We are LIVE from Basel and the St. Jakobshalle for the first dress rehearsal of the second semi-final, which is only open to the press.
Once the rehearsal start, we will be updating this page with our first reactions to the FULL performances of the following entries:
- 1 – 🇦🇺 Australia – Go-Jo – “Milkshake Man”
- 2 – 🇲🇪 Montenegro – Nina Žižić – “Dobrodošli”
- 3 – 🇮🇪 Ireland – Emmy – “Laika Party”
- 4 – 🇱🇻 Latvia – Tautumeitas – “Bur man laimi”
- 5 – 🇦🇲 Armenia – Parg – “Survivor”
- 6 – 🇦🇹 Austria – JJ – “Wasted Love”
- AQ – 🇬🇧 United Kingdom – Remember Monday – “What the Hell Just Happened?”
- 7 – 🇬🇷 Greece – Klavdia – “Asteromata”
- 8 – 🇱🇹 Lithuania – Katarsis – “Tavo akys”
- 9 – 🇲🇹 Malta – Miriana Conte – “Serving”
- 10 – 🇬🇪 Georgia – Mariam Shangelia – “Freedom”
- AQ – 🇫🇷 France – Louane – “Maman”
- 11 – 🇩🇰 Denmark – Sissal – “Hallucination”
- 12 – 🇨🇿 Czechia – Adonxs – “Kiss Kiss Goodbye”
- 13 – 🇱🇺 Luxembourg – Laura Thorn – “La poupée monte le son”
- 14 – 🇮🇱 Israel – Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”
- AQ – 🇩🇪 Germany – Abor & Tynna – “Baller”
- 15 – 🇷🇸 Serbia – Princ – “Mila”
- 16 – 🇫🇮 Finland – Erika Vikman – “Ich komme”
We will not be able to see the announcement of the fake results or the interval acts however, as we are asked to leave the arena after the last competing song has performed.
Opening and introduction act
The “Te Deum” rings and we are welcomed by a video of people celebrating throughout he city of Basel, by day, some shouting at the camera things like “Wlcome home”. The footage often comes back to an older man holding a giant heart in his hands. The man then appears on the stage frame, holding a heart with a white cross in it and red outlining (the Swiss flag). He waks down the walkway until he reaches the Eurovision Logo, with an empty heart, and he puts his prop down to complete the logo.
That’s the ideal way to do. Some technical issues meant that this had to be done twice.
When the heart is put on the logo, the LED floor is filled with colours, starting from the heart, filling it up to the frame stage, and we finish with a very loud bang of fireworks and pyros!
And the hosts join us! The introduction by Hazel and Sandra reminds us that this semi-final is dedicated to the Eurovision fans. They also spare a thought for “those who lost the battle for the remote control, the football fans”. They tell us that football and Eurovision are similar: a lot of legwork and crazy hairstyles, and sometimes people throw themselves on the ground for no reason.
🇦🇺 Australia – Go-Jo – “Milkshake Man”
In his postcard Go-Jo goes to Bern to do some craftmanship with old films, and we’re then back to the arena for the stage-ready.
The performance starts as an infomercial, with a “old TV” put around the image for the first few seconds. There are also flashy infomercial “subtitles graphics” at some points.
The costume change is efficient. The French part is made with both female dancers leaning heavily on Go-Jo in a dark atmosphere, after which they rip his top off during the “Sweet Sweet Yum Yum” part. At the very end, the old TV graphic is back.
The vocals are quite weak, Go-Jo is clearly saving his voice for the most important performances.
🇲🇪 Montenegro – Nina Žižić – “Dobrodošli”
In her postcard, Nina goes to an observatory/telescope in Zurich.
Nina only wears the bindfold for the music intro, and takes it off before singing. The circular “cushion” behind her sort of makes her ook like a flower when we see it move with her moves.
After the balance of justice sword graphic we saw in the rehearsa footage, she walks to the frame stage to grab a mic-stand, and lets the train of her gown fall down for the final vocals. Big applause among the press.
