Eurovision 2026: Semi-Final 2 Dress Rehearsal live coverage

Today, the first behind-closed-doors dress rehearsal of semi-final 2 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!

All photos courtesy of the EBU.

Bulgaria: Dara - Bangaranga

We are starting with a bang and upside down! It's a bit like a waiting room or an office with a massive slick dance party - the first minute is high impact and the dancing is epic, very coordinated and looks great. The second minute is a lot of the same and does drag a little but it comes home in the last minute. The "office" opens up so that the end is a big dance section with the stadium, this is a very physical performance but from what we heard in the arena it sounded good.

Azerbaijan: Jiva - Just Go

The performance starts with Jiva in front of a large white piece of fabric with a shadow man projected (presumably the shadow of whom is being told to "just go"). This is extremely simplistic in appearance. The white cloth also clashes with the white LEDs in the back, making it hard to distinguish the two at times. The first two minutes are essentially the same visuals: white cloth, montage on screen and her singing. The last minute picks up the pace a little in the climax with a man joining her on stage and the curtains opening.... see below photo, this was the highlight (!)

Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu - Choke Me

There is a lot to digest here. Alexandra is really selling the performance but there is a hooded person in a cloak who takes a lot of screen time away from her. Admittedly, this was a performance where we couldn't see huge chunks on the screen in the area (as they switch the screens off if it disturbs the capturing of the performance). The first minute is packed with staging ideas and the last minute finishes much more simply. If they paced the ideas, perhaps it would work better. The best parts is when she is up close with the camera on stage. She went for a new extra high falsetto note at the end and it was pretty good! It does still sound like she is singing "show me, show me, show me" not "choke me".

Luxembourg: Eva Marija - Mother Nature

This performance goes pretty much as you would expect it to! Lots of flowers and plants growing from the LED screens, big sweeping shots with pretty white lights, a wind machine billowing her dress and spinning on stage. When she picks up the violin for the big solo at the end the petals and leaves swirl around and it looks pretty. There is a prop at the end that blooms on stage. A very cute performance.

Czechia: Daniel Zizka - Crossroads

The opening shot looks beautiful; he is sitting in the middle of mirrors that reflect and surround him. He has plenty of opportunities to interact with the mirrors, really giving the performance an emotional gravity. The second verse is much darker (physically) on stage, the stagehands actually close the mirror tunnel to get the effect and reopen it for the last minute. For the last chorus he is facing the crowd and delivering those final big notes. I would say after the epic visuals of the first two minutes, the simplistic finale does let the performance down. Daniel's vocals were a highlight, he just needs more emotional delivery and impact - it's a little too sweet.

France: Monroe - Regarde !

The shot opens with Monroe on a white platform, she's then joined by smoke and dancers to hop down and give some movement to the performance. It is essentially a one-shot performance with very little in the way of camera cuts (that I could spot but this was another performance where the screens cut out a lot for us in the arena). Her vocals were the highlight of the performance, simply sublime and strong. There is a lot of smoke at the end and it comes home strong. Her being the point focus throughout works well but it also feels a little one note after 3 minutes. The dancers are slick and this is a very clean performance but it lacks emotional gravity.

Armenia: Simón - Paloma Rumba

The opening shot is the one in the elevator with him being held upside down by his dancers. The elevator disappears quite rapidly after about 40 seconds. The rest of the performance is essentially a dance performance with some vocals also happening. There are some clever moments with LED floor usage and strobe lights that bring it to life. It is basically 5 different settings for the same dance routine. There is a cardboard box tower that he impressively smashes through and a big finish on the catwalk. Dare I say this seemed messy?

Switzerland: Veronica Fusaro - Alice

Veronica spends the start of the performance holding onto a rope, intimately delivering to the camera. She is then joined on stage by some dancers as they cruise around the arena. The last section is on the 'jungle gym playground' I'm not entirely convinced it works; it looks cool the section where she is pulling at the red ropes but otherwise it looks messy. The whole performance is very dark and it is physically hard to see at times. Vocally, she was right on the money. The best aspects are her intimate delivery straight down the camera.

