Latvia | Carousel charm us all at their Eurovision First Rehearsal

Over the past two days we've seen all the countries participating in the first semi final rehearse, but now we're on day three it means that it is time for the countries in semi final to take to the Eurovision stage. Today the first half of the semi final will have their first rehearsals so make sure to stay with us as we update you on all the performances and staging as the Eurovision Song Contest gets even more real!

Image Credit: Aiga Redmane (Eurovision.tv)

Despite performing fifth in the semi final, Latvia are up next as they've swapped rehearsal positions with Moldova. Four-piece country, jazz and folk band Carousel are representing Latvia in Tel Aviv with their cute ballad 'That Night'.

Founded in 2015, Carousel consists of lead vocalist Sabīne Žuga and Mārcis Vasiļevskis, Mareks Logins, and Staņislavs Judins. They competed in Latvian national selection show 'Supernova' for the first time this year and went straight to the top beating familiar faces and fan favourites like Markus Riva and Samanta Tina. In the lead up to Eurovision, they performed at the Riga and London Eurovision pre-parties.

Image Credit: Andres Putting (Eurovision.tv)

LATVIA - FIRST REHEARSAL

As you could expect from their national final performance, Latvia are very minimalist and understated on stage. The staging started quite dark and then as the performance goes on it gets more and more gold (the sun is rising) - with hologram effects lighting up the stage. They have however ditched the black and white start which is a shame as it really worked in Supernova and gave it a touch of class.

Sabine, who is the definitely the focus of the camera, is wearing a white dress and a big green hat - because ... country! The camera is constantly panning and is like a letterbox style recording which really stands out. Whilst Latvia won't be following Ireland in the actual running order, the contrast between the two songs is really effective.

Overall a pleasant rehearsal. Vocally, Sabine has absolutely no problems and despite the occasional dodgy camera angles, the camera is constantly panning. The day-to-night effect of the sun setting and changing to the moon on the backdrop also looks very visually pleasing.