Fishy Predictions for the First Semi-Final

It's been a long two years, but finally a Eurovision Day has come again! 🥂 For the first time in over 15 years I won't be spending it on location or in Syden, but rather in a rainy (shocker) Bergen, but I'm not planning on letting that dampen the mood!

I've been twisting my slightly May 17th affected head to see if I could not only figure out which ten countries will qualify tonight, but also which order they'll actually turn out to have placed in, once we get ALL TEH INFO some time after Måneskin's Destiny's Fyr & Flamme's thank you speech very very early Sunday morning. So enjoy my mistakes, but most of all enjoy the show, because Eurovision is back!

1 Malta | It was my main contender for the win before the rehearsals started, but seems to have faded a little compared to the likes of Italy and France, and due to boots and wigs and colour debates. (My take: If in doubt, always go for the brightest colour!) I still think it has a chance on Saturday though - and certainly tonight.

2 Ukraine | That bit where it slows down and builds and builds and builds to PLING * POW * RUN gets all my geese out bumping every single time!

 

3 Cyprus | Solid feels like the word best describing this, I'm expecting it do to very decently with both juries and televoters, without anyone getting overly excited.

4 Russia | My favourite in this semifinal, but probably a bit too odd to go higher.

5 Lithuania | Had its moment to shine when it came out in January, but gosh, it feels like years ago... Still very obviously qualifying, still very obviously getting the 12 from Norwegian televoters tonight.

6 Israel | This keeps getting stuck in my head, which should be good. But seeing as there's no natural flow between all those individual bits of song, it just ends up being one little bit in an eternal loop I can't get out of, and I end up considering a head amputation to get rid of it. I've had it down as my tip for 'forgotten and ignored, accidental last place' in the semi for much of the season, but Eden and her boys are selling it well, so suddenly it feels like a qualifier, and somehow even a safer one than the following bunch.

7 Norway | I can never quite decide whether I think Tix is annoying, nice, manipulative, a hero, or just a combination of all, but at the end of the day I really do like the song.

8 Belgium | It's mix of boring, pretentious, dark, nostril and grumpy. It's Belgian speciality, you will enjoy.

9 Azerbaijan | If it hadn't been for the last 30 seconds of pyro extravaganza I'd say this was as dead as the Tix+Efendi relationship will be next week.

10 Romania | I originally had Sweden instead of this, but seeing as almost everyone else seem to have the same ten as me, I figured it was time for some risk-taking. And I can somehow see this working on some level for some people, despite the mainly quite awful singing.

11 Sweden | The exact opposite of Norway and Tix - I'm sure I like Tusse, but the song... Surely juries can't be quite as forgiving about Swedish averageness as they have been the last few years? And thinking back about it, I actually think both 2019 and 2018 are very good songs, so it shouldn't really be comparable at all. Could they possibly lose out...?

12 Slovenia | Probably getting 15 televote points in total, all from Croatia and North Macedonia, but I can see some juries appreciating the loudness here.

13 Ireland | I've been hoping and thinking this should make it all season, but no, it just isn't working, is it... What could've been a joyous, confident anthem of finding one's way in life just ends up being poor Lesley getting lost in a paper forest.

14 Croatia | I don't feel hate, but why would anyone vote for this when there are better songs, better singers, better dancers, better stagings, better backdrops... Even the other Tick Tock is better - a far worse song, but at least it had #hamsterbutt.

15 Australia | Very interesting entry, and I really appreciate it being there and Montaigne seems great when she's not dressing up as a clown. Just such a shame it's not, like, you know, good.

16 North Macedonia | I don't think they could've done much better with this than what they're doing on stage, but it's still the same song, so... I miss You :-(

ESC week | Monday | First Semi-Final | First Dress Rehearsal

It really is all about to happen now! In the next few days we will be blogging about all the dress rehearsals, starting today with the first dress rehearsal of the first semi-final.

It's again a rolling post, so keep your finger glued to the F5 button, or whatever you use to refresh on a Mac.

Thirty seconds past three ... Te Deum! We start with some Dutch scenery, we see sheep, Rotterdam Central Station, a windmill and more and after 1 minute 30 we're in the arena. Some quick lookback to 2019 and then Duncan's on stage dressed in red in an augmented reality setting, singing a new song (i.e. not 'Arcade') It's a pretty short performance .... the stage is revealed in a spectacular way before all four hosts come up on stage.

Hosts are full of energy, talking quite fast, Jan's English has definitely improved it seems. Chantal also speaks a bit of French. Hell, they're quick. 

After 7.5 minutes we start with the first postcard. 

Lithuania - Lithuania is 'virtually' on the Rotterdam central station square for the postcard. Before the song starts the stage lights take the colours of the Lithuanian flag. Not much to mention about the Lithuanian performance, it's not much different from what we've seen from them. There are some split-screen moments between Vaidotas and the backing dancers. The hall is empty - yet we're hearing 'fake' applause. But it sounded already a bit less 'fake' than in ESC 2015.

Slovenia - Postcard in the dunes. Stage is mostly golden with a globe projected in the background. During the bridge the transparent LED screen comes down and shows what I think is Slovenian mountain scenery. Decent performance but not as impactful as I would have thought. The ending was very abrupt. She just stopped in the middle of a sentence 'Hey Child ...' ... not sure if that was a failure or intended, but she didn't look really surprised ....

Russia - Bad Dutchie, I have no clue where this postcard was recorded. Egg-shaped houses? [I later learned that these are the 'bolwoningen'/'sphere houses'  from Den Bosch aka 's-Hertogenbosch]. The bloggers before me have already described this performance pretty well. I have not much to add to it I'm afraid. Energetic and fun as usual. 

Sweden -  Postcard is filmed on Museum Square in Amsterdam. Some pretty awesome light effects for Tusse. There's also people on the LED screen at one point and it truly looks like they're actually on stage. Last minute looks quite impressive, light-wise. Vocally this is all very okay too. Not as hopeless as some may have thought. But of course the song is still what it is.

Australia - The football themed postcard this time is not for Spain but for Australia. Montaigne could not be in Ahoy, but she could 'be' in the Rotterdam stadium. No special announcement or so, we just get a postcard and the live-on-tape recording gets shown directly. Of course we do miss the stage lights going all Australian and there's no 'dumdumdum' moment, but the transition is seamless. Montaigne and dancers are doing a (sort of) yazbitti! \o/. Lots of visual effects here, where we see copies of Montaigne  as if she's doing a yazbitti with herself.  Montaigne sounds much better than in some clips we've heard so far. And it *is* very colourful. At the end we see the camera zooming out from the LED wall, bringing us back to Ahoy so the audience can do some cheering.

North Macedonia - Postcard is in a forest, where Vasil is climbing the wall of the tiny house. Much gold on stage again. During the part where Vasil is not singing he shows the disco ball on his costume, which looks very nice. Vocally fine even if he seems to be not giving it all yet. All in all, I think this wins the battle with Slovenia, but probably that's still not enough to make it.

