Blue stage, pink roses
Poor Mikolas, get well soon
Maneki-neko
Bringing you all the news and gossip from the rehearsals in Basel
Sunday, 29 April 2018
Also aboard for Belarus to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
To me this felt like a 70's choreography (if you can call standing still and walking for a little bit choreography), it was a kind of ABBA style in the beginning, with two of the artists singing towards each other, and a very "Dallas"/80's way to divide the picture into three separate parts and other such effects.
We've now had four run throughs from Bulgaria, all very similar to me and vocally quite stable. Yair is over at the Israeli press conference not being a stupid boy - hopefully!
Estonia
I got winner vibes from this the first time I heard it. Elina's performance, with perfect vocals and the impressive dress effects (similar to what we have seen earlier, but with a few nice variants added) has not made those feelings go away.
What struck me during the second and third run through is how huge the stage looks in this performance. It suits the song/dress/Elin(a)!
Belarus
Just back in time to catch some of the lol-iness of Belarus, and my brownie, completely intact - equally amazing! In this performance, I actually thought Alekseev's back was missing at first! But it turned out it was just a rose wound. Such a relief.
To me this felt like a 70's choreography (if you can call standing still and walking for a little bit choreography), it was a kind of ABBA style in the beginning, with two of the artists singing towards each other, and a very "Dallas"/80's way to divide the picture into three separate parts and other such effects.
We've now had four run throughs from Bulgaria, all very similar to me and vocally quite stable. Yair is over at the Israeli press conference not being a stupid boy - hopefully!
Estonia
I got winner vibes from this the first time I heard it. Elina's performance, with perfect vocals and the impressive dress effects (similar to what we have seen earlier, but with a few nice variants added) has not made those feelings go away.
What struck me during the second and third run through is how huge the stage looks in this performance. It suits the song/dress/Elin(a)!
Belarus
Just back in time to catch some of the lol-iness of Belarus, and my brownie, completely intact - equally amazing! In this performance, I actually thought Alekseev's back was missing at first! But it turned out it was just a rose wound. Such a relief.
First rehearsals: Belarus to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
My pre-opinion: This is the best vocal harmony of the contest, a bit like O'G3NE but with a slightly better song and a much more eager broadcaster. Are they eager enough to take it all the way (if it's even possibly with this song)? Let's see.
First run-through: Similar to last year, a lot of quick camera changes and split screens. Venetian blinds Power Point transitions. Not for epileptics. They seem to have thought this through and hired Christer Björkman's best staging directors, I'm sure the younger attention-deficit viewers will love this. The vocals sound higher pitch than the studio version.
Trey stops the second runthrough after five seconds and says he's sorry.
Actual second run-through: More focus on Zhana (who looks a bit out of place and wears too much lipstick). They're standing on three platforms that look like they're made of scaffolding (not sure if this is their final form), and change positions, a bit like Modern Folk Üçlüsü & Aysegül Aldinç. Overall, a solid rehearsal.
I've skipped the rest of it to watch the Israeli press conference, and no, I wasn't a stupid boy, although the songwriter wore a "stupid bøy" t-shirt, and this kind of diacritic misuse annoys me to no end, but it was fun and Netta owned it.
Estonia
My pre-opinion: When I first saw this, I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did. That's not exactly promising, and knowing the whole dress saga, not much is going to change. This kind of thing should have enough fans to take to Saturday though, one would think.
First run-through: As expected, an improved version of the Eesti Laul performance, in a darker, larger stage. The dress is centred in the round stage, which suits it well. Some nice patterns on it, including flowers and a swirly thing like ice cream n ithe end. Elina herself? She's good vocally, but I didn't notice her much, attention goes to the dress.
Second run: Much of the same, she's giving more effort and sounding good. Not much to say, this will do as well as this song can. My main reaction is that I really want ice cream.
Belarus
My pre-opinion: I've yet to see a good performance of this, but the one that matters hasn't happened yet and I'm not ruling this out completely. Alekseev has the face to appeal to a lot of teens, and the song is 'basic' in a catchy and comforting way, and if done right, may slip into the final in this whole mess. Either way, I'm very much looking forward to see what kind of prop they've come up with this year - can they top a holographic baby and a futuristic airboat?
First run: LOVE IT. Alekseev pulls out a rose, gives it to the camera(!), camera gives it to a Flamenco dancer. Flamenco dancer shoots it back using a crossbow, then breakdances. Press centre is in hysterics. This is Eurovision. Wait, there's more. This ends with him on a very high platform revealing a torn shirt in his back and fake blood (or is it crushed roses?). I don't even.
Second run: I'll try to pay attention to the singing this time, the visuals were so distracting I didn't even notice it. Really, the amount of shock was so big that I didn't even steal Elin's unattended brownie. Well it sounds okish, except that he's mumbling the words. Sorry, got distracted again by everything that's going on. His eyebrows have their own choreography on top of everything. And did I mention rose effects on screen? This is loltastic. I Love Belarus.
Third run: The rose has lost its petals by now so he's just holding a stem, which is actually made of a metal cord with a rather sharp tip, and he nearly pokes himself in the eye. Watch it, Alekseev, we already have too many artists taken to hospital today!
My pre-opinion: This is the best vocal harmony of the contest, a bit like O'G3NE but with a slightly better song and a much more eager broadcaster. Are they eager enough to take it all the way (if it's even possibly with this song)? Let's see.
First run-through: Similar to last year, a lot of quick camera changes and split screens. Venetian blinds Power Point transitions. Not for epileptics. They seem to have thought this through and hired Christer Björkman's best staging directors, I'm sure the younger attention-deficit viewers will love this. The vocals sound higher pitch than the studio version.
Trey stops the second runthrough after five seconds and says he's sorry.
