Eurovision 2017 – With two weeks to go to the contest, daily rehearsals start tomorrow and of course the Eurovision Times will do its best to cover them; here’s for the first rehearsals to the first half of semifinal 1: pics and vids will be officially released and we get to discuss, debate, analyze, predict…
So this is how it’ll work for the next 10 days or so: we will resume the system from the last two years. There is an article for the day’s rehearsals published in the morning (or the night before) with the calendar (this year, the new style and format of the official site don’t seem to help look for rehearsals). You can comment all day on it, based on all the info you can gather around and as soon as I can, I’ll get working on a recap article with links to pictures, videos, etc. However, I do work (even if both 1st of May and 8th of May are days off in France) so I’ll do that at the latest in the evening, sooner if possible, depending. Usually, the girls are down there and as you know, this year ET did not get a pass, so they’ll be following from here and will help publishing any news article.
So we’re all counting on you guys to post in the comment section all the links you find and discuss all material out there. Hope it works out great for everyone, and already a big cheers to all the sites who will post their own made materials.
Here’s tomorrow’s schedule: Semifinal 1 – Half 1 – First rehearsal
09:00-09:30 Sweden First rehearsal
09:40-10:10 Georgia First rehearsal
10:20-10:50 Australia First rehearsal
11:00-11:30 Albania First rehearsal- 11:10-11:30 Sweden Press Meet & Greet
- 11:50-12:10 Georgia Press Meet & Greet
- 12:30-12:50 Australia Press Meet & Greet
12:40-13:10 Belgium First rehearsal- 13:10-13:30 Albania Press Meet & Greet
13:20-13:50 Montenegro First rehearsal
14:00-14:30 Finland First rehearsal- 14:50-15:10 Belgium Press Meet & Greet
15:00-15:30 Azerbaijan First rehearsal- 15:30-15:50 Montenegro Press Meet & Greet
15:40-16:10 Portugal First rehearsal- 16:20-16:40 Finland Press Meet & Greet
- 17:10-17:30 Azerbaijan Press Meet & Greet
- 17:55-18:15 Portugal Press Meet & Greet
There will therefore be 9 countries getting their first taste of the stage and first impression from it. The first rehearsal is 30 minutes long.
This is how it works. As usual, in first go, countries rarely reveal everything from their staging, definitely not the clothes. But the fans get an idea of what direction the performance is heading towards. This is mostly a rehearsal for delegations: in-ear monitoring, checking the dressing room, etc. Then the delegations check the recordings and adjust if necessarily. After this, they work on the make-up, and then the Press Meet & Greet takes place.
Usually, the official site publishes photo sets from rehearsals and a short clip (around 90 seconds) about the artist’s impressions around 40 minutes later. Last year it was not possible for any fan sites to record anything else, so you’ll have to just read what everyone there thought about it without seeing more with your own eyes (and of course hear with your own ears).
The Eurovision Times 
And Azerbaijan plus all others:
👏 Day1 done!
AZE Full :
Too busy…
Too wannabe maybe? It’s like they wanna recreate David Lynch (The Rabbits) but without the talent. Sorry AZE, I still like your song :)
Too busy but we won’t see things from this point of view…I like it!
May, but I still don’t get the concept of the ladder and the horse.
The distance between her and the bad boy…she explains everything in the press conference
So the bad boy is a black horse?
Yes! Her lover!
“The room represents complex self-destructive relationships, inner barriers and hidden truths — the skeletons. A man wearing a mask serves as a ‘bad boy’ with a symbolic ladder showing the emotional distance between the two lovers. Our heroine, being a strong woman, eventually overcomes her self-destructive feelings. The walls come down, as well as the bad boy’s mask. He’s prepared to reconnect with her, but it’s far too late. She’s made him take off the mask he was wearing in their relationship, but she is leaving him alone in the room that she has bravely escaped.”
She shouldn’t have explained in details. People should have the possibility of interpreting it themselves and reading their own things into it.
That’s what was written on wiwi…she explained it in the press conference because someone asked
City projections are great and I find this more and more interesting.
During the chorus the background is way too hectic. They are overdoing it in almost every song.
The city is Baku 😊
Of course 😃 I like the song a bit more now.
We are not seeing what we will se on the TV set. We’d better wait before judging.
Well,it does have a concept sort of but the whole being so preoccupied with their coats and dropping them to the floor in the end seems OTT and unnecessary.Maybe they’re shedding their skin to reveal their skeletons?lol
When they need two paragraphs of mumbo-jumbo to explain this like they do in their press release, you know they are in trouble. For me, the worst is how awkward she is throughout (for example when she runs over the collapsed walls).
Plus this is all coming just before the simplicity and calm of Portugal. They couldn’t ask for a worst follow-up.
What if the running will not be shown on tellie…
I doubt it. Then she wouldn’t have to do it – she wouldn’t spend unnecessary energy while singing. Her dancing inside the box is pretty dismal as well.
Oh god…don’t rush…
Running to collapsed wall has to go,I agree
”What does a dancing ape represent?”
