Ruth Lorenzo
Respective Broadcasters/EBU

We’ve seen the finalists perform in their first rehearsals on May 4th, will any of them change things for the second one? Will one of them be a winner, or will they be propping up the scoreboard?.  Our bloggers, as usual, are Andrew Main, Phil Colclough  from OnEurope and John Stanton.

The big 5 will draw in which half they will perform in the final at their respective press conference. As the running order for the finalists hasn’t been determined yet, we get a fairly random order, as follows

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GERMANY

Fascinating fact: Lena was for first German winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. Nicole won for West Germany

Andrew: Germany is looking more polished and confident than the first rehearsal. Vocally it is fine. Still very little movement on the stage. Is it right? Probably not. Will it qualify, it doesn’t need to, bottom 5 on Saturday.

John: We kicked off today with this stolid rehearsal from Elaiza (all of them).  Curiously, there was a number ‘08’ in the bottom-left hand corner of the screen.  Coincidence or not? Our backdrop spells out the band’s name too.  They try really hard, but this doesn’t really hit the spot with me.

Phil:  It looks all sorts of messy on stage still – Her first rehearsal was a bit “industrial” vocally and even the use of the camera shot in the rafters isn’t going to save this. It has accidental last written all the way through it. Elizia seems very disinterested as she has done all along and the overall impression is of that plodding beerkeller song that you hear in the background of your local in Berlin, however the old question ” who is going to vote for this?” is a hard one to answer. Not many votes is the answer here.

Is is right? – Nope

UNITED KINGDOM

Fascinating fact: The UK has hosted eight contests, each one in a different venue.

Andrew: Molly is wearing a gold dress and the leather strappy footwear. This is looking fantastic now. A great rehearsal although she did deliberately not sing all the song through on the second run through to save her voice. They also did not use the pyros we saw in the first rehearsal again probably a case of saving money, we did see the pyro rigging moving into position though. Looking good though for the UK, potential top 5?

John: Molly was holding back – she mouthed her lines during the second run through – and we saw no pyros during the final run through.  It was a very assured show with well co-ordinated backings making it all very effective.  The UK fans can hold their heads up high this year.

Phil : If Germany was poor, this was brilliant. Molly even waved at me and my companion, I nearly fainted with excitement! She held back from hitting all the highnotes, and told us all so, which was a bonus. It was a technically competent rehearsal which is all you need. There was no pyro this time round, probably because the BBC couldn’t afford it, or didn’t want to shoot their bolt! This is still Top 10-ing and maybe even Top 5.

FRANCE

Fascinating fact: France were the first country to win three contests, one of whom was the first male winner of the contest

Andrew: France have tightened up their camera angles and there is plenty movement about the stage. The backdrop is an ever changing colour explosion. The lead singer talks us into the intro of the song this time. This is a much better rehearsal than first time round. Possible 10-15 finish in the Final.

John: This is the first time I’ve seen France rehearse, and it’s very colourful.  The camera angles have apparently improved greatly and they work the stage very well.  They even take a selfie.  All in all, if this is drawn amidst ballads, this could achieve a decent result.

DENMARK

Fascinating fact: When Birthe Kjær performed for Denmark in 1989, her song was the only one ever to use two conductors during its three minutes.

Andrew: Denmark is competent, nothing much has changed except the bow ties are loosened so not all looking quite like waiters. Basim screeches on some of the high notes and the movement is slick. I do not see this as a winner as some have suggested. Still potential top 10 though.

Phil : Bit ropey vocally but again competent. It seems they have done away with the massive Presidential Basim banner, maybe a tad too much or perhaps they too can’t afford to use it more than once, who knows. What I do know is that this song is on point – vocally not that bad but the issue for me here is will it look silly with the “love” and “Basim” banners…… I’m still thinking 8th-13th if a little bit lower.

On the positive side Basim has had some Camerawork training in the last couple of days and has remembered its the one with the red light, he’s working with his backing dancers and on the big note at the end he actually starts to sound believable which is a step up from Sunday.

ITALY

Fascinating fact: The 1991 contest in Rome was held on a former film set in the same studios that made the Spaghetti Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s

Italy.  She’s had some styling och consulting in the last 48 hours and the overall package looks a lot better.  She has a white dress on now, not her basketball outfit, and she has learned how the camera works, which again is a good thing.  She struts in the right(er) places but she needs to stop shaking what her mother gave her, it doesnt need it!!

John: Emma has gone for striking white, silver and gold in her and her band’s look, especially her long white cloak which she discards early on.  My first impression was that it was too bright, but the backdrop of faces mouthing the words was an interesting touch.  She is one of the biggest stars in their own country taking part this year, so her experience with this sort of stage comes through.  She means what she sings and it’s good to know we’ll have several songs not in English in the final.

Andrew: Italy are rocking the stage now. Emma is now a Roman goddess wearing a gold crown and a white dress and cape with gold and silver embossing on the dress. She flings the cape off and struts her stuff around the stage. She hits the catwalk and then crawls back toward the stage, she is a rock tigress. This is a fantastic rehearsal and I am really hoping to see this climb the rankings now, another Top 10 for Italy?

SPAIN

Fascinating fact: All of Spain’s songs have been performed almost entirely in the Spanish language

Phil : It looks distinctly average and underwhelming on stage.  She’s doing a job to polish that song but there is only so many times you can sing “The Rain” at Europe so many times before they nod off.  Despite the Spaniards liking this and  I can see the juries voting for this but the televote is still the major worry here.   I am struggling to see which demographic this song is aimed at and thats its problem, it’s aimless.  Molly is aiming for Juries, France are aiming at Televotes, This is a local song for local people and that won’t do anything.  Still 15th-21st.

John: Ruth has an interesting outfit and appears to have large eyes on her dress.  She appears to be alone (although her backing singers are stage right in the dark) with a backdrop that naturally imitates rain.  She may have been holding back because some of the notes were the littlest bit off, but not quite as shouty, when compared with the video and previous performances.  I don’t know how this will do.  It will either score across the board or be the accidental last.

Andrew: Ruth is still sounding a bit screechy on the higher big notes but she looks confident and composed. The setting of it looks amazing lots of rain, puddles and white light. She still needs to tighten up the vocals though and nail it on Friday/Saturday nights. The dress she has on is elegant but she has a strange motif on her chest which almost looks like eyes, the word boobeyes has been adopted in the blogging world.