{"id":33573,"date":"2026-05-06T18:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/33573\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T18:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:51:11","slug":"eurovision-vienna-calling-day-4-of-the-rehearsals-second-semi-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/33573\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurovision Vienna Calling: Day 4 of the Rehearsals (Second Semi-Final)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Yesterday was the last blog for the rehearsals of the semi finalists, and today we bring the first looks of the contestants for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.<\/p>\n

The countries set for the Second Semi-Final in Eurovision 2026, had their first rehearsals yesterday in the Wiener Stadthalle, in Vienna.<\/p>\n

In this article we bring you excerpts from\u00a0Eurovision\u2019s official Reddit account\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0live blog and the first looks:<\/p>\n

Cyprus<\/p>\n

Antigoni \u2013\u00a0JALLA<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AntigoniAntigoni during the rehearsals in Vienna (Photo credit: Corinne Cumming\/EBU)<\/p>\n

Antigoni has rehearsed\u00a0JALLA\u00a0for Cyprus here in Vienna. She\u2019s been telling us along that she\u2019s \u201cdancing on the table\u201d and this morning the ancient Cypriot prophecy came true.<\/p>\n

We all remember where we were when Ivi Adamou danced on the table for Cyprus at Baku 2012, but for 2026 the Cypriot delegation have scaled the idea up in a major way. This table is so huge, there is room for four dancers to get up there with her. This table is so huge, Antigoni and her dancers can use it as a catwalk (and the choreo is stun, they even have plates!). This table is so huge, the chairs don\u2019t go at it, they go on it.<\/p>\n

And what\u2019s a big table without the right table setting? This one\u2019s got a table runner made of an LED strip, which assists in creating arguably the most visually stunning part of the performance \u2013 the\u00a0\u201cyou want more?\u2026\u201d\u00a0bit of the song. It\u2019s followed by a purposeful strut from Our \u2018Tig, and it\u2019s finally time to leave the table and make full use of the Wiener Stadthalle catwalk \u2013 accompanied by the kind of fire and pyro that\u2019s normally reserved for the rock numbers!<\/p>\n

Antigoni is dressed in a short, white, beaded Aphrodite dress, looking like she\u2019s all set for a Nicosia night out in July. The song is performed in front of a backdrop that features giant, ancient pillars lit in blue.<\/p>\n

Latvia<\/p>\n

Atvara \u2013\u00a0\u0112n\u0101<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AtvaraAtvara during the rehearsals in Vienna (Photo credit: Corinne Cumming\/EBU)<\/p>\n

Many of you will have seen the national final performance that led to Atvara winning\u00a0Supernova\u00a0in Latvia back in February. And if you\u2019ve seen it, it\u2019s probably been more than once as it\u2019s definitely a performance you wanna keep coming back to. We watched it again before we left the hotel this morning. How else would we be starting our day?<\/p>\n

And so it makes sense that not a lot has changed from that memorable\u00a0Supernova\u00a0performance. The Latvian delegation confirmed that it was enjoyable to simply scale the staging up in size for the Eurovision Song Contest. Though with that, we did notice a couple of elements had changed in the upgrade.<\/p>\n

The gems sewn onto her dress have multiplied, with them now spreading further down the side to her waste and almost covering her left arm. There is also more glass \u2013 enough shards to fill the Wiener Stadthalle. Watching this performance is going to make the health and safety officials sweat!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got tickets to Vienna 2026 next week, it\u2019s going to be a real treat to catch Atvara sing this live in front of you.<\/p>\n

Denmark<\/p>\n

S\u00f8ren Torpegaard Lund \u2013\u00a0F\u00f8r Vi G\u00e5r Hjem<\/a><\/p>\n

\"S\u00f8renS\u00f8ren Torpegaard Lund during the rehearsals in Vienna (Photo credit: Corinne Cumming\/EBU)<\/p>\n

S\u00f8ren Torpegaard Lund has rehearsed\u00a0F\u00f8r Vi G\u00e5r Hjem\u00a0for Denmark. And it\u2019s a performance that has been boxed up and shipped all the way from\u00a0Melodi Grand Prix\u00a0to the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. Like, literally so \u2013 they didn\u2019t even disassemble there to rebuild here. When something\u2019s right, you don\u2019t wanna risk losing that magic!<\/p>\n

The blockbuster box performance has had a few of its elements elevated. S\u00f8ren has dressed up for the occasion. Black leather trousers are topped with an aquamarine shirt that\u2019s \u2013 in the words of MUNA \u2013 silk chiffon! We do get an outfit reveal though\u2026 that shirt is subsequently ripped off to display the stun n\u2019 sparkly black mesh top underneath.<\/p>\n

Red tube lights inside the box light up and intensify as the staging progresses, meaning that things start to look really hot in there by the time the second chorus has rolled around. Even hotter than the thrusting that\u2019s most definitely been scaled up during the first verse.<\/p>\n

As he steps out of his sweat box towards the end of the performance, a storm engulfs the stage floor and the screen behind him. But the heat is soon turned up again\u2026 The graphics below and behind him transform into a blazing fire for the final 20 seconds.<\/p>\n

S\u00f8ren\u2019s vocals while he dances are already the stuff of legend, But his vocal warm-ups between run throughs were jaw-dropping!\u00a0Men please sig den her aften aldrig vil ende\u00a0<\/p>\n

Australia<\/p>\n

Delta Goodrem \u2013\u00a0Eclipse<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DeltaDelta Goodrem during the rehearsals in Vienna (Photo credit: Corinne Cumming\/EBU)<\/p>\n

Meteorological experts will tell you you\u2019re not meant to stare directly at an eclipse, but Eurovision experts are saying that you shouldn\u2019t \u2013 and won\u2019t be able to \u2013 take your eyes off Delta Goodrem\u2019s performance for Australia!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of sparkle to be enjoyed here. From the mic stand to the graphics on both the stage floor and the screen, Team Australia have taken the light and shadow theme of their Eurovision entry\u00a0Eclipse\u00a0and are setting out to have a lot of fun playing with it.<\/p>\n

Delta is wearing a custom couture gown which we\u2019ve been told is adorned with approximately 7,000 (!!!) Swarovski crystals, therefore paying homage to Vienna\u2019s signature sparkle. Around 500 hours of work went into crafting this chiffon beauty, and that shines through splendidly.<\/p>\n

The Vienna connection was an important one for Delta and the Australian delegation to make. Not only is Delta Goodrem a classically trained pianist and therefore holds Vienna\u2019s musical heritage in high regard (she\u2019s also invited a harpist to join her on stage), but the Austrian capital also played host to Australia\u2019s first Eurovision participation back in 2015, for the Contest\u2019s 60th edition, and so it made sense for them to mark the 70th in a special way.<\/p>\n

Delta\u2019s staging evolves from a moon world to a sun world, culminating in an epic moment that will take the concept of the song to extraordinary new heights. And we can\u2019t tell you exactly what just yet, but she\u2019s using a pyro effect that no other country will be at Vienna 2026!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday was the last blog for the rehearsals of the semi finalists, and today we bring the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20858],"tags":[41,2873,86,20859,20890,20860,20981,2880,21054],"class_list":{"0":"post-33573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eurovision","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-cyprus","10":"tag-denmark","11":"tag-eurovision","12":"tag-eurovision-2026","13":"tag-eurovision-song-contest-2026","14":"tag-first-rehearsals","15":"tag-latvia","16":"tag-vienna-calling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}