Live Blog: Monday 2 May

Aaaaand…Day 3 of rehearsals is done! We’re back tomorrow for Day 4, when the acts performing in the second half of the second Semi-Final will be rehearsing for the first time. Who are your faves on this list?

🇮🇪 Ireland

🇲🇰 North Macedonia

🇪🇪 Estonia

🇷🇴 Romania

🇵🇱 Poland

🇲🇪 Montenegro

🇧🇪 Belgium

🇸🇪 Sweden

🇨🇿 Czech Republic

We’re starting at 10:00 CEST as usual, so we’ll see you then!

Our final TikTok of Day 3 – it’s Cyprus’s first rehearsal.

It’s our last rehearsal gallery of the day, and it’s Cyprus. Enjoy!

Here’s an exclusive clip of Australia’s first rehearsal, thanks to the nice people at TikTok.

It’s not the same as all the other galleries, because this one is Australia’s Sheldon Riley only.

Cyprus definitely have one of the biggest props of the day – a huge shell-shaped structure that accommodates both dancers AND graphic projections. We love a multi-function prop.

Andromache appears like Aphrodite from the waves, and brings some elegance and energy to the final rehearsal of the day – it’s a really good mid-tempo pop song, and we’re having a little dance in the Green Room.

And finally for today, it’s Cyprus’s Andromache rehearsing her song Ela. Andromache was born in Germany and raised in Greece, and this feels like the kind of song that’s going to be playing in bars all over Europe this summer.

We’re starting to see evidence of delegation merch around the arena. Even though our tool of choice is a laptop, we still LOVE a free pen. Please save us one, lovely Maltese people…

Please enjoy this exclusive TikTok video of San Marino’s first rehearsal.

Here’s a TikTok exclusive look at Malta’s first rehearsal.

Sheldon’s at the bottom of two flights of giant steps, and his outfit is the opposite of Achille Lauro’s – there’s ACRES of it, with a huge fur-trimmed white wedding train that drapes to the floor. He’s also wearing his silver sparkly face and hand jewellery, keeping up the 2022 Eurovision standard for incredible outfits.

This is a powerful vocal performance from Sheldon – those big notes are blowing the roof off the Pala Alpitour right now.

Here are some photos from San Marino’s first rehearsal. Enjoy!

It’s Australia’s eighth year at Eurovision, and this year they’re represented by Sheldon Riley singing Not The Same. Sheldon is a veteran of The X Factor Australia, The Voice Australia and even America’s Got Talent.

Not The Same is a heartfelt personal story – you can find out more about the song in the link below.

…from Georgia. This look will co-ordinate perfectly with the Pala Olimpico Green Room.

Want to see an exclusive clip of Georgia’s first rehearsal? It’s over here on TikTok.

We’re all off to cool down for fifteen minutes, then we’re back to wrap up today’s rehearsals with Australia and Cyprus. See you in a bit!

As if this whole performance wasn’t hot enough already, San Marino have added ALL the smoke and flames. This is more pyro than we’ve from all the other acts combined, and It’s suddenly got VERY warm in here.

Some photos from Malta’s first rehearsal, curated just for you.

So, where to start? Achille Lauro in a sparkly mesh body stocking, luxury feather boa and cowboy hat and boots? The bonus fur pom-poms? The final chorus sung whilst riding a red velvet bucking bronco?

This is glam rock, but make it COUTURE. I’m not sure the Eurovision stage has ever seen anything like it, to be honest. We need a lie down.

It’s time for San Marino, who this year is represented by Achille Lauro. He’s a singer, songwriter and rapper from Verona, Italy, who won the Una Voce per San Marino song contest earlier this year. Stripper is a unique sound in this year’s competition, so we’re interested to see what San Marino has planned for the staging.

They’ve wheeled Malta’s sparkly piano away and replaced it with two giant metal cages. Toto, we’re not in Valletta anymore.

We’ve locked in some photos of Georgia’s first rehearsal – enjoy!

There is actually a venn diagram, and we honestly couldn’t be happier.

The flights into Turin are busy today – Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs is on her way to the arena for her first rehearsal tomorrow. Your dressing room at the Pala Olimpico is ready and waiting, Cornelia!

We’ve just realised that I AM is the crossover point between what Michael Ben David knows and what Emma Muscat is.

Emma’s staging features a huge plinth, a shiny grand piano, a sparkly disco ball dress and some really powerful vocals. She also uses the B Stage for the first time today, accompanied by four backing dancers.

This is a really great performance, and we can also confirm that Emma sings ‘I am what I am’ seventeen times in three minutes. You can’t really argue with this kind of commitment to self-affirmation.

It’s Malta’s turn now, with Emma Muscat singing I Am What I Am. She’s a well-known star both in Malta and Italy, so she’ll be right at home here in Turin. This is fun, uplifting pop song that should get the crowd clapping along next Thursday. They’re setting up the stage now, and it’s our first grand piano of the day!

According to his official Instagram, Estonia’s Stefan is on his way to Turin! He won’t need the Baltic knitwear in Italy, but he looks like he could do with more legroom. Can we get him an upgrade?

