Get the full coverage from the first dress rehearsal of the first semi-final, currently taking place on the Eurovision 2026 stage in Vienna. One by one, Moldova, Sweden, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Georgia, Finland, Montenegro, Estonia, Israel, Belgium, Lithuania, San Marino, Poland and Serbia. We will be providing updates throughout the rehearsal with all the details received by our editorial team.
Photo: EBU
Today at 15:30 CET, the first dress rehearsal began ahead of the first semi-final broadcast, which will take place tomorrow at 21:00 CET (Thursday, May 15). Just before another dress rehearsal takes place tonight at 21:00 CET, we’re here to report everything happening on stage in real time from Vienna.
As a reminder, this year the countries that automatically qualify for the Grand Final will also perform during the semi-finals, but their songs will not be eligible for voting at this stage. In the second semi-final, Italy and Germany will take the stage.
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First Semi-Final – Initial Overview:
At the beginning of the show, a male couple who have been watching the Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural year are projected onto the screen, alongside a variety of Eurovision hits from throughout the years. Among the hits is the Israeli entry – “Diva” by Dana International. At a certain point, one of the men in the couple passes away. On stage, Austrian dancers and actors are dressed in light blue and white.
The performers on stage sing “L’amour Est Bleu” by Vicki Leandros from the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. The singer then joins them for the performance, which concludes with a waterfall of fireworks.
Following this, the hosts of Eurovision 2026, Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, take the stage.
1. Moldova – Satoshi, “Viva, Moldova!”:
Satoshi takes the Eurovision stage as it fills with the colors of the Moldovan flag, and he is joined by two female singers (including Aliona Moon, the Moldovan representative at Eurovision 2013), two electric guitar players, and a drummer. The camera pans between each of the members, who are beautifully spread out across the stage. Japanese-style characters occasionally appear on the LED screens. The camera shakes during parts of the performance to simulate the audience dancing along with the singer and the band. Aliona Moon pays tribute to her 2013 performance, and during her segment, she stands inside a giant red dress. She returns to the main stage, and extensive fire and pyrotechnics accompany the performance. An amazing performance and an excellent opening to the show; the audience has not yet calmed down.
2. Sweden – FELICIA, “My System“:
Felicia takes the stage as technical difficulties begin, and the stage is not yet ready. She starts the performance completely alone as smoke fills the stage floor. She is not vocally precise, and the pre-recorded backing vocals are heard relatively loudly. The four dancers join the performance and execute synchronized movements. Red lasers are seen projecting from the stage ceiling, and white lasers draw a square around the singer on the floor. The entire stage is washed in red and black colors. During the C-part, the camera films her from above. She does not hit the high note in the C-part, and the backing vocals she leans on are heard more prominently. “Hey!” vocals were added to the performance, which were not present in the original version. The artist switches from the mask to glasses, just like in the Swedish national selection. A strong stage performance, but not vocally precise.
3. Croatia – LELEK, “Andromeda”:
LELEK take to the smoke-filled stage, with one of the members sitting on an exceptionally high chair while the rest of the group stands on the stage. Magic that is hard to explain in words unfolds on the LED screens, and the performance looks particularly impressive on camera. Three members of the band walk down the catwalk and back, and upon their return, they perform a “Hand of God” pose with each other. The “magic” from the beginning of the performance opens its gates on the LED screens and shatters. A massive amount of fire shoots from the arena floor at the end of the song. As the performance concludes, the singers are sucked into a “wormhole” into space. One of the band members runs away from the others at the end of the act toward the center of the catwalk. A vocal performance that started off weak but improved, looking excellent visually on stage.
4. Greece – Akylas, “Ferto”:
Akylas starts the performance dressed in a tiger outfit, while a computer game featuring his character is displayed on the LED screens. As the song progresses, the game on the screens advances. The singer passes through a tunnel of mirrors, emerges from it, and pays tribute to Helena Paparizou, the winner of Eurovision 2005, by playing the strings of a “violin” created from threads attached to a dancer’s costume. He rides a scooter forward onto the catwalk. Meanwhile, sets of various rooms have been assembled on stage. A grandmother is knitting in one, there is a Greek statue in another, and a golden figure in a third. He then ascends above the four rooms while singing the emotional part of his song. He literally slides down a pole back to the main stage toward the end of the track, and the characters from the rooms join him on the catwalk as the performance concludes. It looks extremely impressive.
5. Portugal – Bandidos Do Cante, “Rosa”:
Bandidos do Cante quietly start the performance a cappella. They are situated on the arch surrounding the stage, rather than on the main stage. The vocal harmonies are impressive. Four of the band members continue to the other side of the arch while one of them remains to sing. Afterwards, three members stand on the catwalk while the remaining two walk toward each other on the arch. White flowers appear on the stage floor and the LED screens. The violinist, dressed in white, joins at the end of the performance, and the playing sounds completely pre-recorded even though a microphone is attached to her violin. The band moves to the main stage to conclude the act, as flowers bloom on the LED screens. A perfect vocal performance.
