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ESC 2017

Ukraine first rehearsal

Desiree on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 13:32

The rehearsals continue with Ukraine. O.Torvald has shown very spectacular performances during the preselection earlier this year, so I kind of expected the same or even more for Eurovision itself. On a first look it seems more toned down though. This doesn't mean it's not impressive. On the contrary.

The staging is quite dark with lots of thunder and lightning (... no I won't). Behind Zhenya Galich (the lead singer of the band) there is a big face prop with eyes that light up during the rocky instrumental parts. At the end, on the stage the rest of a body is projected so we have a complete 'extra human being'.
The female backing singer is hidden behind this mask, so it's a variation of the hidden backings, this time one who is not completely hidden. I think it would be fine to have her more visible on stage. All other band members are also on stage but mostly kept in the dark, even when the camera films them. I'd like to have a bit more focus on them as well.

Leadsinger Zhenya Galich is wearing a glittery shirt, really the opposite of what I had expected him to wear as it's probably the least glitter song of the year.

As it's the only proper rock song of the year it could stand out and do better than we think.

Romania Second Rehearsal

ChrisB on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 12:26

Coming on right after Malta gives a huge boost to Romania. Not that they were in need of it to be honest.
A few fixes with Romania's staging were applied, the camera could still focus a bit more on Ilinca since she is only in the picture with Alex together and hardly gets any close up shots until her solo.

No pyros were allowed for Romania so we still don't know what the cannons will be shooting, but if I was a betting person I'd go with confetti.

Romania second rehearsal

Desiree on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 12:20

Romania is next on stage. Even before we've seen Ilinca and Alex Florea perform we know that the canons are still there - despite the problems Alex had with it during the first rehearsal. The first run shows it's still hard for him to keep his balance on it while he brings it to the centre of the stage, affecting his vocals as well.

In the three runs different positions for the canons are tried out. In the first and last run, the canons are situated in the corners of the stage each of them facing a different corner. The second run has the canons further back on stage but in the direction of the audience. The last time Alex has no problem keeping his balance but seems to move the canon a bit less which means that in the last minute or so the duo is not right in the centre. Due to this, some camera shots are not what they should be.

Ilinca is wearing a simple, short red dress but has some in-ear problems (can't hear) during the first tun so it is cut off and restarted. Alex is dressed mostly in black, with a beige/grey t-shirt with short sleeves under his top. The full first run shows largely the same graphics as we saw before. The graphics are all very bright and colourful but still too childish for me, the flowers (shown as if they're drawings by children) don't make it any better.

Generally, vocally it's still ok but the canons are still an issue. Hopefully it will be sorted out in time.

Malta second rehearsal

Desiree on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 11:48

The performance from Malta is also largely the same as a few days ago during the first rehearsal. The backdrop starts with a waving piece of fabric, that is later revealed to be the dress Claudia wears on the backdrop. The visuals seem to be largely the same which means her chest is visible for quite some time in the hall, more than on screen where I already noticed it last time. This makes it all very tempted to give this song a new title (obvious?) but I will resist for now.

On stage it's still the same dress as we saw a few days ago.

During the first chorus some kind of chandelier comes down from the ceiling (Malta has done things with candles before so it's not a completely new thing for them)

As the song continues towards the second chorus the backdrop shows more and faster movement, in line with the added instruments in the music.

The vocals are just excellent every time, and gather the largest applause of the day so far. Goosebumps.

Malta Second Rehearsal

ChrisB on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 11:45

Claudia with another passionate, heartfelt and vocally flawless rehearsal. Unfortunately it feels like very long three minutes, as the song is just a little too predictable and doesn't provide any layers of depth like other Ballads we heard from Finland, Portugal etc.
But those are in the other semi final, which might help Claudia out a bit. She would deserve it.

FYR Macedonia second rehearsal

Desiree on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 11:23

Jana Burceska is wearing a different outfit than we saw in her first rehearsal, but very similar. Instead of dark green it is now black. Not much has changed in the performance itself, but the backdrop has now added panels (like billboards) that show - among different things - images from the official video clip. The city by night idea is still there, but a lot less obvious than a few days ago.

She's still alone on stage, makes sense of course, but with the choreography during the chorus it almost looks more like a workout ...

Vocally it still sounds ok and the whole performance is very nice to look at.

Austria second rehearsal

Desiree on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 09:58

No obvious changes in the Austrian rehearsal. Nathan Trent is wearing the same suit and still looks very approachable, relaxed and enjoying himself. Visually it looks great but there are some things that could be a bit better. The moon on stage still feels a bit random as the rest of the visuals mostly show the beginning and end of a day. Then the glassbox he steps on during the final seconds is clearly meant to show him 'running on air' but that doesn't become very clear. There should certainly be some trick to make the box invisible so he actually does seem to be walking on air.

This might all be me nitpicking a bit. Another issue on the 2nd run though is with the vocals, he needs to be careful with them as big offkey notes might be remembered a bit too much by televoters and juries.