🇮🇪 Ireland – Emmy – “Laika Party”
After her postcard in Geneva, Emmy begins her performance on a big metallic prop, wearing a sort of helmet, which she takes off like a hood, hanging behind her neck. She does not leave the prop for the entire song, so dancers are lelft to push more dynamism and movement in the performance.
There are funny graphics of bipedal dogs marching forward during the “pom-pom” part.
For the final part, sparkly fireworks begin behind Emmy and around the stage.
I’m surrounded by Irish people so the reception is good here!
🇱🇻 Latvia – Tautumeitas – “Bur man laimi”
Tautumeitas do their postcard in a university, playing with some small robots, before taking to the stage.
The Supernova curtain is back, and the wholle staging too. The curtain is actuay two curtains, with space between them, where the girls usually stand. They leave it for the first chorus, then come back Inside, then back out.
There is Indeed a moment in the “bur man laimi” part where tails appear out of them, but it looks like augmented reality or at least a camera effect to me, because I didn’t see anything on the LED screeen.
BIG applause from the press, even from me who’s not a fan of the song. The vocals were perfect and the atmosphere was very evocative both on screen and in the arena!
🇦🇲 Armenia – Parg – “Survivor”
Is Parg the GOAT? Don’t know, but he Shepherd some goats in his postcard. We get some shots of the audience before the stage-ready, because, well… the stage was not ready.
Parg begins on he walkway, and steps on the treadmilll during the first chorus. The treadmill is on the frame stage, in the middle, aligned with it. Smoke comes out behind it during the chorus, with fire jets in front. This is warming up the temperature heavily here!
We have some SURPRISE ARMENIAN LINES in the bridge, apparently!
Very good finish, big applause from us when we heard Armenian and for the final.
🇦🇹 Austria – JJ – “Wasted Love”
For his postcard, JJ goes to Emmental and learns how to make cheese!
I feel like watching the filming of an old movie or Doctor Who episode: everyone will see it in black and white, but we see it in colour, on the screen at lleast.
The screen has almost a 1:1 frame, by the way.
At the beginning of the song, JJ is just sitting on crates, and during the first chorus the mast is risen and it starts looking like a boat. Visuals of waves at the Bottom of the LED screens and confettis sent by a wind machine are creating a very efficient storm effect.
The techno bridge is not sung, as we’ve seen in pre-parties. During this part, four ominous looking lighthous appear on the back wall LED Screen, until a central one rises and eclipses them all as it lights up!
Chills and applause everywhere. The vocals were great. Do we have a winner? I have some doubts but opinions will diverge.
We have a small break after Austria, with Haze stage-diving, chatting with the operators holding her for a minute, and then introducing a video about the Disco night party organised for people over the age of 60 earlier in Base.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom (Automatic qualifier) – Remember Monday – “What the Hell Just Happened?”
Sandra introduces the concept of the Big Five and welcomes the UK on stage.
Remember Monday go to Zermatt, in the mountains, and we’re back to a cooking postcard, with snow!
So, actually, the boudoir is on the frame stage, and the chandelier is on the main stage. The girls start “in the boudoir”, facing the back of the stage. In a very Olly Alexander style, they are hidden from the audience at the front for the beginning. They wak to the chandelier for the first chorus, as the boudoir is moved to the left side of the frame stage.
The performance then happens on the chandelier itself until the second chorus. They leave it after that. They go to the front of the main stage for the bridge, before walking on the walkway for the bridge, then join back the boudoir which has been put back in place in the middle of the frame stage, with a hole in the shape of a heart in the middle.
🇬🇷 Greece – Klavdia – “Asteromata”
Klavdia goes to Peccia for her postcard, where she learns sculpture.
We once again have a few shots of the audience as we wait for the stage to be fully ready.
Klavdia begins on a sort of patform, elevated above the stage, which acts as a sort of walkway to the small rock we saw in reharsals. That’s the “pier” mentionned during the rehearsal. As Klavdia sings, the LED floor takes on some water graphics, which turns into fire during the rising “Asteromata” part in the first section, as she joins the rock.