Cyprus: Antigoni - Jalla

Antigoni starts sitting down on that mega-sized table to then hop up and begins the fun. By the first chorus she is joined by her dancers on stage. She looks absolutely stunning and her vocals warmed up during the performance, the first minute was on the weak side. Despite the amazing dancing, it can get quite repetitive in the middle and can feel very static with her staying put on the table. It then really picks up with some incredible shots for the last minute, including the very Fuego-coded walk with the backlit red lights. Overall, visually very beautiful but can feel a little static at times for such an upbeat entry and her vocals leave room for improvement. I can imagine this will jump up hugely with the live crowd to give her something to bounce off.

Austria: Cosmó - Tanzschein

He starts on the floor with some really creative usage of floor LEDs and floor-ography, it looks good! The animal heads are back in full force and the staging is quite similar to what he did at the national final: everyone stands in a line and does the quirky dances. For the second chorus some climbing equipment is rolled on stage to give the dancers something to climb on. The bulk of the performance revolves around that choreographed dance we are familiar with and it just builds on it with the dancers and the guitarist turning up the intensity as it goes along. It's fine.

Latvia: Atvara - Ēnā

Very similar to the national final performance - as we suspected. The same large white prop with the striking shadow projected on it. The best aspect of this performance is Atvara's vocals which were strong and beautiful as usual. The glass chunks are back and spinning around her, they look better than the ones at the national final but still don't look realistic enough to look really good. Half the performance is her singing with the shadow. The other half is the glass tornado spinning. Quite simple.

Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund - Før vi går hjem

The dance box from DMGP is back, the whole staging is essentially a beefed-up version of the national final performance and is beat by beat very similar. Today Søren was struggling quite a bit with the vocals - out of time at times and with some strain. The energy and vibes are really good and you can feel down the screen the fun and intimate nature of the performance. It comes home super strong at the end with the big dance section. Overall, this looks fabulous, just need more consistency from the vocals.

Australia: Delta Goodrem - Eclipse

Our golden girl has hit the stage! Her dress is so beautiful in the lights, it shimmers like no other this year. Delta starts in the half moon prop, delivering to the camera her superb vocals and really flirting with the camera. She has a magnetic camera presence. After the first chorus she walks down to a golden piano on stage and plays and sings behind it. There was a little too much smoke today but rest assured that they'll get the smoke levels right when it matters. She then stands on the piano and is strapped into a harness so that a platform can lift her for the final climax. Overall very high impact, glittering and glimmering! The vocals were spot on.

Ukraine: Leléka - Ridnym

A performance that is similar to the national final with a lot of the performance shot tight with her to get an intimate connection whilst she sings. Some fabric drapes move around and drop at one point to give the performance some much-needed movement and it looks quite effective! Unfortunately, it does feel a little repetitive visually at times and could do with a few more concepts to really elevate it.

United Kingdom: Look Mum No Computer - Eins, Zwei, Drei

The performance starts with 12 office desks and has some genuinely creative camera and staging moments that look quite neat. The suited-tv-furries are very striking on stage and add the required quirk to the performance. They have added a call-back section (not dissimilar in execution to 'When I say sweet sweet you say yum yum!'). He unfortunately had some issues with vocals today and sounded strained at times. The push to the end does feel like a bit of a drag and doesn't finish with the punch an entry like this needs.

Albania: Alis - Nân

Alis was another artist who sounded somewhat vocally strained today. The staging is really striking and has a unique visual from anyone else this year. The emotion is there from the very start and it finishes very strongly. There is a really great floor clock that shows up which was a great detail. This has to be one of the best examples of getting the message of your song across and transcending language barriers.

Malta: Aidan - Bella

The structure that Aidan stands in is somehow see-through for the audience but also can project from the inside, very neat! Vocally, Aidan was really bloody good. For the climax, the lights turn red and he and the cameraman spin around to get the shot. Unfortunately, the arena screens were off for this section so we couldn't see the result. I get the impression it will probably look good? As interesting as the prop is, the downside is it locks Aidan down to mostly standing in the same place for the whole 3 minutes and because of that it can feel very repetitive.

Norway: Jonas Lovv - Ya Ya Ya

A juiced-up version of the national final staging with more pyro, more sparkle and energy. Jonas delivered the vocals very well and kept the movement strong throughout the performance. The all red design of the staging looks striking but can also be very repetitive across a full 3-minute song. In the last section of the song Jonas powers down the runway and uses some creative pyro. A good show closer.

Read more:

Eurovision 2026: The couture vision behind Delta Goodrem’s celestial Eclipse gown

Eurovision 2026: Who are Delta Goodrem’s songwriters for Eclipse?

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