So last night we once again saw ten lucky countries advance to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. As usual in a Eurovision semi final, the outcome consisted of a mix off expected and unexpected results. And as much as all ten finalists very much deserved to make it, plenty of people were hoping that other entries would be among that top 10 as well. Some might say that some songs deserved it even more than those who did make it, while other songs suffered the fate they deserved. I thought I'd take a look at the countries that didn't make it, and try to figure out why...
Estonia
This is perhaps one of the biggest surprises among many fans, and hashtags such as #JusticeForJüri are currently being spread on twitter. Personally I had a hunch that this was coming. The song itself was possibly strong enough to be a qualifier, but Estonia royally messed up the performance. Or rather, they didn't mess it up as much as they simply made us bored. Why was Jüri completely alone on stage? Why did absolutely nothing happen? (Except a card trick which you'd miss if you'd blink). Sure, he's a charming and handsome guy. But while standing still completely alone on a stage made sense for a big ballad like the Czech Republic, it made no sense for Estonia. The big issue here was simply that their bad staging decisions lead to a performance that failed to entertain the viewers and failed to stay in their minds.
Greece
This was perhaps not really a surprise for anybody. But being the first time a Greek entry fails to qualify for the final, it may have still come as a small shock to some people.
In theory, the concept on it's own could have been enough to make Greece qualify. On a superficial level, the song had a lot in common with their 2011 entry (traditional ethnic music mixed with rap verses and a sung chorus) which won the semi final. But this year's entry lacked a strong melody and lacked cohesion. I suspect it might have done better with the televote than the jury vote. Performance-wise I think they did well with what they had, but I suspect the biggest reason for the failure was simply the song.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Just like Greece, I don't think the staging was the main issue here. Sure, it was a bit over the top with the thermal blanket capes and the camp outfits. And the song itself sounds like something that would normally have been strong enough to qualify. However, the backing track of the song does have a very bad production. It still sounds like a rather low-budget demo recording. There is really no excuse to send a production to Eurovision where the drumkit sounds as a badly sampled loop from 1971. And when compared to the surrounding entries which all had very full sounding high-quality music productions, the Bosnian song fell rather flat. This, combined with the fact that they came across as four solo acts rather than a group of performers, was probably enough to give Bosnia-Herzegovina their first ever non-qualificaton.
Moldova
Sometimes it's hard to pin point just one reason. In most cases it's simply a combination of several issues. And in this case there wasn't really much that worked in Moldova's favour. The song wasn't the strongest to begin with, and Lidia sure wasn't the strongest singer of the night. The ad-lib she decided to do for the final chorus (and which unfortunately also became the section used for the recap) didn't do the song any favours, and the dancing astronaut came across as a silly gimmick. And once again, being (almost) alone on stage didn't help either. With so many elements working against it, the Moldovan song this year probably never stood much of a chance this year.
Montenegro
Another song that probably never really was among the songs that would find it easy to qualify. But in spite of the song and genre being a difficult choice for Eurovision, the camerawork didn't really help it either. The fast flashing clips resulted in a performance where the viewers would have had difficlt making any sort of connection with the singer. We barely even got to see their faces long enough to see what they looked like, and anybody watching this on a very large screen would probably be feeling quite sea sick. The random half naked woman surely didn't help either in terms of convincing the jury to give them points.
Finland
The only thing that I thought would maybe help this qualify was the fact that Sandhja is a hell of a fantastic singer. And she did deliver vocally, even if I would have liked to hear her vocal higher in the mix. But it simply wasn't enough to make up for the bad styling choices (her jewellery even started falling apart during the performance) and the slightly weak song. A totally different visual performance might have helped it, but most likely not.
San Marino
Let's face it. This probably wouldn't have had a chance regardless of the performance. And staging-wise they did the best they could. It had life, it had energy, and it had all sorts of silliness which is what makes many of us love the entry. But it was always going to suffer from both juries and televoters finding it too old fashioned and too gimmicky. San Marino were never really competing for a place in the final this year, but they did put on a really good and entertaining show that people will remember. And they should be proud of that.