That Darwin wasn’t wrong?
Heheh good one😉
I find the whole symbolism WAY too litteral. I mean a room for her inner world, a ladder for the emotional distance. I am missing depth and subtlety here. Also whose idea was it to portray the bad guy as a horse? Horses are among the most noble creatures on earth!!!
That’s because all the symbolism has to do with freudian therapy e.g. the box is “her self-destructive relationship”. The horse is a classic fallic symbol in therapy mumbo-jumbo…
Snake is a more common fallic symbol and phobia material than a horse
I don’t think their intention is to represent a phobia. The horse is a symbol of sexual energy, especially male sexual energy. So he is the archetypal male so to speak. I agree that it looks ugly and messed up but I think that’s the inspiration.
I will speak for my own profession – archaeology.
”The horse is a symbol of sexual energy, especially male sexual energy”.
Nope, it is the bull. Horse is all about nobility as Donnie has mentioned already.
Their performance doesn’t reference semiology but therapy symbolism: “Some of the more obvious and salient dream symbols are: Coitus – an action that resembles sexual behaviour (riding a horse)”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_(Freudian_dream_analysis)
I am afraid we are not talking about the same thing :p I was referring to the symbolism not to the concepts of Freud. Horse might be related to sexual concepts but it is the bull that has been associated with male sexual drive in general – ταυροκαθάψια, κέρατα αυθονίας, ταυρομαχίες.
Yes you were, but the azeri director is probably referring to the symbols of Freud.
Nope, we are not talking about the same thing. You are referring to Freud but I replied to you about the general symbolism concept, hence I copy-pasted only that sentence not the whole paragraph.
Rorschach was pretty hot too:
He is good looking.
Riding a horse can symbolize the sexual intercourse, but not the horse itself necessarily. Fallic symbols are more spread than one might thing. F.e a plane :)
What does a dancing ape represent?
Lol. In a psychoanalytic or sociocultural point of view? :P
Both please…I am curious to know😁
In the context of the Italian performance, we all pretty much know by now (The Naked Ape by zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris).
I don’t think the Italian delegation put any psychoanalytic essence into this. Their concept has been clear since day one.
Yes,very clear!!!
The “evolution stumbles, the naked ape dances” line of the song.
Does Vatican approve?
The other days I received a card with wishes from my colleagues and one guy drew a smiley face. The smile was too round initially i mistaken it for dick head :p
Lol. You should try Rorschach test :p
It wasn’t my mistake. He put upside down if you see what I mean. Any link?
Any link to the test?
I think i found it.
Hmm, this looks kind of messy from this angle, I don’t think I like it too much at the moment, which is a pitty as this is my #1, still I liked how it sounded and the ending, but I’ll probably have to wait to see how it looks on tv to see if it’s good or not. Doesn’t look like a winner at all at the moment.
Hmm, this looks kinda messy from this angle, I don’t think I like it too much at the moment which is a pitty as this is my #1, still I liked how it sounded. I’ll probably have to wait and see how it looks on tv to see if it’s good or not, but it’s not too promising, it definitely doesn’t look like a winner.
If I am not mistaken ESCtoday gave 0 to Belgium’s rehearsal today. They also said they are not planning to feature any lights at all…
If this is true then what can I say…
Really. It was bad but zero tells about really big disappointment. They probably haven’t watch ESC parties.
They did not like Portugal’s rehearsal either.
They did like it. 3rd for today with 64pts.
Where does it say that? I must be missing something.
I am telling you now. I have been following it live.
I see. Thanks. :)
I saw their ratings and it’s 1 out of 5 and 2 out of 5.But it’s the same guys who gave 4.5 out of 5 to Albania’s kitsch backdrop so…
Albania is not doing well eitehr. 9pts overall. So? Are you impressed by Belgium? The fact they are not planning to show any lights…that’s a wreckage…
Some people are in big denial in every service at the moment.
Well their problem.
Ditto.
A(zerbai)J(an).
AJ, he is in everything!
”in”. I like this inward concept.
Yes, it’s most fullfilling!
Ajmazing First of May to you!
I’m not impressed by the staging but i’m not seeing the wreckage you see either.
It is coming.
Their rankings have been spot on every year.
Dina Bilan says “I’m proud of Kristian Kostov and I will support him this year”
Way to go Dima! I think he has worked with Boy Kostov.
Ah, I miss Plushenko 😃
I think he was Kristian’s mentor in Voice Russia
That’s right!
Full ranking from estoday team:
Finland 72
Azerbaijan 65
Portugal 64
Sweden 39
Australia 37
Montenegro 16
Georgia 13
Albania 9
Belgium 0
0 for Belgium is a bit harsh
It is, but it tells a lot though. They should reconsider their staging asap.
Now Blanche will be even more stressed…
It looked like they have thrown the towel in the ring already.
AJ’s ring?
It’s a different ring, but your comment is nice pretext for sending this.
Such a beauty!
