Mario van Tongeren from the Netherlands is again reporting for ESC Covers on the Second Rehearsals of the Big 5 and Ukraine.

Yesterday, the six direct finalists had their second rehearsals in the arena in Liverpool. The EBU and host broadcaster BBC released a video late last night with 30 seconds of each performance. The video can be seen here:

Now let’s see what we have there.

Germany

Bring on the full metal experience here! We see the band Lord of the Lost performing in full costume here already, with their very typical outfits. This is a very lively performance, with pyros and flashes and a mostly red backdrop. The lead singer is the only one moving around on stage, while the rest of the bands stays at the back of the stage. Vocally, this sounds quite good as well. Could it be that after all those years of collecting last places (or just slightly above that), Germany may be heading towards the top 10 this year. It’s possible!

France

Wow! This is looking very, very promising. La Zarra is standing on a high platform, in a huge dress that goes all the way from her on the platform to the stage floor. The dress is black, with many shiny sparkles on it. The whole thing looks incredibly classy, as does the lady herself. From what we hear here in this short clip, the vocal performance is adequate as well. This could well move into the top 5 on Saturday.

Italy

As we have become accustomed to with the Italian delegation, this performance is kept very simple, with just Marco on stage. He is wearing a shiny silver coloured top, which is sleeveless. As one can imagine with this very experienced vocalist, he sings excellently. Now, the issue with this entry remains that the song is not the most memorable that Italy has sent to the Eurovision. I think the juries will vote for it, but it’s a bit of a liability in the televoting. It remains to be seen whether Italy will reach the top 10 this year.

Ukraine

It’s incredibly how the Ukrainian delegation always manages to make everything look very good on stage. This year is no exception. We see the main singer standing in front of four box shaped screen, with two dancers in front of the boxes, blending their dance routine with the screen graphics. In the backdrop, we see an imagine of a man holding a golden ball of some sort. The vocal performance sounds great. I think this is going to do very well, especially when we consider that Ukraine might well get another surge in the televoting this year, even if it’s not as big a surge as last year.

Spain

Blanca is wearing white pants and a dark red top, as the performance begins in what is made to be an enclosed space on stage, with something like a round red curtain around Blanca and her dancers. We know from the previous footage that they will then leave the enclosed space and move around on stage, as the performance advances. Vocally, it is spotless, as Blanca leads us through this traditional flamenco performance with modern elements. This will do quite well, possibly enter the top 10, but in my view, it may not do as well as the Spanish delegation hopes it will.

United Kingdom

I don’t have it. No, seriously, the United Kingdom rehearsal clip was not added to the video, with no explanation given by the EBU or the BBC. That is very strange, as it leads to speculation as to why this is, of course. Could it be that the rehearsal did not go as the BBC planned, so they are choosing to withhold it? But then why were other countries’ rehearsals published after they also did not go very well? All we have is the first rehearsal, for now, where we saw Mae standing on a high platform with her dancers, surrounded by large LED screens on which her face is displayed. We’ll need to keep a close eye on the development of this one, as the dress rehearsals for the Final begin on Friday.

That’s  it for all the technical rehearsals! I will be back with you tomorrow night (or possibly on Tuesday morning, depending on when my article can be uploaded) with an extensive report of the second dress rehearsal for Semi-Final 1, which will also include my final prediction of who will go through. See you then!