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Eurovision village is one of the official locations Eurovision. This year it’s located at Praça do Comércio which is near by Tagus river promenade.

This year’s Eurovillage is much smaller than last year’s ‘cause the Square not so huge as Khreschatyk street is. Traditionally visitors can find a lot of food courts, travel guides, chill out zones and, of course, the main stage where artist from Eurovision and from Portugal will sing and perform.

Opening of Eurovillage was scheduled to 4 of may at 19:00, but they suppose to let in guests at 16:00. But something went wrong and we entered the location after 30 minutes of waiting in the line! That’s why we missed performances from Norway, Finland and Iceland.

But in conclusion, Eurovision Village this year looks stunning, wonderful atmosphere and beautiful views!

Russia 2nd rehearsal. Much improved visually regarding lighting and atmosphere from 1st rehearsal. #eurovision

— ESCKAZ Chris (@EsckazChris) May 5, 2018

Moldova 2nd rehearsal. As before. Cheeky 80s slapstick in HDTV. #eurovision

— ESCKAZ Chris (@EsckazChris) May 5, 2018

The Netherlands 2nd rehearsal. The concept is still a bit alienating but it's not as harmful as people make it out to be. Better camera angles and less crazy today. #eurovision

— ESCKAZ Chris (@EsckazChris) May 5, 2018

It was business as usual today in the betting markets with not a lot of movement.
The only real price crash in the outright market was Estonia, who rehearsed yesterday and won the press centre poll.
Norway did well enough to not disappoint.
France had a slight drift in the market since their staging didn't exactly ignite the fireworks, but was solid all around.
Italy drifted in the market a bit harsher because people were expecting more of the staging.

Taking time away from Eurovision - it was a chance to attend performance of the amazing band from US Bent Knee, who play progressive art rock. This is quite a unique sound to expect from America and in general the progressive and arti rock is something so difficult to find nowadays. The sound of the band was completely amazing, so if their albums on sale in the venue were not priced 20 Euros each I would have bought their whole catalog - instead I had to go digital when I got back home.

The violin player Chris Baum is the highlight of the band and he will make Alexander Rybak jealous with his impressive electro violin music. They also have lovely bass guitar player Jessica Kion who was celebrating her birthday yesterday.

Band existing now for 7 years gave a rare concert in Europe which also was their first appearance in Portugal. On 6 May they can be caught at Gouveia Art Rock Festival. At the concert at Tajo river venue there were around 80 listeners attending who were quite active supporting the band. I'm again a bit surprised with the late start of the concert, supposed to be at 23, it started at midnight, and as a result I had to run away amid last song to catch night bus at 1.30 (the next one would have been at 2.30).

You can listen to the music of the band at https://bentknee.bandcamp.com and http://www.bentkneemusic.com

There was not a lot of movement in the market today.
Israel brought more energy than their first rehearsal which assured the market and the bookmakers adjusted their odds giving Israel now increased chances for the win.
Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Estonia did enough today to not disappoint. Their market prices stayed the same.

Today was a very quiet day in the market with no real surprises.
The market has reacted positive towards Hungary and sees their qualification chances increased.
There were no other big movers in the market.

The winners of the day were Moldova and Norway, both shortened in the market.
The betting markets reacted disappointed to The Netherlands and Australia.

The second day of rehearsals did not have as many outright contenders as yesterday, so there was not a lot of impact on the winner market.
But in terms of qualification the markets have reacted to the rehearsals.
The winners from betting market perspective are Croatia, Switzerland and Cyprus.
Cyprus shortened in every market, top10 as well as the winner market as it was very well received in the press centre.
The losers of the day in betting are Greece and Armenia as both stagings didn't do enough to give the market confidence.