Now that Eurovision is on home soil, OGAE Ukraine organised a big party at the Euroclub with focus on the host country, but without forgetting the international event that Eurovision is. Earlier this week the Euroclub was almost completely empty, but last night that was definitely not the case. It was far from full, but without any doubt the audience was big enough to get a nice atmosphere.

Somewhere around 9.30 pm the party started with Andriy Knyaz performing songs in what to me sounded like a more traditional style than the average songs, We also got a little showcase of Ukranian traditional dancing as during one song four dancers performed on a platform in front of the main stage.

Apart from national final candidates Vladislav Kurasov (Ukraine 2016 / Belarus 2017) and Melovin (Ukraine 2017) there were performances from some of the most popular Ukrainian acts at Eurovision. Alyosha impressed many people in 2010 with a honest, simple yet very effective staging that brought her in the top 10. Seven years later she's a well-known singer in Ukraine. She sang her hits Kaply, Kalyna and Feromony lyubvi.

Quite at the last moment a few surprises were added to the lineup. From this year's Eurovision we had on stage Brendan Murray (Ireland) who had brought his guitar and gave us a-capella versions of Britney Spears' and Ed Sheeran hits. Of course he was not allowed to leave without "Dying to try" - also a-capella (and too short in my opinion, as he didn't sing the full song!)

Martina Barta from the Czech Republic was also present. She treated us to impressive versions of Skyfall by Adele and Road to Mandalay by Robbie Williams.

Last but not least to perform was Slavko Kalezic from Montenegro who for the occasion brought us a remix version of Space that is definitely as good as the original to me. Delegations from some other countries, for example Fusedmarc (Lithuania), Demy (Greece) and Kristian Kostov (Bulgaria) also attended the party but did not perform.

However, the big star of the evening, the highlight for everyone was the performance of Verka Serduchka who nearly won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. She really got the crowd going with her performances of Dancing lasha tumbai, Vse budet horosho and other hits.

All in all it was a great evening, many thanks to everyone at OGAE Ukraine for organising this party. I loved how there was a good tempo, most performances followed each other and breaks were not excessively long and - most of the times - featured Eurovision music!

I've said it a few times before, but Ireland is another of those countries where the visuals look a lot better in the hall than on screen. It is very dark and my first association when I see it like this is an artic sea with icebergs in it, all be it that they are black in this case as well.

The balloon is still there and still adds nothing to the performance, other than it being a prop that people may remember it for. I hope in a good way though..

Vocally it seems ok in the hall, but it'll all depend on how it sounds on tv and of course on how well he will sing during the jury final and semi-final.

Last time I said Denmark had an absolutely superb performance, even though the outfit did not match the backdrop.
There has been a lot of fan obsession to bring back the red dress known from MGP.
The Danish delegation apparently followed the fans wishes, because the red dress is back today.

I do not think that was the right move, while she looked joyful and young during 1st rehearsals, the overall impression now is more classic and old-fashioned. A rather typical ESC diva ballad and that is a real shame.
Anja also looked more comfortable last time and this might be dress-related as well as the controversy might have gotten to her head a little.

It is still a very good performance, but it missed that spark of joy today.

Other than Anja back to wearing the red dress we have already seen her wearing during the national final and the promotour, everything seems to have stayed the same for Denmark. It sounds and looks completely amazing in the hall.

Now I assumed a few days ago that Anja was not yet wearing her costume meant for the semi-final. It appears it was, but will be changed. It is really the only big 'if' for me - the red dress is perfect, what she wore on her first rehearsal looked very strange. It depends on the changes made to her dress (or just keeping this red one) whether it's indeed going for those top spots or not...

The pyro curtain at the end of the song makes it all look even more impressive, but even without it I still think it's going to do very well.

Joci Pápai is on stage now for a second rehearsal. It all sounds and looks very solid and it is nice to have some ethnical songs as they are in a very small minority this year. The only thing that strikes me as less fortunate here is that the screens don't make clear why Joci has a milk can on a stand next to him. In the hall we can see that during the first instrumental break he drums on it, but the camera then mostly focuses on the violinist and the dancer, with Joci seen in the background, so the first time viewer probably won't notice him at that moment.

Two possible solutions: either get the milk can away (don't think it adds value to the performance) or show better why it is on stage.
(Update: on the second run I did see Joci playing the 'drums' clearly - they may have picked up on it or I missed it in the first run as the screens with the feed in the hall go on and off).

Some words on the backings - they're still in gold with silvery/white doves shown on them, looks really nice. Just before the rap the dance features pyro.

Joci with another passionate performance. The camera could be a bit more dynamic, but perhaps it makes sense to go with that approach since the song is modern with ethno elements and coukd be pretty difficult for first-time viewers.
The backdrop is very subtle, which is good I think.