Our first live band of the day, and the clowns are restricted to the graphic backdrop, so we’re all now breathing normally here in the arena.

This whole performance is joyfully eccentric, with elements of Victorian circus, steampunk and neon graphic design woven through a really catchy pop song. On paper it shouldn’t really work, but it totally does. It’s three very surreal minutes, but you know…it’s Circus Mircus. It was never going to be conventional, was it?

Also there’s a tiny Circus Mircus puppet show, because of course there is.

Lunch is over, and Georgia’s Circus Mircus are getting ready to rehearse Lock Me In. The official video for this is quite surreal, so we’re really interested to see how they plan to bring this performance to the Eurovision stage. Apart from the member of the Live Blog team with a clown phobia, who is currently taking deep breaths.

Here’s some rather fabulous photos of Azerbaijan’s first rehearsal.

Morning rehearsals are done, but we’ll be back at 1330 CEST for Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Australia and Cyprus. Don’t go away!

Here’s a video of Azerbaijan’s first rehearsal – enjoy!

Here’s a sneak peek at Serbia’s first rehearsal. Stay healthy.

Amazing photos right here.

Here’s an exclusive TikTok clip of Israel’s first rehearsal.

Staying with Finland for a moment, The Rasmus have found the Vespa in the content studio – where will it take them?

Here’s a clip of Finland’s first rehearsal, exclusively on TikTok.

Nadir sings this powerful ballad from a set of steps that are set up like stadium bleachers, using interesting camera angles as he moves through a routine with a contemporary dancer. The steps then split in half so they can face each other.

It’s REALLY clever, and the moves and lighting really help to give this song extra impact. That’s going to look amazing on TV and in the arena next Thursday – well played, Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan are on stage next, for Nadir Rustamli’s first rehearsal of Fade To Black. Nadir won The Voice of Azerbaijan just three weeks before he was confirmed as the Azerbaijan representative at Eurovision, so it’s been quite a year for him.

Some big steps are currently being assembled on stage…

Want some photos of Israel’s first rehearsal? Of course you do.

As with previous performances from Konstrakta, the staging involves some quality furniture, intense hand-washing, and some nice towel choreography from her five backing singers.

This song and performance is entirely different from anything else in Eurovision this year and has a really interesting, hypnotic quality. Also how clean are Konstrakta’s hands going to be after all these rehearsals?

Time for Serbia now, with Konstrakta singing Il Corpore Sano. We’re instantly intrigued by a song that opens with ‘what could be the secret of Meghan Markle’s healthy hair?’, but this song has much deeper roots – it reflects on the Serbian healthcare system and impossible beauty standards.

Want some pictures of Finland’s The Rasmus rocking the Pala Olimpico? Here you go.

Great vocal? Tick. Super-polished dance routine? Tick. Four hot dancers in white outfits? Tick. Fully fabulous pop banger? Tick tick tick. Eurovision level complete.

Time for an absolute BOP from Israel, with Michael Ben David rehearsing his song I.M. He’s the most recent winner of X Factor Israel, so he’s definitely earned his place on the Eurovision stage. He’s also a LOT of fun in the Delegation bubble, so keep an eye out for upcoming Michael Ben David content on our official social channels.

Of COURSE Finland have fireworks and smoke jets in the final chorus – it’s pure rock 'n’ roll.

Israel’s Michael Ben David is heading out of the Delegation Bubble and is on his way to the stage. Coming up next!

Finland’s set is covered with with huge, floating black balloons, and the band have brought bright yellow wet weather clothing to the Turin stage. Maybe they’re planning a dip in the waterfall?

As you’d expect from The Rasmus, this is a really confident performance that packs a powerful visual punch with the yellow lighting. They’re like a swarm of rock bees, and we’re very much awake.

Let’s get this Monday started, shall we? We’re kicking off today’s rehearsals by rocking out to Finland’s The Rasmus – you may remember them from their global megahit In The Shadows from back in 2004. Now they’re very much out of the shadows and bringing their song Jezebel to the Eurovision stage. LET’S DO THIS THING.

We have PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of the existence of the Green Room gardener. We’ve reached out to his people and requested an interview.

If you missed the first rehearsal action from Day 1 and Day 2, we’ve got some fabulous highlight videos on TikTok. Enjoy!

Buongiorno, Eurofans, and welcome back to Day 3 of the official Eurovision Live Blog! Heidi and Victor are back in the main arena for another day of rehearsals, and today it’s all about the acts performing in the first half of the second Semi-Final. Stay tuned for staging sneak peeks, backstage goings-on and the must-have link to an EXCLUSIVE 30-second clip of each performance on TikTok.

Let’s take a look at today’s schedule:

🇫🇮 Finland

🇮🇱 Israel

🇷🇸 Serbia

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan

🇬🇪 Georgia

🇲🇹 Malta

🇸🇲 San Marino

🇦🇺 Australia

🇨🇾 Cyprus

Any of those you can’t wait to see? Drop us a message on Twitter @Eurovision and let us know. Kick off is at 10:00 CEST, so please join us then!