[LMBTO] What Can Eurovision 2017 First Rehearsals Possibly Tell Us?

Remember Stockholm 2016?  May 2nd?  That's when we saw what can be thrown up as a total surprise on the first day of the Eurovision first rehearsals - I don't think that anyone was expecting to see the visual masterpiece that was "You're The Only One":



Yep, still an amazing piece of Eurovision staging, still worth a watch even of this first rehearsal footage.  Now this sort of thing is what can suddenly make fans, pundits and media all stand up and take notice.  It is what will get everyone talking 'around the water cooler', that will make betting odds plunge or lengthen and that will overshadow almost every other first rehearsal that year.  It doesn't happen very often, to be fair - most years the first rehearsals are for one purpose:


It has taken until the fourth Eurovision that I have covered on this blog to take all of the first rehearsals with a huge pinch of salt - apart from the press and delegations at the venue, we (on the whole) only get a 30 second clip of each song and that often will not highlight anything spectacular.  Sergey's was unusual in that someone from the Russian delegation or press revealed this whole three minute video - whether that was to show what an amazing show we were going to have or to highlight his great vocals whilst undertaking such exertions, I cannot remember now.  Normally we only have those short snippets to go on and as the camera angles are straight on, with no view from above, we cannot see the floor which is sometimes integral to their staging.

The other thing that has put me off commenting too closely is that I have noticed that some fans and pundits use these early rehearsals to either protect or bash certain entries:


So should I be reviewing this year's first rehearsals?  I'm not going to do a blow-by-blow, day-by-day account - I'll point out the semi-final entries that have surprised me for good or for bad, that performed to a standard so that they would not be out of place on the live show already and also to see if I can say some words in defence of one or two artists that have been a little bit torn apart by the Eurovision press already...


Sweden



Now this is one of the entries that is 'straight out of the box ready' for their SF.  Watch that clip and compare it to the Melodifestivalen version - one or possibly two of the guys accompanying Robin are different to allow for more backing vocals and the starting point for the beginning of the song is likely to be just off stage but this looks spot on perfect visually.  I expect that tweaking this so that all the timings are working and the camerawork is as good, if not better, than in Sweden will all that will be necessary to get this 'match fit'.  The one bizarre comment that I have been hearing about "I Can't Go On" is that it is 'too slick':


Still my tip for likely winner if Italy doesn't stroll it this year...


Belgium



Now if I got a pound coin for every 'armchair critic' who dissed this entry based on this 30 second clip, I would probably have enough money to fly to wherever next year's Contest will be!  Even the Eurovision press and pundits were really down on this entry - now some of what they say I can more relate to as they are there, although I have noticed a difference between the sound quality of videos from eurovision.tv and at least one I heard with Blanche singing that sounded not dissimilar to her studio version.  There are a lot of Eurovision press who had the opinion that this song would not translate well live and are now almost willing "City Lights" to fail, so that they are proved right...


Come to the Eurovision fortnight with an open mind, why don't you?  On the one hand, the old timers say that you can't judge on the first rehearsal and then they are all slagging this 17 year old off based on her first show.  Hypocritical, no?  I am now willing Blanche to get this right live, to hit her form when it matters, at the SF and then the Final, to get her confidence on stage and blow all her critics away.  There'll be a lot of 'sick' bookies if she does too...


Finland



You didn't think that I'd miss out my number one this year, did you?  Much like Sweden, this has been directly lifted from UMK and all apart from the smoke on the ground (to be added later, no doubt) and the lace around the mic (ditto), this looks near enough the same as Norma John's winning NF performance, which was totally expected as they told me so in London!


I suspect that all that is going to be needed is getting the camera angles right and making sure there are no 'Nina Sublatti smoke machine disasters" during the second rehearsals.  Having this level of confidence and certainty in place after the first rehearsal must be very reassuring, especially as costumes are sorted as well - Leena and Lasse can almost put their feet up, unlike the next country to rehearse...