First commercial break. Nikkie is now on stage to show 'the best off online reactions'. She calls it the 'online update'. There's also clips from the Looklabs. We see fans dancing. Surprise appearance by Conchita Wurst. Edsilia then interviews a fake The Roop. She doesn't use the stick herself. Nikkie also connects to Montaigne.

Ireland - We see the 'Skinny Bridge' in Amsterdam over the river Amstel in the postcard. Vocals are not very good I'm afraid. The 'book' part goes a bit quicker and smoother than we've seen in the rehearsal clip but is still not very impressive. So she's walking in all directions amonst all sort of cardboard objects like waves and trees and sometimes interacts with them, but it all looks pretty forced. It look fine - but not spectacular - and also a bit distracting at times and most of all unnecessary. She looks exhausted by the end of the performance. Sorry to say but this feels pretty hopeless :-(

For some reason we now get another break with Nikkie and Edsilia. We also see the billboards announcing what's to come next Saturday as interval act, much like we saw them in Europ Shine A Light last year. Of course this break is meant to get all the stuff Ireland brought on stage back off stage.

Cyprus - First notes were horribly off tune. Elena starts lying on the floor. Vocals get somewhat better further into the song. Visually this is very well done with the mirrors and fire effects during the last minute. It looks like more fun than the lyrics suggest, which I think is a good choice. Safe for qualifying, but not winning material.

Norway - I think that's the Muiderslot in the postcard? Never change a winning recipe, performance is again much alike the MGP one (but with less creatures around TIX). Using the stage doors with light coming from behind makes for nice effects. In the last minute the stage turns into gold. Looking good for Norway to qualify I'd say at this point.

Croatia - Postcard in a random polder. Some visual tricks make Albina appear on stage out of nothing. She's standing in front of the transparent LED screen and the effects look awesome. Dancers join her during the chorus. At one point we see five Albina's and no dancers though. The 'oh noooooos' sound a lot better than we've heard in earlier clips. I think visually this is pretty cool. The fake? applause seems to be much louder here than it has been for others for some reason.

Belgium - First minute of this performance is one long shot from one camera turning around Geike and the musicians. It must have been intentional but with the musicians so close to Geike it looks a bit messy to me. But that may be a personal thing. It's a decent staging ans well sung, but I may have expected more 'magic'.

Israel - Postcard shows Utrecht Central Station. Eden is amazing! This is a fun performance with Eden and dancers moving to the sattelite stage halfway, and then back to the main stage where she does the high notes, and they sounded near perfect to me. This has such a nice energetic vibe. Probably the best performance so far!

A break with Chantal now. And Måns. We can actually see him, so probably not live, but you won't notice. It's of course all to get people warm for the Saturday interval. Hmm, if it's not live the timing is perfect. After this interview Edsilia and Jan announce Romania's performance.

Romania - Roxen's vocals are much better than we've heard in some clips, but she seems to have a bit of trouble with the timing (think Zaleilah but less dramatic). All in all, it's still not very convincing. They should be a little worried now.

Azerbaijan - Postcard from Giethoorn (the Dutch more rural answer to Venice - at least I think it's there). Song and staging is Eurovision by numbers obviously. Lots of gold, pink and turquoise again. And another yazbitti. What did I say? Eurovision by numbers. Well enough performed. Is there still a place for this in ESC 2021 though? I'm inclined to say there is, despite the song being rather weak. 

Another billboard moment, with Jan and Chantal quickly announcing Ukraine.

Ukraine - Had some serious internet issues here, so missed part of it. Well, it's definitely standing out. Graphics look impressive too. I have a blind spot for this entry, never really got it, and as such this performance wasn't winning me over. But I acknowledge that it is probably making the final anyway.

Bit of a hiccup before Malta was going to start, with Chantal quickly standing by to interrupt.

Malta - Destiny has gone for the silver dress and high silver boots and a totally different haircut/wig, which I suppose fits with the 1920's style. Not sure if she's giving it all yet, but vocally she was already more than fine. But I feel this is not a winning performance, neither is the song. May actually be totally overshadowed by Israel earlier on. 

Some pyros before we start the vote. As usual we see the recap with the artists shown at the end of their snippet. For Montaigne we have a live connection. It's apparent that the sound quality of the Australian snippet is much worse (less rich) than the others.

After the recap there's an interval by Davina Michelle about 'The Power of Water', which is partly pre-recorded and there's dancing on stage with lots of bare-chested men.

Quick prediction: Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, Cyprus, Norway, Israel, Azerbaijan Ukraine, Malta. Then there's one left and it's between Croatia and Belgium, I'd say Belgium now, but not extremely convincedly. If there's going to be a huge surprise it may actually be North Macedonia, but I wouldn't count on it. 

All four hosts are back on stage to explain again how you can vote. And we get another recap. With again shots from the green room. At this moment none of the artists are really there, so it's just volunteers and they are having a good time it seems :-)

After the second recap there's about 40 seconds left to vote, so we quickly get to a countdown with Jan and Chantal. After that there's another break with Edsilia and Nikkie. They're standing next to each other in one shot and that looks a bit ... odd (because of the height difference). There's a flashback to ESC history with Johnny Logan, Katrina, Anne-Marie David, Lenny Kuhr, Marie Myriam and Eimear Quinn. They all tell about their experiences. And they're all sooo positive.

We then get a pre-recorded 'Eurovision Tutorial' with Nikkie. Which is very tonge-in-cheek and fun :-)  It has Manel,  John Lundvik with a sad face, Justine Pelmelay and more surprises. The theme is 'How not to win Eurovision'. Obviously we're experts on that subject.

Then we look back for a minute or two at 'Arcade' with Edsilia and Duncan Laurence.

After that there's an awkard break. But apparently this is the point where we'd get to the interviews and presentations of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Instead we now get to see the postcards for these three countries. 

Oh they're actually performing now!

Italy - Just looks so cool on stage. There's some parts though where Damiano is drowned into the light, not sure if that's intentional. So much pyros at the end. Yes, this is definitely a performance that could do it!

Postcard at Scheveningen beach for Germany, appropriately considering its popularity with German tourists. After the German postcard we suddenly get another intervention with Chantal explaining the theme 'Open up' and a pre-recorded video about the theme with Duncan as narrator. Not sure if and when they will actually show this in the real show.

Germany - Very colourful performance with a prominent role for miss Finger. Jendrik improvises vocally. At the points we hear a male voice 'you did not just say that' the camera zooms on the finger as if she is saying that. All in all, I feel it is missing the clever fun from the video and falls a bit flat on the stage. In the talking part he adresses in German ladies, gentlemen and everyone who's not either. And he ends in Dutch with 'tot snel!' ('see you soon').

Netherlands - Wonderful visual opening with the LED wall 'breaking open'. Jeangu is doing an amazing job vocally. During the brigde all move to the sattelite stage, before the stage turns all colourful. Obviously a lot of applause. That was a very nice performance, and very different from a lot of other things in this ESC. Not saying it is a top 10'er but it doesn't look like certain bottom 5 either.

Okay ... they're now improvising a bit because it's about time to rehearse the qualifier revelation. But first we get a look-ahead to Thursday with the usual billboards. It's mainly about the extra acts though.

