Today was the start of the 2nd rehearsals and I was able to view the rehearsals in full from the online press centre. Let’s take a look at the performers from today.

Albania: The camera angles were all over the place for Albania, particularly in the final minute of the song. Her vocal was quite weak at times. The choreography is also very weird. Nevertheless, with some work this should get through this weak semi final but top 10 outright is out of the question.

Latvia: This was performed relatively well. There is quite a nice saxophone break which is a good visual shot. Latvia is slightly hampered by the staging problems. This remains borderline and dependent on how other countries perform.

Lithuania: A very much expected performance from what we have seen in the past. Lithuania is another entry that is quite badly disadvantaged from the staging problems. Another country on the borderline.

Switzerland: This is clearly still a work in progress with some technical issues. The staging itself is quite slick and good camera angles. Marius’s voice was quite rough towards the end though. There is a package here that could work but we will need to wait and see how the issues are ironed out.

Slovenia: A very amateurish performance with a poor vocal. The disco gimmick is unlikely going to save this from the bottom 3.

Ukraine: Kalush is going to wake up the audience after a poor run of songs. Ukraine have brought some excellent graphics and the lighting works well. I do feel like this works better on a smaller stage. The end also feels quite repetitive. There were some poor choices of camera angles. This will do very well with the public regardless of the war context. Overall, the package is just too messy for the jury in my opinion but it should win the semi with ease.

Bulgaria: Competently performed with some pyro bringing it alive. The song is nowhere near good enough but should avoid last place.

Netherlands: An excellent opening shot reminiscent of Sweden 2014. This is a classy performance with nice lighting and camera angles. However, I find it becomes too boring especially towards the end. There are times where S10 is just standing there. It will do very well with the juries but televote is a huge question mark.

Moldova: This has been understaged and feels awkward on the big stage. It feels very cheap and lacks energy at times. It is likely going to perform better with a crowd. I’m less confident about their Q chances compared to others

Portugal: A very intimate and warm performance. The 2nd and 3rd run throughs had much better camera angles. Very classy and should be respected by the juries for sure. It can become dull at times though.

Croatia: They suffered from several technical problems. The staging concept is very poor and the whole package does not work. Chanceless for qualification.

Denmark: Vocals have improved a lot since DMGP. This is a competent performance which should get some jury marks. However it is not exciting enough to set the televote alight. Difficult to see how it gets enough to Q.

Austria: The 1st and 2nd run throughs of this were appalling. Pia was completely drowned out by a backing vocalist and butchered the high notes at the end. Her styling is too dark and both performers being in the halo just makes it static. The vocal did improve slightly in the final run through but a lot of work is going to be needed to help this over the line.

Greece: The press poll winner of the day. Amanda performed this very well and engaged with the camera. There is somewhat of a story being told here with the graphics. The lighting works well with the percussion of the song and they make excellent use of the stage waterfall. The downfall with Greece is the final 30 seconds. There is no wow moment and I expected more. However, it is still a competent performance. I think the market has overreacted because of the standard we have seen today. I do think Greece will be a likely top 3 finish in this semi.

Recommended bet:

Austria to Not Qualify @ 1.75 (Betway)