The New Rehearsals

Bosnia-Herzegovina

The Bosnians are the first off today, Maria Sestic is joined on stage by five backing musicians around the back of the stage. At the start of the song the Bosnian flag appears on the visualisation at the front of the stage, and Maria's vocals have been perfect in every run-through of the song so far. Some dry ice comes on the backing singers walk forward (a la ''Lejla'') and some strange arm movements are going on with the four backing singers/dancers. The instrumental part of the song is sounding very strong, there's a wind machine, and the obligatory Eurovision ukelele.

Spain

The boys are all in white t-shirts with ''Spain'' across their pecs, and some fetching white tracksuit bottoms- the kind Vikki Pollard would be proud of! At the back of the stage are two dancers who make it look like they're banging percussion drums, however they've yet to make contact with them. D'NASH's dance routine looks well-polished, and the stage is covered in yellow and gold. Any doubts about their vocal quality should be quashed immediately, but there were some technical problems with the sound in the hall.

Ireland

Dervish line up with Kathy at the front of the stage, and the five backing instrumentalists around the back playing their various instruments. They're sounding very good, and use a stage of black and orange for their entry ''They cannot stop the spring''. A couple of times the band got lost with the camera angles, but this shout be ironed out and they're looking very accomplished on stage.

Finland

The host country on stage, and getting a good reception from the fans gathered in the hall. The stage is white and blue, but changed to red toards the end of the song. The wind machine is in full swing, together with dry ice pouring out and making it a great atmosphere with a rock song. The vocals are good and, again, another very good-looking performance.

Lithuania

The Lithuanians are using the same background as the national final, with the lead singer of 4Fun at the front, and the backing musicians behind the background in shadow. The vocals seems pretty good so far. Minimalistic but good.

Greece

Sarbel is using the same dance routine as the national final, wearing a silver-grey outfit. His four backing dancers are wearing white ''Madonna Bra'' with skirt complete with blue belts. The stage is the yellow-red, and evidently quite slippery as one of the dancers fell over.