Happy post semi 1 day for those who celebrate!
I am back in the St. Jakobshalle where I will be watching the first dress rehearsal of semi final 2. I mainly have a view of the (gorgeous) stage but I also see a big TV screen. However, it is expected that many shots will not be visible again.
Having somewhat recovered from the disappointment of Belgium not qualifying yesterday, I am pleased to announce that the mall across the street from the arena has multiple levels and a slide to go down. Of course I had to use it. Jonathan rutscht!
(Picture is mine.)
I will again structure this blog along two main parts, first focusing on solely the performances and secondly on other elements of the show. Last Monday we had to exit the arena after the final participating performance. Likely this will be the case again today. The first dress rehearsal is not broadcasted in the media centre so in that case I will end the blog after Erika came.
Enjoy!
PART 1: The performances
01. Australia
We start with what looks like a TV ad for milkshake and this is carried through the entire performance. In the second verse, an "old lady" called Susan is brought on stage who comes out of the gigantic blender all young and refreshed - much like Go-Jo himself who changes outfit twice and basically loses more and more clothes throughout. Of course the arena does the "Yum yums" when requested. This is insanely goofy and doesn't take itself too seriously and works so well as an opener, but it's also very weird and not for everyone.
02. Montenegro
Nina appears to perform in the cosy atmosphere of her bed sheets or a white version of the handmaids' outfits in the almost eponymous TV series. White is also the dominant colour in the LED projections. She takes it off towards the end to reveal a more simple, elegant outfit. She gives a great performance and is very convincing on screen but nothing much is happening so this will struggle invariably.
There are WiFi issues in the arena so I'm not sure how fast updates are coming through. Thanks for bearing with!
03. Ireland
Emmy performs on top of a space-like platform with her brother at the ground level. In the second chorus they are joined by four dancers. They all wear grey outfits and the LED background alternate between showing a constellation of Laika and what looks more like a space cat rather than a dog. Vocally shaky although she does end on a high note in the most literal sense.
04. Latvia
Very much like the NF performance, if not for two differences: the outfits have changed and makes the six singers look more like elves. In the final bridge a visual effect appears to give them all tails (I didn't get it but people were applauding). The last projection on the LED floor is gorgeous as they end their performance. This is amazingly performed but might be too niche for everyone.
Latvia got the biggest cheer in the hall so far, for what it's worth.
05. Armenia
Parg is all alone on stage, shirtless and vulnerable for a few thousand thirsty gays. <insert The White Lotus meme> He performs on a conveyor belt on the front arch of the stage the entire time. Great camera work and visual effects multiply him on screen and it all looks very slick. Even though not a lot is happening on stage, they make it seem a lot more impressive on the TV feed. Good vocals too and a convincing performer. Positive surprise!
06. Austria
Yes, the whole thing is shown in black and white and in 4:3 rather than 16:9. He performs on a sail boat that gets caught in heavy waters. Amazing camerawork and projections make it look very convincing. JJ performs very well although he is clearly suffering from in-ear issues during this first dress rehearsal. It's more a piece of art cinema rather than a Eurovision performance and the question his how well this will resonate with wider audiences. Vocally it is outstanding but don't expect him to sing the actual high note during the dance break live.
XX. United Kingdom
Oh bless their sweet souls. They really perform the living hell out of this and you can't say they have nothing to work with. Too much, if anything. They start performing on the arch stage against a make-up mirror, walk towards the main stage as they rip off half their dresses and perform there rest of the song on top of a giant chandelier. The LED floor projects people swimming (why??) and very little to no attention was given on how to balance the many tempo changes throughout the song.
The crowd went wild for it though so it might just be me!
07. Greece
I had not rated Asteromata at all before, but I have to say: this was easily the best performance I've seen today. Klavdia is wonderful and features (another!) costume change but a much more elegant and surprising one, at the very end. The combination of LED projections and camerawork is dead-drop gorgeous. Many shots were cut on our screen in the arena, but what we saw looked stunning. A lot of thought has gone into staging this, but will the song be enough too?
08. Lithuania
This doesn't bring anything revolutionary that you haven't seen before in the NF performance. You either like it or you don't, I guess. I love it myself but am very unsure about its chances...
09. Malta
In case there was any doubt what this is about, Miriana performs the first half of the song from a gigantic prop that are open lips (Eurovision 2000 logo style) with on the LED background a pair of open legs - they return in the bridge. It's all very in your face, or rather elsewhere. Subtlety is not in the Maltese glossary for 2025. Of course the bouncing balls return for the final chorus and the performance ends with DIVA NOT DOWN projected on screen. This is totally bonkers and will either go all the way or fail miserably. I'm still torn myself.
10. Georgia
This is also *a lot* but in a very different way. Mariam starts wearing a gigantic silver Linda Wagenmakers-esque outfit as do her four dancers. Midway through they all change outfits (almost everyone in this semi appears to do so) and there is no relation between what Mariam does (singing wonderfully but going nowhere) to the dancers and their seemingly random movements. It's all very incoherent, messy and forgettable.
Almost no one clapped for her and I genuinely feel bad.
XX. France
So many French people in the arena were shouting her name during the postcard and I'm not sure if they love or hate her. I guess it will all depend on this performance.
