Czech Republic | Lake Malawi rock out at their First Rehearsal!

This morning kicked off an exciting two week lead up to the final with the start of first rehearsals! Join us over the next four days as we take a look at the first rehearsals of all competing semi finalists. For the first day of rehearsals, the nine countries drawn to the first half of the first semi final will take to the stage.

Image Credit: Tomas Gal (Eurovision.tv)

Second up are the Czech Republic, an early change in the schedule due to being swapped with Montenegro. Like Cyprus, you can expect the Czech Republic to still be riding the highs of last year, where Mikolas Josef and 'Lie To Me' netted them their best ever result at Eurovision. This year, indie pop band Lake Malawi will be hoping to keep up the Czech momentum with the very catchy 'Friend of a Friend'.

Following the success of the national final format last year, Czech broadcaster CT opted for the same competition to select their act of Tel Aviv. Lake Malawi came out on top over the seven other artists. Formed in 2013, the band consists of lead vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist Albert Černý, bassist and keyboardist Jeroným Šubrt, and drummer Antonín Hrabal. They've released many singles over the years and have seen relative success in the local charts however the Eurovision stage will surely be their largest audience to date.

Image Credit: Andres Putting (Eurovision.tv)

CZECH REPUBLIC - FIRST REHEARSAL

Ahead of the performance, three giant lighting frames are brought on to stage with each member of the band being within one. The drums are there on the left, the guitarist on the right with Albert taking centre stage. The frames almost look like an Instagram background - which move around on screen and change lights - effective similarly to their official music video.

Lake Malawi are wearing their signature jumpers (bright yellow, red & black) that were seen during the pre-party promotion tour and they definitely add to the colour explosion on stage. The leader singers interacts with the audience throughout as he jumps around the stage energetically before jumping in to the frame for the second part of the song. There's even a 'Kiss Cam' on stage.

For the last chorus, Albert has some audience engagement encouraging them to clap ahead of a big note and then the backing LEDs begin to show 'Hello Friend' written in many different languages. Throughout the performance the staging is very bright and colourful - big red, blue & yellow lights and frames. The colour will definitely make it stand out between Slovenia & Hungary in the running order, with bright colours 'falling' from the ceiling in the background.

The Czech Republic's second rehearsal will take place on Thursday 9th May and they will be performing sixth in the first semi final on Tuesday 14th May.

Will you be supporting the Czech Republic at this years Eurovision? Let us know in the comments below your thoughts on Lake Malawi's first rehearsal.

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