ESCXTRA.com are live for day 4 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 Georgia, Albania, Portugal, Bulgaria, Finland, Latvia, Switzerland, and Denmark.
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.
Rehearsal review
First of all, the camera work is very impressive and unique to what we’ve seen so far. The effect is as if she’s fading in and out of shot, making the performance feel very whimsical. You also get a glimpse of the hourglass effect, which initially feels like a fake effect, but turns out to be a literal stream of sand pouring in with sand.
After some close cropped shots at the start, the camera pans out to reveal Victoria sat on a raft made of ‘rock’ that is floating on LED water. This is where an issue for me emerge, because it isn’t clear exactly what exactly we’re looking at; is it a rock? is it an island? is it a raft? I’m still not sure.
The staging is very pretty and interesting, but I’m not convinced of the message will cut through. She strokes a picture of her and her father from her childhood, but because it’s only shot from the side, you can barely see it.
It goes without saying that she sounded great, and looks very comfortable on stage, despite being on a giant spinning rock the entire time. The climax of the song sees her joined by golden fireflies, but this effect is so subtle that it doesn’t feel as visceral as Portugal’s. Overall, I expected more, but still enjoyed it.
Rehearsal video clip
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!