LIVE BLOG of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 – the live shows (Dress Rehearsals) minute by minute

Following the great audience and community success of previous years, we also give you a sneak peek into this year’s Eurovision Song Contest rehearsals, exclusively open to the press: this is how rehearsals are going in Malmö, the Swedish venue of the 68th edition of the contest – follow us from home, with minute-by-minute updates every day – news from the contest, our editors’ first impressions, illustrative stage pictures… and much more.

IMPORTANT NOTE: According to the relevant EBU regulations, “filming, photographing or sharing the video stream of rehearsals is strictly prohibited!” Violation of these rules will result in exclusion and withdrawal of press access; thank you for your understanding! Nevertheless, please continue to stay tuned.

Note: this article is constantly updated, with the page refreshing automatically.

Dress Rehearsal 1 – Semi-Final 2 (8 May, 15:45)

17:57:25 – To close the semi-final, Charlotte Perelli and Petra Mede will be joined by Kaarija for a really uplifting and funny performance, a really funny and entertaining show that we don’t want to tell you too much about, but believe us, it’s worth the wait.

17:46:23 – During the break with the previous winners, Petra and Malin go around the arena with a microphone, which they give to some fans. Some of the videos are projected onto LED screens from the fans at home, not quite sure how that will work but it looked like we’ll see tomorrow. The winners will take to the stage one after the other and throw a really big party.

17:41:53 – The Dutch stage set is pretty simple, they’ve used almost all the lights in the arena. The colours are blue, there were no surprises, other than what we have seen before, like the bluebird on stage. The dancers do some pretty hard dancing, with silly but very entertaining moves. Before the dance break, Joost gives a speech, “I don’t care who you are, I don’t care where you are” The show ends with an outro we heard from the rehearsal clip.
A very entertaining moment of the evening.

17:39:11 – The Norwegian set is pretty much the same as the one we saw at MGP, but this time the colours are much more beautiful!
The whole stage seems to breathe with the Gate. Really uplifting performance in the last segment, one of the highlights of the night. A very unique, rarely heard style in the competition.

17:36:59 – Eden Golan, representing Israel, starts the performance standing alone in the circular prop, very similar to what we saw with Latvia, just with a bit more light. After a while he is joined by dancers appearing almost out of nowhere!

17:34:07 – Angelina is back on stage in the dress she wore for the first rehearsals. She begins the performance lying on the floor, with animations of the golden tree behind her. Then she stands up, the dancers join her, following Angelina on stage. She also dances on the throne on stage before the last chorus. A very dark and mystical performance from the Italians, impossible not to dance during it. Perhaps we were looking at one of the favourites to win?

17:29:08 – Eurovision has seen some funny and eclectic collaborations over the years, and this year’s Estonian entry is no exception: 5MIINUST is a well-known pop/hip hop group from Estonia, while Puuluup describes itself as a “zombie-folk duo”. All members of the band look very stylish in black suits. The whole performance is a dizzying and hilarious mix of thumping beats, traditional talharpa tunes and a dance performance by 5MIINUST x Puuluup.

17:22:12 – Now it’s the turn of the Belgian Mustiin. The performance brings a lot of the intense, slowly building atmosphere we saw in the official video, with a circle of microphones on a smoky platform, slowly rotating, and lots of cloudy graphics on the walls and floor. Mustii is wearing an open white shirt with a bejeweled top underneath that catches the arena light. A solid production, however it’s a question how much the slowly building song can grab the audience.

16:57:06 – Nutsa (Georgia) has a powerful voice and has definitely brought it to Malmö. She starts alone on stage on a raised pedestal, under red spotlights and with red smoky graphics in the background. At the end of the first verse, he is joined by four male dancers in black. It’s a very thoughtful, high-energy dance performance, with the LED graphics turning into sparkling balls of flame as the song progresses.

16:53:52 – MEGARA’s 11:11 has always brought us the emo-manga lineage, and San Marino’s production doesn’t contradict that. The production takes us into a drawn, fiery-pink world that is rarely seen on the Eurovision stage… we think there has probably never been a song with such a strong theme, both in sound and visuals… They continue to bring the pink and black fur seen at Una Voce per San Marino, but in a slightly different pattern, complete with zebra stripes. The LED wall shows a pink and black animation with lots of spooky trees and dragons, which is like a fairy tale – it all makes for a really cohesive, fun, uplifting and very loud stage scene. We’re happy to report that the flamenco dance beat from the official video has also made it to Malmö.

16:47:45 – After Latvia, we travelled to Spain, to the Mediterranean Senoríta, Nebulossa fire Zorba… we want to say ZORRA-dance of the country. The red-clad, folk projection was accompanied by black dresses, but it’s not these, nor the dancers, that will tell the story, but all of them together. If they do… we’ll see… in the finale, right…

16:44:43 – A huge circular prop is set up on the Latvian stage, so Dons performs the first half of the song standing in it. It does not move, rotate or light up, but it creates a very powerful focal point on stage. Dons is wearing his trademark royal blue sleeveless trouser suit. The lighting effects are very well thought out indeed with lots of slow moving blue spotlights that get brighter as the song draws to a close.

