Opinion

A forest.Again.I must admit that it's looking good though,a mystic mood that fits the song.The drums also bond with the concept.Melanie appears with a black cape, she looses it at the beginning of the first chorus to reveal a silver dress.Overall a very competent performance and good vocals, this is not as hopeless as it might have seemed.

And here goes the winner...for the second semi-final at least. Maybe not as impressive for someone that has seen the performance many times before but i am pretty sure that this performance is at least as effective as the Melodifestivalen one for casual viewers.The only real change is that the little guy has gained a bit of weight and the hat was replaced with a balloon. The line up of the second semi helps him a lot i must admit; however with so many low/mid tempos generally, i think that the final won't be different.Vocally very good. I really think there's little chance to see Sweden outside of the top3 this year.

There really is something unspectacular about this performance, just like the song actually. Even though the backdrop is pretty dark at the beginning of the song, it turns yellow, green and pink and changes the mood completely.Maria isn't doing a bad job with the vocals but after many better singers one can really see that she's not experienced. There are some nice moments with the floor lighting,just like the Montenegrin performance last year. Overall things aren't looking as good as they did a week ago for Iceland but i wouldn't write them off yet.

The falsetto in the beginning of the song? Oh yes it is actually Elnur himself. Impressive stuf. Vocally Elnur knows exactly how to play the Eurovision game as he's been here before.

I'm actually liking the aqua blue and red backdrop, but I'm agreeing with the majority that the dancers more or less ruin the way the performance is shown. Contemporary dancing for the sake of it, takes attention away from the song itself.

One of the best backdrops of the day-a moon, a forest, black and white, atmospherical. Turns into red and black in the middle of the song which is also very fitting. Apart from the out-of-place choreography though, Elnur seems to be over-trying and doesn't look at the camera much. Vocally good but still sometimes over the top.Not happy with this i'm afraid.

I thought that the Latvian song was too weird to qualify till now but after what i've seen i am changing my mind.Some really impressing lighting with red and white backdrop that changes with the melody of the song. I have an issue generally with her voice but that is just personal taste;i think she really delivers for those that liked it all along.The dress does seem a bit odd, however there is use of it in some amazing camera angles with the floor from above.So yeah,i do feel it's a qualifier afterall.

Hm...i expected better from this after watching the short clip of the first rehearsal. I am fond of the backdrop and the lightening; it starts dark and atmospheric, turns into colourful lights with a golden floor in the process . The vocals are also good enough. However, the choreography looks a bit disjoined and amateur, very contemporary at parts and full ethno on others. I think the whole performance isn't that well-thought but it does profit from being up-tempo and fun in an otherwise ballad-y semi.

Nadav from Israel is bringing one of the sole uptempo oriental flavoured pop tracks in this contest.

Visually I still think it's not as attractive as it could have been. As I explained before, I don't necessarily think that a oriental sounding track should be given an oriental backdrop.

Also the choreography needs to be a lot sharper from the dancers to make this work. I also still have an issue with two of the backing singers standing behind a micro stat, although I have to admit that they are moving a lot more than they originally did.

Vocally Nadav sounds okay. I don't think he's as experienced as Eduard from Moldova e.g. to do both at the same time.

Will it qualify? Based on the type of song, I hope it does, we need some uptempo stuff in the final.

I am very impressed with Vaclav and Marta. Dynamic but at the same time sensitive performance and flawless vocals. I would say that Marta is overdoing it at parts, i think she needs to be careful with that. This is all i was missing from Norway but to be fair,this is a worse song. And it wouldn't be the first time an over-dramatic duet stays in the semi or just qualifies.I am undecided about its chances,i think i need to watch the whole semi for that.

Marta and Vaclav are two true professionals. They are vocally top notch and they have big personalities filling that stage with ease.

No changes in the actual backdrop, and also no changes for Marta, as she continues to chuck her shoes in the middle of the performance and continues to perform on bare foot.

I'm seeing this more and more as a contender for the final. Those final high note together is just spine-tingling.