Rehearsals are well and truly underway in Basel and while all first and second rehearsals are closed to the Press, we are still able to see very short clips of rehearsals via social media platforms such as Tik Tok and Facebook . We at Eurovision Ireland have been having a look at some of the clips of the goings -on in Basel and to give our initial reactions on what we have been able to see , so far.

So, without any further delay,let’s get on with it .Today the 1st Semi Final performers took to the stage for their second rehearsals .

ICELAND Vaeb “RoA”

The outfits have stayed similar to those on the national final , staging as in the National final has a blue colour theme .This will be a good opener to Semi Final one

Poland -Justyna Steczkowska-Gaja

Wow!Justyna seems to have gone for the warrior princess look .The clip we saw ,showed her being raised towards the ceiling with the backdrop image of what looks like a rather fierce prehistoric monster which looks like it’s flying into Jusytyna. Dark,staging with scantily dressed backing dancers frolicking around the stage . There’s also pyros .I am impressed at Justyna’s efforts, and am quite envious of her stamina , given that she is in her 50’s but from what bit we have been able to see so far, I worry that there might be just a little bit too much going on onstage and this detracts from the actual song .Sometimes too much can be as bad as too little. I can’t wait to see the full performance.

Slovenia -Klemen “How much time do we have left ?”.

Orange lighting is the stage theme , with Klemen joined on stage by his wife. Now I think this is highly underrated . It’s a beautiful song with meaningful , emotional lyrics. My fear for Klemen is that he’s sandwiched between the very uptempo Poland and then Estonia, which may mean he gets lost when it comes to the voting public making their choices . I hope not as I would like to see this qualify.

Estonia -Tommy Cash “Espresso Machiatto”

The brief clip shows Tommy Cash and two backing performers stood on stage , with Tommy Cash holding a paper cup and wearing a suit , which has a post it note on the front , with the words “I love Eurovision” on it . They stand in front of red curtains, which then open to reveal a prop which is designed to look like a cafe , with the words Winners Cafe . Very bold of Tommy Cash to do that !. I can’t wait to see what more this performance has in store.

Ukraine -Ziferblat “Birds of prey”

My first impressions on seeing this brief clip is that made me feel like I was being transported back to the 1970’s in both staging and outfits . Again, too early to judge at this stage Ukraine’s chances of qualifying.

Sweden -Kaj “Bara bada Bastu

Our first glimpse of the big favourite to win this year. Kaj have kept things similar to the National Final performance , with some enhancements to the staging. I can’ t stop singing along to this , I can see why it’s a favourite to win, it’s as catchy as hell .Again , we need to wait to see the full performance .

Portugal -NAPA “Deslocado”

I really feel for Portugal , who have been placed to perform straight after a big favourite like Kaj . The brief clip shows that little has changed from the National Final, except the staging now has a blue back drop with what looks like black high rise buildings appearing . Again, we have to wait to see the full performance .

Norway -Kyle Alessandro “Lighter”

The brief clip shows basically the same performance as in the National Final, however , it’s fair to say that this was already pretty much Eurovision ready . We get a brief glimpse of pyros and Kyle in the warrior type outfit that he wore in the Norwegian final .

Belgium -Red Sebastian -“Strobe lights”

Red Sebastian has kept the red coloured staging , however , he now has a bigger stage to work with than in the Belgian National Final . In the clip , he’s seen strutting along a stage catwalk . I am looking forward to seeing this performance in full .

Azerbaijan -Mamagama -“Run with you “

With orange lighting again being the main stage theme , the band are performing with what looks like a yellow halo in the ceiling above them. They are dressed in black. During the clip , you see a backdrop giving images of the band members walking through arches . Will be interesting to see what else is in the full performance .

San Marino -Gabry Ponte “Tutta l’Italia

This looks like it’s going to be quite a lively performance , with stage having images of Italian buildings, there’s pyros and strobe lighting effects.Again , it’s going to be interesting to see the full performance.

Albania -Shkodra Elektronike “Zjerm”

Red and black seems to be the colour scheme here, with Beatrice in red and Kole in black . There’s pyros and it all seems very dramatic staging. A bit early to say as we haven’t yet seen the full performance but I reckon this will go big in the arena on Semi final night.

Netherlands -Claude “C’est la vie “

Netherlands look to have gone for the classy look this year , a far cry from their last year’s entry. Claude in a smart , brown suit , joined by two contemporary dancers in black and violinists , also in black. I can’t wait to see the full performance of this highly regarded song.

Croatia -Marko Bosnjak “Poison cake”

Have yet to see clip so can’t comment.

Cyprus -Theo Evan “Shh”

I expected this to be a big performance from Cyprus , where staging is concerned and it looks like I won’t be disappointed. Theo and his backing dancers are seen Standing and holding onto what looks like a metal apparatus , which they dance in and around. Obviously this is only a snippet and I suspect there is more to come .From what I have seen so far, it reminds me a lot of Sakis Rouvas performing for Greece in 2009 . We await to see the full performance .

You can see all today’s rehearsal clips via Tik Tok HERE

That completes our look at the first Semi Final second rehearsal clips . Tomorrow it’s the turn of those performing 1-9 in the running order in Semi Final 2 , then first rehearsals for the Big 5 plus Switzerland, the hosts .

Keep a look out for more of Eurovision Ireland’s coverage of Eurovision 2025 and the goings -on in Basel during the next few days .You can also find us on our FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM ,X and BLUESKY feeds.

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source : Eurovision Ireland EBU Tik Tok

Visual source : Georgios Kefalas