Azerbaijan



You can always rely on this nation to think totally 'outside the box' as far as staging is concerned!  Who remembers 2013's "Man in a perspex box", 2014's "Girl on a trapeze" or even 2015's "Contemporary dancers almost collide with singer"?  Last year's "Cute woman in a gold jumpsuit" was almost tame in comparison but this year has really taken this all to a new level...


We had no idea about how "Skeletons" was going to be staged before Kyiv, as all we had was the official video to go on.  Dihaj has the great slicked back hair look and I suppose if there's not going to be a Datsun 120Y on stage with her (watch the video), having some mad surrealistic vision on stage certainly gives this entry the wow factor.  This look is going to be talked about all the way through the fortnight and into the live shows - I can just imagine what Graham Norton is going to say to the British public!  This is what first rehearsals sometimes give us - that moment where you think "where on earth did that come from?".   I am looking forward to the second rehearsal for this already...


Greece



Sometimes you watch something on stage and become scared for the performer, as it appears that they are in a situation that they are not comfortable with.


She is grinning throughout but I wonder if it is all through gritted teeth, as one step the wrong way and she'll need one of those two semi-naked guys to catch her!  At least she was one of the few female artists to give her actual SF outfit an airing but I wonder if we will see her elevated so high again - it does limit her movement for what, at the time, is the 'Euroclub anthem' section of the song and that all seems counter-intuitive.  I suspect we'll see what she thought when the staging for round 2 becomes apparent...


Moldova



First to say, hooray for using the same staging as the NF!  Brides and bridegrooms are rumoured to still be the order of the day although having the ladies in Ascot Race attire and the guys in smart but casual works too.  This is going to look great on the night as all the elements are still there - Running Man, Epic Sax Guy, the pacing dance - but as 'everyone's a critic', I've just noticed something...


If Epic Sax Guy gets centre stage then really that should be mimicked behind them too - just a small point but if you want to get it right on the night...


Czechia



First rehearsals can throw up issues with artist placing, sometimes with props, sometimes with the technical stuff - the other issue it can throw up is with outfits.  I am hoping that Martina will not be wearing this in her SF:
Yes, it makes her stand out but I don't think in a good way.  Is it because her official video was very monotone in colour, due to the predominance of skin tones on show?  This lady has always come across as very classy and unassuming, which matched the tone and intensity of "My Turn" - this look with the shiny jumpsuit and an open top showing off her bra?


Cyprus



This rehearsal shows everyone that watching the first show is sometimes very limited - it is obvious that lots is going on with this entry but on the floor.  It will all become clear during the second set - it will also become clear if Hovig and his companions can actually balance properly to give this a clean show.  Another rule of the first rehearsal is therefore:



Latvia



Now we are in the territory of "unintentional innuendo"!  Now watch this first through and you won't spot it because I didn't - unfortunately for my brain now, Phil Colclough of OnEurope pointed something out with one of the neon figures behind the band.  Look at the fluorescent shape to 'our right' of the drummer - apparently it is meant to be a representation of the Angel statue in Kyiv (or possibly another related statute) but it has been put forward that it looks more like a representation of male genitalia!


Is it unintentional or was it a deliberate ploy by this band?  Who knows - it definitely got them a slot in this article.  Will it be in the second rehearsal?  Does it detract from the show?  So many questions, so many answers for the next showing to resolve, maybe...


Austria



"Running On Air" or "Walking On The Moon"?  Sorry, too hard to resist that one but this is where a first rehearsal suddenly throws a curveball - where I was imagining a nice straightforward singing and moving around the stage formula or even sat with someone playing an instrument, what I was NOT thinking of was Nathan wearing clothes a size too small, him on a crescent moon in the air and:


Really?  Apparently this is all his concept - what I would say to that is stick to the singing and exuding charm and camera connection that you are excellent at, Nathan, leave the staging to the experts.  For me this would shoot him out of my top ten and leave him in the lower reaches of the Final.  I am praying that this actually looks better over three minutes and that we have a really naff 30 seconds here - first rehearsals can put a lot of doubt into fan's minds too...


