This is the best picture that I have seen from Turin...
Dominika so ecstatic at the end of
We Are Domi's second rehearsals!
Given all the issues with tech that she had during the promo parties, hearing Dominika nail her vocals for all of the three run throughs today was a real pleasure and "Lights Off" is now back where everyone had it before those parties. I will say more later, as they were the last nation to complete their second rehearsal today - day 7 was there to complete the rest of SF2. Now we had a great finish to the day and we also had an incredible start too...
AUSTRALIA (Sheldon Riley - "Not The Same")
Now I have always rated "Not The Same" - Sheldon has one of the best voices in the Contest and one of the most outrageous/memorable staging at Turin. We knew from his M&G that he had changed from dark clothing to a light one to be less sad and more empowering and so it has proved. He is all in white, a wonderful suit/dress with a huge fluffy train, plus his trademark face mask that is such an instrumental part of the performance when he unmasks towards the end of the three minutes. His vocals are only challenged by Ochman this year and even when he had an issue with one of his in ears on the first run, there was no difference with the quality and purity of what was sung. All the lighting is on him and it follows him as he climbs up steps that take him towards the black arch, which actually works well for Australia as it contrasts with the white. This is one of the powerful moments of Eurovision 2022 and I am still looking at a top ten for Sheldon, score 8.75/10 is unchanged from before...
CYPRUS (Andromache - "Ela")
Now sometimes the staging is just an additional extra that adds a little bit to the wonderful vocals and performance of the singer - having seen it from the first rehearsal, the shell arch prop for Cyprus looked to be perfect for the song "Ela" and the beautiful Andromache. It did give a very intimate setting for the performance and with blue and gold shone across it, it looked amazing, especially with shots of the water as well. Andromache has a nice voice, nothing too powerful about it though - the main issue at the moment is that she doesn't appear to be the world's most natural mover. All of her supposedly enticing movements were very choreographed and having her and the two dancers in the shell area looked very cramped. There is the chance that she is saving herself of the actual shows (from what I remember, Elena only ramped it up in the main shows with "El Diablo") - otherwise all that will be remembered from this is her beauty and the shell prop. A slight increase in score though - 6.75/10 to 7.00...
IRELAND (Brooke - "That's Rich")
Brooke told me in Amsterdam that she didn't think that her performance in the Irish National Final wasn't that good and it was all very 'primary school'. What that staging did have was lots of charm and a compactness that made it watchable - the size of the Turin stage does affect this performance with her dancers being distant from her and it all looks a lot more placed and clinical. The start of this is actually really very good - Brooke lays of the floor in the middle of a heart and her dancers are around it. Her vocals are solid and her attitude is superb so there is still hope for Ireland to make the Final - they are fortunate to be in what I consider to be the weakest of the two SFs. A slight drop in score from me, 7.00/10 to 6.75...
NORTH MACEDONIA (Andrea - "Circles")
Now some artists can fill the stage on their own and Andrea is one of the contenders for that this year when you consider that she only has a microphone stand with her for part of the three minutes. This performance starts with a long shot that pans in on her and that looks truly amazing, as does the lighting for this entry. Andrea has the same intensity and passion that she always does and having close ups on her was an inspired choice. There is a nice floor animation of rocks swirling at one point but the extra bits are all a bit superfluous (like the side screens with palm prints on them) - this is all about Andrea and she does her nation proud. Fingers crossed she makes the Final as she deserves it - a slight upward tweak from me of 7.75/10 to 8.00...
ESTONIA (STEFAN - "Hope")
Now this was one of the entries that I wanted to see in its entirety, due to the rumoured tv filter we would see. Before the second rehearsal, I felt that Estonia had lost its way yet again but after watching the first run through, this has sailed into 'certain Final qualifier' territory! The Western style sepia filter and cinematic closing effect is superb and sets off STEFAN's studded jacket to perfection. He gives this show everything - he is smiling throughout and also moving around all parts of the stage, the first (and possibly only) artist to do so this year. He looks down the camera all the time and the camera loves his close-ups - he also has a little jump in there too to add a bit of unexpected tension! The lighting is mood perfect for the song and you can see relevant bits of LED still. This is now so much better than Eesti Laul - well done STEFAN for getting Jaagup Tuisk involved! A massive jump from 6.25/10 to 8.00...
ROMANIA (WRS - "Llámame")
This entry is all about the dance rather than the song - all five people on the stage are professionals and that shows. Superb choreography, very slick, all are finely toned for their work and the interaction between WRS and all the dancers is incredible. His outfits are totally in line with the song, although the red of the lighting does interfere with his red flamenco suit at times, but that is forgotten when we see his black and silver outfit at the end. It is a real shame that the LEDs are hidden as it is obvious we are missing something and the main down on this entry are the vocals - they are okay and solid rather than great but it is all about the visuals here. A slight improvement for me, 6.00/10 to 6.75...
