First Dress Rehearsal at the Wiener Stadthalle

@14:55 This afternoon at 15:00 CET there will be a full dress rehearsal of the first Semi-Final, which will be the first opportunity that the press and fans in the arena get to see what the entire programme will look like.

@14:59 This is the running order of performances in the first Semi-final:

• MOLDOVA
• ARMENIA
• BELGIUM
• THE NETHERLANDS
• FINLAND
• GREECE
• ESTONIA
• F.Y.R. MACEDONIA
• SERBIA
• HUNGARY
• BELARUS
• RUSSIA
• DENMARK
• ALBANIA
• ROMANIA
• GEORGIA

@15:00 Mirjam Weichselbraun, Arabella Kiesbauer and Alice Tumler, the postcards, the green room and interval acts and, of course, the 16 songs.

@15:02 The first dress rehearsal is also an opportunity for the crew on the floor to practice the change-overs on the set between each song, setting up props and instruments, and to get their timings right... and if it doesn't work out, then they have to do it again.

@15:03 A reminder of last year's winner, Conchita Wurst is shown on the screens. A big eye is in the centre of the main screen on stage and it opens up to show us the live orchestra. It's the beginning of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest!

@15:06 Rise Like A Phoenix, the winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, is being performed now by Conchita who welcomes everyone to this year's event

@15:08 And especially to the participants of the First Semi-Final who are now making their entrance to the hall.

@15:10 Now Conchita introduces her counterparts, the three hosts, Alice, Arabella and Mirjam.

@15:14 After the introduction of the show its time for the very first song in this year's competition, Moldova's I Want Your Love, performed by Eduard Romanyuta.

@15:16 His backing group are dressed in police short costumes and it's a very lively performance involving a lot of dancing.

@15:19 Armenia comes next with the international band Genealogy, six Armenians singers coming from every continent plus Armenia!

@15:21 The message they sing is called Face The Shadow. Among them, Inga, who already represented her country in 2009 in Moscow with the song Jan Jan.

@15:22 They are dressed in grey with purple capes and a tree dominates the image on the backdrop.

@15:24 Number three in the first Semi-Final is Belgium, with the young artist Loïc Nottet, a promising all round talent from Wallonia.

@15:26 His is a performance based on an interesting dancing routine with his backing group, all wearing white outfits, while Loïc is in black.

@15:27 A few words about the Eurovision postcards we all enjoy to see: a postcard with hot air ballooning introduces us to the Dutch performer Trijntje Oosterhuis and her backing singers.

@15:29 It's time for The Netherlands song Walk Along, written by Anouk, remember Birds in 2013?

@15:30 A black light and some fluorescent colours adorn the middle part of the performance. And Trijntje is wearing black dress but not the one with an open front, which caused the fuss after her first rehearsal some days ago.

@15:32 And very short now, as it's the song of Finland, at only 1:25, the shortest ever in Eurovision history, Aina Mun Pitää.

@15:33 Perti Kurikan Nimipäivät rock their punk tune to the audience of the packed Wiener Stadthalle.

@15:35 Conchita talks to Loïc in the Green Room before we go on the next song, Greece.

@15:37 Maria-Elena Kyriakou sings the ballad One Last Breath.

@15:39 Dressed in a dark gold dress Maria-Elena, the winner of The Voice of Greece, belts out her ballad one more time.

@15:41 Shadows dominate the stage now, it is time for Estonia's duo Stig Rästa and Elina Born.

@15:42 Stig wrote this song some years ago and kept it safe until he found the perfect voice to sing it with him. He found it on Elina and together they sing Goodbye To Yesterday.

@15:44 Daniel Kajmakoski from F.Y.R.Macedonia is next with his backing group MERJ. The stage is filled with the title of the song, yes, that is Autumn Leaves, although only on the backscreen projections!

@15:47 Bojana Stamenov from Serbia comes next with the inclusive message Beauty Never Lies.

@15:49 A slow start that is heavily lifted in the middle section of the song to great effect, judging from the audience reaction at the Wiener Stadthalle!

@15:53 A white focus on a girl with a burgundy dress dominates the stage now, it is time for Hungary and their simple acoustic song Wars For Nothing, a message of peace from Boggie and her four backing singers.

@15:55 The two artists from Belarus want to be part of a shooting in a film on set. And that's what they do in their postcard, appearing in the set of the famous "Tatort" crime series

@15:57 UzariandMaimuna appear next on the stage to perform their song Time. Maimuna is elegantly dressed in white while playing her violin and Uzari wears black and grey.

@16:00 After visiting the completion of a crystal cloud with a Swarovski crystal in Tirol, Polina Gagarina arrives to the stage of the Wiener Stadthalle to perform the Russian entry A Million Voices.

@16:02 Polina is wearing a white long dress while some projections are shown on it as part of the performance.

@16:04 Conchita talks to some more artists in the green room before going on to the next entry: Denmark.

@16:07 Anti Social Media have an experience both rustic and full of action in their postcard as they take part in a horn sled race.

@16:09 A lot of adrenaline which they also release on stage while performing the Danish entry The Way You Are, inspired by their idols, The Beatles.

@16:11 Elhaida doesn't have a driver licence yet, but still on her postcard she was taken to Vorarlberg to drive a snowcat! An experience she'll never forget just like she'll never forget being on the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest

@16:13 Here she sings I'm Alive, and we get her message through a powerful vocal performance. Let's not forget Elhaida Dani is the first winner of The Voice of Italy and represents her native Albania.

@16:16 The Romanian band Voltaj (voltage) bring a message with their song De La Capat, it is about the thousands of people that leave Romania to work abroad leaving their children behind. Voltaj want to support these kids necessity to be with their parents.

@16:17 They illustrate it on the stage through pictures and props representing this message.

@16:20 In Tbilisi, the Georgian participant Nina receives her gift, a piece of lace. In Austria she sews a lace skirt as her postcard theme.

@16:22 Nina Sublatti had some voice problems during the weeks and her delegation told us that she was saving it to try to be as strong as possible in the jury rehearsal tonight.

@16:23 Warrior itself has a strong presentation on stage which conveys the message of the Georgian entry.

@16:25 As we've heard all the performances, it's time to go through the recaps and remind the audience about all the act. The first recap is introduced by Alice, Arabella and Miriam.

@16:30 16 countries will be competing tonight in the first Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest here in Vienna on Tuesday. But there are only 10 stage tickets for Saturday’s Grand Final and it will be up to you on to decide who will get them.

@16:35 While the votes are coming from Europe and Australia, Alice, Arabella and Mirjam are going to introduce a wonderful host city of Vienna. However, from an unusal point of view. They’ve sent their best friends to show you around – their pets!

@16:40 They visit landmarks in the beautiful city of Vienna. It is called "Vienna - what a cool place". Then it's time for the second recap.

@16:45 The following item is another video called "Daughters and sons connections". It is about building bridges between relevant Austrian personalities and the Eurovision Song Contest.

STAY TUNED MORE EUROVISION NEWS COMING UP!

@16:50 Next is a video about Australians at Eurovision, even Austrians mix up themselves with Australians sometimes.

@16:53 And after some interviews in the green room it's time for the seven finalists reminder recap: Austria, Australia, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and the UK.

@16:56 After the preview videos of seven finalists, the 10 qualifiers will be revealed, but that will happen on Tuesday evening, of course. Or even more concrete, tomorrow night at around 22:50 CET!