My pre-opinion: Some here completely disagree with its bookie status, other think that as long as they don't do anything stupid, they'll leave dust behind them on the Saturday scoreboard. I sometimes enjoy this song, but upon first listening I was a bit confused, so it won't be easy to live up to expectations I think. IBA and their sponsors have invested unprecedented amount in this act, let's see if they spent it well.
Set up:
CATS! lots of small metal cats with moving hands on shelves that are on both sides of the 'looper' table. Although it's not the same looper we've seen, more of a Star Trek control board.
Yeah these:
First run-through:
Well this is taking forever to set up... finally. Netta is very pink, three dancers are on the bridge, but join Netta later when she leaves the Looper. This sounds different to what we've heard so far, the backing vocals are very high-pitched and Netta looks a bit awkward walking with these shoes. And there's actually not much happening though. Overall not a very impressive run through.
Second run:
They're trying new camera angles and Netta is giving it more, sounding and looking much better already. She's having issues with the looper and had to improvise a bit, and improvising is what she does best, showing her quirky personality. Her fans should almost hope something goes wrong on the night.
Third run:
Pink smoke when the first chorus starts got the fan-press excited. Camera angles much improved again and Netta finally singing like she cares, this should still be a contender if it was before.
Lithuania
My pre-opinion: This has been one of my favourites from first listen, but I'm well aware that I'm in minority here, and this will struggle to stand out. Still, Lithuania have always qualified when I thought they deserved it (and a few times when they didn't...), so a solid rehearsal should be promising.
First run-through:
Similar simplistic approach from the NF with her starting on the floor, with added b/w images on screen of couples dancing. These will need some work to align with the camera. I think there's a second vocal during the chorus, but some here say it's an echo effect. Towards the end she uses the bridge to meet her husband(?) and switches to Lithuanian, this is all really charming and everyone went awwwwww here.
Second run:
Still no improvement on the flash images, I guess that's homework for the video room later. They're trying a new approach of revealing her husband (now you can see him a bit earlier), I thought it's a bit less good but still works. Ieva's vocals are fragile, but in a good way, and overall this is the most effective package I've seen and heard today.
Third run:
Nothing much to say, still looking and sounding good. Saving words for the next country.
Czech (ia/ Republic)
My pre-opinion: It's pretty much a consensus that Mikolas is going to get his country its highest placing ever, and it's certainly doable if the Czech delegation has realised they have something good in their hands and made sure not to let it slip away. He'll need good backing vocals (which so far have been pre-recorded) and an engaging dance during the brassy bits, which has indeed been done well by a certain podium finisher last year, but it's perhaps easier if you have Epic Sax Guy on your team.
First run - or not? Stopped after five seconds when Mikolas said "it's dangerous".
Actual first run:
Mikolas starts without the backpack, but wears it later when we're not looking. There's a lot of focus on the two male dancers doing their own breakdance thing in front of colourful screens. Very very messy and they don't look prepared at all - will need a lot of work to do anything on Saturday (or even get there). The "la la la" bits are sung by female vocals, which I'm not sure was a great idea.
Second run:
There was a long wait, so clearly they had problems to sort out. Still a very messy act and the female backing singers sound weird, but Mikolas himself is a natural performer and just about sells it, adding an acrobatic somersault near the end.
Third and last run:
More improvement, added a split screen with him and the dancers which looks nice. Also added shooting smoke near the end. Now if they can only reduce the breakdance shots and change the gender of the backing singers and they're a shoe in the final.
While Lithuania is setting up, here's a drink that drew my attention.
Lunch
The sun came out, and there's a really nice mall right outside with lots of options and outside seating area. I have to say that the complex is planned really well.
Actual first run:
Mikolas starts without the backpack, but wears it later when we're not looking. There's a lot of focus on the two male dancers doing their own breakdance thing in front of colourful screens. Very very messy and they don't look prepared at all - will need a lot of work to do anything on Saturday (or even get there). The "la la la" bits are sung by female vocals, which I'm not sure was a great idea.
Second run:
There was a long wait, so clearly they had problems to sort out. Still a very messy act and the female backing singers sound weird, but Mikolas himself is a natural performer and just about sells it, adding an acrobatic somersault near the end.
Third and last run:
More improvement, added a split screen with him and the dancers which looks nice. Also added shooting smoke near the end. Now if they can only reduce the breakdance shots and change the gender of the backing singers and they're a shoe in the final.
While Lithuania is setting up, here's a drink that drew my attention.
Lunch
The sun came out, and there's a really nice mall right outside with lots of options and outside seating area. I have to say that the complex is planned really well.
No comments:
Post a Comment