A dancer join her, coming from the floor of the stage, then climbing on the rock but remaining behind her on the pier, which operators move away, separating her and Klavdia.
For the final part, the light bars are lowered in a stairs formation for an impressive finish, with a sudden dress change for the very end, where she suddenly appears donned in a white dress.
VERY enthusiastic applause from us ! The vocals were flawless.
🇱🇹 Lithuania – Katarsis – “Tavo akys”
Time for Lithuania and Katarsys. In their postcard, they paint a mura.
Things look very similar to the national selection, so let’s see what changes:
The back screens hows a prairie with a lilttle house, which désintégrâtes after the “Tavo Akys” part. The mountains on the side of the stage are also illuminated with projectiosn that make it appear ilek they are covered in grass, like the prairie behind.
The zooming shot we saw in the rehearsal footage is back and still incredible. A similar, but shorter one is used in the final section, then followed by short cuts for each “TAVO!” with the band bathed in blue lights!
🇲🇹 Malta – Miriana Conte – “Serving”
In her postcard, Miriana learns some clockwork, and after that we are once again served with some shots of the audience (that is, us) to make sure the stage is ready.
Guess what? The giant lips at the beginning are in front of a graphic of open naked female legs: the “kanty” reference is here!
No one sings the “Follow the crowd” part in the very beginning; either there’s an issue with backing vocalists, or they expect the crowd to do it!
The mountains have leopard skin patterns on them, and the whole thing is as mad as we could expect. The “Ahh” used instead of “Kant” are really loud, and may cover the sound of the crowd. The backing music is indeed a bit more orchestra than we heard before.
The Swiss balls are back, thrown at the dancers by stage operators in front of the frame stage, while another one walks up on stage to give Miriana her ball. The finish is spectacular.
🇬🇪 Georgia – Mariam Shangelia – “Freedom”
Mariam begins on her “rock” (which has too many straight angles to be described as a rock), with four dancers in front of her on the main stage. They join the frame stage during the latter part of the first verse, then leave it to allow four other dancers to join the main stage with giant white flags.
As the song switches to English, Mariam elave her white dress, walks down her patform, then down the walkway to the frame stage. For the last chorus, the dancers from the beginning are back, but behind Mariam, on the main stage.
A more muted response from the press corps, but still some applause.
We then make a small commercial break, with Sandra visiting the commentators. She visits the Icelandic booth, then the Danish one. She has to cut short with the Danish commentator, Ole but promises the timing will be better next time, before joining Jean-Marc Richard, French-speaking commentator for Switzerland.
🇫🇷 France (automatic qualifier) – Louane – “Maman”
Louane visits Ascona in Switzerand for her postcard, where she makes ice-creams in a small ice-cream stand.
We start with Louane laying down on her side in the sand, a bit like Slimane, holding an hourglass in the hand, which she returns early in the song. She then stands up as the sand starts pouring on one side of the circle. She kneels for the first chorus, grabbing some sand and making it fall on her.
She stands up for a short while for the second verse, but kneels to uncover a mirror under the sand before the second chorus his, which she sings standing up, with the camera turning around her.
In the last chorus, the sand turns in three jets around here, pouring from above. The rotation slows for the last “Maman!”, the last one being belted in a nice, novel way that makes us cheer (like Barbara did with her big “Voilà”.
Big applause here! My hot take yesterday was that Switzerand could do better than France. It’s not impossible, but it looks less likely now. I hear a “This is a million times better than Austria, and Austria’s in my top three” next to me…
🇩🇰 Denmark – Sissal – “Hallucination”
There’s a lot of waiting before Sissal, as the hosts have a little number where they swipe away some sand from the frame stage (where there should be no sand actually), but something went wrong with a sort of vacuum cleaner accesory used by Sandra, so what was supposed to add an extra 20 seconds for the Danish curtains to be put in place actually took 2 minutes.
We finally get to the postcard, where Sissal learns to play the harp in a castle in Gruyères.
