Eurovision 2018 | Day 5: The first semi finalists have their second rehearsals!

On day 5 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, it's the turn of the first semi finalists to take to the stage again for their second rehearsals. For the majority of the artists, their performances haven't changed much at all from their first rehearsal, so we're going to talk about those who have made changes, starting with Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan

Aisel appeared a lot more confident and comfortable on stage for her second rehearsal. The whole staging and performance of the song appeared more slick and polished compared to the first rehearsal, and it seems to flow a lot better. We can also see fog appear at the beginning of the song, with it soon dispersing to reveal Aisel on her "iceberg" prop.

Compared to her first rehearsal, Aisel's vocals have improved today and we can hear that her and her backing vocalists sound a lot stronger and their voices are blending together a lot better.

Albania

Eugent has delivered another flawless vocal performance for his second rehearsal. We can see that his backing vocalists and instrumentalists are making better use of the stage and are more spread out, with Eugent taking centre stage of course.

Eugent is very confident on stage and is connecting with the song and the audience very well to deliver an engaging performance.

Iceland

After having to delay his rehearsal due to traffic en route to the arena, Ari arrived on the stage and delivered another great vocal performance. Alongside his backing vocalists, all of their voices seemed to sound better together compared to the first rehearsal and they created a beautiful sound on stage.

For their second rehearsal, Ari's backing vocalists were dressed in their official stage costumes, with red and white being the colour of choice, to match Ari's outfit. Their staging is the same as it was in their first rehearsal, with no real change.

Compared to his first rehearsal, Ari seemed to be lacking in stage presence today, and at times, it felt like his charm and charisma was not coming across very well to the audience. However, due to his late and hurried arrival, he may well have been a little rushed for his rehearsal.

Belgium

Sennek was next to take to the stage and we saw the same staging that we saw in her first rehearsal. We can hear that Sennek's vocals have improved from her first rehearsal; they are coming across as stronger and sounding more confident.

Sennek is exuding confidence and she appears to be more comfortable in her performance and generally in moving around the stage.

Czech Republic

So, as promised, Mikolas was back on stage after his accident in his first rehearsal! Owing to his injuries, his choreography and staging has been tweaked to accommodate him. Mikolas is taking centre stage with 2 backing dancers either side of him, just like his first rehearsal.

At the beginning of his rehearsal, there are a few problems with his stand mic and with the backing vocals, and it takes a little while for the rehearsals to properly get going. But once they do, Mikolas gives it his all and delivers a good, solid performance.

It appears like Mikolas was struggling a little bit throughout his rehearsals, mostly with the choreography. He of course, is not moving around or dancing as much as he was in his first rehearsal, but he is still delivering a very good performance, and his stage presence and charm is still coming across very well.

Israel

Netta came on stage and delivered another strong performance. They have not changed their stage presentation from what we saw in the first semi final; however, we can see that Israel have fine tuned their staging and it appears to be more slick and flowing a lot better.

Netta's vocals are very strong in her second rehearsal and has proved once again that she can nail her vocals whilst moving around the stage and interacting with her backing dancers.

Macedonia

Macedonia have kept their staging the same as it was in their first rehearsal; however, we can see that it looks a lot tighter and more refined.

The change that they have made though is with their outfits; we can see that in their second rehearsal, Marija starts off the performance wearing a bright pink dress, which is later taken off to reveal a second outfit underneath!