Day one is always a little difficult - we know this from years of attending - but we were really surprised at just how taxing some of the issues could be. First the terrible weather when queuing this morning was a real let down, and they would not open the security tent area even 10 minutes early so that the 60+ press people could at least shelter

Eventually when it was opened there were issues with all the "P" accreditation passes not functioning, which meant manually checking the whole queue and their passes. Not a great start.

That aside we entered the press centre with an open mind and first task of the day was preparing the interview lists. Always a huge drama for us to deal with - and this year was no different. Several hours - or at least it felt like it - later the first lists started to appear....oh well

The press centre itself is a story in itself - the working area, the press conference area and the interview rooms are all separated by some distance....we will see how this plays out later today. Additionally the press working area is probably the smallest I have seen ever. There will be a shortage of desks much later this week. It's already pretty full on day one

On positive notes the on screen rehearsals started on time, we had sound, and we had wifi!!!

More news coming up later when we settle in a little

All in white with red flashes on his shoulders are arms, looking great to be honest. Vocally competent but not sure this is not gonna get lost, especially after Azerbaijan up first.

So here we go. 2018. First day of rehearsals

We were excited to see what staging director Fokas Evangelinos prepared for Azerbaijan as he always has a visual concept and this staging clearly has his signature. Not all the camera angles are working out just yet, but there’s still time to improve things. Aisel’s vocals are fine for a first rehearsal and compared to what we have seen so far. Even though she has a jazz singer background, she is really trying to make this song her own and perform it the right way.
There are on-screen effects of stardust.
The lyrics are a bit silly, but also so much fun! This is what Eurovision dance pop is all about! Also, let’s remember that Azerbaijan has never failed to qualify for the final.

All ready for another year full of rehearsals! Azerbaijan has already started and from the first run we didn't get to hear everything yet. Aisel is wearing a white dress and doing the choreography on blue/white triangular shapes that most of all remind me of icebergs. A lot of arms spreading, it's all a bit cliché. As for the vocals, I'll reserve my judgement until hearing it in full, so check back for an update!

Update - So Aisel starts the performance laying on the triangular shapes. After that there is a bit of running - Safura anyone? - which didn't look good 8 years ago and it still doesn't. During the second chorus she is joined by all her dancers and the bridge features some nice visual effects with glitter above her head that she throws away a la Dami Im in 2016 or Kristian Kostov in 2017. Her vocals are mostly on point.

OK, last run before we move on to the next country - and we get pyro! Maybe we did - can't say I noticed it.

Overall conclusion for me - it looks good, it sounds well, but I don't feel it. As the song itself it's all a bit disjointed for me.

First up in this years season is Azerbaijan - several people on stage in triangular stage props. White lighting and clothes - though as yet we do not know if these will be the stage clothes.
Sound in the press centre is rather quiet so cannot really judge the vocals on this first run through

More to come on second run through but I am suitably impressed so far

The rather small and disconnected press centre for 2018 can be viewed in this short clip

We will be writing some text in a little while - Rehearsals are starting

The English side of the ESCKAZ.com team reviewed all the songs last night in a two part podcast. In a slightly different version from the Russian speakers the team, joined by Andrew Webster from Slovenia and one colleague from the Russian side, Sergej, the team listened to all the songs, with accompanying alcohol, and gave their honest opinions on each in turn.
Clip is split into two parts, there are some things there we know fans will hate, and some we know that fans will love - it's a personal taste thing really. Hope you enjoy and fell free to comment

The event starts to heat up a little and the whole area around the arena has a slight buzz about it now, we will be posting some more later but in the meantime here's a few photos around the arena and the downtown Lisbon area

New Host City, new Eurovision reporting rules

In an unannounced new move yesterday, the EBU and RTP, in conjunction with accreditation provider Accredion have published new rules concerning access rights and what media can and cannot use in regard to performance clips filmed during open rehearsals

At ESCKAZ.com we have long advocated a cessation to these clips being prepared and published, and have only continued to do so as the reduction in statistics would mean we would lose almost all accreditations and be unable to bring you blogging, press conferences, reports from the parties, eurovillage and euroclub, and interviews with the artists. So while we welcome and embrace these new rules we are cautious of their sudden appearance 48 hours before live rehearsals start.

In summary the new rules in regard to rehearsal footage are as follows

No material from rehearsals - either photos or video - maybe be released to personal social media accounts from members of the press. Material maybe be released to company social media accounts but subject to restrictions
Media which are EBU members are permitted to use up to three (3) minutes from the rehearsal content per day. Non EBU members may use up to two (2) minutes per day.
Post contest it would appear that material maybe released in full - but we will try to clarify this
There is little or no information of how many photographs maybe be published or used
The use of the Press Conference Material and of the Opening Ceremony Material is unrestricted.

We are actively seeking answers from the EBU/RTP on what we may or may not do with any material we have collected after the dates indicated in the new rules - which correspond to the the end of the shows. We will bring you this information as and when we have it

These new rules are published on Eurovision.tv and given to all press members as they collect accreditation passes.

Therefore this year ESCKAZ.com will only bring you very limited footage from the rehearsals - not something we are unhappy about if truth be told - but will of course bring you all our usual coverage from Press Conferences, Interviews, live reaction videos as the rehearsals are seen in the press centre, reports from Delegation parties, Euroclub, Eurovillage, blogging and finally as many photos as we can get for all the fans to see.