Spain's star Rodolfo Chikilicuatre obviously had lots of fun on the big Belgrade stage today! Together with his 5 female backing singers - who are dressed in colourful short dresses - he managed to rehearse his song several times and seemed to enjoy himself immensely. He is probably the only male Eurovision Song Contest participant ever to be lifted up by females! Vocally, everything went smoothly and the Spanish team looked relaxed and content. Rodolfo Chikilicuatre has generated lots of media interest in Spain this year and lots of TV channels and magazines reported about the comedian. It is hard to predict how the eccentric Spanish will do in the final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, but today's try outs were all perfect! When asked in his press conference why they made an extended version of the song (which was originally much shorter) for the Eurovision Song Contest, Rodolfo said: "We did that just to spend more time on the stage."
Last, but definitely not least, was Serbia's superstar and 2008 Beovizija winner Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić on stage for the second rehearsal. Jelena's rehearsal also completed the long list of general rehearsals which has taken place the last nine days. Being the winner of last year's Eurovision Song Contest, Serbia is already qualified for the grand final. A few technical adjustments were made in the beginnig this is natural for a rehearsal of course. Jelena was wearing a classy long gown, gray gown with a white petticoat, and the female backing singer and dancer wore a similar dress in dark blue. The rehearsals went smoothly as expected of this Serbian singer who will have the advantage of being on home ground on the night of the final the 24th of May. It is unlikely that Jelena needs this advantage, though, since her vocal abilities and her general performance is of such strength that her competitors should be somewhat frightened. There were plenty of people present in the Belgrade Arena at the Serbian rehearsal this warm evening, and Jelena and her crew received loud applause. In her press conference, Jelena performed live her ESC entry “Oro” in different languages – Portuguese, Greek, Spanish and Serbian. Also, Bora Dugić played the flute. Taking about her first press conference from the previous day, Jelena said: “It was the best press conference in my life. It was very emotional.”