Iceland
And last but not least, possibly the biggest surprise in this semi. This one still baffles me a bit. The song is not bad at all, and it sure doesn't just blend in with the big mass of similar-sounding songs this year. Greta sang it well, and it had the draw really working in it's favour. Was it maybe the technical aspects of the performance that proved too messy? Was it the staging's similarities to previous entries? Was it the extremely ugly boots? I'm not sure. But I guess a combination of everything. And with more niched musical styles, there's always the risk that the people in the juries just happen to not be fans of that genre in the first. Every year there's always a few unlucky entries that in theory seemed like pretty safe qualifiers, and mostly it simply comes down to the fact that the jury and the televoters simply preferred ten other songs more.
Bringing you all the news and gossip from the rehearsals in Basel
Showing posts with label Bosnia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bosnia. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 May 2016
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
The borderliners - My Semi 1 Prediction
I have to admit, I'm finding Semi 1 one of the hardest semis to predict in a number of years, and that's for the simple reason that there are so many songs that, for me, are right on the borderline of qualifying. To put my thoughts in order, I thought I'd write about them.
For me, there are six songs that are definitely through in Semi 1, and four that are definitely out. That leaves seven in the borderline between 8th place and 14th place - so three of them have to qualify. Those seven songs are Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Austria, Estonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and for me, they fall into three pairs (plus Greece). So let's take them in their pairs.
Battle 1: Azerbaijan vs Austria
The two young girls who haven't impressed vocally in rehearsals. I've always really liked Austria, and have tended to be quite firm in my belief that it's a good song, and that will be enough to carry it through. However, with a lot of competition in this semi-final, and so many things working against it (the language, Zoe's vocals, the cute-and-likeable vs annoying-and-precocious debate), I now think it stays in the semi. Azerbaijan, by contrast, has never impressed me as a song - I always found it quite ordinary, and I think the staging is also quite underwhelming. But they have more friends, and what's possibly quite a generically appealing song.
Battle 2: Hungary vs Estonia
Two boys singing darker songs. Hungary have been quite well-thought of since 'Pioneer' was chosen, both in predictions and betting odds, but I've never seen it. I always found the performance from A Dal quite uninteresting, and it doesn't sound like Freddie's done much to change that in Stockholm. It'll all depend on if Europe sees something more than I do. On the other side of the battle, Estonia have changed their performance for the international final, and reports suggest it might be over-complicating things now. I do think Hungary is slightly more accessible as a song, but Juri might have enough appeal - and who knows what juries will make of it?
Battle 3: Croatia vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
The Balkan nations - is there room for both of them in the final? Croatia have tumbled down the rankings over the past couple of months, and even more so after seeing the planned stage performance. I always had Bosnia-Herzegovina down as a non-qualifier - just too Balkan as a song, and potentially not a very vote-friendly look (that's me trying to find a kind way of saying that Deen looks weird). But as Bosnia always do, they've come with a strong (if slightly odd) performance in rehearsals, and may surprise us once again. I told myself I'd never bet against Bosnia qualifying after 2010 - perhaps I should take that advice tonight.
And then there's Greece. As a song, it should be doomed - but on the other hand, the last time they entered a combination of rap and singing in a mix of languages, which we'd all assumed was hopeless when it was selected, it went and won the semi. I'm always wary of counting Greece out.
So, I have to make a choice... here goes:
The qualifiers:
1. Russia
2. Iceland
3. Netherlands
4. Armenia
5. Malta
6. Czech Republic
7. Cyprus
8. Hungary
9. Bosnia-Herzegovina
10. Estonia
And missing out:
11. Azerbaijan
12. Croatia
13. Greece
14. Austria
15. Montenegro
16. San Marino
17. Finland
18. Moldova
For me, there are six songs that are definitely through in Semi 1, and four that are definitely out. That leaves seven in the borderline between 8th place and 14th place - so three of them have to qualify. Those seven songs are Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Austria, Estonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and for me, they fall into three pairs (plus Greece). So let's take them in their pairs.
Battle 1: Azerbaijan vs Austria
The two young girls who haven't impressed vocally in rehearsals. I've always really liked Austria, and have tended to be quite firm in my belief that it's a good song, and that will be enough to carry it through. However, with a lot of competition in this semi-final, and so many things working against it (the language, Zoe's vocals, the cute-and-likeable vs annoying-and-precocious debate), I now think it stays in the semi. Azerbaijan, by contrast, has never impressed me as a song - I always found it quite ordinary, and I think the staging is also quite underwhelming. But they have more friends, and what's possibly quite a generically appealing song.