There is a short break following the Portuguese performance, as the host Michael takes the stage while preparations are simultaneously made for the Georgian entry.
6. Georgia – Bzikebi, “On Replay”:
The band Bzikebi takes to the stage with its members dressed in yellow and black outfits, as a tribute to their winning song from the 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, “Bzzz…”. The group is inside a sort of matrix, with computer chips visible on the LED screens. During the chorus, three “cyborgs” or holograms of the band members appear behind them. The singers are not vocally precise at all. They perform the familiar choreography from the music video during the chorus. Toward the end of the performance, they advance to the catwalk and dance there as well. The female singer does not hit the high note before the final chorus, relying instead on a weak pre-recorded backing vocal. At the end of the act, a firework shoots from the stage floor. A disappointing performance.
There is a break following the Georgian performance. The host Victoria is in the green room and introduces a video of Eurovision fans, past contest artists, and even crew members sharing their experiences from the competition. The video also features Will Ferrell, who starred in the Eurovision movie. During the broadcast, alternating Eurovision heart effects are used, showing, for example, a golden Eurovision heart with flowers blooming from it. Victoria then introduces the Italian entry, which is not competing in the semi-final but performs during it.
* Italy – Sal Da Vinci, “Per Sempre Si”:
Sal Da Vinci is dressed in a white suit, with a clothing rack, a groom dressed only in underwear, and two groomsmen in the background. The groom gets dressed during the act. It looks exactly like a performance from a musical. The two groomsmen dance with each other. The groomsmen and the groom perform ballroom-style dances behind the singer during the chorus. The artist is not entirely vocally precise. The groom is almost fully dressed, with a mirror situated at the side of the stage. The stage floor changes into black and white squares as the three perform impressive acrobatic moves. The bride reaches the singer and continues toward the groom. The bride spun around as part of her dress was removed, revealing the Italian flag. Unfortunately, the bride fell unexpectedly during the performance. The groom and the bride dance with each other.
7. Finland – Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen, “Liekinheitin”:
Linda and Pete take to the stage, with Pete situated in a confessional booth on the catwalk, while Linda stands on an elevated platform featuring upside-down chairs. Linda received permission to play live on stage. Pete’s vocal performance is not precise, but it is much better than what was seen in the clip from the second rehearsal. It is almost an exact replica of the performance from the national selection. The elevated platform Linda stood on bursts into flames, and there are napkin-like fabrics on the stage ceiling that catch fire, as does the confessional booth. Linda joins Pete in the confessional booth, and runs back to the main stage to finish the song, alongside Pete.
8. Montenegro – Tamara Živković, “Nova Zora”:
Tamara Živković begins the performance as the dancers lift her up and drop her to the floor. Four dancers accompany her, and they make excellent use of the catwalk. The stage changes to orange colors, and there is great use of stage lighting. The singer is not vocally precise at all. During the third part of the performance, the stage changes to blue colors with lightning and thunder. A sunrise appears behind her on the LED screens at the end of the act, followed by a black hole in the background. The performance is not captivating enough, and I fear that Montenegro will once again find itself out of the final, despite my love for the song.
9. Estonia – Vanilla Ninja, “Too Epic To Be True”:
Vanilla Ninja begin the performance with the lead singer facing away from the audience, while the other two play electric guitars, and the stage is illuminated in black and white colors. During one of the parts, there was a technical glitch, and the microphone did not turn on in time for one of the members. The lighting changes to red, black, and white. The band is also accompanied by a drummer. The three members interact with each other; the lead singer moves to the catwalk, returns, and the stage is illuminated in gold. A very cute performance, with fireworks from the stage at the end of the song. There is no Kiss-cam, for those asking.
There is a break following the Estonian song in order to set up for the Israeli entry. Victoria talks about Israel’s history in the contest, emphasizing that Israel was the first non-European country to join the competition.
10. Israel – Noam Bettan, “Michelle”:
Noam Bettan takes the stage accompanied by chants of “El El El Israel”. The singer starts inside a spinning diamond, and there is a close-up on him against a particularly sparkling background. The diamond opens, and he is joined by the dancer Lihi Freud. The rest of the dancers join the stage as the artist and Lihi step out of the diamond. The diamond constantly rotates and is illuminated. Behind him, the dancers stand in a line, and then everyone advances to the catwalk, with the stage floor appearing scorched. At the end of the performance, many diamonds appear on the LED screens, as Lihi joins the singer and then abandons him. An excellent vocal performance, which is very different from the other songs and therefore may stand out positively.
* Germany – Sarah Engels, “Fire”:
Sarah Engels lies on the elevated Eurovision stage, and it almost looks as if she is starting to sing a ballad because the song is so different from its original version (at least at the beginning). Four dancers join the artist, and they step down from the elevated platform. The vocal performance is not precise. A massive amount of fire shoots from the stage floor, and at a certain point, she falls backward off the high platform as the dancers catch her. There is fire on stage as the singer and the dancers perform a dance break toward the end of the act. At the conclusion, she climbs back onto the high platform. An excellent performer, but she undoubtedly needs to improve vocally.
