Turkish Deli(ght) and Karolina backwards

Turkey up next. Mor ve Ötesi didn't blow us away but then we didn't expect it to. Sounds ok in rehearsal and will probably qualify as Turkey always does. It would be a real surprise if Turkey didn't qualify.




One of the hot faves was next , Ani Lorak (karoL inA) from Ukraine. This is still a very clever and memorable performance from Ani. The video effect behind Ani makes this a very unique performance. This has got to be a contender for the crown this year.


The first 4 songs in Semi 2 should qualify but if there was to be a casualty, we think it should be Turkey, but in reality it would probably be Iceland, unfortunately!

Chalk and Cheese

Eurovision Express has just hotfooted it from the Russian press conference, which was conducted mainly in Russian. They seem pretty confident of doing well, to say the least. When asked where they'd host it, Dima didn't answer the question at all, preferring to talk about his song....

It was like entering a different world when we got back to the press working area to see Sweden rehearsing. It felt like coming home. Charlotte gives a good performance and there are some brilliant camera shots towards the end when Charlotte and her team are backlit with lasers and a bright silver lighting effect. Malmo 2009? Yes please!

This has improved since we first saw it and we are now relieved to predict that it will qualify. Phew!

The Good Life!

Semi Final 2 rehearsals under way again..first up Iceland. Euroband with This is my life gave another excellent performance and must surely be up there with the qualifiers from this tough semi.

Good camera angles, singers know where to look and it gets the second semi off to a flying start! Keep it up Iceland and we could see you on 24th!

Prediction Time: Semi-Final 1

As semi-final 1 has now finished preliminary rehearsals, it's time to update our prediction for May 20th..

To Qualify:

ESTONIA
AZERBAIJAN
NORWAY
POLAND
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
ARMENIA
NETHERLANDS
ROMANIA
RUSSIA
GREECE

Sorry Dustin, but it looks like you may be stuffed!

Of course, this could all change when we see the Dress Rehearsals and we give our final predictions.

Guess who?

At Romania's press conference Vlad and Nico were asked to name a singer, living or dead, who they would love to perform with.

Vlad said that one of his dream duets was about to come true with a female singer from the UK, but he wouldn't say who.

So who could Vlad be dueting with? And what's the song? Maybe it's an opera version of A Message To Your Heart with Samantha Janus, or maybe Vlad has persuaded Clodagh Rogers to give Jack In The Box a make-over. We'll keep you posted!

Greasing the wheels

Good news is that the removal of Russia's ladder has meant that the stage crew are now able to change the set between Russia and Greece far more quickly.

So on to Greece. Eurovision Express doesn't really get this song, and think its chances of getting into the Final are pretty inflated. It's incredibly repetitive, and Kalomira's vocals are a tad tinny, but, to be fair it's a decent performance.

So that's it - Semi Final 1 rehearsals are all over. Time to move on to Semi Final 2.

Getting shirty

Still with Russia, Dima Bilan ends the performance ripping his shirt to show a bit of chest flesh.

One of the TV crew said that Dima would be signing the ripped shirts later at his press conference. He then said that actually the shirts would be available on ebay.

Maybe he was joking but all Dima fans out there might want to check out the internet auction site later today.

Russia loses the ladder

There's been a bit of a hoo-hah going on about the stage act for Russia. At the first rehearsal Dima Bilan descended a ladder, but the complexity of setting everything up has meant that the ladder has gone.

Dressed in white, Dima now starts the song at the front of the stage. Initially he is sitting, but then he lies on his back. Oh the drama! He spends the rest of the song looking directly into the camera at every opportunity.

The violinist and ice skater from the original version have remained unscathed.

The loss of the ladder has improved the presentation, but it's still incredibly over-the-top. Can it win? Yes. Should it win? No.

Finland Rocks but Romania Rules!

Finnish rock now seems to be well and truly established at Eurovision after Lordi's win. The bare-chested guitar players for Finland gave it their all at rehearsal. Teräsbetoni performed Missä Miehet Ratsastaa which was certainly a different offering to the previous songs today. Not one of our faves and probably won't trouble the scoreboard much on the night.

However, one song that is going up and up in our estimation is Romania's Pe-o Margine De Lume sung by the very talented Vlad and Nico. This song goes from strength to strength and could win Semi-Final 1.

Brilliant song from Romania and Bucharest 2009 is a distinct possibility!

Boom Boom Armenia wanted to shake the room

As mentioned earlier, Eurovision Express was quite surprised that Armenia's song was being presented fairly simply. This had not been the intention - at their press conference, we learned from singer Sirusho that they had hoped to have a special 'trick' - an exploding microphone!

However the powers that be have decided that blowing up a mike on stage is too dangerous, so it's not going to happen.

Sirusho doesn't seem too bothered, saying that a good vocal performance is the most important thing. How refreshing!

The Hub!

Here is the hub of the operation....well one of the many Press working areas that have become home until 25th May (we're in there somewhere).

Hind shows a bit of leg!

Up next, The Netherlands with Your heart belongs to me.

Hind is joined on stage by two male backing dancers (aren't they all??) and three static lady backing singers. All dressed in blue and just showing a bit of her right thigh, Hind puts in a flawless performance of an average song. Chandeliers provide the backdrop.

This song, which comes after a very similar-sounding song and setup from Armenia, may get forgotten by the televoters of Europe, eventhough it's a more polished performance than Sirusho's.

Could it be yet another year with no Netherlands in the final? Probably.

Good morning Armenia!

After a marvellous FYR Macedonian party in the Eurocafe last night, and a less than marvellous Russian party earlier (where we had to stay outside the VIP area - oh the humiliation!), it's on to Armenia's second rehearsal today.