Battle 2: Hungary vs Estonia
Two boys singing darker songs. Hungary have been quite well-thought of since 'Pioneer' was chosen, both in predictions and betting odds, but I've never seen it. I always found the performance from A Dal quite uninteresting, and it doesn't sound like Freddie's done much to change that in Stockholm. It'll all depend on if Europe sees something more than I do. On the other side of the battle, Estonia have changed their performance for the international final, and reports suggest it might be over-complicating things now. I do think Hungary is slightly more accessible as a song, but Juri might have enough appeal - and who knows what juries will make of it?
Battle 3: Croatia vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
The Balkan nations - is there room for both of them in the final? Croatia have tumbled down the rankings over the past couple of months, and even more so after seeing the planned stage performance. I always had Bosnia-Herzegovina down as a non-qualifier - just too Balkan as a song, and potentially not a very vote-friendly look (that's me trying to find a kind way of saying that Deen looks weird). But as Bosnia always do, they've come with a strong (if slightly odd) performance in rehearsals, and may surprise us once again. I told myself I'd never bet against Bosnia qualifying after 2010 - perhaps I should take that advice tonight.
And then there's Greece. As a song, it should be doomed - but on the other hand, the last time they entered a combination of rap and singing in a mix of languages, which we'd all assumed was hopeless when it was selected, it went and won the semi. I'm always wary of counting Greece out.
So, I have to make a choice... here goes:
The qualifiers:
1. Russia
2. Iceland
3. Netherlands
4. Armenia
5. Malta
6. Czech Republic
7. Cyprus
8. Hungary
9. Bosnia-Herzegovina
10. Estonia
And missing out:
11. Azerbaijan
12. Croatia
13. Greece
14. Austria
15. Montenegro
16. San Marino
17. Finland
18. Moldova
Friday, 6 May 2016
Day 5 - Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Malta
Malta
Now, this has changed! She's in a totally different dress. And it's a pretty one. Gold sparkly top and a dark skirt. No projections or silly bulky fabric this time. They've clearly given up on that idea. (Thank god).
The dress is rather tight, and it very visibly confirms that she the rumours about her being pregnant clearly being true. Ira's dancer is wearing a grey flowy outfit with glitter details matching her dress.
The song starts with the same projection of her face as before, but this time it's projected on the floor instead of on the cloak of her dancer. The stage graphics seem mostly to be the same. And the choreography is mainly Ira waling around the stage interacting with her male dancer. She seems a lot more comfortable on stage and seems to enjoy herself a lot.
Basically, they did the right thing to change this. And among all the rehearsals, this is by far the one that imrpoved the most from the first rehearsals to the second ones. It's nice that they were able to see that the previous staging didn't work (and that a lot of other countries were doing projection-based performance) and decided to scrap it.
Second run-through and I noticed that the stage graphics are quite different too. Instead of the blue swirl the floor looks more like actual water. And there's a lot of smoke on stage too. The colours and images keep switching between gold/fire and water/sky.
Thir run-through, and Ira still feels very secure. The performance is basically mostly all about her, and she has the personality to pull that off.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Same performance as before, but with different outfits. The thermal blankets are still there. But Deen is wearing a long leather trench coat, and Dalal is in a tight red and gold dress with a mermaid skirt. It's not a great dress, but compared to a lot of the costumes we've seen earlier today, it comes across as fairly normal and stylish.
Iceland
Not much change here. It's the same interactive performance. But they've managed to get the lights more right this time. She's less in the dark, so her connection with the cameras is a lot better.
We couldn't really hear much of the first half of it, as there was a video-message playing for Samra from a bunch of random Azeri people who sent her get-well wishes. As in, "we wish you'll recover from whatever disease you have" not "we wish you'd suddenly start singing well".
Now, this has changed! She's in a totally different dress. And it's a pretty one. Gold sparkly top and a dark skirt. No projections or silly bulky fabric this time. They've clearly given up on that idea. (Thank god).
