Eurovision 2026: Semi-Final 1 Dress Rehearsal live coverage

Today, the first behind-closed-doors dress rehearsal of semi-final 1 is being shown in full behind closed doors, but with media access. For the first time this year, media only have access to the live arena show, but not "down the lens" footage.

What we can already tell you is that the stage is incredibly impressive and takes up a big part of the arena. Not only that, the Viennese Cafe-inspired Green Room is HUGE. It has stairs joining the long catwalk to the stage as well.

We will be updating this article with live updates of the show, and WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

Moldova: Satoshi - Viva, Moldova

We start with the whole LED floor and screen flooded in red, blue and yellow. Satoshi bounds onto the stage with huge energy, and it is 0-100 in no time. The shots look fantastic on him and other band members, the shaky cam isn't as chaotic once in the context of the three minutes. Then THE moment Aliona Moon arrives in a giant, tall throwback dress is a wow moment. This is going off in the room, it'll go off on the night. Lots of pyro, Moldova are back baby with a bang. This. Is. Good. The crowd will LOVE this.

Sweden: Felicia - My System

Very similar performance to Melodifestivalen, the 'fighting off' of the lasers is her kind of batting them away from her, less fighting, more choreography. She is then put into a prism of light, which works well. Felt like Felicia took a while to warm into it, but it's a rehearsal, she'll be right on the night!. However, the whole performance may not be working quite as well on the Eurovision stage as Melfest, but it is still incredibly impactful and still quite hard to tell with giant PROHIBITED TO FILM THE SCREEN lettering on our screens in the arena.

Croatia: Lelek - Andromeda

The lead singer in white starts the performance suspended on a structure above the other members of Lelek. She joins them, where you see that wonderful show before they join together in quite an epic show of pyro, and wind machine with smoke set to jet engine. Visually, it is just STUNNING, however, it's hard to tell on vocals in the stadium.

Greece: Akylas - Ferto

Wow. Wow. Wow. Where do I start? So much is happening and all in a good way. After he leaves the 'game' type simulation on the scooter (which is a side shot that looks great), he then rejoins the main stage where a huge Reilly Denmark 2023 circular prop with different 'rooms' appears and it is done SO WELL. Different characters are in each one and it looks visually fantastic. It gives that 'box' type feel we saw from his first national final promo video. He then climbs up on TOP of it to sing the slow ballad section, then slides down the pole for frenetci energetic finish on the catwalk. This is fantastic, great crowd reaction, if it sounds good then another big public vote coming his way. He isn't a copy, he is his own character here.

Oh and there is a My Number One throwback which is brilliant!.

Portugal: Bandidos do Cante - Rosa

This is everything you would expect. The guys are out on the circular stage and catwalk and slowly make their way to the main stage in perfrect harmony and unison. The shots look great, they sound wonderful and will be a breather for those who can't handle Greece.

Georgia: Bzikebi - On Replay

When the shots are tight on the trio, it works really quite well. Unfortunately, most of them are wide shots or middle distance which makes their movements looks small and less impactful against the very full on lighting and LED effects in the background. There is a lot of energy in the room that isn't translating onto the screen and it is quite 'rinse and repeat.' What you saw in the 30 seconds and the images tells you most of the performance.

Italy: Sal Da Vinci - Per sempre sì

This is full storytelling, we watch the male backing dancers tell the story of a man getting ready for his wedding. It's fun, it works and it builds to the crescendo of the bridge walking down the catwalk to the main stage for the wedding.

The Italian flag reveal did have a techical difficulty with the female dancing falling, but better now than on the night!

Sal looks great throughout, and really comes alive at times. Needs a tidy up with some shots, but it has a great narrative, fun and the whole press audience sang the chorus.

Finland: Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen - Liekinheitin

This is very much the UMK performance but there are some nicer more structured shots, particularly with the flame use of the burning empty orchestra. Linda yeets it down the catwalk to get into her final place at the end which looks amazing in the arena, but you won't see that on screen.

All very good and just feels VERY "Eurovision".

Montenegro: Tamara Živković - Nova zora

I was worried from the 30 seconds that this would be a performance with a lot of empty space, but it looks better than I thought.

When it's tight and the shots work, it looks great, but the five women are doing a lot of work to fill the stage for the whole time and some sections aren't quite having the impact the song has.

A few vocal issues as well, but nothing that can't be sorted for the lives.

Estonia: Vanilla Ninja - Too Epic To Be True

Towards the start of the performance, the lights are down low, which gives the performance a nice framing. There are some nice shots of the group together and cutaways to each individual that work and let us connect with them. Where the 'kiss cam' was in Eesti Laul, is now replaced with a repetition of 'Too Epic' by the singers and a manufactured crowd chant along with it. It is improved on Eesti Laul, but a similar vibe throughout. The slow-mo shot we saw in the 30 second clip was repeated, but didn't quite work.

Israel: Noam Bettan - Michelle

They start the performance within the diamond prop where Noam is joined by other female dancers, which does visually look good. They aren't in there long, and all six performers go out to the main stage. He does a competent performance throughout, but it does lack a 'moment' to really grab attention after leaving the diamond.

Germany: Sarah Engels - Fire

Sarah starts lying on the platform we've seen in the photographs with an overhead shot. The colours are very white before a dress reveal, and the fires and reds come out. She does quite the dramatic drop from the platform down into the dancers. Then does a similar performance to the national final with a LOT of flames, I can feel the heat up here in the nosebleed section! She finished the show back on top of the box. Fun performances, vocally strong through most of it but the start was a little exposed.

Belgium: Essyla - Dancing on the Ice

Essyla starts by being hit with wind from a literal leaf blower, which is very loud in the stadium but I'm sure on screen it'll be fine. It is a very strong start, great shots as she stomps the catwalk. There are some really excellent shots, but it does get a samey at times and a couple of great vocal moments and some that do sound like they could have missed. Overall, strong start, strong close middle may lag but it's chances are there. Hard to know how it'll translate audibly on TV beause that bassline is so loud (in a good way) in the stadium.

Lithuania: Lion Ceccah - Sólo quiero más

Ok wow. I haven't really felt much for this entry all season but I had goosebumps and maybe it's the late nights and no sleep but almost a touch emotional. It is compelling, it is storytelling, some nice subtitle usage and amazing shots for the first three-quarters on stage. When he comes out on the catwalk for a big finish I think it loses it's way but my god I was impressed.

San Marino: Senhit - Superstar

This is fun and silver and rainbows, and Senhit looks and sounds great. She starts within that silver prop with a coat before it opens up, she drops the coat and starts dancing. Boy George is revealed by the prop to turn, where he is seated in an almost-throne-like mirrored chair. They finish with pyro, the walk down the catwalk and a big literal bang.

Poland: Alicja - Pray

That sloping stage prop is BIG and is right smack-bang in the middle of the main stage. Alicja starts down the catwalk with a long intro showcasing her incredible voice. She sounds impeccable! We don't see the sloping stage until after the first chorus. There are some really nice shots and choreography on the stage and LED use. She is playing with her vocals a re lot and the stage does look incredible - it does feel like it is trying to distract as much attention away from the song itself. I can see juries going for this.

Serbia: Lavina - Kraj mene