A couple of hours ago, the third day of rehearsals began. The final 11 semifinalists will perform for the first time on the Eurovision stage. Like last year, all the 1st rehearsals are closed to the press. However, people can watch a glimpse of them through the official TikTok account of Eurovision.
Estonia🇪🇪
The first country to perform on stage is Estonia. Alika kept her staging pretty much the same. The haunted, self-played piano travelled from Estonia and is a crucial part of the performance, at least at the beginning of the entry. Alika is dressed in a blue outfit with a train. As we read on the Eurovision blog, she utilises the lights and LEDs of the arena. You can actually hear Alika on the TikTok video describing how mesmerised she was by the stage. Seeing her performance, I would probably want a couple of dancers behind her.
Iceland🇮🇸
Iceland is the second country today. Diljá is dressed in a silver outfit with a suit and a grey blouse inside. She also wears silver boots, though the inside of her jacket is orange. Even her nails are silver. The TikTok video and the images on the Eurovision blog allow us to take a look at the graphics of the background. These images show flowers and leaves of different colours. As for her dancing, she is very energetic and moves throughout the stage, a little more than her national final appearance. She may be solo on stage, but she has a prop, which rotates while she lies on it. I’m curious to watch more about her entry and see how she uses the rest of the stage.
Greece 🇬🇷
Greece is the third country. Victor is dressed in shorts, a jacket and a blouse, all of which are beige, whilst his boots are black. Many people on the internet describe him as a scout boy and I have to admit that I can understand why. The outfit resembles a lot of Theodor’s one from Romania, as the Eurovision blog said. The song begins with Victor sitting on the stage before standing up. He is solo throughout the performance thus being in danger of looking bad, if the actual footage, which the viewers will get, doesn’t justify that emptiness. We get some smoke effects and maybe that fills a bit the stage. However, the whole image gets a bit awkward with Victor’s graphics, which show multiple videos of himself. I remember this kind of graphics a couple of years ago, maybe in 2017(?), when they also looked a bit unsuitable for the stage. Nevertheless, his voice sounds tremendous. Generally speaking, the Greek entry is a big question mark for this year. The song missed a great opportunity to get an audience when it was released due to the continuous postponements, but also there is blame to the absence from the pre-parties. Even now, despite getting the first snippet, the faith of the country at the semifinal is unsure and we have to wait more for a verdict.
Poland 🇵🇱
Poland is the fourth country to perform today. Blanka begins her entry by wearing a purple-orange dress. At some point, one dancer rips the dress off only to reveal a different one of the same colours but with glitter on it. The outfit completes a pair of golden high heels. On stage, there are four dancers – two males and two females – each of who wears different clothes. At the beginning of the performance, Blanka gets her microphone from a dancer. As for the graphics, there are a couple of them, but the most eye-catching is the view of a beach and of course, the hands, which copy her dancing routine. In the TikTok video, you see that Blanka has a dance break when she dances solo and it reminds me of Chanel from Spain. We get some pyros by the end of the last part of the song too. Also, the backing vocalist doesn’t appear on the stage, at least from the footage we get. I believe it is obvious that the artist has worked a lot in her staging and that is why she has an advantage in the semifinal.
Slovenia 🇸🇮
The next country to take the stage is Slovenia. The band wears colourful outfits as usual and we can say that their entry is pretty much the same as all the previous appearances at the pre-parties. And why someone would change something that seems to work? All the members of the band are full of energy and we can see that they end their appearance, as usual, together – you can watch this part in the gallery on the Eurovision blog. Despite the absence of props, the band delivers their entry flawlessly and I’m sure they can peruse the viewers to vote for them.
Georgia 🇬🇪
The next country is Georgia. Iru wears a two pieces white outfit; a white skirt with a train and a same colour top with some kind of a cape. The outfit completes a pair of silver heels and an accessory of the same colour on her arm. Ah… what a voice!? From the first second of the TikTok video, I am stunned by Iru’s vocal abilities. Throughout her appearance, she stands on a black platform and she actually doesn’t move at all. At the beginning of the song, there are some wind machines, which move Iru’s cape. The graphics in the background show mainly a storm and also some hands. I can say that the aesthetic of the entry is on point.
San Marino 🇸🇲
The next country is San Marino. Piqued Jacks took their national final performance and made it to fit on a bigger stage. All the members are dressed in black – except for the bass player’s trousers. However, the most eye-catching outfit is that of the lead singer, who wears a suit full of glitter, which glows under the stage lights.
Austria 🇦🇹
The country we waited all day for is next. Austria with Teya and Salena. Teya wears black trousers, with a black jacket and boots, whilst Salena is in white. Both artists wear red blouses and gloves. On the stage, there are 4 female dancers who dance along with the duo. The synchronisation of their moves is really good and the presentation of the song resembles the one in the pre-parties. The graphics in the background depict people dancing. However, at the end of the entry, there is a picture of Edgar Allan Poe. I think that the duo has worked their dancing routine and their voices have no problem even with the high notes.
Albania 🇦🇱
The next country is Albania. Albina and Familja Kelmendi are all dressed in black, however, there are not all in the same style. Albina starts singing alone in the middle of the scene before the other members of the group appear. Moreover, all the singers move at some point a red cloth. The graphics in the background are in red and black, resembling the Albanian flag, as the Eurovision blog informs us. We can also notice that there are some fire props during the entry.
Lithuania 🇱🇹
Almost at the end of the day, it is time for Lithuania. Monika returns to Eurovision after 8 years and is dressed in an orange outfit with an orange bow on the side, black heels and an orange accessory on her head. Like the national final, there are four backing vocalists along with her who wear black outfits. Her voice is strong and can captivate the audience. The graphics on the background are simple, with plain colours and some tribal symbols.
Australia 🇦🇺
Last but not least is Australia. Voyager are dressed in unique outfits full of sparkle. On the stage, there is a car with them. In the pictures of the Eurovision blog, we can see that the lead singer, at some point, performs inside the car, maybe at the beginning of the song. All the members are playing their musical instruments throughout the entry. Voyager know how to fill the arena thanks to their energy, meaning that even without the car prop, the stage would seem full.
That is the end of the third day of rehearsals. Tomorrow the rehearsals will continue with all the entries of the first semifinal performing in Liverpool for the second time. The 15 countries of the first semifinal are Norway, Malta, Serbia, Latvia, Portugal, Ireland, Croatia, Switzerland, Israel, Moldova, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Czechia, Netherlands and Finland.
What do you think about the first rehearsals? Which are your favourite and your least favourite act so far? Let us know in the comments below!
My Eurofreaks 