Leonor Andrade (Portugal) aims to bring Portugal back to the finals for the first time since 2010 with “Há um Mar que nos Separa”.  Rehearsals brought about mixed feelings from the press center, some who really enjoyed the song, and some who really enjoyed hating the song.  Nevertheless, no one can deny that Leonor brought her A-game with energetic enthusiasm …

Mørland & Debrah Scarlett (Norway) presented their simple and elegant performance of “A Monster Like Me” during the first rehearsals.  A lot of good long close-up shots in which both artists sing directly into the camera and also to one another.  An early favorite that should continue to maintain its place in the predictions. Matt chatted with the duo about …

Marta Jandová and Václav Noid Bárta marked the return of the Czech Republic and closed out Day 3 of rehearsals. “Hope Never Dies” is a fitting song title as many hope to see the Czech Republic in the Grand Finale for the first time, particularly given that we saw the debut of two countries last year (Montenegro and San Marino).  …

Amber (Malta) provided classic Eurovision with a nice performance of “Warrior.”  She proved cynics wrong by strongly improving her vocals from the Maltese National Final.  The staging is dramatic and now brings to question of who will win the battle of the warriors between Amber and Nina.  Will we see both warriors in the grand finale!? Amber gave limited interviews …

Knez (Montenegro) is a well-established artist and it shows in his first rehearsal of “Adio.”  This has classic Željko written all over it.  He and his team of backup singers have great vocals and well-polished staging.  Many are saying this may be Željko’s weakest work, but we shall see if Knez’s strong performance can keep the Željko qualification streak alive. …

Our second vlog of this year’s rehearsals season has been uploaded. Sean, Anselm and Maddie took a visit to the Schönbrunn Palace in the morning before making their way to the press centre to catch up on day two of the action. We also speak to some volunteers about their experiences with the press centre so far and got Uzari …

Anita Simoncini & Michele Perniola (San Marino) are the youngest competitors this year.  Like Molly from Ireland, it seems nerves may have gotten to them initially, but as they grew comfortable on stage, they started to gel.  As they noted in their official interviews with the EBU, they are very excited to be here and find that Eurovision is “ten …

Molly Sterling (Ireland) showed a lot of growth during the first rehearsal of “Playing With Numbers.”  She worked well with the staff in making sure she was singing into the cameras.  And her vocals grew stronger and stronger with each run-through.  With the large number of Irish press, we saw and heard a lot of positive feedback within the press …

Day 3 is here and after a fun night of watching some of the artists and backing singers at the U4 Diskothek perform, we are LIVE from the press centre at Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna.  The weather is a bit wet today, but that won’t stop us from providing you with up-to-date coverage. The first rehearsals for Semi-Final 1 are complete …

Voltaj (Romania) want to keep the Romanian qualification streak alive and then some! However, perhaps more importantly, they plan to use the Eurovision Song Contest as a venue for their “All Over Again” campaign.  We chat about the band line-up, Romania, and their work with Romanian children, particularly with US Non-government organizations (NGOs). Voltaj also shared a note to the …