With the First Semi Final out the way, day four saw me at the dress rehearsals of the Second Semi Final, which was a big one as it boasts a strong line-up – including my favourite Eurovision entry.
The Second Semi Final got off to an amazing start with my favourites, EUROBAND. Their performance of "This Is My Life" is full of energy, with a tight-but-simple and effective dance routine, and it really is all about them and their fantastic voices - Fridrik and Regina have in my opinion the best vocals in the whole competition and sound perfect every time they perform. Despite being first out they give a performance and get a reaction that you would expect from an act performing in the middle of the show.
Next up was the comeback queen and former Eurovision winner Charlotte Perrelli with her schlagertastic "Hero". Charlotte hadn’t changed anything from her Melodifestivalen performance – and why should she when it worked so well??
Ani Lorak is in a league of her own with her performance of Shady Lady. This performance is SO Eurovision and has everything – dancers encased in mirrored boxes that light up, a full dance routine and just when you think it can’t get any better, Ani climbs on top of the box towards the end of the song!! It really is amazing performance and slightly upstages Charlotte Perrelli.
Lithuania and Albania’s performances didn’t really do anything for me as I didn’t like the songs, so it was the perfect opportunity to get a drink while they’re on. "Era Stupendo", performed by Paolo Meneguzz, was slightly disappointing for me as he seems disinterested on stage – although he did improve in the second dress rehearsal I saw.
"If You Wanna Have Some Fun", performed by Tereza for the Czech Republic, is a bit of a mess and looks like a bunch of schoolgirls playing in their bedroom. Poor Teresa was out of tune the majority of the time and was a complete difference to accapella that I heard her sing the other day.
Ruslan looked petrified as he performed "Hasta La Vista" and is wearing the same outfit that Koldun wore for Belarus last year -maybe they didn’t have the budget to buy a new outfit?? Pirates Of The Sea from Latvia is something you would expect to see at Disneyland, and was this year’s "Vampires Are Alive".
Croatia, meanwhile, was the one song in this semi final that I HATE, as it is RUBBISH. Deepzone, with the amazing Joanna, were just what I needed after Croatia with "DJ Take Me Away", and I was impressed with Joanna’s vocals. It really is all about Joanna in this performance. Simon Matthew gives a rousing performance of the singalong "All Night Long" - this is the one song that instantly has you singing along by the end.
Morena’s “Vodka” was very disappointing for me. Despite the fact that I really like her and think the song is great fun, her performance is a mess. Sadly, she was shouting her way through the song and it’s all a bit frantic and sloppy.
My runaway favourites from the Second Semi Final were the fantastic Euroband, followed by Ani Lorak and Charlotte Perrelli.
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