From Podgorica to Tallinn!

Montenegro's Stefan Filipović seemed to be at ease on the stage in the Belgrade Arena this morning performing Zauvijek Volim Te. He was already wearing his clothes for the first semi-final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest: black leather trousers, a black t-shirt with printed red hands on it and a white shirt. His four female backing singers are all in black, wearing red gloves. The interaction between Stefan and his backings was excellent, with the girls touching him with their red gloves. Vocally, everything was perfect with Stefan getting more relaxed and self-assured with every rehearsal going on. The background LED projections corresponded very well with the artists' clothes as they are in black, red and white. At the press conference after the rehearsal, the Montenegrin delegation expressed their content with today's rehearsal. A spokesperson said that the "atmosphere is perfect" at the venue. Moreover, the delegation made comments regarding the red gloves on Stefan's t-shirt: the fact that they are red symbolises everything from love to rage that Stefan, as the main character of the song, is experiencing with women, and that the palms are open mean both 'friendship', 'solidarity' - but also 'stop'. 

Second up today was Israel's Boaz Mauda who kept on his great work from the first rehearsal last Sunday. Boaz Mauda had the clothes on which he will wear at the upcoming first 2008 Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final: jeans, white and blue snickers and a shiny silver, sleaveless shirt. The backing singers also wear casual, modern clothes. There is no doubt that Boaz Mauda and his five backing singers are ready for the dress rehearsals and the semi-final. The colour theme of the LED projections and other stage lights are dark with warm red elements which suits the warmth and intensity of the song very well. At the press conference after the successful rehearsal, the Israeli delegation told the fans and accredited press that former Eurovision Song Contest winner Dana International (1998) will come to Belgrade to support Boaz. Dana International is one of the songwriters of The Fire In Your Eyes. Furthermore, Boaz sang a traditional Yemenite song whie playing the guitar. Once more Boaz showed his immense vocal abilities and he received big applause from the crowd.

Estonia's funny comedians of Kreisiraadio obviously had a lot of fun on stage this morning as they were smiling a lot and seemed to be very content with their renderings of Leto Svet. The three guys were wearing yellow, red and blue suits respectively and used lots of gimmicks: a non-functioning piano, an accordeon, and several big signs and flags. Their three female backing dancers were scarcely dressed with sexy golden tops. Leto Svet is being sung in German, Finnish and above all in Serbian, so it might get a huge reaction from the home crowd here in the Belgrade Arena on the 20th of May when Kreisiraadio will compete in the first semi-final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. At the press conference, a journalist asked how repsonses have been in regards to sending Kreisiraadio to the Eurovision Song Contest being a comedian group. The head of delegation, Juhan Paadam, explained that the most important thing is to hold on to the Estonian television viewers and hence making the national selection, Eurolaul, interesting for the Estonian public. Moreover, he emphasized Kreisiraadio has worked together as a group for more than 15 years and are extremely popular.