The Eurovision Song Contest welcomed the world to experience the first official live show this afternoon, as the first dress rehearsal got underway.
The public finally got their first glance at this year's line-up on stage in all their glory. What's been months in the making, those who managed to bag themselves a ticket for the first semi-final will no doubt walk away smiling ear to ear.
The Liverpool ECHO was in attendance for private dress rehearsals just before the public show kicked off. We were seated for a full run-through of the show, including performances by Rita Ora and Rebecca Ferguson. Ukrainian host and The Hardkiss singer Julia Sanina who opened the contest.
READ MORE: Live updates as Eurovision dress rehearsals start ahead of first show in Liverpool
The X Factor judge bursts onto the stage with her band members, surrounded by pyrotechnics and a flood of dancers who too over the area. Their performance of Маяк provided a darker opening to the show than we've had in quite some time - but very welcomed.
Opening the first Semi-Final is Norway's Alessandra, setting the tone for the show.
One by one the acts took their positions and no one really faltered in any noticeable way despite it still being a dress rehearsal. The most notable aspect of the show was how the energy and adrenaline doesn't waver despite a few ballads and stripped-back tracks making their way in.
Everyone's staging is grand and separable, allowing the artists to have a distinct performance and sense of identity. Sweden's Loreen, Finland's Kaarija, Israel's Noa Kirel and Croatia's Let3 are all jaw-dropping, visual spectacles that make full use of the BBC's stunning set-up.
Switzerland's Remo, The Netherlands' Mia and Dion, and Latvia's Sudden Lights prefer a personal setting to highlight their vocals. There's a solid mix of everything in the first Semi-Final, proving it's a much tougher fight to the end.
The rehearsal we watched purposely keeps a lot of the performances under wraps. The on-camera shots of a handful of acts are vastly different from anything we've been teased about.
The biggest takeaway from seeing everything in person, along with behind-the-scenes shots the BBC will broadcast, proves theirs still so much we haven't seen yet and that fans should hold their opinions until the night of the finals.
Rita Ora performed a mashup of her biggest bangers as one of the interval acts. It was a set list of tunes everyone will know and she handled them effortlessly. As she made her way around the stage, she essentially floated past her dancers until it was time for the beat to drop. The lighting and overall impact of her performance doesn't feel thrown together which is more appealing than anything given the backlash she receive when she was announced. It was a very good performance.
Liverpool singer Rebecca Ferguson and Ukrainian artist Alyosha performed individual songs before coming together in unity against a backdrop of messages Ukrainians sent to their loved ones while fleeing the country. It was a sombre yet beautiful moment in the show.
There were still a few hiccups with ear-pieces failing to work and technical difficulties but they were fixed rather quickly. A few guest appearances here and there from previous acts and winners padded the Semi-Final out nicely, but it was the results that brought the biggest, most unwelcome change to the night.
Every year, the acts learn whether or not they qualify from the comfort of their green room, surrounded by their dancers and delegation teams. For some reason, it was changed this year to have everyone stand on stage ala the X Factor BootCamp. After news of the change surfaced, the European Broadcasting Union issued a statement that given the response, the original voting layout would be reinstated. Watching it unfold during rehearsals was deeply uncomfortable and you could tell none of the acts wanted to be there. It's a weird suggestion to bring into the contest but I'm very happy it's been scrapped.
Following the dress rehearsals, my personal list of qualifiers includes: Norway, Serbia, Croatia, Israel, Sweden, Czechia, Finland, Malta and Moldova.
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