The image on the screen is desaturated a bit at the beginning, but the the lights it and it looks more blue and pinky as intended. The camera mainly focuses on Sissal in the first section, with the dancers barely appearing. They are much more visible after the first chorus though, leaning on her through the curtains, or dancing around it.
During the bridge, the dancers join the walkway to lock their feet on apparatuses on the floor, and Sissal joins them for the final chorus, as they balance their bodies up and down. A Wind machine makes Sissal’s train float behind her, and she joins the frame stage for the final notes.
🇨🇿 Czechia – Adonxs – “Kiss Kiss Goodbye”
For his postcard, Adonxs visits a place producing salt in Riburg.
Then the performance begins, with a close shot at Adonxs face, who is wearing less make-up than in the second rehearsal.
There’s a small timing mistake on the production’s side, with an operator being very clearly in the frame, in front of Adonxs, to put a mic stand on the stage. But apart fromt hat, this is quite clean, with a nice costume change with the dancers, then a very well-executed dance break on the main stage.
The dancers then leave as Adonxs walks to the frame stage, before they join him again directly on the frame stage. There are some camera effects used then, with movement blurs.
Not the biggest applause here: journalists are having doubts, it seems.
🇱🇺 Luxembourg – Laura Thorn – “La poupée monte le son”
Back in the mountains for Laura’s postcard, before we start right in time for the performance.
The “dollhouse” teased by the EBU’s live-blogger is actually a very clever use of the LED Floor. Laura begins her performance lying on her back on the main stage, filmed from above, and the screen makes up the interior of the house, which we enter through the keyhole by use of augmented reality. There’s a nice moment where virtual hands reposition Laura as she moves on the floor.
She then stands up, and continues with an efficient performance, with five dancers wearing velvet red outfits. They take her puppet dress off to reveal a silver dress under. The big note at the end is perfectly hit and the press corps responds with much more enthusiasm.
🇮🇱 Israel – Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”
Yuval Raphael has performed. There is more applause than last year but it only comes from specific sections of the stands.
There is a small break, but not a commercial one: it’s mainly here to re-introduce the idea of the Big Five and give the stage hands time to switch the staging from Israel to Germany.
🇩🇪 Germany (automatic qualifier) – Abor & Tynna – “Baller”
Abor & Tynna take part in a carnival and paint masks in Basel for their postcard.
The performance begins with Abor playing his light-up electric cello, and the beginning plays out as we saw in the rehearsal.
Tynna sings the “Baller” part, which rejoices us. She leaves the platform of the prop after the intro chorus, and gets under it. As the second chorus hits, the enclosed space is used to great effect, with two or three dancers dancing in and out of frame with her to create a nightcub/rave illusion that works wonders!
Abor gets up the patform for the final, and with a brusk move of his cello he makes the boombox spit sparks and fires for the finish!
Good applause here, but not as big as for Luxembourg or Malta, for example.
🇷🇸 Serbia – Princ – “Mila”
Princ, wearing his red outfit, begins in the middle of the main stage, over a floor bathed in low fog, with dancers on the ground dancing around him. They stand up before the first chorus, and interact with him.
A giant, ice-cold blue eye appears on the LED screen but quickly disappears. Then, after the second chorus, Princ interacts with a figure on the LED screen during the piano bridge, before being dragged to the frame stage by his dancers, as we saw in the rehearsal footage.
The vocals are flawless, but the applause is limited.
🇫🇮 Finland – Erika Vikman – “Ich komme”
Erika visits some peoplle in the Appenzell for her postcard. There’s Something beautiful in this, with one of the Appenzel canton being the last one to stop disenfranchising women in the late 1980’s, when the Swiss supreme court forced them to allow women to vote…
The light bars are used to create a sort of trianguar roof over the stage, which hides it from us somewhat. But Erika looks as charismatic as Always on screen, and later on the walkway.
We see the giant mic being installed live behind her, but the screen hides it. There is a big laser show during the bridge, before she gets to the mic, where she is helped by operators. The cameras show the audience, like in UMK, and the mic rises up.
Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest reaction from the press crowd!
How was the danish song received? Big/ small applause?