They then introduce Martin Österdahl. And it seems like we have a 'valid result'! And he tells Jan and Chantal that they're 'good to go'.

We get to see three-letter country codes with square flags in the 'waiting list' below the screen insert of Jan and Chantal. When they are announced we see the full names to the right of them, as usual. [addition: as far as I recall there were no animations with enveloppes or anything of the sort appearing on screen, so it's just one of the hosts shouting a country name, and only then the name appears in the 'qualified' list]

First fake finalist is Romania, then Israel. They do this pretty quickly again. Cyprus, Lithuania and Norway are next. Also Azerbaijan makes it, it looks pretty realistic so far actually :-) Australia also qualifies and we see a happy volunteer on a couch probably not in Australia. They take a little more time now. Sweden is fake qualifier number eight. And number nine is Malta. And finally it's North Macedonia! We don't get to hear snippets of the songs when they qualify but we get a recap in the order as announced right after the last qualifier is announced.

After that the credits start running and we get views from the hall, also from the green room, which may be interesting because we'll probably see both happy and sad faces there, unlike usually when we only got to see the happy ones.

That was it for the first dress rehearsal. Tonight we continue with the jury final, for which Yair will provide commentary in this blog!

Day 5 | Second Rehearsals | First Semi-Final | 🇱🇹 🇸🇮 🇷🇺 🇸🇪 🇦🇺

This will be a rolling blog, each country in running order, so please refresh to update.

Good morning from the remote press centre! While Jordy is on a photography mission, the rest of the team will fill in with what's happening on screen. So here they are with some fresh eyes.

🇦🇺 | Australia

I guess we won't be seeing anything today, not before the first dress rehearsal (and possibly not even then?). Sild will take over for the next few rehearsals.

🇸🇪 | Sweden

If symmetry is your thing, this is the staging for you. Everyone is positioned in a straight line, and the backdrop is a very centred vertical centre line in the centre. If you took half of the screen and mirrored it onto the other, it would look just the same (except that Tusse would be holding two microphones).

This is really quite effective, especially after the overly busy first three stagings - and while Tusse is far from great vocally, he does have the personality to make up for it. I didn't like it in MF, partly due to a disturbingly horrifying velvet suit - but they took care of that, his new suit looks much better on screen (and even gets a close-up to show us the shiny bits). Thumbs up.

I had to look twice to see if the projected extra backing singers in the last chorus aren't actually there behind the real ones. And I'm still not quite sure, but leaning towards not real. That's how good the backscreen is.

🇷🇺 | Russia

This is a very very busy staging - everywhere you look, there's a highly detailed dress or something happening on the screen - a message, a sophisticated old Russian-style animation, or a modern Russian woman (I think I even spotted a transitioning woman, very cool). My favourite is the horses, think of some kind of animated version of this:

The best thing about this is Manizha herself and her facial expressions, although I can't help thinking it's sometimes a bit overdone and gives me Laka vibes. No, something is different in the last runthrough (other than the flame Pyro during the 'prayer' part) - this is super energetic and I'm loving it

🇸🇮 | Slovenia

To be honest, it was kind of hard to pay attention to Ana (despite the screaming) with all that's going on in the background - a dramatic space film (scary galaxy zooming into Earth) which turns into a National Geographic feature with various climatic landscapes. The one part that did connect with the song was in the explosive bit of the last chorus, with a supernova going right under Ana's feet.

We already know she can belt out, even so early in the day (which: well done), it's always been a question of how many juries are actually into this voice and song. Personally I cringed at the 'sing it!' to the non-present choir.

🇱🇹 | Lithuania

I can see why the producers put this on first, this is a very clever way to reveal the stage, which fully shows itself in the chorus. The routine is mostly familiar, although I think they've added a penguin-style jumping towards the end... was it there before?

Vaidotas is as charismatic as ever, at first pretending that he's confused by where he is and looking for the cameras, later "gaining" confidence. Holding back vocally in the first runthrough but singing just fine in the second, I guess they know that this could be their backup performance? 

The LED floor looks like a still image of the background, something like this:

Overall a solid entry, but (perhaps ironically) really feels like it will need an audience roar to stand out.

Second rehearsal: Sweden to Ukraine

Ukraine

Super effective on screen again. Less so inside the arena, because some of the visuals are intended for the overhead camera shot. Also, it smells like Chinese food in here. #ProhibitedItemsScandal

Slovenia

Still doing what I hoped they wouldn't. If I were to write something nice about this, there's a really nice shot of Lea & co with the audience behind them near the end. But it takes a long time to get there.


Montenegro

The fish scale jacket and trainer shoes are still there. Vanja sings well when he wants to, but at parts he just doesn't bother. It's hard to tell if he's taking himself (and his song) seriously.

Sweden

Yeah, still the same well-rehearsed routine.

Break

There are gondolas going outside the arena, so we went on one of them. Really nice view of the bay, round trip is €5.90. Much recommended.

First rehearsal: Latvia to Montenegro

Montenegro

Pre-opinion: I've warmed up to this recently, but wasn't exactly keen at first. And neither did Montenegro, considering he only finished third in the first round of their NF. This won't be easy, even if it's the only Balkan Ballad competing for your votes.

First run-through: Vanja wears a suit made of silvery scales, a bit like an Atlantic fish. Has he been looking through our lunch photos? A pianist and four women in feathery dresses doing some Balkan hands around him.

Second run-through: This is all done by the Balkan Book of Choreography. Dramatic women freeze in different hand poses, then take their turns touching his shoulder lightly and turn away. He's confident vocally with the long notes.

Last run and some nice camera angles there, a shot from behind the stage while the dancers are illuminated in yellow is effective. Still not quite sure the whole package is strong enough, but I'm looking forward to his press conference.



Sweden

Pre-opinion: This is nice for the first 30 seconds or so, then I get bored. This may or may not get the typical Swedish 5th place, but there's no question about qualifying. Anything other than the exact MF performance will surprise me.

First run-through: Yeah, almost the same. I think the neon device is doing a slightly different routine, dividing into three different squares at some point, resembling the 1983 stage:

Second run-through: At the start of the last chorus we get a glimpse of the stage, until that point you don't even know if Benji is even in Lisbon. Clever, but it's not really working on me.

Pyro round (wait what?): OK they lied, no pyro. Still the same, and sounding perfectly fine as expected.

Latvia

Pre-opinion: Good singer. Looooooong song. My current tip for last place in the final (although these things are hard to predict). I will need coffee for this.

First (visible) run-through: Red dress, red stage, red lights on her head. Red lipstick. I think the concept is red. And erotic, she's making love to the microphone stand (not quite in the Lena Philipsson way) and then leaves it for the second chorus, and comes back to it. Singing well as expected.

Second run-through: Camera does a few zoom jumps during some parts of the song to match the drums going 'bonk'. She does several Eleni hair flicks and a small shoulder boob shake dance. Banking it all on her sex appeal. Does this work? Maybe, I need to find the only straight man in the press centre and ask.

