On Thursday May 10th, the second semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place. Read the article below for a sneak preview of how all the performances in that show are going to look!
ESCDaily is live in Lisbon. With a team of journalists we follow all the rehearsals to analyze how every country will stage their song. When even the slightest detail changes, we will update this article for you, so keep refreshing this throughout the upcoming weeks to get the latest information!
Norway – Alexander Rybak – That’s How You Write A Song
Rybak took his in-camera effects with him to Lisbon, so the act is not really different compared to the national final in Norway. His outfit is a black shirt with a dark blue jacket, which he throws away after the first chorus. Alexander starts sitting and miming he’s playing instruments, some of his lyrics are pictured with icons. He catches the camera with his eye movements and he knows how to perform. After the first chorus he’s joined with four backings/dancers also in casual black/blue/purple clothing. A simple yet effective choreography with the catchy song. Lighting: mainly blue and purple. Near the end Rybak is playing his real violin, and the song ends with a wideshot and a lot of pyrotechnics.
Romania – The Humans – Goodbye
A group of about twenty white alien masked black mannequins are placed on stage. Question is if people will understand that this has to do with the theme of the song: ‘People with depression are hiding their true face’. On stage we see a white piano, two male guitarists and a female cello player dressed in white. The cello player also opens the act with a close-up, in which she takes of a mask. Afterwards, the lead singer appears in a long yet deep cleavaged and double high splitted purple dress. It fits the light plan of purple. The camera follows the lead singer when she walks through the mannequins, across the stage. Long camera shots, few camera changes, we see a fullbody shot almost at all times. Vocals are on spot each runthrough.
Serbia – Sanja Ilić & Balkanika – Nova Deca
Serbia is on stage with three females in dark purple and white dresses, with a black accent swirl around on stage. The male singer is dressed in a extra long black shirt. The opening shot is the flute player from aside, followed by a close up from one of the female singers. There is also a drummer banging his oildrums. This mysterious opening lasts for almost 30 seconds. After that, the act looks a bit chaotic, also because the song has multiple themes in it. Near the end of the song the singers raise their arms in a questionable salute.
San Marino – Jessika (feat. Jenifer Brening) – Who We Are
Jessika & Jenifer have brought Nao Robots. If this is an omen, in Portugues ‘nao’ means no. Four robots, three next to eachother and one apart are waving along during the song. In the back we see yellow lamps flashing. Jessika wears a red tight dress with gauze motives. Jenifer wears a pink jacket. The robots are holding up signs with messages like ‘Will you marry me’ or ‘I am not your robot’, an intended pun to the Israeli entry. In the bridge, Jessika interacts with the robot before going into the final chorus.
Denmark – Rasmussen – Higher Ground
Blurred camera shot for a start, turning into a close up of Rasmussen. Then zooming out to wide shot, showing two big white sails at the side and Rasmussen is joined by four backing singers. Overall many blue colours and black clothing and many wide shots. Actually the whole act is a copy of the national final performance. Rasmussen holds the mic constantly for his mouth and it feels as if the viewer will have difficulty to connect with the singer. At the end of his three minute show a snowstorm is simulated. One of the backings literally raises a banner.
Russia – Julia Samoylova – I Won’t Break
Yulia sits on top of an mountain of curtains. In front of her are two modern dancers. Everyone is dressed in white. She is getting help from three backings, but the vocals are still weak. In the end Yulia does not sing the lead but leaves that to the backings. The mountain is lit with colours like the Estonian dress and the stage is filled with dried ice at the beginning. Lights turn into yellow as one of the dancers takes the catwalk for the finale of the song.
Moldova – DoReDos – My Lucky Day
DoReDos bring a sexual comedy act with bad vocals. On stage there is a three door wall/IKEA cupboard through which the singers, each in one of the national colours (red, blue, yellow) appear after eachother. Clearly suggesting a girl cheating on both lovers. Sometimes we get glimpses while parts of the wall opening. All three singers have a body double. In the end of the song those join the main singers on stage, so it looks like three twin sets dancing a synchronic dancing. This is televote friendly, expert jury unfriendly, we suspect. Act distracts from the weak vocals.
The Netherlands – Waylon – Outlaw In ‘Em
Blue staging and yellow lights for The Netherlands. It opens with a wide shot of the stage, with lots of dried ice on it. Waylon is wearing a panther print jacket and a black hat. Four colored band members with guitars are around him, kinda headbanging towards him. Waylon is standing on a small platform with yellow footlights for the full three minutes. The band members throw away their instruments and do some (aggressive) dance routine with flipflop included. The vocals are on pitch.
