Today was the second day of second rehearsals in Basel, with nine of the sixteen second smei-finalists rehearsing during shorter slots of 20m. The Eurovision social accounts have been publishing the traditional second rehearsal videos, which are short extracts of the TV feed from each performance. The Eurovision website has also released new pictures for each rehearsal.
Below, you can find all the videos in the larger Youtube format (unlisted but made available by the Eurovision app), as well as the new details they and the photos might reveal, and links to the notes taken from the first rehearsal of each country. We cover the songs in slots #5 to #9 in the running order, and will publish the same info for the final batch of songs tomorrow.
You can find our reviews of other second rehearsals below:
- Semi 1 – Song #11 to #15 – San Marino, Albania, the Netherlands, Croatia, Cyprus
- Semi 2 – Song #1 to #4 – Australia, Montenegro, Ireland, Latvia
🇦🇲 Armenia – Parg – Second rehearsal
Check out our notes on the first rehearsal.
There is not a single picture of Parg wearing a shirt, so either he loses it at some point in the performance, or he’s tried a version without it. In this version, he is bare-chest, with some dirt on the top of his chest and shoulder, recalling the “dirty look” of the national selection.
The treadmill is at the centre of the frame stage, parallel to it, so Parg does not run towards the main audience, but “between” the pillars.
🇦🇹 Austria – JJ – Second rehearsal
Check out our notes on the first rehearsal.
The performance takes a lot of inspiration from the videoclip. The little paper boat is back, floating in the air, going close to JJ’s hair before leaving him. It looks like a videoclip much more than a stage performance.
The pictures do not reveal much, but we do see that the LED screen is not or hardly used. One picture shows the grid (which follows the Swiss grid principle of design) completely lit up, when most of the other performances hide the grid with their LED graphics.
🇬🇷 Greece – Klavdia – Second rehearsal
Check out our notes on the first rehearsal.
The videoclip shows a moment when Klavdia, on top of her rock, sings as a giant, seemingly female, face materialises in blue on the back wall’s LED screens. It also shows the moment the screens transition from blue and water to red and lava, with geysers of lava on a desolate landscape by the end of the clip.
The pictures also confirm the presence of a dancer, although they look male more than female (but then, don’t assume anything!)
🇱🇹 Lithuania – Katarsis – Second rehearsal
Check out our notes on the first rehearsal.
The clip shows the moment Lukas, Alanas and Emilija walk down the walkway to the stage, and Lukas meets with a wind machine. There is an very epic shot as the camera rises and zooms on Lukas’ face, with the flying debris on the backwall LED screens and the wind in his hair, and with lightning putting a shadow on half of his face. The frame is completely black, adding to the bleakness of the atmosphere.
The pictures also shows the moment the lights bar descend on stage for the final section, creating a very dark and luminous atmosphere at the same time.
🇲🇹 Malta – Miriana Conte – Second rehearsal
Check out our notes on the first rehearsal.
Miriana has reverted back to black hair for this rehearsal, and the videoclip shows the middle-eight section. It shows Miriana and her dancer walking to the frame stage. But the most important thing is not what we see, but what we hear. The backing track is different from the one we are used to: church bells can be heard, and a slightly different string arrangement, in the middle eight. We may have a sort of Eurovision-stage revamped music once we get in Basel!
The pictures also show the yellow dress used by Miriana at the beginning of the song, when she gets out of the disco ball. The disco ball itself is not transparent, but hollow and cut in half: it turns around to reveal her inside, as has been shown in other footage published by Miriana on Instagram.
We will come back with more information on the last contestants of the second semi-final tomorrow, so stay tuned on ESCXTRA! Also, don’t miss the first images and descriptions from the first rehearsals of the automatic qualifiers! And don’t forget, we will be on the ground, starting on May 10, to bring you all the latest from Basel, including the Turquoise Carpet, the dress rehearsal, and more.
