the video wall, which then splinters into shattered pieces. This is probably the most melodic song in this years contest.

What the heck, the second rehearsal viewing starts with Koit coming down that stage again, and he’s changed into a leather jacket. The mystery remains how Laura makes her stage entrance. Aside from the jacket, this rehearsal is the same as number one, with the duo ending the song back to back to each other. Not a lot of special effects, they are letting the music do the talking.

At this point of the proceedings the Lithuanian delegation are wandering around doing interviews, so as Estonia continued  with Verona in the background, it can be seen, that both singers are now standing on a stage with starlights bursting out from beneath their feet.

Israel

The last rehearsal for the second semi final sees Imri dressed in a black sleeveless T-shirt and black trousers to sing I Feel Alive. A flashing white light backstage takes up the whole of the video wall, while Imri stands to sing the first verse. At the chorus white circles are projected on stage.

This is when we first see the backing singers, all dressed in black. Imri is then joined by two dancers dressed in white. In unison, he joins in with them, and like the opening rehearsals from San Marino, this morning, there is a disco vibe going on here. There are flashing red and blue lights pulsating in the back ground. Imri is another one, who has his image projected on the video wall. As the song nears its end, flashing orange lights flash in the back ground.

That concludes the first rehearsals for the second semi final. So who will qualify from this round?