Last run-through had a small mic failure, but otherwise polished and well-song. This minimalist staging may work for them after a couple of bombastic stagings, although I'm still not sure it's enough.

Lunch

We nipped outside to the supermarket and saw this. I can live in a Portuguese supermarket. #eurofishon

Day 4 of first rehearsals - Latvia to Montenegro

Montenegro

Four female  backing singers (and I suppose dancers as well) in white long dresses with over sized sleeves and fluff on the shoulders are being over dramatic and Vanja (wearing a light blue/silvery suit made of some kind of fish skin fabric?!) didn't sound too good unfortunately. This got a few giggles from the press centre, and not the good kind of giggles. 

The last two run throughs were actuallly much better, Vanja seemed more confident and vocally it sounded good now - well done!

Sweden

The Belgian press around me have started humming "Da da dance you off" even now, during set up.

It looks like Benjamin and his team are trying out more colours for the background here. He is also warming up his voice, nod and hips (the latter a lot like I imagine Elvis had to do back in the days).

Nope, no happy colours this time, the Latvian flag theme continues. The performance is very similar to what it looked like in Melodifestivalen. During MF however, I didn't notice Benjamin's shoes, I do now. They look too big for his feet! I hope he changes them.

I have to say - sorry fellow Swedes who are hoping for this to do well - I don't think Sweden will do well this year.

Second and third run - Benjamin seems to be trying on different shoes - tack Sverige! These last ones were much better.

Latvia

Latvia's lady in red did what she could with a snoozy song. This is a contrast in many ways to the previous performance, here, instead of using all the lights and all the pyro, they've decided to only use red. For everything. Lights, dress, shorts underneath the dress, lipstick... I happen to be in a red dress myself today, so I feel like Laura is my new best friend. Or something.

Latvian flag, 2018 edition, artist's impression.

Why third place could be enough to win

I hate predicting for the final. I am rubbish at it. While I can see in my mind which entries can qualify and which can't, I have a real blind spot about the final, particularly when it comes to the winner. I can construct in my mind a narrative for pretty much every entry as to why they won't win, and even why they just can't win. Which makes it rather difficult to construct a final scoreboard prediction.

In my mind, and in the minds of the betting public, there are three contenders. Even I can see that. And while I can find reasons for them all not to win, I really can't find reasons that any of the other 23 entries would end up on top of the scoreboard after tonight's voting. So let's take them one-by-one.

Italy
The favourite pretty much all season, and back to being the favourite as I write this, though only just. When it won Sanremo, I didn't see it winning Eurovision. I thought it was just too difficult to gain widespread support, both in terms of topic and being in Italian. But then, it did. Widespread support among Eurovision fans, true, but support on a level we haven't seen since Alexander Rybak, and possibly not even then.

But then I showed it to a fan-but-not-diehard-fan friend, who usually likes this side of Eurovision. She was underwhelmed. Is that going to be the reaction of much of the viewing public? After having seen the rehearsal clips, I worry that might be the case. The Sanremo performance was, for all its faults, genuinely fun, naively and innocently joyous, and that's missing from what we've seen on the Eurovision staging, as the backdrops try a bit too hard, the camerawork is too distant and Francesco is taking it one step too far into 'clever' and 'ironic'.

And there's always the eternal question that hangs over this entry like an anvil - will the juries just hate it?

Portugal
Almost the opposite, here. The live performance of Amar pelos dois on Tuesday night was absolutely hypnotic, and it's unsurprising that its odds have shortened dramatically in the last four days. But do televoters really vote en masse for a ballad in Portuguese? That's what I can't fully get my head around. Similarly, it's always been assumed that juries will go for Portugal - but often in the past they've ignored the more difficult ballads and those not in English, instead voting for more 'obvious' songs in English like Australia.

Bulgaria
A more obvious televote magnet and jury magnet, really. In a way, it's safer for both voting demographics, and unlike the previous two, there's nothing to turn televoters off or alienate jurors. So if it doesn't work for Italy or Portugal, for whatever reason, then Bulgaria is sitting pretty ready to mop up and take home the trophy.

In my mind, Bulgaria has a set amount of votes that it's definitely getting. Effectively, it's definitely coming third. The problem is, I don't know if Italy, Portugal or anyone else has the potential to go above them, or will that third place turn into the win?

[LIVE] Semi 1 : Dress Rehearsal 1 - live reporting

CLOSING THE SHOW
The three presenters are on stage as are the qualified artists. A few general questions are asked in usual Eurovision style and then the show is closed. And that is also where this blog entry ends.


RECAP OF FINALISTS
The recap is in order of announcement.


FINALISTS
- Armenia
- Czech Republic
- Greece
- Finland
(six places remain now and I can feel my heart racing)
- Albania
- Slovenia
(our seventh finalist is)
- Australia
- Moldova
- Iceland
- Belgium

Congratulations!


RESULTS
'The yoda of the Eurovision Song Contest" (not my words) is introduced and Jan Ola informs that we have a valid result - or maybe he will, depending on if he can say so or not. If there is a valid vote, he will tell the two guys to "take it away".

"This is the moment of truth, the countries..." and that's where we currently end. The boys are just looking into the camera wondering what to do next.

Back, "the countries will be announced in random order".


GREENROOM
As a filler, Timur goes to the green room and interviews Australia, asking them why they are taking part. Volodymyr later also goes to the greenroom and interviews Manel from Spain. After the quick chat, we get the snippet of the song. The next artist to be interviewed is Lucie from the UK. Timur asks her how her experience of X-Factor has helped her for tonight. Volodymyr then moves on to Francesco Gabbani. It could be that they arm wrestle since "he's stronger than he looks!". The gorilla also gets a nod. We need to know more about the gorilla's movement.

Timur is then back informing us that that was three of the big five and Ukraine. If it weren't for him ...


JAMALA (AGAIN)
Jamala passionately performs another song (unfortunately we did not note the title) alone on stage. Dressed in what looks like a white poncho with multi-colored fringes.


VERKA SERDUCHKA
We start seeing views of Kyiv and a Ukrainian flag fluttering, the camera pans out and we see that it is being held by none other than Verka! Not to spoil it for you who are reading - you must watch this! It is actually quite funny! It's basically a clip of Verka and her mother, together with some other friends and family getting into comic situations in different parts of Kyiv and also a visit to Dolce & Gabbana.


VOTE WRAP UP
Apparently people from all over the world are voting! I thought it was only Europe and Australia but maybe they know something we don't! Only 60 seconds left. "All acts desperately want to be the new champion!" Who comes up with this? Oleksander and Volodymyr then start the countdown in Ukrainian from 10-6 and English from 5-Stop Voting Now! Again *eye roll*


INTERVIEW JAMALA
It's a bit confusing which microphone to use since apparently the one Jamala is holding is for singing, not talking - or so Volodymyr thought. We're therefore not sure what questions will actually be asked - or if Jamala is actually interested in answering them.

Another reminder of the artists which have performed tonight.