Actual second run-through: More focus on Zhana (who looks a bit out of place and wears too much lipstick). They're standing on three platforms that look like they're made of scaffolding (not sure if this is their final form), and change positions, a bit like Modern Folk Üçlüsü & Aysegül Aldinç. Overall, a solid rehearsal.
I've skipped the rest of it to watch the Israeli press conference, and no, I wasn't a stupid boy, although the songwriter wore a "stupid bøy" t-shirt, and this kind of diacritic misuse annoys me to no end, but it was fun and Netta owned it.
Estonia
My pre-opinion: When I first saw this, I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did. That's not exactly promising, and knowing the whole dress saga, not much is going to change. This kind of thing should have enough fans to take to Saturday though, one would think.
First run-through: As expected, an improved version of the Eesti Laul performance, in a darker, larger stage. The dress is centred in the round stage, which suits it well. Some nice patterns on it, including flowers and a swirly thing like ice cream n ithe end. Elina herself? She's good vocally, but I didn't notice her much, attention goes to the dress.
Second run: Much of the same, she's giving more effort and sounding good. Not much to say, this will do as well as this song can. My main reaction is that I really want ice cream.
Belarus
My pre-opinion: I've yet to see a good performance of this, but the one that matters hasn't happened yet and I'm not ruling this out completely. Alekseev has the face to appeal to a lot of teens, and the song is 'basic' in a catchy and comforting way, and if done right, may slip into the final in this whole mess. Either way, I'm very much looking forward to see what kind of prop they've come up with this year - can they top a holographic baby and a futuristic airboat?
First run: LOVE IT. Alekseev pulls out a rose, gives it to the camera(!), camera gives it to a Flamenco dancer. Flamenco dancer shoots it back using a crossbow, then breakdances. Press centre is in hysterics. This is Eurovision. Wait, there's more. This ends with him on a very high platform revealing a torn shirt in his back and fake blood (or is it crushed roses?). I don't even.
Second run: I'll try to pay attention to the singing this time, the visuals were so distracting I didn't even notice it. Really, the amount of shock was so big that I didn't even steal Elin's unattended brownie. Well it sounds okish, except that he's mumbling the words. Sorry, got distracted again by everything that's going on. His eyebrows have their own choreography on top of everything. And did I mention rose effects on screen? This is loltastic. I Love Belarus.
Third run: The rose has lost its petals by now so he's just holding a stem, which is actually made of a metal cord with a rather sharp tip, and he nearly pokes himself in the eye. Watch it, Alekseev, we already have too many artists taken to hospital today!
Mikolas taken to hospital
I popped over to the press conference for a bit. We had these nice men talking about Mikolas.
They assured us that there is no need for any plan B when it comes to his performance and the acrobatics etc, because plan A is still on.
They assured us that there is no need for any plan B when it comes to his performance and the acrobatics etc, because plan A is still on.
Still aboard - Czech republic to Israel
Israel
I'm scared I'll get hypnotised by the huge amount of "waving cats" (see Yair's post for photo!) on stage right now. But I like it!
The colour theme of the cats (yellow/gold, pink, read, sparkly) goes well with the chicken sounds, reminding me a lot of Easter. Netta was not as convincing as I would have hoped, but it's only the first run through of the first rehearsal yet, still hope for improvement!
There was some improvement second time around, and even more so in the last run through, her confidence came across a lot better towards the end. I'm pleased about that. She also made the whole press centre laugh when she worked wanting more vocals in her earpieces into the lyrics in the beginning of the song the second time. Netta is so cool!
Lithuania
Graphics in black and white of a family and after that a couple dancing, a child kissing another child (in a cute, not creepy way. Too cute in my opinion) is displayed now. Testing testing...
The first run through was surprisingly well received in the press centre. I think people were quite touched by this. To me it was a bit cheesy with the perfect family graphics, but the end was nice. Ieva's husband was suddenly there, held her hand and she sang the last bit in Lithuanian. In the second run through we could see him approaching, I thought the first variant was more effective. The third time was also the see-him-approach-approach, and the Lithuanian rehearsal ended with a husband kissing his wife on the forehead. People around me are loving this song and performance. I'm not convinced.
Czech republic
I'm scared I'll get hypnotised by the huge amount of "waving cats" (see Yair's post for photo!) on stage right now. But I like it!
The colour theme of the cats (yellow/gold, pink, read, sparkly) goes well with the chicken sounds, reminding me a lot of Easter. Netta was not as convincing as I would have hoped, but it's only the first run through of the first rehearsal yet, still hope for improvement!
There was some improvement second time around, and even more so in the last run through, her confidence came across a lot better towards the end. I'm pleased about that. She also made the whole press centre laugh when she worked wanting more vocals in her earpieces into the lyrics in the beginning of the song the second time. Netta is so cool!
Lithuania
Graphics in black and white of a family and after that a couple dancing, a child kissing another child (in a cute, not creepy way. Too cute in my opinion) is displayed now. Testing testing...
The first run through was surprisingly well received in the press centre. I think people were quite touched by this. To me it was a bit cheesy with the perfect family graphics, but the end was nice. Ieva's husband was suddenly there, held her hand and she sang the last bit in Lithuanian. In the second run through we could see him approaching, I thought the first variant was more effective. The third time was also the see-him-approach-approach, and the Lithuanian rehearsal ended with a husband kissing his wife on the forehead. People around me are loving this song and performance. I'm not convinced.
Czech republic
It seems Mikolas did the first run through half heartedly, focusing on *the jump* (a peek over to Yair for the proper English word: somersault) and problems he/they seem to be having with that. Half of the song he didn't even sing. We do however have pink lights, a backpack and a dancer with a trumpet. Second time around is happening now and it's more properly done this time. He survived the acro but lost his glasses in the process (I know the feeling)!
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