Eurovision moves to second rehearsals — first ten acts complete their runs in Vienna

Eurovision has moved into the part of contest week where things start feeling real. Not song-release real — stage-camera-lighting real. On Wednesday, May 6, the first 10 acts from Semi-Final 1 completed their second rehearsals inside Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle, and 30-second clips from those runs started landing online. That matters because second rehearsals are the first time fans, bookmakers, and rival delegations get a cleaner look at what these entries will actually feel like on TV. (eurovisionworld.com) ### What changed on May 6? The contest shifted from first rehearsals — where you mostly get still photos and rough impressions — into second rehearsals, where short broadcast-style clips are released. On May 6, the countries on deck were Moldova, Sweden, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Georgia, Finland, Montenegro, Estonia, and Israel. T(eurovisionworld.com)e arena. (eurovisionworld.com) ### Why do second rehearsals matter so much? Because Eurovision is not just a song contest. It is a camera contest. A track that sounds strong in studio form can flatten out if the staging looks messy, if the close-ups miss, or if the lighting kills the mood. Second rehearsals are the first meaningful proof of concept — the moment w(eurovisionworld.com)hy fans obsess over 30 seconds. (eurovisionworld.com) ### Which acts finished their runs? The first batch was a full ten-country block from Semi-Final 1: Satoshi for Moldova with “Viva, Moldova!”, Felicia for Sweden with “My System,” Lelek for Croatia with “Andromeda,” Akylas for Greece with “Ferto,” Bandidos do Cante for Portugal with “Rosa,” Bzikebi for Georgia with “On Replay,” Lind(eurovisionworld.com) “Nova zora,” Vanilla Ninja for Estonia with “Too Epic To Be True,” and Noam Bettan for Israel with “Michelle.” (eurovisionworld.com) ### Why is Finland getting extra attention? Finland was already sitting at the top of the betting market before these rehearsals, so any new footage gets read as either confirmation or warning. The current bookmaker consensus tracked by Eurovisionworld puts Finland first with an implied win chance around 33%, ahead of Greece at 14% (eurovisionworld.com) clips and live vocals enter the picture — but it does mean Finland’s rehearsal is being watched as the benchmark. (eurovisionworld.com) ### Is the field fully in place now? Basically, yes. By May 6, all 35 competing countries had arrived in Vienna, including Austria and the Big Four — France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. That closes the travel-and-arrival phase and puts the contest fully into rehearsal mode, with the live shows set for May 12 and May 14, followed by the Grand Final on May 16. (eurovoix.com) ### What happens next? The rest of Semi-Final 1’s second rehearsals continue on Thursday, May 7, with Belgium, Lithuania, San Marino, Poland, and Serbia. Then Semi-Final 2 gets its turn on May 8 and May 9, and the Big Four plus host Austria also complete their second rehearsals on May 9. In other words — the information gap is about to close very quickly. (eurovisionworld.com) ### So what should fans actually watch for? Not perfection. Coherence. Does the act have one clear visual idea? Do the camera cuts help the chorus land? Does the performer look in control inside a huge arena? Eurovision rehearsals can reshuffle the whole mood of a season, because they turn months of speculation into something concrete and screen-sized. (eurovisionworld.com) ### Bottom line The big news is simple — Eurovision 2026 has entered second-rehearsal week, and the first ten Semi-Final 1 acts now have real TV footage out of Vienna. That is the moment when the contest stops being hypothetical and starts becoming legible. (eurovisionworld.com)