Louane looks and sounds amazing - very vulnerable and appropriate for the personal message of the song. The sand-like material, that's actually cork so I've heard, keeps falling down from above the stage and it's amazing nothing ends up in her mouth to cause another Loreen confetti stir, which is of course just what we need right now.
Thee is no usage of LED projections whatsoever: everything you see flowing is actually there and Louane is covered in it.
I don't really get why they do any of this but it does work - very loud cheers. Très bien! More French shouting in the arena, but in a positive way. I think?
11. Denmark
A mixed bag if there ever was one. Very nice use of visual effects and even elements in the production. More costume changes, lots of blue and pink. Four dancers that don't really do a lot except for looking like gigantic inflatable dolls you see at car dealerships. Vocally strong but not entirely convincing for me, even though there are many good elements they don't really came together during this first rehearsal. But hey, I never thought Portugal could qualify so yeah.
12. Czechia
Hmm. This is a lot like Denmark actually - for the first time I think the running order doesn't really make sense. Four dancers that appear, disappear and appear again towards the end at the arch stage, costume changes. The white/black LED backgrounds become red during the dance break which is very nice but then revert to what they were before. Many shots were cut from the feed so I would need to see this fully on screen to make up my mind but this also didn't convince me.
13. Luxembourg
I keep being surprised by what I'm seeing as this is actually really good?? Laura starts lying down on the stage but you don't see it at first, it's very well done. She is lifted by her five dancers and then you see the gigantic and gorgeous backdrop of a doll house. Another costume change towards the end at the arch stage reveals a very elegant glitter outfit and her vocal performance is outstanding. Next to Greece this is the biggest positive surprise of the day for me.
14. Israel
Yuval starts centrally on stage, walking further back midway through with her back to the audience towards a gigantic construction covered in diamonds that includes a staircase. She walks up after singing the French lines and stays there for the remainder of the performance. Vocally she's on point and the combination of lighting, projections and camerawork does the trick.
XX. Germany
Tynna yells Eurovision at the beginning of the performance but it only goes downhill from there. From what I can gather in the arena, which does not offer the best sound as the bassline is so intense I keep trembling, she still sounds very unsteady - she might simply not be a great vocalist. That said, the staging is great with giant speakers on stage where Abor plays the cello. There are some sound issues (vocals aside). In the middle and again towards the end three partygoers aka dancers join her below on stage. It's slick and cool yet also surprisingly low energy in the arena.
15. Serbia
We see very little of this performance on screen so I can almost only judge by what I see on stage. Princ has four dancers and, like Red Sebastian before, engages with a version of himself projected on the LED floor at one point. Princ is dragged to the arch stage where he finishes his vocally very much on point performance. This is very Serbian, in a good way.
16. Finland
There are numerous wrong camera shots in the beginning of the performance which is surprising as previous ones were not as obvious. The stage is covered in gigantic beams with lights as Erika gives a performance that, after all the kerfuffle, does not differ as much as what we saw in UMK. She is still alone on stage, walks to different sections of the stage back and forth and of course the giant microphone is still there.
I was always wondering how she got on top of the microphone and she is assisted by two stage hands who run on and off the stage as the microphone is lifted up towards the end. Yes, the microphone still gives off fireworks.
What. A. Closer. Huge reception in the hall too.
All press has to leave the arena afterwards again, so that concludes this blog!
PART 2: The rest of the show
The theme of this show is Eurovision fans and appropriately the semi opens with a montage of Eurovision fans in Basel in which one older gentleman makes several appearances. Of course you see him on stage holding an electrified Eurovision heart logo with the Swiss flag in it, which he has to put down on stage causing a beautiful LED animation. It goes very wrong a few times. It's a rehearsal, so to quote Novi Fosili, this is okay!
We get our first surprise fireworks of the afternoon/night and everyone audibly gasped. You had to be there.
Hazel appears to wear a collection of cd's (remaining Canzone per te singles?) and it doesn't look comfortable at all. She is so confined to what she is wearing and has to say.
As usual, the opening of semi 2 is a lot more understated. After less than seven minutes we're on our way and we see all the props of Australia (the blender!!) dragged on stage. This is so amazing to see but of course we can't make any recordings again so you'll have to take my word for it.
We get a very short break with Hazel after song 3 and after song 4 we get an overview of the phone numbers. The stage workers need a lot of time to clean the stage and set up the complicated Latvian and Armenian props. After the Armenian postcard we are treated to some arena footage as more time is necessary. Again, this is a first dress rehearsal, but of course this needs to be improved for tomorrow.
The first real break is after Austria. We see Hazel attempting a stage dive and how she went to a party for people aged over 60. It's so cute and I love Hazel more and more.
After Georgia we get our second big break. Sandra talks with commentators from Iceland, Denmark and French-language Switzerland - the Icelandic one didn't bother to show for the first rehearsal so we get a stand-in.
After France there is a pretty funny joke of Hazel and Sandra cleaning up "sand" from the French performance as the stage is prepared for Denmark. It is very obviously the first time they tried this and it will likely not make the final show but they do try things all the time and it's wonderful to see.
We get another short break after Israel, mainly for the audience to introduce the third and final non-participating performance.
