Rehearsals will consist of 40 minutes of stage performance followed by a 20-minutes viewing session. Ordinary rehearsals start on May 1st at 10:00 CET and will run until May 8th at 18:00, with the second rehearsal of the second semifinal and the big-5 countries. Press conferences will also be held after each country finishes its rehearsal session.

 

Dress rehearsals will take place on the 9th and 10th of May (semifinal 1), 11th and 12th of May (second semifinal) and 13th and 14th of May (final).

 

The full timetable is here: http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/press-down...e2011_press.pdf

Edited May 1, 201114 yr by RC741

4 days to go!! :D

Poland are ready to take to the stage after a small delay :D

 

I have to say, I do like the song, and this rehearsal in very good! I think Poland may be the dark horse this year...

Woo rehearsals! Eurovision is SO close <3 I'm not going to watch a single one of the performances though, i prefer to wait for the actual shows. :wub:

I'm following ESC Daily's coverage, which is very good! Videos and pictures from the rehearsals as well as a live stream from the press centre :)

Poland: Starts of strong, but I lost interest in the performance during the second verse.

Norway: It came across a little weak to me, but maybe it'll translate better on screen with the crowd cheering it on.

Albania: She can sing, but the performance is very boring.

Armenia: Pretty weak and the visuals are very confusing. It might get lost in the mix, but I think it may just about scrape 10th place.

Turkey: This is sounding and looking very good. Probably another top 10 finish for Turkey, maybe even top 5.

Serbia: Such a non-song and the performance is beyond lacklustre. Can't see this one qualifying tbh.

Russia: Sounds great after the Serbian borefest, and his dancing will rival Eric Saade's.

Switzerland: This has grown on me loads, but I recall having great difficulty even remembering the chorus after 4 or 5 listens. Therefore, I think it'll miss out. That said, it's a very nice change of tempo after a lot of fast paced songs.

Georgia: Another big performance from Georgia, should be another qualification for them.

Finland: He's going with the Tom Dice "less is more" approach, but the performance will be nowhere near as captivating as Tom's was.

I've been following the AKOE blog, but I won't be watching any of the videos...

 

Nadine Beiler's just had huge praise for her vocals from all three bloggers which makes me more hopeful, like or dislike the song, I still think that her voice is incredible, based on the NF and a few other performances I've seen and she MUST reach the final!

Nadine's vocals are amazing, I was totally shocked at how perfect she is live. Slovakia are great sounding too. The big question is how will Eric sound live though, I'm going to say alright with lots of help.

I've been following the AKOE blog, but I won't be watching any of the videos...

 

Nadine Beiler's just had huge praise for her vocals from all three bloggers which makes me more hopeful, like or dislike the song, I still think that her voice is incredible, based on the NF and a few other performances I've seen and she MUST reach the final!

 

It was a very good rehearsal vocally, but she didn't look very comfortable for some reason. The draw will definitely go against her in the public vote. It's all down to whether the juries will remember and vote for it.

 

Have to say, I'm very worried after the Hungarian rehearsal, yeah she can sing ok, but the stage show is very dull. At least she isn't going over the top like Croatia though :lol:

Sounds like Eric Saade was awful in his first rehearsal :( Although a lot of it wasn't his fault by the sound of it, he just had a bit of bad luck. Comes with the territory in trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink into your performance I guess.

:cheer:

 

He's not going to qualify, I just know it :D

 

(I must have been spending too long on AKOE, my work just blocked it :drama:)

:cheer:

 

He's not going to qualify, I just know it :D

I agree :D

Oh Tom, you've fallen curse to Keith Mills Syndrome :(

TWiiNS (Slovakia) vocals were much better than expected and really enjoyed their rehearsal. Austria was extremely good and Cyprus and Ukraine were the biggest surprises too! Sweden did struggle, plus he got an injury - but I'm sure he'll be better by next Thursday!

He's still comfortably qualifying imo, he's got a week and a bit to get everything together and after a sea of ballads/MOR and the crap from Moldova (no matter how colourful a performance it is) he'll seem like a messiah.

Watching the rehearsal, it's barely any different from the MF performance :mellow: I'm really not understanding where all this 'the rehearsal was a disaster' schtick is coming from - he didn't break the glass in rehearsal for such incredibly obvious reasons that I'm shocked anybody is classing it as a failure rather than being on purpose. Seriously, somebody ACTUALLY tell me the difference between the performances Eric did at MF and that rehearsal, because I'm not seeing what makes one a 'needs massive work to even stand a chance of qualification' and the other a definitive Melodifestivalen winner which is riding high in the odds.

 

I'm going to have to put it down to Keith Mills being the bitter old queen that he is who's unable to see that just because he hates something it doesn't mean it doesn't stand a chance. I mean COME ON, this is the same person who said sodding MOLDOVA are 'sailing into the final' :manson:

That Moldovan rehearsal was pretty good though. Ukraine and Cyprus are also looking incredibly strong, we're in for a few upsets here I reckon, and Austria is one them.

 

Eric will go through, without a doubt.

I get the impression that all of the AKOE bloggers are still assuming that every Eastern country only has to turn up to qualify, and that every Western country needs to work hard to make it. I'm quite certain that If Ukraine were sending What About My Dreams or Popular, they'd say that it would be 'sailing into the final' whereas if Netherlands were sending the Moldovan song with the exact same act/performance, they'd be saying 'it's a no hoper'. If they can nudge themselves out of this frame of mind and take the songs/performances on face value rather than considering the country behind it, their predictions might be a little more realistic.

That Moldovan rehearsal was pretty good though. Ukraine and Cyprus are also looking incredibly strong, we're in for a few upsets here I reckon, and Austria is one them.

 

Eric will go through, without a doubt.

 

In what way do you mean that Austria is an upset, going through or missing out? Because it's always been a borderline qualifier and with those vocals I could definitely see her going through to the final regardless of her draw :o