Live Blog: Wednesday 3 May

Here are the rehearsal clips from today!

So all the acts in the first Semi-final are done with rehearsals – the next time we’ll see them perform will when the show rehearsals start next week. The Big 5 and last year’s winners Ukraine will be up for their first rehearsal tomorrow, after five of the acts from the second Semi-final have done their second rehearsal. Confusing? No problem - here’s tomorrow’s schedule, starting at 10:30 BST/11:30 CEST.

2nd rehearsals (from 10:30 GMT)
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇦🇲 Armenia - 
🇷🇴 Romania
🇪🇪 Estonia
🇧🇪 Belgium

1st rehearsals (from 13:40 GMT)
🇫🇷 France 
🇩🇪 Germany 
🇪🇸 Spain 
🇮🇹 Italy 
🇺🇦 Ukraine
🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Thanks for joining us today, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

What a way to wrap up the first day in the Eurovision studio - more to come tomorrow! 

and they're burning our camera lens.

...serving girl power all the way.

If you want to check out all the photos from today's second rehearsals, you'll find them all on the latest photos page on the official Eurovision website. 

We'll also be posting a compilation of as-seen-on-TV clips of all today's rehearsals on YouTube later - you can subscribe to our channel here.  

2nd rehearsals are done for the day, but we'll be keeping the live blog open until we've posted studio photos of 🇨🇿🇳🇱🇫🇮, and we're still keeping an eye out for 🇩🇪🇺🇦🇬🇧 arriving in Liverpool. We know they're all on their way!

Could Turan and Tural from 🇦🇿Azerbaijan BE any more photogenic? 

Look, we own this joke now; it's art. Hang it in the Louvre. 

Finland's Käärijä is wrapping up today's second rehearsals with the same unique staging we saw on Monday - the precision timing on this performance is incredible.

Also, would you like to know what the Finnish dancers call the human caterpillar dance move in the picture below? They call it the 'piggy train' 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷

...and she's giving us everything.

We got a sense of the power and intensity of this performance during first rehearsals on Monday, but it's a whole other experience on the big screen. Goosebumps stuff - well played, Netherlands. 

...and they've changed their hair. There's some complex hair-ography in opening verse, and their plaits have got MUCH longer and heavier since Monday. As a result, they swing better and make a bigger impact. 

She's not in Liverpool yet, but she's definitely on the bus.

We love this photo of Moldova's Pasha Parfeni - it's very much a Wednesday mood.

...one thing we didn't notice during first rehearsals is the colour fade from black and white to colour - it's a really nice effect at the beginning of the song. We love the split screen effect too - watch out for that on Tuesday.

...standing there like an absolute QUEEN. We love to see it.

Loreen and her light box are back on stage - we were really interested to see the big screen version of this, as so much of it is filmed in close-up. It's WAY more intense and dramatic than it looks in the arena - Loreen is NOT here to play. 

Can we all just agree that Switzerland's 🇨🇭 Remo Forrer gives very good photoshoot face. 

That's three of the final six delegations safely in Liverpool...we'll keep you posted on 🇩🇪🇺🇦🇬🇧

No changes from the first rehearsal, and great to see that the pounding bassline we felt in the arena comes across on the big screen too. You can find out more about Pasha's road to Eurovision (for the second time) on the link below.

...have you ever seen anything like this before? Welcome to the studio, Let 3 from Croatia 🇭🇷

This is Max. He's a police sniffer dog and a very good boi. 

Watching 🇮🇱 Noa Kirel on the big screen is a totally different experience from in the arena - the camerawork is amazing, and every one of her facial expressions is entirely fierce. Can't wait to see her photoshoot in the studio later.

...no naked flames please. 

Of course you do. You'd be mad not to.

No changes from Sunday's first rehearsal that we could see, and still sounding great in the arena. You can find out more about Remo Forrer's road to Eurovision on the link below.

Over on the Eurovision TikTok channel, you'll find some of your Eurovision faves inviting you to join them in a karaoke duet. We're practising our Serbian right now...

Hot on the heels of 🇮🇹 Italy's Marco Mengoni, 🇪🇸 Spain's Blanca Paloma has landed. Welcome to Liverpool! 

It's 2nd rehearsal time for Croatia's Let 3, and it looks no less bonkers on the big screen than it did in the arena. It's just...bigger. And brighter. The colours are more psychedelic. The removal of clothing is in high definition. 

Every time we look at this picture of Mimicat in the studio we notice something new. Enjoy.

So great to see these guys living their best life at Eurovision. This is a perfect summary of the mood in the delegation bubble right now. 

The arena team are taking a short break for lunch, but it's all go in the delegation bubble. Here's one of Moldova's dancers getting her unique hairstyle sorted by the on-site Moroccanoil team. 

