While the full schedule for Eurovision 2016 hasn’t been published yet, we now know when the semi-final rehearsals will be held, as published on SVT’s website. It’s much the same as the usual rehearsal format of previous years, but there’s one noticeable change.
The schedule follows the usual format. The first rehearsals — the very first time the performers and crew will work together in the Globe — are 40 minutes long, with the two semi-finals spread over the first four days.
The second rehearsals are shorter – 25 minutes, with each semi-final taking one full (and very long) day to get all the second rehearsals done.
This year the Big 5 and host country Sweden will be part of the rehearsals much earlier on. The six countries will perform their songs live at the jury shows, with the recorded highlights played in their corresponding semi-final broadcast. This means they’ll have the same amount of rehearsal time as the semi-finalists and will also have the experience of performing in front of an audience prior to the grand final.
Sweden will have their first rehearsal on 3 May, taking advantage of Frans already being in Stockholm. France and Spain will have their first rehearsals on the evening of 6 May, with Germany, Italy and the UK rehearsing first thing in the morning the next day.
The Wiwibloggs team will report from all the rehearsals in Stockholm, bringing you all the latest news from the Globe.
Eurovision 2016 semi-final rehearsal schedule
Monday 2 May
10:00: Finland – Rehearsal 1
10:40: Greece – Rehearsal 1
11:20: Moldova – Rehearsal 1
12:00: Hungary – Rehearsal 1
LUNCH
13.40: Croatia – Rehearsal 1
14:20: Netherlands – Rehearsal 1
15:00: Armenia – Rehearsal 1
BREAK
16:00: San Marino – Rehearsal 1
16:40: Russia – Rehearsal 1
Tuesday 3 May
10:00: Czech Republic – Rehearsal 1
10:40: Cyprus – Rehearsal 1
11.20: Austria – Rehearsal 1
12:00: Estonia – Rehearsal 1
LUNCH
13:40: Azerbaijan – Rehearsal 1
14:20: Montenegro – Rehearsal 1
15:00: Iceland – Rehearsal 1
BREAK
16:00: Bosnia and Herzegovina – Rehearsal 1
16:40: Malta – Rehearsal 1
17:20: Sweden – Rehearsal 1
Wednesday 4 May
10:00: Latvia – Rehearsal 1
10:40: Poland – Rehearsal 1
11:20: Switzerland – Rehearsal 1
12:00: Israel – Rehearsal 1
LUNCH
13:40: Belarus – Rehearsal 1
14:20: Serbia – Rehearsal 1
15.00: Ireland – Repetition 1
BREAK
16:00: FYR Macedonia – Rehearsal 1
16:40: Lithuania – Rehearsal 1
17:20: Australia – Rehearsal 1
Thursday 5 May
10:00: Slovenia – Rehearsal 1
10:40: Romania – Rehearsal 1
11:20: Bulgaria – Rehearsal 1
12:00: Denmark – Rehearsal 1
LUNCH
13:40: Ukraine – Rehearsal 1
14:20: Norway – Rehearsal 1
15:00: Georgia – Rehearsal 1
BREAK
16:00: Albania – Rehearsal 1
16:40: Belgium – Rehearsal 1
Friday 6 May
9:00: Finland – Rehearsal 2
9.25: Greece -Rehearsal 2
9:50: Moldova Rehearsal 2
10:15: Hungary – Rehearsal 2
10.40: Croatia – Rehearsal 2
11:05: Netherlands – Rehearsal 2
LUNCH
12.30: Armenia – Rehearsal 2
12:55: San Marino – Rehearsal 2
13:20: Russia – Rehearsal 2
13:45: Czech Republic – Rehearsal 2
14:10: Cyprus – Rehearsal 2
14.35: Austria – Rehearsal 2
BREAK
15:20: Estonia – Rehearsal 2
15:45: Azerbaijan – Rehearsal 2
16:10: Montenegro – Rehearsal 2
16:35: Iceland – Rehearsal 2
17.00: Bosnia and Herzegovina – Rehearsal 2
17:25: Malta – Rehearsal 2
DINNER
18:55: France – Rehearsal 1
19:35: Spain – Rehearsal 1
Saturday 7 May
9:50: Germany – Rehearsal 1
10:30: Italy – Rehearsal 1
11:10: United Kingdom – Rehearsal 1
LUNCH
12:45: Latvia – Rehearsal 2
13:10: Poland – Rehearsal 2
13:35: Switzerland – Rehearsal 2
