Eurovision 2017 Rehearsals: Day 5

/ Sekhmet Morgan

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 – Second rehearsal

  •  09:00-09:20 Sweden Second rehearsal
  •  09:25-09:45 Georgia Second rehearsal
  • 09:50-10:10 Australia Second rehearsal
  • 10:15-10:35 Albania Second rehearsal
  • 10:40-11:00 Belgium Second rehearsal
  • Break 1
  •  12:05-12:25 Montenegro Second rehearsal
  • Finland 12:30-12:50 Finland Second rehearsal
  • 12:55-13:15 Azerbaijan Second rehearsal
  • 13:20-13:40 Portugal Second rehearsal
  • 13:45-14:05 Greece Second rehearsal
  • Break 2
  • 14:30-14:50 Poland Second rehearsal
  •  14:55-15:15 Moldova Second rehearsal
  • Break 3
  •  16:20-16:50 Iceland Second rehearsal
  •  16:45-17:05 Czech Republic Second rehearsal
  •  17:10-17:30 Cyprus Second rehearsal

There will therefore be 15 (?) countries getting their second taste of the stage. The second rehearsal is 20 minutes long.

This is how it works. As usual, in second go, countries reveal much more. It is also followed by an official press conference.

Usually, the official site publishes photo sets from rehearsals and a full clip but not from the actual recordings. However, this year they promised to show a few seconds of what it will actually look like on TV!

385 thoughts on “Eurovision 2017 Rehearsals: Day 5”

  1. Impressions from the videos!

    Sweden: The One Without Socks has not shaved! Is he trying to appear less polished and more unkempt or will he be clean-shaven again by Tuesday? The problem here is that they seem to just be going through the motions. I like that they tweaked the purple in the background so that it enlivens instead of repeating the colour of the suit. Background graphics seem anonymous but I am sure the actual camera shots will be as perfect as always. This is Sweden after all.

    Georgia: The red maelstrom. Tamara clearly wants to be this year’s Conchita with huge perm instead of beard and an epic of perseverance amid the madness enveloping the world. What is interesting compared to other belters like DNK and NDL is the gospel influences in her singing. She seems determined to defy the curse of second place.

    Australia: Not the most memorable or gripping performance but I like it when he walks counter to the projections behind him. Most of them look like an ad for a hair salon. The whole thing is reliable but not terribly exciting, like his grey coat.

    Albania: Lindita wears the veil and then takes it off as Tamara has already suggested. I like the ticking clock on the floor but the outfit is worthy of Barbara Dex consideration. Other than that, a lot of non-stop shouting as expected.

    Belgium: Another BD candidate, she looks like the eternal bridesmaid that never gets hitched. I like the exploding silver rays that fit the electro mood of the song. Her singing is monotonous and flat until the key change in the end when she goes off-key and it sounds like she is sobbing and pleading.

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  2. Random Online Poll
    —————–
    What do you think is the most disappointing overused phenomenon so far among all the semifinal rehearsals?

    White dresses 15%
    Huge faces on LED screen 58%
    Hidden back vocals %17
    Dancers not being naked 10%

    Reply

    • Vanity projections for sure. Where is Lisa Ajax ? She is the winner of the contest without stepping a foot in Kyiv.

      Although the naked dancers option is tempting :-P

      I dont have an issue with the other 2 personally – white dresses are elegant and hidden backings provide stage freedom when needed.

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  3. Montenegro: He has less talent than a squirrel squashed in the highway. This just goes on to show how much sweat and talent is needed to make a fun entry (eg Romania) really work. Probably much more difficult than belting out a ballad.

    Finland: I like the stormy seas background even though It makes it even more “Titanic” as Anders has suggested. It’s great, but nothing that we haven’t seen already in the national final. That performance was always going to do very well.

    Azerbaijan: The blackboard box and the image of the man in the ladder with the horse head are powerful visuals, bringing to mind some edgy “experimental” theatre production. I am not that crazy about her grimaces or body language though. Backing vocalists, also coached by Greece’s Alex Panayi, are very good, sometimes better than her.

