On 9 May second rehearsals will start for the Semi-Finals

08 May 2019 at 12:58 CEST

Estonia 2019 first rehearsal Andres Putting

Rehearsals have temporarily come to a halt on Wednesday 8 May because Expo Tel Aviv is closed for Yom HaZikaron, Israel's official Remembrance Day. Rehearsals will start again on Thursday 9 May when the first 15 countries in the first Semi-Final return to the stage for their second round of rehearsals.

Thursday 9 May: Second rehearsals

During the second phase of rehearsals, the camera angles are finalised and locked down, the stage crew have to practice getting any props on and off the stage within the few seconds between songs in the live show and the video images and lighting are fixed for the live shows. In an intense half hour delegations get their last chance to influence the look, feel and sound of their show before the juries and televoting public see the performances on Tuesday 14 and Thursday 16 May.

After the second rehearsal, Dress Rehearsal 1 takes place, before the delegates send their artist out to perform at Dress Rehearsal 2, or the Jury Show, where 50% of the total points are awarded by juries from all 41 participating countries. After that, there is just 1 more dress rehearsal before the artists perform in the live show and find out their fate.

What happened in the first rehearsals?

In the past 4 days, the first rehearsal have given artists the opportunity to perform on the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest stage in Tel Aviv for the first time, acclimatise to their surroundings and adjust to the stage. And it is the first time that the delegations see the staging, lighting and choreography united with their performers and hear how the vocals sound in the in-ear monitors and through the actual sound channels that will be broadcast in the live shows.

Each delegation gets 40 minutes and 3 full run-throughs of their song to discuss changes and improvements with the production crew, adjust the sound volumes for the microphones and ear monitors and discuss changes to camera shots, angles and positioning.

What about the Big Five and Israel?

The 6 countries that are already pre-qualified for the Grand Final will hold their first rehearsal on Friday 10 May. Israel, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom will have their 30 minute slots on stage at Expo Tel Aviv and will rehearse for a second time on Sunday 12 May.