JAMALA
Oleksander and Volodymyr are on stage and they remind us of last year when Jamala won. She will be with us tonight with a special version of her song. Before that however, we see a montage of the voting and the 12 points to Ukraine.

9 dancers surround Jamala who is centre stage. From her nine roots are projected, each reaching a dancer. String instruments feature more heavily in this version of the winning song. Jamala does not move from the centre of the stage. No tree bursting out of her this time.


VOTING GUIDELINE
Let us just say that French does not seem to have been Volodymyr's best subject at school. Once we get the usual spiel of how to vote, and something which should resemble French, we go to the first recap of the 18 competing songs.


ITALY
Henrik is requesting some cleaners on stage. We do not know what happened and probably don't want to ask.

It seems we have a few minutes before we can continue so since apparently Jan Ola Sand has many jokes, we go to him. He's not ready yet but he'll have some for later. We're nearly done with this delay, and Henrik is asking the audience to help with the dance.

Performance: Francesco is delivering it today. With his cheeky smile he's making sure the people at home will want to jump up and dance with him. There are many shots where the audience is involved, and since it will be the fan zone you know there will be plenty of volunteers to be seen on tv. Although it was practically a given before we even stepped a foot in Kyiv, the more we go on, the less likely it is that anyone can take the trophy away from him.


UNITED KINGDOM
Since we've already seen the (Italian) postcard we can go straight to the song. However we would if we could. The United Kingdom's shell is not possible to get set up in 40 seconds, which means that the UK will have to come after a break.

This is taking a very long time so Henrik is informing that as in Stockholm, these will be 1 minute snippets of the Jury Final rehearsal. Timur is now taking over since we have "tecnical issues". He has "many questions in this emergency card". The poor guy doesn't really know what to do - it's a very long break. He therefore goes back to Alex who wants to thank his mum, but Timur says he should also thank his "daddy". Well now!

Performance: Visually this is working extremely well - could it be that the UK appear to have actually understood how to stage a Eurovision performance? Surely not! Lucie does not appear to only be the 26 year-old she is. She may be saving herslef slightly vocally in order to be able to belt out later on in the jury final however by no means failing to deliver. The only comment we could make would be that the tattoo on her right arm should be covered up but since it hasn't been yet all week, it is unlikely to be later on.


SPAIN
Spain's postcard isn't ready so they're showing Italy's postcard now. In fact, all postcards from now on are going to be Italy. It's Francesco being in a postcard with all different Francesco's (as a waiter, as a chef, as a dining guest). The fun and playfull character that he is exudes here. What Manel's postcard will be will be anyone's guess. Apparently for tonight's jury rehearsal they'll just show Italy's postcard for all countries.

Don't be fooled, this is still as wrong as it always was, we're just getting used to it more. If this was the first time we'd be seeing it the comments might be a bit different. The group still seems like they should be a supporting band rather than actually in the competition but it is what it is. Manel pokes out his tongue to the audience during the chorus. Not sure we wanted to see that.


LATVIA
Latvia's postcard is a mixture of some of the members doing rope skipping, make-up powder tasting and roof-top sightseeing.

Agnese seems to be taken by surprise that the camera is on her. I'm sure she's done this before but oh-kay. Vocally we've had better and the backing is taking over. The group are using as much of the stage as is left due to all the props but there is possibly a bit too much going on on stage. Sometimes less is more.


SLOVENIA
Omar wants to seduce you with sunglasses. He's visiting the Sports Palace where he took part in 2005 and relives some of his memories there. He then finds a cafe to have well earned drink. Hope it's not spiked. He'll need all of his wits after Armenia.

And it's already nearly over! Omar said that his experience might help him over some of the younger competitors since he has learnt things over his career such as flirting with the camera's etc. He clearly can sing and the staging complements him very well. There are some shots which could have been better reviewed but again, we need to see them with a full audience. At the end of the day, he is confident and knows what he wants - it's just a question of if the people at home want the same thing.


ARMENIA
Artsvik is in an air balloon. Not a warning for hot air though. Nice vistas of Armenia in the background.

Still sticking to the claim that this song could have done so much better with more dancers. The mystical emotion from the music video is missing from the stage performance. Vocally you can't fault her but the backing dancers are (or she is) not always in correct place so some visuals are a bit of a miss. The ending also has had a change to it. No longer is the digital eagle coming from Artsvik herself but the screen goes black and the eagle from the darkness. Not sure we approve of the change. It will still qualify however.


CYPRUS
Hovig has his head down, but then looks straight into the camera. We see him hanging in the park with his bros but also practicing hard on the dance moves. He's having fun while doing it.

This started off as being quite cheesy and bad but over the past week Hovig must have really practices his choreography and it is now looking quite good on tv. He is also singing quite well, another case of 'bringing it when it counts' and answering his critics from the first rehearsals. Also, coming after the Czech Republic is not hurting his chances. Closing the song the backdrop no longer sees a digital Hovig in mid-air, again, very good move since it did not work. With this new package, it is a likely qualifier.


CZECH REPUBLIC
Martina decided to drive to Czech TV's studio and discuss her participation with the delegation team. They then sit outside drinking juice and celebrating their inevitable win in Kyiv. Martina practices a bit in the studio, but you know she's already won... or so the postcard says.

Well, we forgot about this. Lindita has some competition for Barbara Dex. Fierce competition. This unfortunately just does not work. The colours are just no, the golden jump-suit, the half-naked people in the backdrop ... vocally Martina is reasonable enough but unfortunately we cannot see how this can turn up enough votes to see the final.


BREAK
Oleksander and Volodymyr once again flog the app. They both appear to know the inside of a gym and in this rehearsal they're only wearing tight fitting t-shirts. Very pleasing to the eye.

Break-bumper again. And Timur has nestled with fake Finland-artist (aka volunteers).

Timur is doing some emogic (emoji + magic, get it?). It goes all downhill from here as the rehearsal grinds to a halt. Some tech guy jumps into frame to hand something. Oh. They're re-doing it now. The mic seemed dead. that's been fixed now. The bit doesn't go down any better second time round. *sigh*

Luckily he now doesn't dwell and moves on to Moldova's booth. More of the knowledge tidbits. This time a relevant one - they refer to Sergej's YouTube meme-fame as the epic sax guy. And now it's Martina Bárta's turn.


ICELAND
Svala is siting on hexagonal mirrors. She didn't break any though. So she can go home and sip some coffee and sing a bit in her home studio.

Although looking like some character from a superhero comic (we're not sure which side of good she'd be on however) Svala is on point with her vocals today. Hopefully the same will be true tonight when the juries will be viewing. She does look quite lonely on stage though but add a large dancing audience and it should be fine. There are a number of wide shots and she's playing around with that cape like I used to when I was dancing around my room also pretending I was on the Eurovision stage. Good times. After a couple of years out, could this see the return of Iceland to the final?


MOLDOVA
The guys are out for a quick walk and then they go and select vinyl records. They end in a restaurant and clink their wine glasses. Then they're in Kyiv, performing for the gathered crowd.

