Molly Sterling from Ireland on stage at the Wiener Stadthalle
When it comes to numbers in the Eurovision Song Contest, Ireland is the country that comes up a lot in the record books, with a record seven wins, and this year marking 50 years since they made their début in 1965. Appropriately enough then that this year's song is called Playing With Numbers sung by Molly Sterling.
Missing one of their number?
Molly Sterling was looking quite relaxed in the holding area backstage, but there were a few anxious faces glancing at their watches. Molly has a total of three female backing vocalists on stage with her, but only two were to be seen. Where was the third vocalist, Naomi Clarke? Well she had to take her exams back in Ireland, and was only able to join the delegation at the very last moment, and that was quite literally five minutes before going on stage. There were smiles all around when she arrived, and of course they were all asking her about her exams.
One of the three female backing vocalists is also playing the cello on stage, and there is a drummer and double bass player to complete the ensemble. Molly is seated at the piano, and is dressed all in black, with a short leather sleeveless jacket, a lace top underneath, plus ripped jeans and black shoes.
The backdrop to the song Playing With Numbers is countryside scenes, with sunlit woods, mainly picked out in light brown colours, to present a calm, easy-going atmosphere on stage.
For a relatively young artist, Molly gave a vocally strong confident performance in each of her rehearsals today in the Wiener Stadthalle. She will have her second rehearsal on Saturday the 16th of May.
Ireland - First Rehearsal
Have a look at our gallery from the first rehearsal of Molly Sterling with Playing With Numbers
Arriving at the Wiener Stadthalle earlier , Molly was all smiles prior to going on the Eurovision stage. As one of the youngest performers in this year's contest she seemed unphased by all the attention going on around her, although she confessed that many things were a big surprise to her, even down to the size of her hotel bedroom.
Amongst the delegation accompanying Molly is her father, Andrew. Naturally enough he is very proud of his daughter, and has watched her career develop and flourish. More members of her family will be coming out to Vienna before the second Semi-Final.
Although the song, which Molly has co-written with Greg French, is all about the risks in life and love, she doesn't regard entering the Eurovision Song Contest as a risk, as it is one of the biggest platforms an artist can ever appear on.