    Portugal: I can’t really say anything about this, since it is still Luisa singing and she can’t transport me to any special place. Background of fireflies in the dark woods seems quite fitting though.

    Greece: This is BAAAAD, that note in the chorus they can’t seem to reach. I like the Nereid theme and the boys are quite buff and very sexy in their homoerotic embraces. She is very glamorous as expected but will the Fokas staging (especially the lift and the hologram) really come through?

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  4. Poland : I feel again underwhelmed by this. The tv camera snippet is worrying as Kasia does not seem to connect well with it. Lighting has been toned down but not enough. It needs to go darker and more ominous and moody and play with the contrast between black background, white lights on stage to give a flashlight feel to it. Kasia sounds stunning as always.

    Moldova : I will never like the tacky dress up but its fun and well performed. Graphics go with the vanity trens but I dont really get that feel here, it feels more fun and groovy if anything. Vocally competent.

    Iceland : The outfit is revealing but better compared to what she wore in rehearsal one. I still find it staged weirdly. Either go for the Belgium approach and stand still and deliver the song playing with face expressions or put up an elaborate show with backings. This semi-there choices make it just look poorly thought out. Svala is ok vocally.

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  5. Poland: Anothet BD candidate with that bandage dress. The canine on the background seems quite threatening, and trying to super-impose an animal rights theme completely irrelevant to the song’s lyrics with these ugly projections of animals is a bad idea. The whole thing seems to miss a spark.

    Moldova: Again nothing that we haven’t seen in their National Final but grander and more polished of course. Like Finland, nobody should have ever doubted them.

    Iceland: Svala too doesn’t offer sth much different from her NF but unlike FIN and MLD her only hope would have been to do this in a radically different way. It seems that the star here was always going to be her ear-rings, tattoos and platform shoes. It is a shame because she is obviously a very experienced performer, but those are some pretty empty 3 minutes.

    Czechia: Another unfortunate outfit and I have no idea how this background underwear ad is supposed to look in the final product. According to reports her entry upon a golden path is pretty impressive. She also sings well.

    Cyprus: I hear more shouting and bad diction. According to reports, the floor graphics of him falling in the abyss are quite impressive and I guess the wobliness in their movement is supposed to illustrate rope-walking? The problem with this is he repeats “Let me be your gravity” etc so many times, that in the end you are very much inclined to respond “No thank you”

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  6. Apparently there is some elaborate postcard concept this year involving flashbacks and some mannequin challenge inspired shots. Hmm.

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    • Azerbaijan and Finland easily the best today. I’m starting to warm up to Skeleton’s chorus. Dinahj artsy performance looks interesting and different. It has really good flow, rhytm and dramaturgy, a mini musical from off off Broadway.

      I’m still not the biggest fan of Finnish staging. Dark blue whatever moves to way too fast and it’s graphically a bit like design school work on basic studies. Red pulsating light looks a bit out of place. Piano solo is in the golden ratio, it’s the The Moment of the song. It should have been highlighted. Red whatever in the end comes from the same place as the blue in the begining. It’s ok, but only in a relation to other entries. It could have been a real stunner.

      And Greece, Greece will be polished to perfection by tuesday 😃

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        • That “gown” made her really look like bambi on head lights. I don’t know what they are thinking. It’s theatrical costume from nightmarish home coming drama when they should have gone very urban and hipster just like the song. They have fantastic designers and fashions in Belgium. Total waste.

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            • So very true. I just wonder why they chose her. They knew exactly what they were getting. I didn’t like Frans’ teeneage sloppy reluctance last year, but he did command the stage with his horrendous teen spirit. We smelled it.

            • And yeah he was charismatic as hell and commanded the stage and it was shot so that it felt minimalist and yet, grand. Sweden did fine, so did Frans! MF winner is almost a certain great stage anyway…

            • It would have looked sensationally good this year. Yeah, Sweden knows staging, that’s why this year is abit let down. Now wiw effect there. It’s just ok, but nothing to shout about. Eric, Loreen, Måns even Sanna served us something that matched perfectly the song. Sanna’s song and secratary style I didn’t like. All others were hot favorites here.

