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. Second-to-last on stage was Malta’s “Bella”.
🇲🇹 Malta – Aidan – 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, along with information published by the delegation and creative team, mainly through ESC Gabe’s coverage.
- Aidan wears an exclusive Versace black outfit with leather trousers and a sleeveless leather jacket with chest pocket, one of only 20 such outfit in the world
- The staging revolves around (and inside) the largest prop of the year, which was described by the creative team a few days before the beginning of rehearsals: a giant zoetrope with eight walls made of transparent LED screens (acting like gauze: fabric that can appear transparent or solid depending on the lighting), each wall having an arch in it.
- The second picture shows a moment with light figures on the walls, while the other two show them in a transparent state
- A lot of the work comes from steadycam operators, especially the final minute, which is a single camera shot making it look like Aidan is rotating rapidly
- The roses are back, without CGI, falling from the ceiling and landing around Aidan inside his prop
The stage directors are Dan Shipton and Ross Nicholson of Blackskull Creative, who also work on Albania, Austria, Australia, and Montenegro 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 Aidan 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!
