Filled with confidence, Thea Garrett this afternoon sailed through her second rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. Different levels of dry ice were used to create artificial smoke, making sure everything will run smoothly on Tuesday’s semi-final.

During her last rehearsal a door was left open back-stage causing the artificial smoke to hinder her singing.

Thea’s voice remained strong throughout both rehearsals and with a simple performance, very little can go wrong.

The only surprise that remains now is Thea’s dress, since for rehearsals she has been wearing the dress she wore during the local contest.

Although most bookmakers are largely ignoring Thea’s song, suggesting that she would find it difficult to qualify for the final, an online gadget created by Google to predict the Eurovision winner, is placing her third.

The Google Eurovision predictor tracks the interest each act is generating online, to gauge the popularity of the songs. It also excludes internet interest coming from one’s own country since countries cannot vote for themselves.

Last year it was accurate in predicting the Norwegian winner, but so were most bookmakers.

This year, it tips one of the bookies’ favourites, Germany’s Lena, to win the contest, but then places Georgia’s entry at second and Malta’s in third place – both songs that have not made the top 10 of most betting firms.

See rehearsal at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc_BOOtq2dM