  9. Sweden: Slick and professional.Ready for Saturday night.

    Georgia: Pompous both vocally and visually.It could steal a place in the final.

    Albania: Wrong dress but that was to be expected from Lindita.Too much shouting and little substance.

    Australia: I don’t like what i see.The pyros look out of place in this song and he tries to do Dami’s vocal improvizations.His walk on this moving table looks awkward.

    Belgium: Wrong dress.It’s not a great rehearsal but it’s not a disaster either.She tries to improvize vocally too during the last chorus.Blanche looks stiff and scared but that’s her.I liked a report i read:In the last 10 seconds she offers more emotion than the full 3 minutes of Australia.

    Montenegro: This is painfully bad.

    Finland: This one really works on the big stage.A sure Q.

    Azerbaijan: Much improved.Really liked her outfit.top-10 in the final.

    Portugal: I love it.It works even with Luisa on stage.

    Greece: Demy looks and sounds amazing.I like the stage performance.It’s perfectly suitable for this song.The backing vocalists need to fix this high note but i don’t understand the desperate reactions here.

    Poland: It’ looks a bit empty.She’s trying to sing it a bit differently but i don’t know if it works.Will it qualify?

    Moldova: This is so silly and so fun.It’s Moldova’s trademark in eurovision.It’s qualifying.

    Iceland: Better styling,nice lights effects and vocals but qualification seems an uphill battle.

    Czech Rep: Really bad outfit,it’s simple and she’s a fine singer but it won’t qualify.

    Cyprus: Gymnastics.It doesn’t look fine-tuned but it seems to work on stage.

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  10. Out of today’s rehearsals, Finalnd and Azerbaijan for me.

    What an open, result-wise, edition!

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    • yeah, and like 2011 we might have a winenr by default based only on jury or televote (so, like 2015 and 2016 too)… I can only see three winners: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Italy, and I would put money on Bulgaria right now (I think Italy will look great, but like in San Remo, which isnt a winner imo).

      ps/ Finland and Azerbaijan killed all competitions today. And the supposedly packed first half of first semi doesnt look that good.

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      • I can now see Bulgaria as a strong contender too. There is a certain aura behind this and they really seem to be aiming at victory with it.

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      • This is not 2011.In 2011 the big favorite was France which flopped spectacularly when rehearsals began.

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          • The bookies favorite was France until rehearsals began.There was no real favorite because it was a very open year unlike this year.I believe Italy will win televoting with a big margin.Then it will depend on the juries.The last 2 years they have created a 100+ margin for their winner which was usually a safe pop song with a slick performance bith times.

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    • Waiting to see Artsvik’s dress tomorrow . They promised some Taraz elements (traditional dress elements ). Hopefully designer Faina (local fashion lady ) had mercy for Artsvik.
      Watching Fargo’s 3rd season. How I missed it’s OST… :)

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  11. My votes on Tuesday: 3 for Portugal, 1 for Finland and 1 for Belgium (or 2 depending on how much Blanche will need them).

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    • All my 20 swedish votes on tuesday will go to Blanche. I had some hesitations about voting at all for Belgium for ethical reasons but then this is a very “dirty” year and I will have to play “dirty” as well unfortunately..I dont think she will need them but you never know.

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        • Well it feels like diaspora vote but then what has transpired during the rehearsals till now has made me really stubborn :-) I m ready to put up a phone bill fight for this girl :-)

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            • I do. Had the esc press played fair and objectively I wouldn’t. And she totally deserves it as well. A performance has not made me so emotional in quite a while :)

              Plus my votes won’t have the diaspora effect in any way – I am just one person and I own one swedish SIM.

