A string of technical sound issues caused minor chaos at the Jury presentation of Semi Final 1 this evening.

The problems started with Romania’s performance and Roxen who was clearly  suffering from in ear sound issues struggling  to keep in time with the backing track for her song ‘Amnesia’.

Ukraine and Malta both suffered similar problem to a lesser degree and shortly after Malta had concluded their performance it was announced that all 3 acts would perform again.

After a short period of improvised chaos in the green room, All 3 acts performed again without problem.

These few difficulties aside the show proceeded without hitch and although it was pleasing to see  a capacity audience (seated around the arena only), it was clear that those lucky enough to get tickets were not your typical Eurovision audience and were in the most part relatively subdued,  with much of the crowd noise being ‘canned’.

Following the show the EBU issued the following statement:

“Due to issues with the in-ear monitoring during the performances of Malta, Romania and Ukraine at the 2nd Dress Rehearsal for Semi Final 1 on Monday 17 May, in accordance with the rules, all artists were given the chance to perform their songs again for the national juries voting on the show.

The technical issue is being thoroughly investigated ahead of the live broadcast of Semi Final 1 on Tuesday 18 May.”