14:00: Israel – Rehearsal 2
14:25: Belarus – Rehearsal 2
14:50: Serbia – Rehearsal 2
BREAK
15.25: Ireland – Rehearsal 2
15:50: FYR Macedonia – Rehearsal 2
16:15: Lithuania – Rehearsal 2
16:40: Australia – Rehearsal 2
17:05: Slovenia – Rehearsal 2
17:30 Romania – Rehearsal 2
DINNER
18:55: Bulgaria – Rehearsal 2
19:20: Denmark – Rehearsal 2
19:45: Ukraine – Rehearsal 2
20:10: Norway – Rehearsal 2
20:35: Georgia – Rehearsal 2
21:00: Albania – Rehearsal 2
21:25: Belgium – Rehearsal 2
Sunday 8 May
12:30: Sweden – Rehearsal 2
12:55: Spain – Rehearsal 2
13:20: France – Rehearsal 2
BREAK
14:05: Germany – Rehearsal 2
14:30: Italy – Rehearsal 2
14:55: United Kingdom – Rehearsal 2
@Pollaski
hilarious 🙂
Kinda disappointed that they arent showing the 6 automatic qualifiers during the interval act of both semis … I thought that they were going to do that this year.
I find it surprising that fansites are releasing these details before eurovision.tv
Think I’ll wait until it’s published there, before believing what has been posted above
The big five should be the interval act for the semi-finals. Three for semi 1 and two for semi 2.
I try not to watch rehearsals, cause I want to be surprised by the big night, but., I really want to see this happen.
“Douwe, we gotta hurry up here. Your time’s almost up.”
“You gotta slow down, brother.”
“Douwe, I’m serious. We barely have enough time for one more run through.”
“Slow down brother.”
“DOUWE! STOP WITH THE SLOW DOWN CRAP AND START THE SONG NOW!”
“Slow down, brother.”
“AUGH! I CANT GO ON!”
So exciting! Can’t wait to finally see the rehearsals! The most exciting times before the actual show 😛
Shouldn’t Sweden rehearse with the Big 5?
@cheesecake
just seen a nice video from Saturday at Malta Eurovision Party
Hovi, Sanja, Gabriela and Ira performing a song Come Together, really a nice song they were singing, and Junior eurovision winner Destiny and last year’s entry for malta Amber were also singing with them 🙂
Thanks, Stephanie! 🙂
Looking forward to se Agnetes rehearsal , I think there will be som changes. She has a great voice and I think the staging will be even more perfect than in Norwegian final. She will have no problem preforming on a big scene as in Stockholm.
@cheesecake: The press conferences usually take place after each country’s second rehearsal if I recall from the past, the remainder of the automatic qualifiers will get their final half allocations drawn then since Sweden already has their spot (#9). As for the Big 5 and Sweden performance clips, yes it was already announced last September that SVT would show their rehearsal footage instead of clips from the preview videos in their respective semis (France, Spain, Sweden in semi 1; Germany, Italy, UK in semi 2)
Any news regarding the press conferences?
Did I get that right that SVT will show snippets from the jury rehearsals of the Big 5 and Sweden rather than the music video? If so, good.
By the way, from what I’ve seen from inside the hall, Sweden really seem to have upped their game (in contrast to Malmö 2013). The stage looks fantastic.
Is the Green Room inside the arena this year?
My favourite this year is Iceland! 😀
@Fransen
really, i’m excited to see it, and maybe San Marino could surprise us all and perhaps outqualify Cyprus ( nice song, but they don’t sound really good live)
so Good luck to Serhat 🙂 🙂
I`m waiting for 2 nd May because I must watch Sergey`s performance. It would be a very surprise because choreography from Israel isn`t finally. Lazarev wants to do something other.