            • 20 votes for your home country will still be considered “diaspora” vote, especially the moment you accused Lithuanian people doing the exact thing in Ireland the other day. I definitely wouldn’t mind it, had it not been for the strong anti-televoting agenda coming from your side all these years.
              Anyway, I don’t want to sound judgmental. It’s your right to vote the way you like but I would have preferred a more “honest” approach (f.e I do vote for Blanche cause I genuinely like our entry this year) rather than the “press plays dirty” senario which imo sounds totally out synch with reality, even an excuse if I may add.
              PS : I thought about it a lot before posting this comment, cause I was not sure about how you would take it. I mean, I wouldn’t like it to be seen as a personal attack.

            • Lithuania did not get the treatment Belgium got all these days that’s for sure. And I don’t have a yearly pattern of doing it neither multiple SIM cards.

              My strong anti-televoting agenda will continue of course and is as valid as ever and my reason is what I gave : The strong bias and bullying and lack of objectivity I saw from the press this year which works in a very polarizing way.

              Of course I genuinely like it as well – it is my number one and as I told you it is the first performance in esc in years to move me so much with the raw emotion it delivers. It knocked the socks off everyone else today imo big time and provided something very unique.

              The only thing out of sync with reality imo is the press coverage and social media bullying Blanche has received. For her singing, her artistic style, her off stage character, her english, her face, everything. It’s unbelievable truly.

              I expected your comment to be honest given how pro-televoting you are and how pro-jury I am and how much we have discussed that. Tbh at this point I don’t care about anyone’s judgement or opinion on my votes or words.

              I am genuinely, totally pissed off by what I see this year in esc – it almost won’t make me sad if italy wins and I stop following.

              I am not enjoying myself, not enjoying the rehearsals and not enjoying the general climate.

              If I do one thing is help Blanche get to the final because she deserves it more than anyone else in this semi though – and I had enough of all the in my opinion baseless criticism towards her.

            • But even if there is a press “sabotage” for Blanche which I doubt since I can’t find a single reason for it (don’t forget that Serbia got a zero in press too) you can’t deny that people who originally enjoy Belgium this year (Shevek, Morgan, Toggie, me etc) have expressed their honest (I believe) scepticism regarding the live performance of City lights.

            • It is your opinion and I respect it. I just consider it extreme double standards when Portugal with a performance even more understated and sentimental gets praise while Belgium gets heckled – because some how Louisa’s fragility is natural and Blanche’s is because she is anxious, and she is not talented enough to stand on a big stage and she is too young and she is too inexperienced and she is about to cry etc etc. This girl had her psychological profile made all week just because she is not Nathan Trent and Sunstroke Project on stage.

              Everyone talked about how great the song is before and I was positively surprised but then I realized people like what they thought they saw and what they made in their mind Blanche to be and did not care about the actual Blanche – because this is who Blanche is as an artist – it won’t change this will be what you will get. And this artistic style is one of the reasons she was the first runner up in the voice – because they loved that fragility, that overflowing emotion that comes through her performance and that people around the web have lambasted with wording I have never seen before in the esc universe.

              In a year about celebrating diversity introverted quirky people get such treatment – and not even on equal ground.

              Sobral acts like a person who has some mental challenge on stage (these are not the manneurisms of a normal person sorry) and everyone is drooling over the alternativeness and his quirkyness. But Blanche is just an immature crying girl.

              I am done with all that. 20 + 20 votes (semi + final) from me to Blanche.

            • What you fail to understand imo is that people were expecting more from Blanche given the fan fave status of City Lights, yet we didn’t know any of her live background on the song till recently, while Sobral had a very popular live performance among fans for months! I mean it’s not like fans thought “Hey let’s trash poor Blanche on purpose” out of a sudden.
              I’m pretty sure that if a live rendition of City Lights was already presented from the very beginning, City lights would feature nowhere near the 2017 favorites for the crown, cause most of the fans seem to not relate with her live performance (unlike Sobral’s)

            • And it is their problem they do not. I said it in November already Blanche may still be too left field for esc to be appreciated here. We are in the age of dancing monkeys anyway.

              Anyway my point is I will be giving all my votes to Blanche because she is an amazing artist, she knocked the socks off everyone else today in terms of substance and talent, she has an amazing song and I feel she is very wrongly treated in the esc world right now. And I still think it can win the crown as I believe many people will relate to a live performance as honest as this. That’s all.

