Eurovision is back! Delegations have landed/arrived in Vienna these last few days and rehearsals started last weekend. Just like last year, for the first rehearsal, the EBU releases information on the day of each rehearsal, with a sets of three photographs published the day after. As such, today, we cover yesterday’s rehearsals, with the last semi-finalists. And the sixth one on stage was Albania’s “Nân”.
🇦🇱 Albania – Alis – First rehearsal
The following pictures have been published by the official Eurovision accounts.
What happened on stage?
This description is sourced from indications given by the official Eurovision Reddit account.
- Alis wears a black outfit with a “shimmering gem finish”, as well as his trademark sunglasses
- He starts the performance on his knees, surrounded by smoke, and rises up in the first section of the song
- LED screens graphic alternates between mothers crying for their sons’ return, and the sons singing the chorus along with Alis
- To make sure the message of the song comes accross, the TV version will have subtitles on it, just like Italy did last year (and which was hinted at by the burnt-in subtitles of the music video)
- The official description also hints at other staging elements that enhance the storytelling, without revealing them for now, and the pictures are selected to not reveal anything either
The stage directors are Dan Shipton and Ross Nicholson of Blackskull Creative, who also work on Austria, Australia, Montenegro and Malta this year. Dan Shipton was also the Lead Creative Director for Eurovision 2023 and has worked on many stagings in the last ten years, including Sam Ryder’s performance of “SPACE MAN” in Turin 2022.
Here’s the small message Alis had for the Eurovision fans after his rehearsal:
Stay tuned for further coverage today and tomorrow, with the second rehearsals of most of the first semi-finalists, and for our live coverage on the ground starting on May 9, which will include (among other things) the full dress rehearsals and the live shows, live from Vienna!