Australia – Jessica Mauboy – We Got Love
Jessica performs in her purple glittering dress, which she also wears in the video clip. She is standing solely on stage for the entire three minutes. The whole scenery is light blue and there are purple neon stripes behind her. Jessica turns and turns around and dances the whole song. Her vocals are a point of concern. Some runthrough were okay, but sometimes it was simply not good. Fingers crossed.
Georgia – Iriao – For You
Dried ice on stage and three singers, a guitarist and keyboard player. Classy performance with blue/white, red/blue and red/yellow lights. All Georgians wear black suits and the vocals and harmonies are spotless. For close harmony they stand a little too far apart form each other. In the end a pyro-waterfall. Overall the act looks like a three tenor classic performance.
Poland – Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer – Light Me Up
Poland visually copies last years Norwergian entry with purple colours in the lighting and DJ booth with blue light beams. Harmonised shots of both Lukas and Gromee in the first minute. Lukas reaches to the camera with his hands a lot trying to connect whereas the DJ seems to wave off everybody with snake hand moves. A lot of shots from Gromee twisting the DJ-buttons. Both wear simple black outfits and hats. Lukas walks the catwalk so will be a lot audience in the shots. Along the catwalk there will be firework fountains. Vocals of Lukas Meijer have been a concern all week so far.
Malta – Christabelle – Taboo
Mainly red lights, Cristabelle stands within a circle of projection screens and a lots of useless LED-projections as well as on the inside as the outside of the ‘box’. One being an anatomic heart, being projected in the camera shot as an after effect. The singer does not connect to the camera’s, most shots are from aside. Halfway the song Cristabelle steps out of the ‘box’ and a dancer replaces her inside the ‘box’ when she sings ‘I know that I am not alone’, possibly representing her self in a mirror as the singer starts banging the screens. Overall the projections and act are too chaotic and distracting colours and images of people wanting to break out, black panthers, underwater people, nerve systems, silhouettes. Vocals of Cristabelle are quite mediocre and she wears a black long leather skirt and black long sleeve shirt. The fireworks do not add to the chaotic concept of the act.
Hungary – AWS – Viszlát Nyár
Energetic and dynamic performance by AWS, in the same outfits as in the national final. The whole stage is used, including the two bridges. Singer wears his army green shirt, very casual and therefore genuine looking. During the song Örs walks the catwalk and the guitarist does some stagediving. Expect a lot of flame bursts each chorus and fountains of fireworks along the catwalk.
Latvia – Laura Rizotto – Funny Girl
A full in red stylish attempt to seduce the viewer by Laura. Her dress fits in the lighting plan. Laura is standing still, but does arm and hand choreography. There are a lots of close ups and she twists her head/hair on the beat in the song. The low-pitched part is vocally not delivered well, for the rest Laura was good in the first round of rehearsals and not in the second. She does know how to interact with the camera very well.
Sweden – Benjamin Ingrosso – Dance You Off
Benjamin works through his dance routine just like he did in Melodifestivalen, without room for spontaneity. Vocals are OK, so are the moves and most camera angles with his John Travolta moves. Benjamin moves in front and up the LED-wall and floor the Swedes brought with them on which a lot of lines are drawn. The act looks like a contemporary video clip, so it’s less easy to connect with Ingrosso.
Montenegro – Vanja Radovanovic – Inje
A white piano on stage and four backings in long white dresses walking in a typical Balkan dramatic choreography around Vanja and take poses. Setting is all light blue lighting and later on yellow. Vanja’s outfit is shining blue and his vocals are ok. Staging is what we could expect, as this has been done many times before in the last ten to fifteen years. Towards the end of the song, the backing vocals join around Vanja to create a powerful ending.
Slovenia – Lea Sirk – Hvala, ne
Accompanied by her first two later four backings/dancers Lea gives a good show comparable to what she did in the national final, but this time without the mirrors. Blue setting with flashing white lights. Strong choreography, quick moves, good camerawork. Near the second chorus, the music stops and Lea fakes a technical breakdown. ‘Where is the music?’ she says, and she asks the audience to sing the chorus. Then the music starts again and she continues towards the end of the song in Portuguese: “Obrigada nao”.
Ukraine – Melovin – Under The Ladder
Melovin uses his white piano as a coffin from which he raises from the grave like a zombie. He gets down his stairs, sings, takes of his coat just like in the national final, sings while climbing the stairs again to his piano, while the stairs are lit to fire step by step. Vocals are harmed by the laying position in the beginning, but also thoughout the performance they are not optimal. Melovin though comes across charismatic and the performance is powerful. Expect a lot of fire bursts.
