ESCXTRA.com are live for day 5 of rehearsals ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 taking place at the Rotterdam Ahoy in The Netherlands!
The countries rehearsing today, in chronological order, are Lithuania, Slovenia, Russia, Sweden, North Macedonia, Ireland, Cyprus, Norway, Croatia, Belgium, Israel, Romania, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
Follow every rehearsal live
Below, you’ll see our written review of each rehearsal. If you want more, you can follow our live stream where our team will be reacting live to every single rehearsal as it happens! Furthermore, read our handy guide for a more detailed look at this contest’s rehearsal schedule.
Review
Firstly, remind yourselves what we saw from her teaser footage on Saturday:
And now here is what we’ve noticed in today’s clip of the performance:
Today, we actually got to see the performance Montaigne submitted to the EBU as her live-on-tape. Montaigne is dressed in her black PVC outfit, which makes her look stunning. The most interesting part here is how this comes across on stage.
The staging for Technicolour is dark. The backdrop used makes it seem like an infinite universe without showcasing the actual room she is in. Therefore, we don’t really get the idea that Australia are not actually there: We don’t see how big her stage is, we don’t get shots of an audience or wide shots. It is all very functional and looks like it works the way it should. There are lots of close-ups and steady cam shots, making sure we’re close to Montaigne when she performs. In terms of choreo, it’s similar to the Mardi Gras performance we saw a while ago.
At the end of the performance, the arena camera zooms out. We see the Rotterdam stage, with Montaigne’s final pose on the big LED screen. A moment that evokes goosebumps for most: We see a dark and empty stage, where we are confronted with the fact that Australia are not there. They sort of bring her into Ahoy.
We didn’t get an audio feed in the virtual press centre, but it is fair to say: If Australia do this well, they’ll have a good run for all shows as the dress rehearsals as well as the live show will be judged on by just this performance.
Rehearsal video clip
Below you can watch an exclusive preview clip from Australia’s performance:
Stay tuned for our reviews for the rest of today’s rehearsals at the Rotterdam Ahoy. If you want to know what to expect from the rest of the day, check out our rehearsal schedule. Meanwhile, remember to tune in to our live stream for instant reactions to every rehearsal!