The dress is rather tight, and it very visibly confirms that she the rumours about her being pregnant clearly being true. Ira's dancer is wearing a grey flowy outfit with glitter details matching her dress.
The song starts with the same projection of her face as before, but this time it's projected on the floor instead of on the cloak of her dancer. The stage graphics seem mostly to be the same. And the choreography is mainly Ira waling around the stage interacting with her male dancer. She seems a lot more comfortable on stage and seems to enjoy herself a lot.
Basically, they did the right thing to change this. And among all the rehearsals, this is by far the one that imrpoved the most from the first rehearsals to the second ones. It's nice that they were able to see that the previous staging didn't work (and that a lot of other countries were doing projection-based performance) and decided to scrap it.
Second run-through and I noticed that the stage graphics are quite different too. Instead of the blue swirl the floor looks more like actual water. And there's a lot of smoke on stage too. The colours and images keep switching between gold/fire and water/sky.
Thir run-through, and Ira still feels very secure. The performance is basically mostly all about her, and she has the personality to pull that off.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Same performance as before, but with different outfits. The thermal blankets are still there. But Deen is wearing a long leather trench coat, and Dalal is in a tight red and gold dress with a mermaid skirt. It's not a great dress, but compared to a lot of the costumes we've seen earlier today, it comes across as fairly normal and stylish.
Iceland
Not much change here. It's the same interactive performance. But they've managed to get the lights more right this time. She's less in the dark, so her connection with the cameras is a lot better.
We couldn't really hear much of the first half of it, as there was a video-message playing for Samra from a bunch of random Azeri people who sent her get-well wishes. As in, "we wish you'll recover from whatever disease you have" not "we wish you'd suddenly start singing well".
Tuesday, 3 May 2016
Day 2 - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malta & Sweden
Sweden
Before the rehearsal
I don't really expect Sweden to change at all from the staging in the Melodifestivalen final. Every year the Swedish team report that they've made changes and adjustments, and every year we don't really see them. I expect that it will just be some minor camera angle that's changed, or possibly he's wearing different trousers or so. But if we're lucky they'll be giving us a surprise. Maybe even visible backing vocalists?
However, the old staging was clearly effective, and there's no real need to fix something that isn't broken.
Rehearsal
Yes, it's basically the same as in Melodifestivalen. He's got the screen with the lights behind him, creating various shapes and words. And he's walking around the stage in the same way, "missing" the same cameras as before. It works, of course.
I couldn't spot any of the backing singers in the first run-through, so they're presumably placed behind the stage or behind the screen.
One main difference is that for the last chorus he walks out onto the catwalk and sings the rest of the song from the end of it.
There's not really much else to say about this. If you wanna see a video of the rehearsal you can basically watch the Melodifestivalen one. He is wearing different clothes now, but they're probably not what he'll wear in the final.
Malta
Before the rehearsal
The Maltese song, as many others this year, relies heavily on lots and lots of backing vocals. We already know that Molly P-H will be one of them, and that she (due to her own request) and the other backing singers will most likely be hidden behind the stage. Four backing singers isn't really enough to re-create the big gospel sound of the studio version, but it should be close enough. What might be a bigger challenge is to make sure Ira doesn't feel lost on stage and that it doesn't come across too much like a karaoke performance when she's all alone singing together with a choir that the viewers can't see. Some props or somethning else to fill up the stage and distract from the fact that only one out of five vocalists can be seen, might be a good idea.
Rehearsal
First run-through. Ira has HUGE images of her own face on the backdrop screens in the beginning. And then as she starts singing we see her face... projected on the cloak of a dancer who stands in front of her. Then halfway through the verse we get to see the real her, dressed in a very baggy light brown dress that is either hiding lots of clothes underneath, or a pregnant belly. Makes her chest look very ill-shaped somehow. The cress also has some sort of LED or light effects going on.
And yes, towards the end the bulky dress comes off and she's in a black mini dress instead.
Ita's choreography is mainly to walk around the stage a bit. She's sometimes standing inside an image of a blue swirly thing on the floor, which is probably meant to represent the water she's walking on.
Vocally, Ira sings it fine. No problems at all on that part. The backing vocals are rather low in the mix, and I wish we'd hear them better.
The oh-oh-oh-oh-oh wail before the last chorus is clearly done by somebody who isn't Ira. Might be Molly.
