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I have been critical with Latvia the last time and I see they are going in the right direction.
The paper streamer trick has gone and the act looks more fierce and less needy.
I have also seen improvement in camera connection, which should rather be glances, the camera should be finding her than the other way around.
Still a work in progress.
Tijana is still alone on stage during most of the song - towards the end of the song she is joined by a dancer who then runs off and back on for the very last seconds of the performance.
She looks great in her white gown with mostly uncovered legs. The only thing I don't like about it is the necklace that seems very tight. She sounds vocally perfect.
So Latvia probably has one the best backdrops this year. It's all very psychedelic, bright neon colours - of course based on what they already showed in the national final. There's obviously a lot of camera work here moving from one side to another, zooming in and out so it's not always completely and/or clearly visible on the tv-screens, but I especially enjoy the drumming robot(s) on screen.
Now while we are waiting for TrianaPark to do their second run, the drummer is showing that his drum does work despite the music not being live. Always fun when performers do such things in the middle.
In the meantime, Angesa looks completely different from last time, now with long hair, with two buns/pony tails, dark on her head and platina blonde further down. It looks like a ready look for the big stage to me, but I guess we never know what will be next when it comes to Agnesa's looks.
Omar really lifts his song. So does the staging. I wouldn't rule out Slovenia at this point.
Omar Naber is on stage now for Slovenia and while his singing was sometimes not completely on point during the first rehearsal, today he sounded very well during all three runs as far as I could hear in the hall.
The panel screens all around and above him are actual props and while they will look great on the tv-screens, they are a big disadvantage for the audience in the hall as anyone not standing or sitting right in front has a big chance of seeing this performance through the (at least transparent) panels during a big part of the song, as they only rise up just before the last chorus.
What I do like is how the lighting uses pyro effects without there being actual pyro. Another case of less is more, but well applied here.
Artsvik is wearing a black jumpsuit, similar to her two dancers who join the song during the first verse.
I'm still not too fond of the staging, a lot more could've been done, maybe more dancers or get the Eastern touch even more clear through the performance. During the instrumental bridge when the camera zooms in on Artsvik, I think the lighting could be improved as now it makes her look very red.
However, I still think this can do very well as she sounds great (in the hall it's a bit too loud though) and it's a unique song in this year's collection of entries.
We finally get to see Artsvik's costume, a martial black top resembling chain armour, which fits the staging and the slightly provocative undertone of the performance.
The overall impression of the performance is that it looks very slick and Artsvik is in good form.
Pyros in the third run. Fierce.
The big favourite of this year is still Italy and today we will see whether he's going to live up to his potential. Yesterday afternoon he arrived in Kyiv and ESCKAZ was there!
Een bericht gedeeld door ESCKAZ.com (@esckaz) op
Shortly after Demy had her second rehearsal on Thursday we went with the Greek delegation to the private home of the Greek ambassador in Kyiv, Vassilis Papadopoulos, who received Demy, her dancers, backing singers, and the rest of the Greek delegation to his private home for a welcome reception party.
First order of business was Demy meeting with the ambassador who was clearly proud to welcome her and her team to his private home. They had a quick chat and as it turned out, the ambassador's son goes to the same law school as Demy, and they even knew each other! What a coincidence.
Right after, the invited guests enjoyed the prepared buffet of appetizers and drinks, and a lot of Greek officials took the opportunity to take selfies with Demy, who kept up her good spirits despite surely having had an exhausting day of rehearsing in the arena.
We also had a chance to speak to Demy's team of backing singers, Paris Paraskevadis-Planets, Erasmia Markidi and Evgenia Liakou, all three of them have never performed on a Eurovision stage before, are excited and looking forward to their performance. The backing singers told us that today's rehearsal helped them a lot, as they got better and more confident with one run through after another.
We also had a chance to speak to Demy's make up artist, Roula Marinopoulou, who told us that the make up for Demy's Thursday rehearsal was right on point and that we shouldn't expect any changes in that department as they were really happy with how it looked on camera. At an event like this, you really get an idea of how many people are contributing to bring us the perfect three minutes on the eurovision stage.
The two dancers ,who will be performing with Demy on stage at Eurovision, Marcus Giakoumoglou and Iasonas 'Jason' Mandilas are very entertaining guys. They told us in case of the stage being too slippery and one of them falling down, they made an agreement for the other dancer to fall down as well, to have complete symmetry on stage. Staging director Fokas Evangelinos surely approves this, as symmetry on stage has always been a concept he liked playing around with in his eurovision entries.
If you want know more about Demy and her team hitting the stage on Tuesday's Semi-Final 1 make sure to check out our video and photo material from the event with a recorded video
Cyprus has decided to keep the gymnastics involved, and Hovig still struggles in parts of the choreo. I think all the elements on stage are distracting from the song, and not exactly sure this is bound to do well. Think Estonia 2014.