ESCXTRA are live from Lisbon for day 5 of rehearsals ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018! The countries rehearsing today, in chronological order, are Azerbaijan, Iceland, Albania, Belgium, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Israel, Belarus, Estonia, Bulgaria, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Croatia, Austria, Greece and Finland.

We’re streaming live from the press centre

Furthermore, read our handy guide for a more detailed look at this contest’s rehearsal schedule.
In addition, for our immediate reactions to every single rehearsal, you can follow our live stream from the press centre at the Altice Arena by visiting our YouTube channel.
The latest artist to rehearse for the second time is Netta for Israel. We have just watched their latest run through of Toy live on screen and here is our initial reaction.

Staging

Israel’s staging is the exact same as their first rehearsal…
There’s a LOT of maneki-nekos…you know those waving gold cats in Chinese takeaways? Those. Netta’s stood behind her looper, but now it’s all lit up, and the gold and white combination looks incredible. She’s using the looper a lot throughout the performance and it looks so creative. Near the end of the song, she goes to the catwalk and dances with the dancers. It. Looks. Amazing.
The camera angles have been reworked quite a bit, nothing too amazing, just very different to the first rehearsal – including one shot with the backing dancers standing behind Netta and doing arm movements.
They’ve also introduced pyro fountains for both of the choruses as well as smoke-filled bubbles at the end!

Camera shots in this performance: 96

Vocal

Again Netta was flawless, but today the backing vocals have been amped up. At the start of the song there’s also a lot more audio wonderfulness going on whilst Netta is playing with her looper. It REALLY gets your attention!

Costume

Again, Netta is wearing her short, pink kimono with glittery black corset.

To qualify or not to qualify?

We have taken a flash poll from around the ESCXTRA table here in the press centre and 7 out of 7 of us say…

YES!

Watch the rehearsal!

Stay tuned for our reaction to Alekseev as they rehearse Forever next for Belarus. If you want to know what to expect for the rest of the day, check out our rehearsal schedule here. Meanwhile, remember to tune in to our live stream from the press centre for instant reactions to each rehearsal.