Serhat’s will be brilliant, just because of the 10 disco balls!
@Nicky91 @Homer
Francesca Michielin’s Creative Director (Nicoline Refsing who was the Creative Director and Content Producer for ESC 2014 and Creative Director for Aminata’s performance in 2015) uploaded a photo on Instagram which is about San Marino. Moreover, on her Facebook profile she said she was taking care of 3 Eurovision performances this year. There are hints that one of them might be San Marino. If it is so, Serhat’s stage performance could really be surprising, because she’s really great! 😀
@power.b
countries what i’m looking for to see in rehearsals are
Croatia ( i’m excited to see their staging)
Malta ( excited for the staging of course, and what dress Ira will wear) but already happy with Skorpion dancer and the 4 live backing vocalists 🙂
San Marino ( I’m excited to see what their staging would be, are they going for the full comedy and entertainment)
@Homer
Serhat’s song surely stands out, it’s different from the other songs. I also doubt it will quality, but never say never. We’ll see in May! 😀
Russia will close the first day of rehearsals. Nice. Can’t wait!
Fransen, even surprising to me but somehow i support that entry. And what’s interesting is that i already liked the first version and even with this disco version i continue to like it. I honestly don’t think it’ll qualify at all but damn, how hilarious would it be? 😉
@Homer
San Marino will do surprisingly better than most people think…
I hope that Lord Serhat brings with him images from the video and also his wonderful monocle. You shall see, never underestimate the power and the beauty of this masterpiece and all thanks to Lord Serhat’s rare vocal abilities. GO SAN MARINO, SMASH THE CRAP OF RUSSIA!
@TIMO
Would you be so kind to get lost somewhere from here. Noone, here, puts any evil shade on Azerbaijan. So please calm down and respect all the nations and their desire to present a friendly competition that aims to unite everybody by a common openess. Moreover, odds, whether you like them or not, depict a possible outcome defining many aspects and trends. Just eat it silently.
@georgekirkas
my overall favourite songs are: Running Scared ( Azerbaijan) , Same Heart ( Israel, they deserved to qualify but didn’t), Miracle ( Romania, and also Playing with Fire), and also Tom Dice Me and my guitar, and a song called Kuula ( from Estonia)
What about the press conferences?
Are drunk/alcoholic bookies and polls gonna wake up to change their lists because their list of having France and Russia at the top is hilarious,
Some friends of mine have been stand-in’s before the rehearsals, and apperently the stage is pretty nice! Can’t wait to see the rehearsals, and sources say Malta and Australia has some of the most amazing stageshows along with Russia. Maybe that’s also why they got the pimpslots! Also Belarus was mentioned!
Auria, dinner at 20:00 – 20:30!!! It’s early, here in north of Spain is not before of 21h or 21h30.
Dinner at 17h50!!!…..it’s early, here in south of France is not before 20h or 20h30.
@Nicky91
Great!!! Which are generally your favourite countries in Eurovision? My absolute favourite is Iceland, they always send amazing songs since 2008! (2011 is an exception) ”Never Forget” is my favourite song! I also love Switzerland since 2013! Other favourites of mine include Israel (”Rak Bishvilo” and ”Same Heart” are one of my favourite songs ever), Bulgaria and Russia.
Svt doing all they can to win again eh
@mad professor
Thank you!
@Jr sec nl
You can see the first shots on the production blog. Ed has also posted photos on Instagram of the rehearsals with Petra and Mans.
Man, those are even longer days for the second rehearsals. At least they now have a longer break during the second semi-final rehearsals.
Does anybody know when we will get the first shots of the stage?
@georgekirkas
i’m also looking forward what every country has in store for us, a good rehearsal schedule i think 🙂
Malta just before dinner break, maybe a interview with her after rehearsal 🙂
WHO will host the press conferences?!??
I can’t wait to see the show of each country!
looking forward to what russia has in its sleeve on may 2nd. go go sergey!
This will be such a slow and boring week… It’s like the calm before the storm xD