Perfection. Thus thread just got so much better 😃
Too late. Winning performances have something natural about it. The moment people feel desperate to change things, it becomes even less natural. The viewers sense such a thing.
I agree.
Quite true and thats why Blanche doesnt have to change anything imo :-) She can do it as it is :-)
I don’t know. I will judge when I see it myself. The clips released at the moment are too short to make a fair judgment.
It’s the disappointed. It’s a big let down after great studio version.
If she flops”doing a Kate Ryan” will be history”it will be “doing a Blanche”😬
There is also Xandee.
Leave Xandee alone! <3
LOL It’s a good one as you can also say “For me it seems that he/she is blanching a bit at the moment.”
They say she was about to cry ,they felt it in her voice…luckily she didn’t have a melt down or something
I respect everyone going on to that stage and sing,I would definitely pee on my pants or drop dead
She is 17 year old very inexperienced girl. It must ne horrible. I put the blame on the producers. They probably knew that EDC is live tv entertainment from arena size stage and what that does actually require.
Its not harsh its a travesty. These people are either out of their minds or other scenarios I dont want to go into.
They should know Blanche is much stronger than they think and this wont break her. She is one resilient girl :-)
do you think they do it on purpose to cut her chance to win?
It is a very polarizing year so allow to consider it very weird that she did not score a single point as if this was the worst rehearsal of all times or something
I wish we had the full rehearsal video
I wish to. I dont remember an entry ever scoring a zero on the first rehearsal press poll. It will take a lot of persuasive ability for someone to convince me this was worse than Montenegro let alone the worst rehearsal since the poll’s conception.
0 pts is just silly and regrettable.
They were expecting a lot more and apparently they wanted to be harsh to them on purpose. They can’t accept the fact that such a nice song it is poorly staged.
Overreacting does not lend credibility to one’s work.
It’s not as if Belgium will not qualify but even among us we agree there is smth missing from this song.
I agree, but let’s give them a chance. That song is extremely hard to sell on stage.
You’re right.Esctoday seems to become more and more irrelevant.
Indeed.
I haven’t visited them for years …
I agree. Although the camp gay boy is bow under my skin 😃
Well done Norma Jean! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
I also think that the first 3 were the best/more intriguing rehearsals.
I believe so.
Easily!
was that picture above a British boxer who knocked out a Ukranian one?! so unfortunate timewise I guess
Yes, Anthony Joshua. We have fan club with Dino 😃
He isn’t just ”a” but ”THE” :p
King AJ!
I see “Once you’ve had black you never go back” as that English saying goes I guess?!
Yes. Very wise saying.
It is ”once you go black, you never go back” :p
Hola euroamigos! How are you enjoying 1st day rehearsals?, just back to check out the clips (which never tell you too much on 1st day to be honest) but oh my! Azerbaijan “horsing” around (sorry!), reminds me of something I once saw at the Barbican Theatre in London cerca 1995, will need to watch the rest again for a more complete analysis, 1st impression is that backdrops are are a bit in your face and drowning for some songs, Albanian one seems a bit Salvador Dalí meets Monty Python…but what do I know?! :-)
The press poll is not even worth commenting on honestly. It almost feels like a purposeful effort to trash Blanche and break her mentally. I bet they will be drooling over Gabbani and his gorilla in a few days. Yuck.
All I have to say is what these press people think matters little – what matters is what the juries and televoters will think – and if they see what we saw – which is complete, tasteful, simple and atmospheric, I am sure these press people will be running to hide out of shame.
Again, this whole thing feels purposeful at this point. Especially if they tell me she was worse than Montenegro.
Go Blanche, lets win this :-)
Some things about Belgium: I see people protraying her as having meltdowns,stage fright etc which is wrong.She may not be the most comfortable singing on a big stage and this could cost her points but presenting her as reaching the point of a nervous break-down is bad and creates an unnecessary toxic energy around Blanche.Let her do her thing and we’ll see the end result.Even if she flops,it’s not the end of the world.
Exactly. Well said. What we see and hear now is more than likely going to look and sound different coming from our TV sets especially after further rehearsals and tidying up.. Armenia and Georgia 2016 are prime examples. Not great reports initially on them last year, they then came across great especially on the Semi Finals. I expect both Belgium and Azerbaijan to be similar.
Of course it’s part of the fun to comment on what we read but we should take some of this reporting with a pinch of salt.
Most definitely.
Several pinches of salt, I would say. :)
I agree. Let her relax and do her stuff.
I watched her meet&greet and a reporter asked her why they decided to ruin the atmosphere of the song with so many lights on stage.lol
They have made some wrong choices, it seems, but that’s what rehearsals are for.
Yes,it could be but using such harsh language won’t help,imo.
No, it won’t. I think that delegation should have done more in order to shield/prepare her for this very real and overwhelming event.
indeed I feel it’s the case about plenty of songs via 2017, let’s just hear the songs here for once in their final version and give up on all the pre-version comments here, so much stuff for right or wrong via internet is so anti essence ESC IMO