Chiara gave a "good" performance during her first dress rehearsal yesterday but the producer is still unhappy with the camera work for tonight's semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Munro Forbes said the director of the Russian production team was refusing to change the shots, no matter how many times the delegation registered its disapproval.

Unless it is changed, at the end of her song viewers will catch a glimpse of Chiara's hand instead of her face, as the camera pans out to get a long shot of the stage at the Olympiysky Arena.

Mr Forbes, who has 21 years experience in the field, was happy with Chiara's performance overall but said he would be in a better position to judge after the second dress rehearsal held last night.

Chiara herself felt she gave a "good" performance although she admitted it was not her best.

The crowd whistled and cheered as a tall, well-built man guided Chiara along the slippery LED screen on stage to her microphone. But the applause was weak at the end, even though her voice was powerful throughout. Chiara is singing in the 17th position tonight, which is to her advantage because it is said that those at the end have a better chance of leaving an imprint on people's minds.

Fans got the chance to see the dress she will be wearing tonight. Designed by Charles and Ron, it sparkles with thousands of Swarovski crystals that tie in nicely with the backdrop of a starry night that is projected onto the LED screens on stage.

Mr Forbes said it had also been decided to drop the dry ice effect on stage, since it was hard to guarantee that the backstage doors would be closed to prevent it from drifting all over the place.

The stage does look a bit bare without the dry ice but Chiara was happy the concept had been scrapped because the last time it was used she had a dry throat.

All in all the feedback has been good and reviewers believed Malta will be a "sure finalist". Her competition in tonight's semi-final is mainly coming from Hadise (Turkey) and Regina (Bosnia Herzegovina).

If she makes it through to Saturday's final, the battle to secure a good placing will be tough. The UK's Jade, with a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, France's established singer Patricia Kaas, and Norway's wonder boy Alexander Rybak promise stiff competition.

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