But most importantly, the chipmunk vocal sample effect from the studio version is STILL THERE. Either they found some way to do it live (but it doesn't sound like it) or the backing track features a pre-recorded backing vocal. Someone will probably have some explaining to do here...
Second run-through now. The potato-peel-coloured projection dress really is one of the most hideous dresses I've seen. It's so bulky that it makes it look like she doesn't have boobs, but rather just a chicken breast on the front of her torso. Nina Kraljic suddenly got some serious competition for the Barbara Dex Award.
But vocally it's really good, and as long as they get the mixing levels right it should sound basically the way it's supposed to sound. The choreography itself is working quite decently too. The male dancer is spastically dancing around Ira in what looks a little bit like what Loreen's dancer did, but he doesn't distract too much from the song. I would say that the dress is the only problem now. Hopefully they'll realise that themselves once they go to the viewing room.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Before the rehearsal
The song is very much like the kind of thing that used to do really well 10 years ago. Montenegro has had mediocre success with similar songs recently, but the question is if Bosnia can manage to stage this in a more interesting and original way than the Montenegrins did with their recent balkan ballads.
If they want to recreate it to sound like in the studio version they'll also be depending on good backing vocals, as there's quite a lot of them in the recording. And visually there might be a challenge to make all four members of the group really seem like they're part of the performance and not four random people doing their own thing.
Rehearsal
The Bosnians just took the stage. Some of them are dressed in golden tinfoil cloaks. Or maybe it's thermal blankets? I m not sure what the symbolism might be. But it seems the general theme is gold. Deen is wearing golden high-top sneakers, and most of the things that seem to be items that they're meant to wear in the actual performance are sort of gold. So is the cello.
The barbed wire fence is there, and kind of just like Chanee and Nevergreen were positioned on each side of their screen, so are Deen and Dalal. And they sing towards each other through the fence, sometimes reaching through with their arms trying to reach each other. Clearly lots of symbolism here.
Vocally I thought they were fine. Deen and Dalal's harmonies work well together, and the backing vocals, situated further back, are doing what they should.
Second run-through. Vocally steady again. During the instrumental break after the first chorus, Ana stands up and drops her cloak. Once Jala enters the stage, wearing sunglasses, the camera mostly focuses on him interacting with Ana while Deen and Dalal stand stind at the back of the stage. And then in the final chorus all four of them are together at the front.
Overall I would say that they've staged it quite well. It's not trying to be a different song than it is, but yet not trying to just do a typical Lane Moje/Lejla-staging. It feels like they're doing something that is new, but without over-staging it or distracting from the song. The only thing that does't make any sense to me yet is the choice of costumes.
Ana Rucner's outfit. More or less.
Before the rehearsal
I don't really expect Sweden to change at all from the staging in the Melodifestivalen final. Every year the Swedish team report that they've made changes and adjustments, and every year we don't really see them. I expect that it will just be some minor camera angle that's changed, or possibly he's wearing different trousers or so. But if we're lucky they'll be giving us a surprise. Maybe even visible backing vocalists?
However, the old staging was clearly effective, and there's no real need to fix something that isn't broken.
Rehearsal
Yes, it's basically the same as in Melodifestivalen. He's got the screen with the lights behind him, creating various shapes and words. And he's walking around the stage in the same way, "missing" the same cameras as before. It works, of course.
I couldn't spot any of the backing singers in the first run-through, so they're presumably placed behind the stage or behind the screen.
One main difference is that for the last chorus he walks out onto the catwalk and sings the rest of the song from the end of it.
There's not really much else to say about this. If you wanna see a video of the rehearsal you can basically watch the Melodifestivalen one. He is wearing different clothes now, but they're probably not what he'll wear in the final.
Malta
Before the rehearsal
The Maltese song, as many others this year, relies heavily on lots and lots of backing vocals. We already know that Molly P-H will be one of them, and that she (due to her own request) and the other backing singers will most likely be hidden behind the stage. Four backing singers isn't really enough to re-create the big gospel sound of the studio version, but it should be close enough. What might be a bigger challenge is to make sure Ira doesn't feel lost on stage and that it doesn't come across too much like a karaoke performance when she's all alone singing together with a choir that the viewers can't see. Some props or somethning else to fill up the stage and distract from the fact that only one out of five vocalists can be seen, might be a good idea.