              ESC is going in a very wrong direction if Blanche is not appreciated and Sobral is that’s I will say – and this is not personal judgement against anyone’s taste to be clear. It is just how I genuinely feel. Within a year I feel there is no place for me in this contest suddenly. I don’t know what the fuck has happened.

            • Next year will be different again. No need to worry. It just happened this year you are not aligned with the majority when it comes to ITA and PRT.
              You need to just focus on common ground (AZE, FIN etc)

            • I see Belgium is off the common ground now…
              And I don’t even like Finland that much lol. Its 22nd on my list :P

              I am really pessimistic about next year if Italy wins as you know. I am almost seeing nightmares with 42 contestants, half of them dancing with different zoo animals on stage and the other half singing old fashioned songs making weird facial expressions :P

            • Anyway you can judge me and criticize my choice of voting this year – I can see why you would do it and where you are coming from.

              But honestly the only thing I care about anymore in this contest is to see Blanche doing well – nothing else matters to me. Be it Bulgaria or Azerbaijan or Sweden or anyone. I only care about Blanche and how she does.

            • lol I liked the asterisk-exception here :P

              Btw thanks for engaging, I got some things down on (digital) paper that I was carrying in me from Sunday through today and I feel kind of better now :)

            • I’m glad you did :)
              Sometimes all you need is getting things out of your chest and a good company :p

            • Oh well – there is good chance I will be watching all 3 live shows alone this year so good online company is an asset always – although there will be no one to stop me from rage smashing my laptop screen if Gabbani wins hmmm :P I m screwed :o

            • Oh and just to make it clear – I don’t have an “anti-televoting agenda” per se – I am willing to change my perspective if EBU took up some of the proposals I have put out all this years about limiting the effects that make it not credible.

        • I know. I detest it as well. Had she not received that unethical treatment from press I would never consider it. But if they want to play dirty I have no inhibitions.
          We can go back to morals next year. This esc has been polarizing and demoralizing.

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        • Every vote counts.There are some songs that will definitely be on out top-10 like Cyprus,Albania,Armenia and Georgia.The rest could be the really nice songs of the semi.

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    • Tuesday is tough. But it’s nice Sweden got that semi because all my personal favourites are there: Portugal, Finland, Armenia, Belgium… It will be hard to choose which ones that will have my votes, but at least Portugal is a definite one for me.

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      • Finland though will fare well is Sweden (both jury and televote) anyway, right?

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      • Please vote for Blanche :-) ! Wanna make sure swedish televoting gives her as high marks as possible :-)

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        • We can always hope. I think Belgium stands a better chance to recieve high points from the Swedish jury and the televoters than most of my favourites (well, apart from Finland probably). But yeah, I might send a vote for Blanche if she impresses me on the big night. ;)

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  13. Surreal footage.Koit and other memners of the Verona gang performing the song inside Yanukovich’s(ex president of Ukraine) super kitsch luxury mansion:

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  14. I see that people are talking about votes; I know that I will vote for Finland, Armenia, Azerbaijan and probably Belgium (waiting to see how Blanche fares next Tuesday).

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  15. It’s time to check the odds: Finland, Azerbaijan, Romenia and Portugal are doing well, whereas, Belgium, Sweden and Bulgaria are faring not too well. Tomorrow will be another day. :)

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  16. I only plan to vote for Portugal in the semi. 20 votes.

    And then Italy in the final. 20 votes again :)

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    • I usually only vote once: I find that the only fair way. One person one vote. I do vote once in the semi and once in the final though. And I do think it’s fair that I get to vote in first semi via oxi who gets t ovote in semi 2 thanks to me :)

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  17. Unfortunately I can’t vote on Tuesday, and I am not going to Malmö just for the sake of that.

    For the 2nd semi Belarus is the only song I like enough to vote for :( There are some contestants who convince vocally (f.e. o’G3ne), but I don’t want to vote for good singers with a song that just isn’t there. It’s not a singing competition.

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