We're expecting to see the remaining delegations 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇺🇦🇪🇸🇬🇧 arrive in Liverpool today for their first rehearsals tomorrow, and we're delighted to share that Italy's Marco Mengoni has just landed! Welcome Marco, we can't wait to meet you.

It's not just this year's performers who are swinging by for a photoshoot - the digital content hosts are having their moment in the spotlight too. Rylan's in the building, looking as fabulous as ever - we'll be sharing some of his Be My Guest backstage videos on YouTube later. 

...and they look like they're having the best time ever - the Irish delegation should be really happy with that. They'll be back stage for the first dress rehearsal on Monday - in the meantime feel free to go full Wild Youth in Liverpool.

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate Luke Black's incredible Eurovision face. 

This is a party we definitely want an invite to - we'll bring our favourite sweater.

...and it's as polished and professional as it was on Sunday. Red is very much a theme of this year's Eurovision, but Mimicat has the only dress made entirely of feathers. That's going to look SO fabulous in the photo studio - can't wait to share that later.

All this year's artists will be passing through the Eurovision photo studio after their second rehearsal, for a shoot with our amazing photographers. We'll be sharing an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek here - here's Norway's Alessandra looking all kinds of fabulous. 

Latvia's luggage went on a tour of Europe on Sunday, but today they're wearing some very sharp suits on stage, so it's either a) turned up or b) they've been on a shopping spree to John Lewis in Liverpool One. You can find out more about the band and their track Aijā on the link below. 

We are transfixed by Luke Black's second rehearsal - there are loads of on-screen video game references that we missed on Sunday. Also we've stopped greeting Eurovision friends and colleagues with 2022's hola mi bebebé, and swapped it for a Luke Black Hello? instead. Sorry WRS, I'm afraid it's game over... 

In our excitement to get started this morning, we forgot to post a reminder of what happened yesterday. Here's a TikTok roundup of Day 3!

Watching from the arena on Sunday, we hadn't fully appreciated how complex Malta's staging is. But on camera it's a party from start to finish, and the band absolutely nails it. You can find out more about their Eurovision adventure on the link below. 

We've just discovered that the Building Societies Annual Conference is happening in the convention centre next door today and tomorrow. Can you imagine if any of the delegates take a wrong turn? They get rolled in glitter, we get sound financial advice...

Each country gets 20 minutes for their second rehearsal - enough time to run through their performance twice, or three times if it's a straightforward reset. Norway's Alessandra has just finished, with no changes that we could see from Sunday. She nailed the high note all three times, and the whole thing looks as great on camera as it did in the arena.

You can find out more about Alessandra and her journey to Eurovision on the link below.

We're watching second rehearsals on the big screens in the delegation bubble today, and they're showing each of the postcards before the performance. It's the first time we've seen them - they look stunning, and represent a united journey from Ukraine to the UK to the artists in their home country. You can find out more about the postcards on the link below.

It's a full day of 2nd rehearsals today - this evening we'll be sharing a rehearsal roundup on YouTube, where you can get a sneak peek of how the acts will appear on TV next Tuesday, with full staging and camera angles.  Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss it! 

The main thing you do NOT want to miss today is Tea with Timur - over the next few days legendary Ukrainian presenter Timur Miroshnychenko will be spilling the Eurovision tea with each of our 37 artists straight after their second rehearsals, and it will be broadcast LIVE on TikTok. It starts with Norway at 11:55 GMT/12:55 CEST today - the full schedule is below:

We’ve been freed from the arena after three solid days, blinking into the sunlight like little Eurovision moles. Today we’ll be in the Delegation Bubble, bringing you all the backstage goings-on and breaking news, as well as keeping watch on the big screen to see if there are any changes to performances or costumes that you need to know about. There's LOADS going on today, so stay with us! 

If you’re wondering why we haven’t seen the Big 5 🇫🇷🇪🇸🇩🇪🇮🇹🇬🇧 and reigning champions Ukraine 🇺🇦 yet, it’s because they’ve got their first rehearsal tomorrow, and their second rehearsal on Saturday. So we can expect to see them all arriving in Liverpool today – we'll keep an eye out for news of their arrival, and of course we'll be in the arena to watch tomorrow. 

Good morning from sunny Liverpool, and welcome to Day 4 of the Eurovision 2023 Live Blog! We’re moving into a new phase of rehearsals today, as the 15 artists taking part in the first Semi-Final are welcomed back to the big stage for a second time. They only get 20 minutes to rehearse this time round, so the schedule moves along a bit faster. Here’s a reminder of the running order:

🇳🇴 Norway
🇲🇹 Malta
🇷🇸 Serbia
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇮🇱 Israel
🇲🇩 Moldova
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
🇨🇿 Czechia
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇫🇮 Finland

Kick-off is at 10:30 GMT / 1130 CEST, so please join us then!