Romania


Now regular blog readers will know that the presence of yodelling and rap in the same entry is absolute purgatory for me so it takes a lot to include this rehearsal here.  However, I am pleasantly surprised that the delegation are going props mad and maybe, just maybe, they will make this look so absolutely ridiculous that it doesn't qualify for the Final.


I think that for me that is really wishful thinking but two cannons?  Apparently there are more bizarre props and effects to be had - please, please turn this into a total hot mess that it is only good for 'Eurovision is OTT and rubbish' clips on BBC1...


The Netherlands



I have included this one not because there is anything amazingly unexpected here but for the fact that this is yet another entry where the majority of Eurovision fans thinks that this will be boring, that it won't connect with voters, that there is nothing to look at...

What does this rehearsal suggest?

• Harmonies as ever spot on.  
• They now have superb outfits that are personalised to each of them.  
• They have a routine so they are now doing the same moves

Denmark



The reason for including this one?  Mainly for the comment that I heard Ewan Spence of ESC Insight make during his daily podcast from Kyiv of this rehearsal:


Spot on there - this lady doesn't hold back, ever.  She has an amazing vocal range and she is always giving it her all and that, for a first rehearsal where most artists are concentrating on their marks, on how the sound is in their ears, on their moves, is absolutely outstanding.  Because this song means so much to her personally (as I mentioned in my article that contained her 11th placed ranking), I don't think that emotionally she CAN give less of a performance.  As she belted this out, all of a sudden a lot of the press and fans have now elevated Denmark to a possible dark horse status...


It was obvious from DMGP that she felt more comfortable with this song than "Never Alone" in 2016 and she is now even potentially jettisoning 'that red dress' for what she was wearing above.  If that is true, it could be risky as she is moving from the 'classic ballad look' to something more in line with what a woman of her age would wear, but it does allow her to move more freely around the stage and kneel down, as in this rehearsal.  We will know for certain during her second one but I had a feeling that this could be something special and this footage now confirms it in my mind...


Ireland



Poor, poor Brendan - he doesn't even have a stool to sit on under that balloon!  I have no idea whose idea it was to include this imagery for Ireland but I have to wonder if Louis Walsh and the Irish HOD have some sort of bet going on for Ireland to finish last in SF2.  This entry is absolutely ridiculous and this poor guy's music career will potentially end on Thursday 11th May unless there is something extra special during the other 150 seconds of this song.



Switzerland



We have another "Greece" scenario and no, it has nothing to do with Greek gods (do you see what I did there?).  I am referring to "Health & Safety" - Miruna has a dress with such a huge train on it that even walking along a flat surface takes some thought and whoever choreographed this expects her to walk down some stairs with no handrail from a 5 foot high podium?  Interestingly enough, this clip earlier in the day included footage of her having to really look at what she was doing during this rehearsal as she walked down the stairs from atop the podium - that has now disappeared to just show her walking from the piano across the stage.


To say that Miruna did not look happy with events was an understatement and I get the feeling that she is not one to keep her opinions to herself!  As for that dress, it is not as elegant as those worn at the Swiss and Ukrainian NFs, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is a whole new look for Timebelle second time around...


Belarus



Now I have heard some comments about how disappointed some fans are with the look of Naviband's staging.  The one shot forest panning shot in the official video has been mentioned which, to be fair, was a cinematic delight but there is a major issue with transferring such footage to a static stage:


This is actually a delight to watch - the images flying behind them but 'away' from us viewing this, combined with the pair standing on some sort of 'flying satellite stage', gives a very, very strong visual show and makes you believe that they are actually flying and you are on that journey too.  Arciom and Ksienija do their thing as usual, providing pure unadulterated joy and spot on vocals, wearing very simple clothing that is relevant to their culture and country and it all looks amazing.  This pair had a connection with the audience in Belarus when they were just dancing around and singing - this now gives even more interest and hopefully will give them even more memorability and votes, if that were possible.  Bravo to their choreographer - one of the memorable shows this year...