República Portuguesa

Postcard: drone shows a line of people getting tested for covid and the band is superimposed in the queue, and the camera zooms in on a positive test result. Kidding! I missed the postcard for this.

First & second run: Maro starting out with a close-up of her face and the camera slowly pans out to show the rest of the girls (all sans covid, one hopes) standing in a semi circle in the front section of the stage. The whole thing is so genuine with the soft clapping throughout and very effective camera interactions, and an intimacy as if they're telling the viewers a story. The word Saudade is featured in the background on both sides of the sun. The blend of vocals is incredible, and everything about this is magical and atmospheric. Another very dark staging with hints of dark green and purple which suits the song like a glove. Maro ends the song alone again. Perfection, wouldn't touch a thing here.

Sun's behavior: 🌔 like with Greece, there's nothing that looks out of place or that a functioning sun would seem to make better. In fact, in the opening part with Maro standing away from it, it looks quite lovely.

Qualification: 👍 in a perfect world this would win in a landslide, but it's a safe and obvious qualifier nonetheless.

 

 

Ελληνική Δημοκρατία

Postcard: a coastal town at night with Amanda superimposed next to a lovely fountain. Seems to be a nice fit to what follows.

First & second run: Amanda hitting every note in the first verse in a dark blue background surrounded by what looks like melted chairs on the floor. There's a very cool effect with the vocals here, as if it's being doubled or echoed in that first part of the song. It's really just her in that white vintage grandmother dress (which looks lovely on her, btw) and the chairs which at one point has the floor creating the effect of them melting slowly. The staging for this is professional with a perfect blend of white lighting and dark blue background, every second of this was thought out. She's making eye contact with the cameras at every close up, and you can tell we're dealing with a pro. The pre-recorded vocals at the last part are complimenting her own vocals and this is really a flawless rehearsal. Wasn't expecting to be as impressed as I was by this first run.

Sun's behavior: 🌔 much like with Austria, you can't tell it's there and when it is it's a seamless integration with the rest of the stage. They did their homework on this one.

Qualification: 👍 duh! Top 3.

PS - Portugal up next

Republik Österreich

Postcard: drone, castle on the coast, nice landscaping, castle at night and band image on wall. Have to be honest, was expecting something a bit more sophisticated or creative than this, especially from a Sanremo/Eurovision powerhouse like RAI.

First run: starts with Lumix standing with Pia in an illuminated circle yelling "what's up Eurovision, are you ready to party? Come on stand up!". Both he and Pia are totally selling this with their energy and chemistry. The staging is very slick, nothing complicated with lots of lights and the circle prop illuminated in red and white (flag pride?) blending in perfectly. Pia's vocal towards the end decided to go rogue, but it doesn't matter, they're so energetic and full of fun and you can tell they enjoy performing together. The audience in the hall will eat this up!

Second run: her vocals in the second run were much better. You can hear Pia interacting with the production at the end, she's so polite and sweet with every comment.

Sun's behavior: 🌞 on its best behavior and works seamlessly with the circle prop and the rest of the lights. You really can't even tell it's there which in its given situation is the best you can hope for.

Qualification: 👍 no way in hell this misses the final. Yes I know, going out on a limb with this prediction, but after train wrecks like Albania and Switzerland and no hopers like Slovenia, Bulgaria and Denmark I think it has very decent chances.

Danmark

Postcard: ooo, beautiful coastal town with lots of pink little houses. It's very sleepy and the band's image seems to disrupt the peace.

First & second run: Miss Reddi starting slow on the piano in a green pantsuit that looks nice in the black background. Her solo seems a little too long to me. Then the stage lights up in reds and blues and you see the ladies doing their thing..oops Miss drummer dropped her stick, but gurl's a pro and she just went right on winging it. The camera shots are all over the place. The vocals were very flat for the first run but vastly improved on the second. Overall it's a very unremarkable rehearsal, not necessarily bad but there's noting that stands out.

Sun's behavior 🌘: yeah, this is where it definitely takes its toll. There are so many long shots and the LED background is solely made up of solid bright colours, so it just looks like a big black blob with no relation to the stage. I think it's a complete distraction from the performance.

Qualification: 👎 same as with Croatia, I can't see this making it.

Republika Hrvatska

Postcard: drone hovering over a nice field, then a castle by day then a castle by night and Mia superimposed on the wall. Quaint.

First run: she's in a pink dress playing a black guitar with three backing dancers interacting amongst themselves to her right, and looking moody. They're doing this movement routine that I don't quite get but the good news is that it distracts from her patchy vocals. Could be nerves. The backing vocals are clearly pre-recorded and helps give it a much-needed lift at the last bit. 

She's still on audio after it ends so she's saying "something was not right with my in-ear", and she's engaged in a techie discussion with the production. She doesn't seem pleased.

Second run: much better vocally. Oh, I just noticed there are parts in Croatian, was she doing this all along? Overall I thought this was improved, but Mia's still complaining about the audio, and she's now saying the recorded backing vocals aren't in sync. She's also not pleased with the Croatian part of the backing vocals, saying they don't come in at the right part of the song. She seems pretty upset at all this, can't say I blame her. There's some push-back from the production about the placing of the pre-recorded backing saying this is what the delegation asked for. 

Ugh, I really like her 💙

Sun's behavior 🌓: not getting in the way too much, as it does a decent lighting job. I don't get the impression it would have made too much of a difference here. In this song's staging it looks like a giant wall allowing specks of light to peep through so perhaps people won't notice that it's broken.

Qualification: 👎 odds say no and I'm inclined to agree based on this.