The question we're all asking ourselves, are all three skirts going to work. We know the guys have been solid throughout the rehearsal week and their confidence is showing. They feel at ease on stage. Solid. And YES! All three skirts worked. And also the choreography is getting much better, the team must have been practicing a lot during their time here. A good reaction from us and Europe (and Australia) will likely agree.

POLAND
The Polish postcard shows the Kasia with the dogs. She's the one who let them out!!! After she decided she doesn't need them back, she goes to listen to a rehearsal of a classical concert.

The violinist behind Kasia is a bit more visible than before and there are more shots of him too. Kasia is still trying to escape from her dress but the pressure must be doing something for her since she is belting this out well - or it could just be the post-Demy effect. Kasia was in the right place again when the doves fly out from each side of her. A good reception is heard.

GREECE
Demy is in her hotel room, sipping a coffee. Next she's walking in a park as she spots some dancy guys she quite fancies. But she's not deciding yet. She first wants to explore the Greek country side a bit.  But yeah, in the TL-lamp hallway she's brought them along.

Demy still looks like a dear in headlights when the song starts. At the beginning of the first chorus the vocals go quite wrong. She tries to recover but the damage has been done. There is a very wide shot when Demy gets off the podium which works fine but then the waterfall projection Demy is very close up - a bit too close, you can practically see her womanhood! No one needs to be seeing that on a family tv show! Messy end to the song and not a great response.


BREAK
Oleksandr and Volodymyr are seeing that the social media is being whipped into frenzy. They're now reading fake tweets. Not telling you lot what they are, but they do remind the viewers of the hashtags are.


PORTUGAL
Smattering from the press centre as Salvador seems to have managed to get a postcard produced. We see him in Lissabon. Smiling a lot, but also singing and riding the tram. First performance for him on stage.

And the first time we actually see Salvador and not his sister Luísa singing. He's dressed in a black suit with black shirt and red handkerchief in left pocket. He's also wearing his accreditation but that is likely to be taken off during the show - unless we have another 2016 Moldovan dancer moment. The vocals are decent enough however they probably would have been better if he had been doing the rehearsals since in some areas they are not the best. However this simple song gains a huge reception here and it is likely to have the same in Europe.


AZERBAIJAN
Dihaj gets some cheers from the press center. She's out in the streets, but then visiting her favourite spots: Where she likes to rehearse, where she likes to hang out with her friends, where she likes to get tattooed. We also get to meet her kid (?).

Diana has her covered in a black tightened scarf which is the first time we've seen this. She is trying to be softer on the fake walls while she's banging them however it makes her looks uncertain of her strength when the song demands her to be confident in herself. Once again, amusement at the 'horse-man' having a fit on the ladder while "thorns" is being written on the wall. Azerbaijan always manages to pull stuff when needed however. The whole show is looking a lot better than what we've seen previously and again another good reaction from the gathered (fan)press.


FINLAND
Buildings seem to be sparse in Finland. The two have found some urbex site where we can see them promenading through the abandoned rooms. Oh, and of course a piano is being played.

Leena is pitch-perfect again. Even though we mainly know the show from back in UMK, it's simplicity and harmony is all it needs. It draws you in, making you want silence in the room in order to be able to appreciate it in its entirety. The camera shots being used have been clearly chosen and they bring much to the table. There is a huge applause by almost everyone present. It would be an injustice if this did not make it to Saturday.


BREAK
Oleksandr and Volodymyr are still trying to flog the Eurovision app, and its amaaaaazing features: Voting, downloading the songs and finding bios and lyrics. They just still have to mention the telephone number and you'd be forgiven to think that you've accidentally switched to a teleshopping channel. After the break bumper, Timur is quickly introducing some of the countries that already have performed. Georgia, Australia, Sweden and Albania. He tells a few politically correct facts about these.

Oleksandr and Volodymyr introduce Norma John, and thus the Finnish post card.


MONTENEGRO
Slavko is a theatre animal and shows off his spiritual home. But he's also excited as drawings of his Eurovision outfit are being made. Dancing, performing in the theatre. It's all part of who he is.

One thing you can't fault Slavko on, is his attention to the fans and his willingness to do any piece of PR he can. For his performance however, well, the beginning starts off harmless enough but there are too many elements which do not seem to make Eurovision sense. Yes we know the fans love it, however the juries will not look favorably on this entry and the regular Joe's at home will need a reason to vote for this. The vocals are not great and the spinning pony tail is still as distracting as ever. We will have to wait and see what happens with this entry.


BELGIUM
Blanche is wearing a lacy dress in the first shot. She's still a schoolgirl, so we get to see that. We also get to see that she has to juggle school with being an up and coming artist. So lots of press and gig-shots. She looks frightened in the live shot just before she's on.

Blanche is dressed in black, like her heart. The camera work is a bit shoddy, a lot of frontal shots and many many wide shots. Vocals are what we have got used to. She still doesn't look at the camera when she should. The robotic arm movements are still there but a wide camera angle helps mitigate the issue - slightly. This is however her best performance since we've been here. And there was an applause in the press centre to encourage it.


ALBANIA
Lindita shows us her fingered heart. Lots of cuts here: she's dancing performing, working out, enjoying the Albanian country side while jogging, fitting her dress, singing, playing violin... she's multi-faceted of course. Let's hope her performance is up to scratch.

Who is Lindita trying to fool with that white veil? The whole ensemble is debatable. Could this be a contender for Barbara Dex? Forgetting the attire, Lindita is singing well and the backing singers compliment her rather than overpower. The backdrop visuals may not be as appealing as some other entries' but this package seems to be getting slicker than we had seen it before - or it could be just the problem of having seen it multiple times that you just get used to it.

AUSTRALIA
Australia's Isaiah gets up - he overslept probably. And speeds in his car to his next gig. Everyone's already left (we never get to see the audience at the gig place) but they decide to shoot him performing anyway. He reaches out to us before he too appears in the now familiar TL-lamp hallway.

For the first time since we've been here, Australia has actually followed Georgia on stage. A more-confident Isaiah is trying his best but there is something missing still. It's a decent enough package with the singer connecting with the camera and vocally pretty decent but the visuals are slightly distracting - especially the one commented before when Isaiah gets swallowed by his own eye-ball. Luke-warm reception in the press centre, cheering mainly heard by the Aussie fanpress.


GEORGIA
Georgia's postcard then. Tako Gachechiladze wants us to know she's very much into transparent fabrics. It's all about make-up and fashion with her. But also about her as a singer/performer. So we see her in the studio. The TL-lamp laden hallway is the recurring theme for ALL the participants it seems.

A big pause before the song however - who wasn't ready for this? The fog is now on stage and we start closing in on Tako. Her hair still seems to be a bit of a mess, maybe she's half-way through getting it ready for tonight when it actually counts. Her vocals however are here and present. Girl can sing. Visually, like many others, this needs a large audience to be present to make it more appealing but but grand dramatic show is already enough to get most of the visual across. Another likely qualifier.


SWEDEN
Robin is being shown as he prepares but also during his pass-times, being on a motorbike. Next he suits up and finally readies himself with his dancing cronies in a TL-laden hallway.