Rehearsal
First run-through. Ira has HUGE images of her own face on the backdrop screens in the beginning. And then as she starts singing we see her face... projected on the cloak of a dancer who stands in front of her. Then halfway through the verse we get to see the real her, dressed in a very baggy light brown dress that is either hiding lots of clothes underneath, or a pregnant belly. Makes her chest look very ill-shaped somehow. The cress also has some sort of LED or light effects going on.
And yes, towards the end the bulky dress comes off and she's in a black mini dress instead.
Ita's choreography is mainly to walk around the stage a bit. She's sometimes standing inside an image of a blue swirly thing on the floor, which is probably meant to represent the water she's walking on.
Vocally, Ira sings it fine. No problems at all on that part. The backing vocals are rather low in the mix, and I wish we'd hear them better.
The oh-oh-oh-oh-oh wail before the last chorus is clearly done by somebody who isn't Ira. Might be Molly.
But most importantly, the chipmunk vocal sample effect from the studio version is STILL THERE. Either they found some way to do it live (but it doesn't sound like it) or the backing track features a pre-recorded backing vocal. Someone will probably have some explaining to do here...
Second run-through now. The potato-peel-coloured projection dress really is one of the most hideous dresses I've seen. It's so bulky that it makes it look like she doesn't have boobs, but rather just a chicken breast on the front of her torso. Nina Kraljic suddenly got some serious competition for the Barbara Dex Award.
But vocally it's really good, and as long as they get the mixing levels right it should sound basically the way it's supposed to sound. The choreography itself is working quite decently too. The male dancer is spastically dancing around Ira in what looks a little bit like what Loreen's dancer did, but he doesn't distract too much from the song. I would say that the dress is the only problem now. Hopefully they'll realise that themselves once they go to the viewing room.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Before the rehearsal
The song is very much like the kind of thing that used to do really well 10 years ago. Montenegro has had mediocre success with similar songs recently, but the question is if Bosnia can manage to stage this in a more interesting and original way than the Montenegrins did with their recent balkan ballads.
If they want to recreate it to sound like in the studio version they'll also be depending on good backing vocals, as there's quite a lot of them in the recording. And visually there might be a challenge to make all four members of the group really seem like they're part of the performance and not four random people doing their own thing.
Rehearsal
The Bosnians just took the stage. Some of them are dressed in golden tinfoil cloaks. Or maybe it's thermal blankets? I m not sure what the symbolism might be. But it seems the general theme is gold. Deen is wearing golden high-top sneakers, and most of the things that seem to be items that they're meant to wear in the actual performance are sort of gold. So is the cello.
The barbed wire fence is there, and kind of just like Chanee and Nevergreen were positioned on each side of their screen, so are Deen and Dalal. And they sing towards each other through the fence, sometimes reaching through with their arms trying to reach each other. Clearly lots of symbolism here.
Vocally I thought they were fine. Deen and Dalal's harmonies work well together, and the backing vocals, situated further back, are doing what they should.
Second run-through. Vocally steady again. During the instrumental break after the first chorus, Ana stands up and drops her cloak. Once Jala enters the stage, wearing sunglasses, the camera mostly focuses on him interacting with Ana while Deen and Dalal stand stind at the back of the stage. And then in the final chorus all four of them are together at the front.
Overall I would say that they've staged it quite well. It's not trying to be a different song than it is, but yet not trying to just do a typical Lane Moje/Lejla-staging. It feels like they're doing something that is new, but without over-staging it or distracting from the song. The only thing that does't make any sense to me yet is the choice of costumes.
Ana Rucner's outfit. More or less.
The not-press opinion - MNT, ISL, BIH, MLT
Malta
Two screens showing a still Ira, but her hair is waving. Then another screen of her singing (is she here?). She finally appears in a long dress that smells outfit change. A blue spiral on the floor during the chorus. Then yellow light projections on her dress, while she's moving literally around. Then the long dress is off (she is left with a black outfit, but I doubt that's the real one) and the floor is filled with yellow beams/flames. The blue spiral is back and it ends. Not much connection from her to the camera, it could be because it's the first rehearsal and they focused on positioning. Vocally perfect (will try to spot Molly in the next run).