One of the faves in the betting, Qele Qele (which apparently means C'mon C'mon), is a nice uptempo song with three male backing dancers swirling around Sirusho. It's less energetic than we expected and doesn't really light our fire! We can't really understand why this is so high in the betting.

Bold is big in Bosnia

What can we say about Bosnia-Herzegovina? We thought we had seen it all at the national final when a chicken joined Laka on stage for Pokušaj.

However, at rehearsals today, they are joined by three brides! The usual craziness is aplenty in this song with Laka and his sister Mirela strutting around the stage in a manic state and, at one point, hanging out their clothes on a washing line.

If they don't qualify, they can always star in the next commercial for Bold or Daz!

Gisela goes for bust

One of the most traditional boom-bang-a-bang songs of the year, Casanova from Andorra is on now.

Gisela, the performer, has, of course been to Eurovision before in 2002 when she provided backing vocals for Rosa.

For 2008 Gisela is wearing a gold metallic bodice, and supported by 4 female singers/dancers. The backdrop shows lots of coloured flowers, which works well. But no props or gimmicks, so anyone hoping for some chap to be dressed as Casanova will be disappointed.

This song will always be popular with fans who like old skool Eurovision, but, however much we would like it to qualify, we expect it to struggle to get through to the Big Night.

Skin and feathers flying in all directions! It must be Ireland.

One of the most controversial songs this year has just taken to the stage. The Irish entry - Irelande Douze Pointe sung by the inimitable Dustin the Turkey came on stage covered up as did his backing singers.

Then everything exploded into action. Dustin has an LED sign acrosss the front of his trolley with a message in Serbian - "Serbia we love you" in a desperate attempt to get the elusive "douze points", which hasn't happened to an Irish song for a long time.

At the moment the cameras aren't quite picking up everything that is happening on stage, so there's still work to be done.

Dustin is an acquired taste and it will be interesting to see how the peoples of Europe take to him! Keep your feathers crossed for Dustin!

The quality continues

Eurovision Express caught a brief glimpse of the Polish song on our way back from the Azerbaijan press conference (the highlight of the latter was the distribution of cake).

Anyway Isis Gee looks great, with a performance reminiscent of Shiri Maimon (Israel 2005). It's all very white, ensuring Isis stands out from the dark stage.

The Eurovision Express poll says Poland is looking good for a place in the Final.

Top of the class from Norway

Hooray for a good song. Up come Norway now with one of the best entries in this year's Contest - Hold On, Be Strong by Maria.

Performed on a stage where the predominant colour is blue, this is an uncomplicated performance of an incredibly classy song.

No gimmicks - just talent. You go girl! Best of the day so far. Should sail into the final.

Rebeka makes "Heavy Weather" of it!

Up next, Slovenia and Vrag Naj Vzame by former Miss World contestant Rebeka Dremelj. Thank goodness Rebeka chose to sing this in Slovenian as the English version - Heavy Weather - is nowhere near as good.

Having said that, her performance in rehearsal left a lot to be desired. Along with quite a few other songs today, the early part of Semi 1 is not producing great songs or performances.

Rebeka starts by breaking out of a cage and spends the rest of the song generally making life tough for the two male dancers dresssed as robots/miners! Not fantastic vocals by any means but improving with each rehearsal.

Day After Day....but have these guys had their Chips?

In 1982 Sweden was represented by Chips, with the song Dag Efter Dag. 26 years later Azerbaijan makes its Eurovision debut with a song of the same title (well the English translation anyway). But that's where the similarities end...

Elnur and Samir's song isn't to Eurovision Express' taste - there's too much screaming, and it's all far too scary.

In an effort to up the drama, there are flames and....some old red carpet on the floor. Frankly it's a bit of a mess, and we think this is now less certain of qualifying for the final.

Bra Vibrationer

Looks like there's not enough support for the Belgian lead singer - but we're not talking about people disliking the song....

After Ishtar finished their 2nd or 3rd run through, lead singer, Soetkin Baptist, had a wardrobe malfunction and her top descended to reveal a black bra. Whoops!

Belgian costume EXCLUSIVE!

Eurovision Express is pleased to exclusively reveal the inspiration behind the dress worn by the lead singer of the Belgian group. It's a strawberry campino.



She still looks terrified on stage. The dress doesn't help. This song is rapidly going down in the rankings, and at this point, will realy struggle to qualify.

San Marino makes little impact

Up next, the boys from little San Marino. Throughout their song, Miodio have a sultry lass dancing around the lead singer, who incidentally gets off to shaky vocal start.

No buzz, and probably won't qualify. Most memorable San Marino performance was the marriage proposal from all members of Miodio to Charlotte Perrelli at the Swedish press conference yesterday.

Like that proposal, we fear their song will also sink without trace!

Munching over Moldova

Whilst lunching we were positioned directly in front of a TV screen showing the rehearsals, and who was on but Geta from Moldova.

So as we munched on the best food that the press centre has to offer (ie a ham sandwich), we were able to listen to A Century of Love 4 times.

Geta is lounging on a sofa with a nice rug and a teddy, and some geezer starts playing a trumpet, rather provactively.

Moldova is a bit too late night jazz for us, and we don't expect to see it qualifying for the Final. So it's a slow start to Semi Final One.

Getting trashy with Estonia

Kreisiraadio, the Estonian act, give a performance fairly identical to the one seen in their national final. So we get:

* 3 girlies prancing around in next to nothing
* 3 men in red, blue and yellow suits
* big flags
* an accordian and some dodgy gyrating near the piano
* big signs picturing an onion and a bit of cake

In other words, it's the trashiest thing in this year's Eurovision. And, of the 3 songs heard this morning, it's the most likely to qualify.