ESCXTRA are live from Lisbon for day 6 of rehearsals ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018! The countries rehearsing today, in chronological order, are Armenia, Switzerland, Ireland, Cyprus, Norway, Romania, Serbia, San Marino, Denmark, Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. (Yes, we know, it’s a long one…)

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 Ryan O’Shaughnessy for Ireland. We have just watched their latest run through of Together live on screen and here is our initial reaction.

Staging

As expected, Ireland haven’t changed their already beautiful staging:
The performance begins with a focus on Ryan and his guitar and makes an immediate effort to connect with the camera. The camera then pans over to a girl on the piano who is also providing backing vocals. During the first chorus, the camera pans around the two of them.
As the second verse begins, we see the first glimpse of the male dancers from the Together music video as they come over the bridge to the main stage. As they do this, the camera shots interchanges between them and Ryan. The dancers then recreate the bench scene from the music video on the main stage, whilst Ryan performs in what has become a live “street” scene.
The performance concludes with snow falling onto the stage, which looks great!
The only issue here is the camera work, which is slightly off – sometimes the camera shots stay for too long and you see the dancers relax.

Camera shots in this performance: 23

Vocal

Ryan actually sounded slightly out of tune for his first run through…he soon picked it back up slightly, but it wasn’t great. For his second run through, he sounds a lot better!

Costume

Ryan is wearing his stage costume as he was in the first rehearsal – a black jacket, shirt and trousers. It’s simple, but looks good.

To qualify or not to qualify?

We have taken a flash poll from around the ESCXTRA table here in the press centre and 8 out of 10 of us say…

NO!

Watch the rehearsal!

Stay tuned for our reaction to Eleni Foureira as they rehearse Fuego next for Cyprus. 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.