The beginning is very much Eurovision-gimmicky and it takes some time for it to become normal and more contemporary. The dress projection colours make little sense and the dress colour itself (light brown) does not look particularly good on screen. A dancer is near her for half of the song. It looks like he is chasing her, while she is moving to all possible directions. Better close-up shots this time, still not many though.
Eye-contact with the camera better achieved this time round and the performance is pretty solid after the third run.
Summary: It looks very promising for Malta, as long as the weird, too eurovisiony beginning doesn't hurt the rest of the song. As expected, she is an excellent performer. Won some points today in the qualification race. Based on the staging, it also makes sense to have this perform last now, me thinks.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
First shot on Ana Rucner who is wearing an aluminium foil coat. Deen appears and sings through a -presumably not electric- wired fence to Dalal, out of tune at first, in tune after a while. They meet later and then the rapper appears and gets done with what's left of the audience patience. It's all a bit generic and the only thing that is memorable is the wires. They have tried *something* at least. I am really not a fan of this song so I can't judge it properly, but they have tried to do something with it here visually (after having tried to do everything with it musically).
Dalal also has a foil coat and gets rid of it before she sings. The staging manages to create some emotional intensity, but just as it reaches the top, the rapper breaks in and it's gone. The last part is boring (and Jala also is standing there looking weird).
Third run now and the song becomes more and more tiresome for me. However, I see that it will have an appeal. This time I've noticed that Ana and Jala have a little bit of connection during their part.
Summary: A really complex song needs a complex (but meaningful) performance. It generates some emotion and will find its audience (probably in the southeastern part of the continent). I've personally predicted them to qualify, despite it not doing anything for me. Their staging is at least memorable and the rap part is short and tied as well as possible to Ana, so I stick with this prediction. Huge difference to Iceland also, and I expect the Maltese staging will be far more western-oriented as well.
Iceland
Shaky vocal start, but recovers by the chorus. I really like the visuals. Similar moves to the NF, but a slightly more blue-natural background. The wings and the birds are there; they didn't remind me of Russia at all, though. It gets a bit uninteresting after the second chorus. At the same time, that's when her voice fully recovers. The backings are neither helpful nor hurtful.
Identical on the second run. There's also a point just before the second chorus where it's only the projection wall showing and she moves into the shot (and the hands). She has delivered what was expected.
More of the same. She should connect with the camera more during the bridge, which is practically the only close-up and well-lit shots she gets.
Summary: She has moved everything from Reykjavik to Stockholm and has done the same things. In my opinion, it isn't that reminding of Russia's projections. It also fails to come across as genuine though, it's a bit of a cold performance (then again, maybe that's what people expect from Iceland?). Not much has changed regarding its chances, it remains being on of the contenders for the "low" top10 places in the semi.
Montenegro
Ok, this couldn't be any luckier coming after the weakest performance of the semi. It manages to be at least along the competition level and the vocals sound professional (the Samra effect). Of course, the song tires you out after the 1st chorus. The shots are quite fast and confusing, but maybe it works with the song's atmosphere? They are all very static but the camerawork corrects this. Rehearsal-wise, the first run seems to have been a success.
Second run now. He is walking towards the centre of the stage, wearing his hood (which I suppose will happen in the actual performance). The girl is at the front, "dancing", during his parts. The lights during the chorus are really fast, almost annoying. Vocally no problems, they are in tune. The problem is the tune itself. It will reach its potential on stage, but I assume this will not be enough.
Well, now they probably are satisfied with the sound and try to improve on the visuals. The shots are still fast now, but by the third time it's possible to understand where everyone stands and what's going on. The shots on the girl are one of the best parts, however apart from the first one she didn't connect much.
Summary: There was only room for improvement anyway and they have achieved that. Benefits from the Azeri disappointment before it. If Iceland also disappoints, then they might have a chance.
Arrived just in time to listen to my favourite song being murdered on stage. But oh well.