POLAND (Ochman - "River")
I'll put it straight out there, this was the best performance ofDay 7 and only equalled by Ukraine's show in SF1. Krystian OchmanIS the best vocalist of Eurovision 2022, there can be no argument with that at all - that is now matched by some of the most creative staging that I have seen at Eurovision for many years and therefore Poland are now one of the definite contenders for the win IMHO. This has used some tv special effects that will wow those outside the crowd in the arena - water droplets running down the tv screen plus severe camera rocking and lightning as the dementors writhe around Ochman on stage. Those figures are beguiling throughout but they do not take any of the action away from Krystian, even being a pivotal point in the story as they almost collide with him. Even the floor is swirling blue and having the water feature on the edge of the stage is the cherry on the cake. Add to that an emotional delivery of the song like no other and this will be one of the highlights of SF2 and the Final. "River" was 8.50/10 beforehand, now it is 9.50 with me...
MONTENEGRO (Vladana - "Breathe")
We eventually got to see that art installation that Vladana had told me about in Amsterdam - unfortunately I had built it up in my head to be more impressive and innovative. Her dress was connected to a circle of lights that was attached to her back and at the start of the performance when everything was dark, it looked superb with moving lights on the disc and on the upper part of her dress. That only lasts for about ten seconds and then all the lights behind her diminish the effect totally. Vladana still has her incredible voice and now a verse in Montenegrin too but the lights on her do not really add much overall. In fact, as she is fairly static now, my score for her dipped slightly from 7.50/10 to 7.00...
BELGIUM (Jérémie Makiese - "Miss You")
Some entries lend themselves to staging and choreography that you might see from a special guest on The Voice or X Factor - that is what "Miss You" looks like. Jérémie has a great voice and I still love the RnB vibe of the song, he definitely knows where the cameras are, the lighting compliments him and I liked the ending. The main thing about the staging that ended up being a bit superfluous was the dancers, mainly because they blend in with the background and do not really add anything visually. Perhaps a change of outfit for them will bring them into play for the actual shows - I still like this song but it could get overlooked depending on what else excels in SF2. A drop from 8.25/10 to 7.50...
SWEDEN (Cornelia Jakobs - "Hold Me Closer")
In SF1, Mia from Croatia had all sorts of sound and backing track issues and only got one entire run in - in SF2, Cornelia had a similar story but even worse! First microphone feedback, next sound issue in her in ears, then the Steadicam man tripped over her mic cable! By the time she got to her one full run, she was obviously all over the place and her concentration was shot. I am loath to even analyse that one run as she had so much against her - the bigger venue does remove the intimacy that she had at Melodifestivalen and she won't have fans in hands reach to interact with and feed off their energy. I would write off this second rehearsal as a 'bad day in the office' - my score hasn't changed for 8.00/10 to show this...
CZECH REPUBLIC (We Are Domi - "Lights Off")
As you saw me write at the start, I was so delighted that We Are Domihad three clean runs this afternoon, with no tech issues, no vocal problems for Dominika and that they had a performance each time that rocked! I love the look of the whole show, although I am glad that I am not in the audience with all of those light beams going off (Softengine in 2014 came to mind). The guys did their job with playing their instruments but the star of this show is Dominika - admittedly she has backing vocals which helps her make sure she is at the right key but every yowl was perfect and she played the ultimate lead singer, constantly moving, connecting with the crowd and camera and giving a huge relieved smile at the end. It is a superb EDM show and assuming that the Jury and Public get treated to any of those run throughs, Ben/Casper/Dominika will all be on their way to the Final. 7.50/10 is now 8.00...
So what are my standings for SF2?
POLAND
SAN MARINO
AUSTRALIA
ESTONIA
CZECH REPUBLIC
NORTH MACEDONIA
SWEDEN
BELGIUM
FINLAND
ISRAEL
MONTENEGRO
CYPRUS
AZERBAIJAN
ROMANIA
SERBIA
IRELAND
GEORGIA
MALTA
Having said that, all positions 8th (Belgium) and below would have been knocked out if they had been in SF1! This is an incredibly open SF and even nations such as Serbia and Azerbaijan have a pretty good chance of making the Final. This will be interesting to see next Thursday.
We also get to decide if this,
plus Sam's voice and his onstage charisma,
will be enough to put the UK within
touching distance of the Eurovision trophy...