Day 7: It’s neon lights for Sweden’s Benjamin Ingrosso – PREDICTION & REVIEW

ESCXTRA are live from Lisbon for day 7 of rehearsals ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018! The countries rehearsing today, in chronological order, are Russia, Moldova, The Netherlands, Australia, Georgia, Poland, Malta, Hungary, Latvia, Sweden, Montenegro, Slovenia and Ukraine.

We’re streaming live from the press centre

Furthermore, read our handy guide for a more detailed look at this contest’s rehearsal schedule.
In addition, for our immediate reactions to every single rehearsal, you can follow our live stream from the press centre at the Altice Arena by visiting our YouTube channel.
The latest artist to rehearse for the second time is Benjamin Ingrosso for Sweden. We have just watched their latest run through of Dance You Off live on screen and here is our initial reaction.

Staging

This is an exact replication of Benjamin’s winning Melodifestivalen performance. The whole performance is filmed so that the LED lighting prop fills the entirety of the screen. Only for the final chorus do we get a couple of wider shots that show the lighting prop in the centre of the screen. Extremely effective as expected.

Camera shots in this performance: 89

Vocals

The vocals are very solid from Benjamin. The chorus has lost power in comparison to the Melodifestivalen performance due to the removal of the backing track vocals. Benjamin and the backing singers focus on singing the higher vocal line which means the lower vocal line is given less attention and resulting in less depth in the chorus. However, for the first time viewer, this will have no effect.

Costume

As in the first rehearsal, Benjamin is dressed in a shiny black leather jacket, dark trousers and white trainers. Overall, this is pretty much the exact same outfit as what he wore in Melodifestivalen although the whole outfit has been changed up slightly to be extra effective with the new lighting scheme.

To qualify or not to qualify?

We have taken a flash poll from around the ESCXTRA table here in the press centre and 8 out of 8 of us say…

YES!

Watch the rehearsal!

Stay tuned for our reaction to Vanja Radovanović as they rehearse Inje next for Montenegro. If you want to know what to expect for the rest of the day, check out our rehearsal schedule here. Meanwhile, remember to tune in to our live stream from the press centre for instant reactions to each rehearsal.