Robin is dressed in his favourite fitted suit while the backing dancers are again in their grey/black combo. Slight error on the lighting of the front two dancers when the treadmills work them however this was quickly rectified - but noticeable. That however seems to be the only mistake made. Robin is looking like he's enjoying his time and the dancers are on form. No real worries for this entry.


16:18
They thank Sweden in their best and almost cute Ukraidish. Next they acknowledge the fans.
They banter on for a bit. Timur is going to be the greenroom Cinderella. Since he's the Eurovision nerd. Or so it is claimed.

Next they give an overview of the countries taking part in this semi final. They also mention the Eurovision app and tell the viewers not to vote just yet.

After it is established that Kyiv indeed is ready, the first postcards roll.

16:17
An out of breath Monatik announces the hosts and now we get to see them (Oleksandr Skichko.
Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko) for the first time. They of course say 'Good Evening Ukraine and Europe' as well as the now more familiar 'Australia'. Planet Earth also gets a mention. Though it is morning over there. You can't claim that you haven't been informed. As a side note, we don't know which is which, and to try to explain who exactly of the three is doing what over a rolling blog is like trying to explain Australia taking part in Eurovision: A futile exercise.

16:14
It took a while for the repeat to start. In the beginning of the dance act a female dancer dressed in white has the spotlight on her and this goes on and off a couple of times before Monatik appears from behind her. The female dancers are all clad in white while the male ones are in black. In total we count five female dancers and three male. "Heads are spinning!" If you say so dear. It's not the worst opening act we've seen.

16:09
Repetition of the opening act and the hosts this time will actually come in.

16:06
Monatik : Spinning - The first dance of the event. Monatik Sergeyovich is the full name of the artist. There are a number of dancers on stage with him. He thanks Eurovision Song Contest 2017 and then introduces the presenters.

16:04
Young girl dressed in Ukrainian traditional garb falls into screen. More Ukrainian female beauties of different ages all dressed in traditional garb from different areas of Ukraine end up gracing us with their presence. They represent the diversity of Ukraine. Doesn't last very long however and we are soon in the arena.

16:04
Stand by everyone!

16:03
We're getting clearance from the track that they're slowly getting ready!

16:00
Henrik is explaining what is going to happen - he seems quite excited about it all. We're not 100% sure what he's going on about but from what we heard even though now there's only 7 (somethings) when there was 25 (somethings) he doesn't mind because he's still getting paid.

15:58
We are a couple of minutes late but that is fine, gives us more time. There are some postcards which aren't ready so we're going to have Italy instead "because they paid the most money" Henrik informs.

15:56
Jon Ola Sand is there.
Henrik warns us with the final countdown.

15:55
Platforms are being wheeled on and off the stage... The press center is a lot more busy than it has been for the past week. It's almost as if something is about to happen.

Day 5 - 2nd Run Through : SWE / GEO / ALB / AUS / BEL

BELGIUM

Blanche is on screen before she starts her song. She does not seem very confident or happy. Dressed in a white number with embroidered butterflies, she starts her song quite badly unfortunately. For a song which was so praised prior to the contest (or rather, prior to the preview parties) it is falling like a lead balloon. She looks nervous, talks her way through the song, is robotic in the very few movements she needs to do and has areas where she actually seems to be in the wrong key. This to me needs a miracle.

2nd run - Well, more of the same really. Not much more to say - without ending up being unnecessarily mean. I know, I know, hasn't stopped me before, but it's like kicking Bambi just after he aw his mother being shot.

3rd run - Well, it actually can improve! Slightly, but improvement none the less. Blanche seems to be less traumatised by the stage and there seems to be a bit of better camera work. Not sure what was said during the long pause between the runs but they should keep it up! Maybe they've been showing funny cat videos on youtube or something! That always cheers me up when I'm having murderous thoughts (basically, my whole time in the press centre up to now has been watching funny cat videos).


AUSTRALIA

Oh Isaiah! Not really sure how to take this. Vocally he's ok, not giving me goosebumps but adequate enough. The staging is pretty simple and I'm not sure what Sasha was supposed to be choreographing since there isn't much going on but I guess SBS thought it's worth the money. Isaiah stands on a platform which also turns which he uses in part of the song before stepping off in order to use a bit more of the stage but, just like a kitten not happy with big open spaces, he returns to the comfort of the platform to end.

2nd run - Slightly dodgy camera angle meant that for the first line of the second verse we didn't see the singer at all. In the middle eight there is a shot where the backdrop (which throughout the song involves many Isaiahs) has real Isaiah being 'swallowed' by digital Isaiah's left eyeball. Not sure what to think of that. Another decent run through but could this possibly be the Aussie's first NQ?

3rd run - You know you're going to enjoy it when you know it's starting by Henrik saying "pyro!" And there you have it - pyro curtain from ceiling, pyro spurts from the floor ... what more could you want?


ALBANIA

Hmm... well... She begins dressed in a white shimmery number with veil and all. Veil gets removed early on (thankfully) and then she is free to belt out her number at will! And at will it is, since she decided not to in a section the chorus. Let us just say it did not seem to light many people alight here. The backdrop is very busy with those ships from the music video. Unfortunately not really seeing this fighting for a top 10 spot.

2nd run - She sang the full song this time, however the vocals are not great. We know she can do better. She looks smiley though so she can't think she's doing that badly.

3rd run - There's heavy fog on stage! And it actually works quite well to be honest. In fairness, I do personally like it, but I realise I might not be in the majority here - and in the semi-final which people are saying is the harder one (although from the first rehearsals this may not be the case) it will need to pull a lot of cats out of bags in order to be performed on Saturday night. That is all. Next, Australia.


GEORGIA

Bless. Tamara asks a couple of questions in the beginning of her song. We would also ask, "Who told you that that hair was acceptable?" Clad in a red cape before the first chorus, this gets removed to reveal a breast-accentuating number in skin and red. Vocally though she is flawless and this is not an easy piece to belt out. Staging and camera is working well with the main hues being red and white with some black accentuating. Georgia is delivering a package and Europe will be very willing to accept I believe. Two songs down, two goodn's.

2nd run - Apparently we're not allowed to see this one. Or someone forgot to press the button to show it in the press centre. Whichever one it is - this is not on!

3rd run - The cape is no longer closed - therefore you can see the dress from the beginning, or maybe you always could. I'm not very good at this observation stuff. Learn what your talents are and work on what you could improve.

Clap clap, it's over for today for Georgia, but due to "what we like to call, the Sasha syndrome" (I told you Henrik is on fire!) we now have Albania. We should have Australia, but we instead have Albania. Sasha is referring to Swedish choreographer Sacha Jean-Baptiste who is the choreographer for both Georgia and Australia and therefore cannot be in the viewing room and in the arena at the same time.


SWEDEN

Robin needs to talk to someone in make-up. He looks very shiny - which I guess is to be expected when you have a bazillion watts of lighting on your face ... but still, no one likes shoddy work. The choreography is a copy-paste job of Melodifestivalen so you can't really fault it since he's been practicing since mid-last year. Vocally I wouldn't say he is the strongest but he keeps himself up there and he is representing Sweden so that also gives him points - at least from the eurofans. Not being too bad on the eye can also only work in his favor. Will it qualify? Quoting our dear Verka Serduchka, "it's not a question".

