Eurovision 2017 Stand-In Rehearsals Appearing Online!

Even before the artists arrive in the Eurovision host city, rehearsals are already taking place behind closed doors. Some of these rehearsals are known as “stand-in rehearsals”, in which another person (often school kids) stands in for the artist on stage to perform their song. Now that the contest is over, footage of several stand-in rehearsals have begun to appear online!

Azerbaijan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I6wyf9Zjeg
Lesya Falina acted as the stand-in for Azerbaijan.
The biggest change that we can see in this performance is….no horse mask! It appears that this was a thought that came to the Azerbaijani delegation later, after a crazy dream no doubt. Instead, the man on a ladder is wearing a hat which casts a shadow, hiding his face.
There are also some very obvious changes to the camera work in this performance, including a dramatic shot of the ladder man from above, looking down at Lesya.

Finland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDwoK367_w0
Sasha Polovynska acted as the stand-in for Finland.
This rehearsal is very similar to the final performance, apart from a few small changes in camerawork. Sasha sings the song with great passion, and sounds amazing!

Hungary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SGOeX8_W_s
Andrii Drobotiuk acted as the stand-in for Hungary.
Most of the staging for Hungary during the stand-in rehearsal is the same, other than a few small changes in the camerawork.

Iceland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqAIg3lTYkY
Sasha Polovynska also acted as the stand-in for Iceland.
There are a few small differences in the effects used in the background. Also missing is Svala’s iconic lasers! Whether or not this is simply due to the laser machine not being in Kyiv yet is unclear.

Italy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGOXeilLSAE
Andrii Drobotiuk also acted as the stand-in for Italy.
The biggest change that we can see for this performance is that there were originally no backing singers on stage with Francesco! There are also a few small changes to the background, although it’s sticking around the same colourful karma theme!

Moldova

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZt-osgJ5iU
Art Demur acted as the stand-in for Moldova.
The Moldovan delegation were pretty happy with how their performance looked on stage! We can see few changes, other than some very minor camera angle changes. We’re glad that they didn’t change too much; their performance is a lot of fun, and why change what works so well already?

Norway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW7VeUeFj9Q
Dima Kotek acted as the stand-in for Norway.
This rehearsal uses slightly different graphics and effects to the final performance. The background has a more 3D effect, and the faces used in Norway’s final performance (that appear on either side of the screen) have not yet been created. It seems that the Norwegian delegation asked for brighter but cleaner effects for most of the performance.

Portugal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqZH3TxOZXg
Art Demur also acted as the stand-in for Portugal.
It seems that the Portuguese delegation made their final performance as simple as possible. In the stand-in rehearsal, we can see that the stage and effects turn red for the last chorus. Do you think the red staging works better for Portugal?

United Kingdom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6dYSvCm_Dg
Nanna Kovalova acted as the stand-in for the United Kingdom.
This performance is very much the same as the final one, apart from a few small changes to the camerawork. Although, we aren’t complaining about this; it looks great!
 
More and more stand-in rehearsals are steadily being released. We’ll bring them to you as soon as they become available!
Do you prefer any of the stand-in rehearsals to the final performance? Are there any future stars in our article? Let us know what you think in the comments!