Two screens showing a still Ira, but her hair is waving. Then another screen of her singing (is she here?). She finally appears in a long dress that smells outfit change. A blue spiral on the floor during the chorus. Then yellow light projections on her dress, while she's moving literally around. Then the long dress is off (she is left with a black outfit, but I doubt that's the real one) and the floor is filled with yellow beams/flames. The blue spiral is back and it ends. Not much connection from her to the camera, it could be because it's the first rehearsal and they focused on positioning. Vocally perfect (will try to spot Molly in the next run).
The beginning is very much Eurovision-gimmicky and it takes some time for it to become normal and more contemporary. The dress projection colours make little sense and the dress colour itself (light brown) does not look particularly good on screen. A dancer is near her for half of the song. It looks like he is chasing her, while she is moving to all possible directions. Better close-up shots this time, still not many though.
Eye-contact with the camera better achieved this time round and the performance is pretty solid after the third run.
Summary: It looks very promising for Malta, as long as the weird, too eurovisiony beginning doesn't hurt the rest of the song. As expected, she is an excellent performer. Won some points today in the qualification race. Based on the staging, it also makes sense to have this perform last now, me thinks.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
First shot on Ana Rucner who is wearing an aluminium foil coat. Deen appears and sings through a -presumably not electric- wired fence to Dalal, out of tune at first, in tune after a while. They meet later and then the rapper appears and gets done with what's left of the audience patience. It's all a bit generic and the only thing that is memorable is the wires. They have tried *something* at least. I am really not a fan of this song so I can't judge it properly, but they have tried to do something with it here visually (after having tried to do everything with it musically).
Dalal also has a foil coat and gets rid of it before she sings. The staging manages to create some emotional intensity, but just as it reaches the top, the rapper breaks in and it's gone. The last part is boring (and Jala also is standing there looking weird).
Third run now and the song becomes more and more tiresome for me. However, I see that it will have an appeal. This time I've noticed that Ana and Jala have a little bit of connection during their part.
Summary: A really complex song needs a complex (but meaningful) performance. It generates some emotion and will find its audience (probably in the southeastern part of the continent). I've personally predicted them to qualify, despite it not doing anything for me. Their staging is at least memorable and the rap part is short and tied as well as possible to Ana, so I stick with this prediction. Huge difference to Iceland also, and I expect the Maltese staging will be far more western-oriented as well.
Iceland
Shaky vocal start, but recovers by the chorus. I really like the visuals. Similar moves to the NF, but a slightly more blue-natural background. The wings and the birds are there; they didn't remind me of Russia at all, though. It gets a bit uninteresting after the second chorus. At the same time, that's when her voice fully recovers. The backings are neither helpful nor hurtful.
Identical on the second run. There's also a point just before the second chorus where it's only the projection wall showing and she moves into the shot (and the hands). She has delivered what was expected.
More of the same. She should connect with the camera more during the bridge, which is practically the only close-up and well-lit shots she gets.
Summary: She has moved everything from Reykjavik to Stockholm and has done the same things. In my opinion, it isn't that reminding of Russia's projections. It also fails to come across as genuine though, it's a bit of a cold performance (then again, maybe that's what people expect from Iceland?). Not much has changed regarding its chances, it remains being on of the contenders for the "low" top10 places in the semi.
Montenegro
Ok, this couldn't be any luckier coming after the weakest performance of the semi. It manages to be at least along the competition level and the vocals sound professional (the Samra effect). Of course, the song tires you out after the 1st chorus. The shots are quite fast and confusing, but maybe it works with the song's atmosphere? They are all very static but the camerawork corrects this. Rehearsal-wise, the first run seems to have been a success.
Second run now. He is walking towards the centre of the stage, wearing his hood (which I suppose will happen in the actual performance). The girl is at the front, "dancing", during his parts. The lights during the chorus are really fast, almost annoying. Vocally no problems, they are in tune. The problem is the tune itself. It will reach its potential on stage, but I assume this will not be enough.
Well, now they probably are satisfied with the sound and try to improve on the visuals. The shots are still fast now, but by the third time it's possible to understand where everyone stands and what's going on. The shots on the girl are one of the best parts, however apart from the first one she didn't connect much.
Summary: There was only room for improvement anyway and they have achieved that. Benefits from the Azeri disappointment before it. If Iceland also disappoints, then they might have a chance.
Arrived just in time to listen to my favourite song being murdered on stage. But oh well.
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