2nd run - "What can you say - fucking beautiful!" Not my words but those of floor manager Henrik von Zweigbergk. We agree sir! We agree!

3rd run - Henrik is on fire! "Applause, bow and off!" Someone is running a tight ship here and ain't taking no backtalk from no one! Another good round from Robin and team, no falling off treadmills, no missing cues, no looking into wrong camera's ... oh well, at least there's Hovig to look forward to later.


Before we start

Well! To be fair to Roger, and to have a possibly different opinion, it is now my time to blog! Contain your excitement dears! But back to business. Let us get ready to see who has improved, who has stayed the same, and who has clearly had a mental breakdown since realising that they may be a bit out of their depth in this contest! Oh Eurovision, how we love you so! Let the games begin - and may the odds be ever in your favour!

Day 1 - SWE-GEO-ALB-AUS

AUSTRALIA

So, what will Isaiah be sitting on? He said it will be something he's never sat on before...

And it's a round bit if moderately elevated podium that rotates. So that was an anti-climax. Hoping it will do something else in later run throughs.

Towards the end here there is a great overhead shot, with the round podium in the middle and some great lighting/graphics. Other than that this is all a bit meh. And there are some distracting close-ups of Isaiah on the backdrop.

I take that back, some of the images of him look really good. But this one disturbing moment which zooms in on his eye.

He's dressed in black with a long grey coat, for those who care. And he's in fine voice.

Final run through - now we have pyro. A whole damn pyro curtain, and then some.

Now - lunch!


ALBANIA

They've swapped rehearsal order with Australia. Something to do with a choreographer.

Some graphical elements from the video, ships in the sky, clocks and dials. And for those of and old-fashioned persuasion - backing vocalists in view!

Lindita is clearly feeling the song. But she's also clearly not a morning singer. The backings are great though.

Still, the main problem is the lack of actual song. Last place maybe?

GEORGIA

Tamara centre stage, starting with mic stand before she starts getting more physical with her singing. Lots of red, fairly non-descript lighting and graphics.

But yeah, start #2 *and* red/black staging. Ouch.

Fashion update: In jeans and a t-shirt, so presumably not her final outfit. But for the second run through she was in a red cape. But not really a superhero cape. More like a net curtain.

She can sing though, and lovely backing vocals too.

SWEDEN

And we're off on time. There's no sound on the screens here (told you so!), but we have a picture and - gasp! - it's just like the MF performance.

Sartorial note: Robin forgot his socks.

Those of you with a certain inclination will be disappointed to learn that there are no steps for Robin to ascend as he enters the stage, resulting in a less enjoyable rear view.

We now have sound, and it's sounds just fine (another shock). The lighting is maybe a tad pinker than in MF, but other than that you're know what you're getting here.

*****
Good morning from the press centre.  It's the first morning of rehearsals and I will be blogging my impressions today. They come with the usual caveat that I am generally wrong.

Now let's see if we start on time. Five minutes to go...

Day 7 - Sweden, France, Spain

SPAIN
Backing vocals/dancers are wearing the same outfits as in the first rehearsal while Barei is wearing a golden number with her trademark black and white high top sneakers. The stage goes dark when Barei has her 'fall' but we're so used to it now we don't bat an eye lid. Vocally not the best performer and not expecting too many points to be awarded but sure some will be gathered no doubt.

Camera work is still debateable and the split mirror image just needs to be binned. It might have worked in 1996 but in 2016 it really does not. Althoguh it is used in the Georgian song (#repeatedly), at least there it fits the song. Here there is no need for the effect. When will rtve learn?


FRANCE
Amir is still looking too alone on that big stage. We understand that he is looking for something and it makes sense that he is by himself but the song needs backing dancers and the cheeky smiley clapping that we saw in the preview video. The current set up is setting him up for another disappointing result for the French Republic. Vocally also it is still a bit shady. The high notes are not being hit, this could be due to him saving his voice, or rather, likely to be, but the whole performance unfortunately seems to have a missing element to it all. Will it be possible that France learns from this year (great song, not enough oomph) and last (medium song, too much oomph) and find the correct combination next time round?

Amir seems to be struggling finding the cameras and barely ever manages to look into them. Even the camera angles still seem 'not right'. The table around me would not be surprised if the song ends up on the right hand side of the board on Saturday.
 


SWEDEN
Although unfocused, it appeard that Frans was clearing his nose when the first notes started. At least he made a bit of an effort withis outfit although it is exactly the same as that he wore when winning Melodifestivalen. This song has about as much appeal as a soggy biscuit. Even the gathered europress could hardly gather the strength for a mild-mannered clap. It will do well but we would prefer it didn't.

Second run-through and it is not getting any better - if anyone is sorry it should be us for ourselves. Måns is in interview room 2, which is much more interesting than what is happening on stage.

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.

Day 2 Preview - from Czech Republic to Sweden

The second day of rehearsals will naturally follow the countries set to perform in the second half of the second semi-final, which means we're in for a busy day with a number of performances to look forward to.

Indeed we start with three entries that we're very eager to see on stage. Czech Republic are on first at 10:00, and we're looking forward to finally getting a proper live performance of 'I Stand' from Gabriela Gunčíková. We've been given absolutely no impression of how they're staging this, but as long as she's not sitting for the whole song, we're happy.

Czech Republic will be followed by Cyprus, and it'll be interesting to see how their vocals come across tomorrow. We've seen a number of live performances in which the lead vocal of Francois Micheletto have seemed either strained or weak, and this is a powerful song that will need a vocal to match if it's to climb up the scoreboard on Saturday night. Immediately after Cyprus we will have Austria. Austria are certainly one of the most borderline qualifiers and, even though we've seen a live performance of it in the national final, somewhat of an unknown quantity. Zoe's been practising walking on a treadmill for the past couple of months, and it's going to be very interesting to see how this one comes across. Cute and charming? Or twee and precocious. We'll do our best to judge.

We're also really looking forward to seeing what Azerbaijan come up with tomorrow - they're certainly not known for their understated stagings. And later in the day at 3:00 we have Iceland. Now, when Russia came on the screens a few hours ago, the first thing that crossed the minds of everyone in the press centre was 'hang on, these projections look like Iceland's did in the national final'. Have Iceland come up with something else, or is Greta's gimmick going to wind up looking rather so-so after Russia? If so, it could really hurt the Icelandic chances.

Towards the end of the day we have Malta, who are almost certainly going to come up with a performance that is BIGGER THAN EUROPE. And Ira will be followed by Frans, the hosts having been allocated a rehearsal position at the beginning of the week, presumably to fill a gap with a delegation that are already present in the host city. We can only assume that we'll see a repeat of the Melodifestivalen performance from Sweden.

That's it! Join us (as the Danes would have said) from 10:00 in the press centre tomorrow, and as always, feel free to ask us any questions in the comments below or on Twitter.