Russia | Sergey Lazarev is officially back on the Eurovision Stage!

Welcome back to Eurovoxx's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 rehearsals! We're already at day four which means today we will see the first rehearsals of all nine countries which drew second half of the second semi final - including the two current favourites to win! Join us all day on our YouTube channel, website & other social media for the latest updates and video content.

Image Credit: Daniil Velichko (Eurovision.tv)

The fourth to take the stage this morning is the first of the favourites to go to day - it's Russia! A lot of people have been very excited for the Russian rehearsal as the man himself - Sergey Lazarev - is back for another go at the Eurovision title, having placed second back in 2016 with 'You Are The Only One'. This year he's performing the medieval ballad 'Scream' produced by Kirkorov.

On top of his Eurovision appearance, Sergey is one of Russia's biggest stars. He released his debut album in 2005 and has had a thriving career ever since - including six emails and countless singles. In 2016, the staging for his performance is considered some of the best Eurovision staging ever, with Sergey climbing a wall which had projections on it to make it look like he was defying gravity. Will he replicate that success this year?

Image Credit: Thomas Hanses (Eurovision.tv)

RUSSIA - FIRST REHEARSAL

One of the potential winners and a performance many are excited for! Sergey is dressed all in white and looks VERY good on camera. The song starts with very simple, close-up camera shots of Sergey in-front of a dark background. The LEDs behind him show a starry night sky which as the song goes on gets more frantic - rain, lightning and just general storminess.

He is joined on stage by seven mirrors around the stage and he interacts with them during the first verse, reaching out to his reflection and walking between them. The camera pans out at the first chorus as a shooting star is seen on the backing screen and reveals that he is joined by seven big reflections, with some of the reflections coming to life and breaking the reflection at the end of the chorus.

Check out his interview below:

For the second verse, Sergey has jumped in to a box which has a window and the storm starts to rage on. There's a lot of rainfall and you can see the water effects striking the window. The box looks cool! The stage goes dark again for the middle eight and then he is joined by all seven Sergey's screaming passionately with him, ending with shattering glass. All in all, a lot more subtle than his 2016 staging however still packs a punch and definitely doesn't rule him out as the eventual winner.