There is a break following the German performance, during which a video is shown of the host Victoria teaching a class in a futuristic lecture about some important Eurovision facts, accompanied by orange television screens lifted by robotic arms. Several songs that received zero points in the history of the contest were shown. This time, Israel was not present in the video for good reasons.
11. Belgium – Essyla, “Dancing On The Ice”:
Essyla begins the performance with her back to the audience in the center of the catwalk. A sort of snow machine is activated on her as she walks toward the main stage. Four dancers join her, all dressed in white. The dancers also wear masks. Toward the end of the act, the stage splits into two – heat and cold. The singer moves between them. At the conclusion of the performance, the artist and the dancers move to the catwalk, and a smoke machine is used on her again. The vocal performance is not precise, but it is better than her previous performances. The 2026 version of the Ice Queen, reports EuroMix correspondent Chacha Asido.
There is a break following the Belgian song in order to prepare the stage for the Lithuanian entry. The hosts approach the Swedish artist, Felicia, in the green room, who plays a woman whose exact role is unknown. She hides her mouth with her phone, much like the mask of the singer herself. An Austrian production member plays the Moldovan representative, Satoshi, and so on. This year’s director, the Austrian representative at Eurovision 2024, Kaleen, takes to the stage to assist in setting up the Lithuanian artist, Lion Ceccah, and his stage direction, which is taking too much time for some reason.
12. Lithuania – Lion Ceccah, “Sólo quiero más”:
Lion Ceccah takes the competition stage dressed inside a puppet wearing a massive black cloak. A slightly creepy zoom-in on his silver face (actually, quite creepy). It looks exactly like a horror movie. The singer did not paint his hands silver for this performance. He steps out from behind the cloak and performs robotic movements with significant vocal inaccuracies. Subtitles appear on the screen during certain parts of the performance, with the stage occasionally turning black and white; the cloak puppet collapsed (intentionally) during the act. The artist walks toward the catwalk at the end of the performance.
13. San Marino – Senhit feat. Boy George, “Superstar”:
Senhit starts the performance inside a tunnel of mirrors and diamonds, which is reminiscent of several songs from this semi-final. The diamond opens, and four dancers join her. The stage sparkles, as do the outfits of the singer and the female dancer. During the performance, there are some poor camera angles, but this is likely a technical glitch. The dancers lift the artist, and she is filmed from above. Boy George suddenly emerges from the doors, and even the singer seems surprised by his presence. They advance toward the catwalk, and the performance is truly wonderful and uplifts the audience. Fireworks go off at the end of the act. It can already be declared – this is a song for the final.
There is a break following the Sammarinese song, while the Polish stage is being prepared.
14. Poland – Alicja, “Pray”:
Alicja takes to the stage, standing on the catwalk at the beginning of the performance, and sings the song with several significant vocal inaccuracies. There is a top-down camera angle that shows her praying. As she returns to the main stage, the dancers perform an impressive routine on an elevated, diagonally positioned platform. The artist joins them toward the end of the act. The dancers fall down onto the main stage, as the singer hits the high note at the end of her track with impressive precision.
15. Serbia – Lavina, “Kraj Mene”:
Lavina begin the performance with the lead singer on the catwalk, facing away from the stage, dressed in a black cloak with giant silver shoulder spikes. The lead singer returns to the main stage, with the microphone stand resembling a sword. The rest of the band members are also on stage. Lighting descends from the stage ceiling. During the screamo vocals performed by the lead singer, a massive amount of fire shoots from the stage floor. The performance ends with the lead singer crouched on the floor. An excellent vocal performance. A slightly unusual ending to the show.
Following the Serbian song, the German representative, Sarah Engels, takes the stage once again due to a technical glitch that occurred during her earlier performance. As the stage is illuminated and the act begins, it is revealed that it is not the German singer, but none other than Kaleen, the Austrian representative at Eurovision 2024 and the show’s director, who performed the song in her place using playback. For those interested, it was an excellent stage performance by the director, who knows every single move.
The EuroMix team members who watched the rehearsal predict the following qualifiers for the final (in alphabetical order):
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Avi: Croatia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Moldova, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden
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Noy: Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Moldova, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden
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Chacha: Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Moldova, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden
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Tal: Croatia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Moldova, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden
Thank you for staying with us!
Join us at 21:00 CET for the second dress rehearsal!
Eurovision 2026: the 70th edition of the contest will take place in Vienna, Austria, on May 12th, 14th, and 16th, 2026. The Wiener Stadthalle arena, which will host the event, is expected to accommodate around 16,000 spectators per show. The contest returns to Austria following the nation’s third historic win with the song “Wasted Love”, performed by JJ. It will be Austria’s third time hosting Eurovision, after previous editions held in the country in 1967 and 2015.
