Eurovision fever begins Saturday, what to expect?

As usual for the last years, the rehearsals for the participants start already almost two weeks before the contest - called Euroweeks.

The rehearsals will be in the order of the Running Order Draw, conducted in March at the Heads of Delegations meeting. This means that the first round of rehearsals - 40 minutes each - will be started by Poland at 10:00 Central European Time (CET) in the Düsseldorf Arena.

The rehearsals are each followed by either a press conference, interviews, photo opportunities or fan meet and greets or a mix of those.

The second round of rehearsals - this time 30 minutes - will begin on Thursday, the 5th of May and will be accompanied by 30 minute press conferences.

The so-called Big 5 countries - Italy, United Kingdom, France, Spain and the Host Country, Germany - will have their first rehearsals on Saturday, the 7th of May.

That is also the day when the traditional Welcome Reception will be held, where all the delegations are greeted officially by the City of Düsseldorf as well as the organisers of this year's contest.

The second round of rehearsals for the Big 5 countries will be held on the next day, but their second press conferences will be held a little later - on the following Friday before the Grand Final.

You can see the full schedule of rehearsals in our schedule for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.

How can I see it all?

As it has been the case for the past years, Eurovision.tv will be covering everything going on during these weeks, from rehearsals to press conferences and parties.

For this, our volunteer team from all over Europe will be travelling to Düsseldorf and will be working very hard to show you as much as possible going on in Düsseldorf at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.

Wondering who are all those people? Well, check them out in the Eurovision.tv About Us page!

One new feature we have this years is the exclusive blog from in front of the stage by the Eurovision Song Contest legend Ola Melzig.

 I also took the opportunity to explore all the facilities of the venue, without getting completely lost too many times. THIS IS A BIG BUILDING! - Ola Melzig
 

He started blogging already on the 23rd of April and will do so as much as possible when the rehearsals start but he already has some exclusive insight about the contest! Check out Ola Melzig's backstage blog!

How can I be a part of it?

The easiest way of following everything at this year's Eurovision Song Contest is to visit Eurovision.tv as frequently as possible - never know what news you could have missed if you don't!

Another way is to visit and join the biggest Eurovision Song Contest fan community website in the world - EurovisionFamily.tv.  There you can blog about what you think about the rehearsals and meet other fans all over the world!

And of course, if you register at EurovisionFamily.tv and subscribe for the newsletter, you can also expect our daily mailings covering the most important things that happened that day in the Düsseldorf Arena.

Go to EurovisionFamily.tv now!

Want something more that would connect you to the Eurovision Song Contest? Well, you can become a official fan of the contest by joining the Eurovision Song Contest Facebook community! You can expect some exclusive features and content to be launched there very soon!

Go to the Eurovision Song Contest Facebook community now!

Are a bit busy but still want to be in touch with what's going on? You can always follow the Eurovision Song Contest Twitter channel for the quickest news updates on the contest!

Go to the Eurovision Song Contest Twitter page right now!

See it live on Eurovision.tv!

After the rehearsals for each country are over, naturally, the Dress Rehearsals for each Show - the first Semi-Final, the second Semi-Final and the Grand Final - will begin.

The first and second Dress Rehearsals are held on the day before the Show, the last one on the same day the Live Show will be held.

So, the first and Dress Rehearsal of the first Semi-Final will be held on the 9th of May, the third Dress Rehearsal and the Live Show on the 10th of May.

The first and Dress Rehearsal of the second Semi-Final will be held on the 11th of May, the third Dress Rehearsal and the Live Show on the 12th of May.

The first and Dress Rehearsal of the Grand Final will be held on the 11th of May, the third Dress Rehearsal and the Live Show on the 14th of May.

Of course, you can see all those three Shows live on Eurovision.tv, in our very own Web TV! By the way, you can already go to our Web TV and see some of the national selections held this year in participating countries!