16:41:33 – Armenia is represented this year by the French-Armenian duo Ladaniva. Jako, sung in Armenian, is about rejecting negative stereotypes, freedom and being yourself. There is also an island of brightly coloured pedestals in the middle of the stage where the Ladaniva band stands and plays their instruments on different levels.The background is very colourful and creates a good atmosphere throughout the arena. The audience is sure to enjoy the show on Thursday.

16:40:46 – Saba from Denmark. Her performance is very similar to what we saw at the Danish national final, only bigger and more epic. Saba is wearing a white trouser suit, not the same as the one she wore at MGP, but very similar. He has filled his pockets with sand and is spreading it around as part of a truly beautiful armography routine, which reflects a projected version of Saba on the LED wall behind him. Simple really, but all the more impressive.

16:25:16 – Kaleen went on to blow up the stage at Malmö Arena: the pre-parties had already seen a punchy performance from the Austrian singer, and this could be put to great use in a Swedish production. Vocally and stage-wise, Kaleen is stronger now, so let’s get ready for the Swedish-Swedish party…

16:22:46 – Now we come to the first, and now finalist, performance of the semi-finals: France 2024 returns to the Eurovision stage with another pop ballad, in which Slimane surprised us with an interesting sound in his rendition of Mon amour. There will be no shortage of smoke, perhaps that’s what the simple, clean stage set needs…

16:18:01 – It’s time for the first pop/rock anthem of the evening, with the upbeat song Pedestal by Czech Aiko. Aiko was born in Russia, grew up in the Czech Republic and now commutes between London and Prague. Aiko’s stage concept depicts the five stages of grief during a break-up Aiko is accompanied on stage by four female dancers who represent denial, anger, bargaining and depression. Aiko herself represents the fifth and final stage – acceptance. The costumes are black bodystockings with fishnets and lots of sparkles, and Aiko’s dancers wear glittery fishnet face coverings. Aiko wears a similar top, but with wide-leg trousers. In this performance, the cubes above the stage are also fully deployed starting only a few feet above the performers’ heads, creating an enclosed, homey environment that becomes larger and wider as the cubes rise. Lots of black and red strobe lights, and a really nice moment towards the end.

In the stage production of Aiko Pedestal’s song we saw more fire than anywhere since the Hungarian AWS 2018 production… black and fire go well together, we’ve known that for years, and this cool production is no different… The Czech Republic will finally heat up the second semi-final, if we weren’t already in a fever…

16:22:31 – It’s time for Nemo from Switzerland, a musician, singer and songwriter with a huge fan base in Switzerland. Code is a mix of rap, drum ‘n’ bass and opera. Nemo wears a suit of orange and white fluffy clothes, and the main prop is a white circular platform two to three metres in diameter. It tilts and spins in all directions Nemo climbs on it, slides off it, dances on it, jumps off it, it’s a show of balance.

16:16:05 – It’s Greece’s turn to take part in Eurovision for the 50th year. This year, singer-songwriter Marina Satti will compete with ZARI, a fusion of Greek, Arabic and Balkan influences, with a sound that is both traditional and super-contemporary. As for the stage set, Marina brings the same sass and attitude we saw in the official music video, wearing a sparkly purple puffy skirt instead of a kilt, paired with a white top and black heeled boots. Marina has four backing dancers – three men and one woman – who alongside Marina combine precise street dance moves with traditional elements. There’s plenty of close-up camera shots As for the graphics, there’s plenty of colour and energy – with neon pink floating ZARI graphics on the frames and graffiti-style visuals on the LED wall, bringing the same urban vibe we saw in the official video.

16:14:44 – Our second performer is the Albanian Besa, the song has undergone a major reworking since Besa won the Albanian Festivali i Këngës final in December the original Zemrën N’dorë is now titled Titan and is sung in English. She has changed her dress to turquoise blue, with a hood similar to the one she wore in her video. The dancers projected onto the LED wall and cubes add even more space and drama. simple but very effective. Besa delivers excellent performance in sound

15:59:27 – First on stage is Sarah Bonnici from Malta, who performs her song Loop. It will open the second semi-final on 9 May. Ths is not Sarah’s first Eurovision experience as she was a back-up dancer at the Junior Eurovision in 2010. The performance is much the same as in the national final, with some tweaks. But the choreography has been reworked with a dance break that still has the somersault in it. In terms of outfits, Sarah is wearing a sparkly silver bodysuit. Excellent sound and perfect dancing characterize every minute of the production.

15:50:11 – The show opens with a special performance of last year’s winning song by Malin and Petra, the hosts of the song contest. Unlike the first semi-final, this time we don’t get a special opening performance, the presenters will immediately start with the already obligatory information.

15:48:41 – Welcome to the live blog of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, where – contrary to previous practice – this year we will not be covering the so-called Delegation Rehearsals before the Eurovision week due to the change in the rules of participation, but rather the first public rehearsals of the live shows and the individual performers, the Malmö productions. Stay tuned, Eurovision Song Contest 2024 – Semi-Final 2 Dress Rehearsal 1 starts at 15:45 CET – but we’re already starting the first round.