ESC 2017

Not much has changed from the first rehearsal for Martina. The stage is still puple with yellow. Martina's artistic delivery might struggle to connect with viewers at home in this setting.

Iceland has a harder image today, and I think that is the right direction, although some people with traditional views will find the package too edgy now.
Svala is not holding back and gives a confident performance, it's good to see her going with her own taste rather than trying to appeal to a mainstream audience.

Sunstroke Project brought the fun again and Hey Mamma! is on everyone's lips in the press centre.

So apparently I was sleeping during the first rehearsal of Moldova because I now only notice that the backings are not still experimenting with different dresses but rather have a dress change. Oh the things you notice when you are actually in the hall. The guys from Sunstroke Project are back in the suits they also wore in the national final. It works well of course, though not necessarily better than the more casual clothes they had on the first rehearsal.

I'm still loving this as much as before, it will be a big party in the hall when it's full!

The rehearsal of Moldova is the last one I'll see today as right now I'll be off for a special report - I'll update myself on Iceland, Czech Republic and Cyprus and will of course be back tomorrow morning for the last rehearsals of this semi-final, some 2nd rehearsals from semi 2 and of course the first rehearsals from the big 5 + Ukraine.

Oh, Poland. What have you done. Kasia was an angel in the 1st rehearsal, now they have styled her into a playmate.
Don't like those changes. Vocal performance is stunning.

Kasia is wearing a white dress - again white in this semi. The backdrop with smoke looks really nice and what I hadn't noticed before is that sometimes the smoke makes figures of animals. The visuals at the end are also good with the word FREEDOM in many languages (I've noticed English obviously, also Spanish, Gaelic and Dutch (yay!) among others).

She's vocally excellent as always - but for me she is still shouting too much. Here in the arena it sounds very angry as well. The new melody line in the chorus is also still there.

Another thing, I really think this song could - or should - be a few seconds shorter - the clapping at the beginning is very strange. Without it, the song could just start with a bang.

Personal taste aside, Poland could do quite well again this year.

It seems there are no big changes for Greece either. Here in the hall it sounds rather shrill but she seems to be singing well. The backing vocals are still not helping her though, rather the opposite.

The beginning looks really nice as Demy stands on stage on her own with a starry black background, soon the stars turns into rain (yes still rain falling from above despite the lyric change). Then just before the chorus starts, Demy steps on her platform to 'reach out for the stars'. I must say they have nicely combined both lyrics here.

The panel that gets installed before the 2nd chorus, in front of Demy's platform, is a bit distracting in the hall - but then, it's all about the tv visuals of course. While panel placed on the front of the staged displays a hologram of a Greek goddess, Demy moves to the side of the stage for the last part of the song.

There's one main thing I don't like about this performance when I see it in the hall, and that's the choreography with the two dancers. It probably still looks great on screen, but I remember being a lot more enthusiastic with the first rehearsal. Might also have to do that that was the first of the day, so it set the standard at that time.

Greece still has a bit of an issue with the vocal harmonies. I'm not sure why it sounds off-key in the chorus, but surely this can be fixed. And Demy gives good camera as she usually does.

Better camera work for Portugal and the lighting is improved as well. Compliments to Luisa and the rest of the team. Everything is set up for Salvador to arrive now.

The second rehearsal for Portugal then, already the 2nd last country before we move to another break. I still think this is going to be really atmospherical on the actual semi-final (and also final) nights.. The backdrop with images from the woods is beautiful, straight from a fairytale but what I can see from the screens is that it doesn't show that well on screen. In other words, it looks better from the hall.

Speaking about the vocals, it's of course still irrelevant. It will be all about Salvador himself on Monday when he arrives for the first dress rehearsal. Even though there will be absolutely no movement on stage from his part I also think he could be on a disadvantage as it'll be his first time on stage, it'll all be new to him while everyone else on screen has been there before.

Looking forward to hearing it 'for real' on Monday!