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Montenegro First Rehearsal
Montenegro 1st rehearsal. Strong vocals and classical Balkan drama. Blue glitter wardrobe choice is - interesting. #Eurovision
— ESCKAZ Chris (@EsckazChris) May 2, 2018
The piano is lovely, but it all comes across a bit old-fashioned Balkan ballad. Voters in Serbia and Slovenia will get behind this for sure though.
Montenegro First Rehearsal
Next up - Montenegro. Vanja dons a sparkly turquoise and white-collared suit and his backing vocalists (suitably attired in white, feathery ensembles) surround him and a piano sits to the left of the stage as we look at it. Vanja is already on very good form vocally and all around it's a classy, focus-on-song approach. Should follow those Montenegrin entries of a similar vein - Knez and Sergej Ćetković - into the final.
Sweden First Rehearsal
Sweden 1st rehearsal. Visually very similar to melodifestivalen. Smaller jacket and more camera connection during middle eight. Backing vocals need more layers. Work in progress. #Eurovision
— ESCKAZ Chris (@EsckazChris) May 2, 2018
Backing vocals not adding enough depth yet. It doesnt sound as rich as in Melfest, but it's Sweden, so they will get it right.
Ukraine’s first rehearsal: avant-garde props and fire alarm for MELOVIN
Ukrainian representative MELOVIN takes the Eurovision stage for his first rehearsal on May 2nd at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.
Impressive and literally fiery stage performance has all the potential to become the most discussed at this year’s Eurovision. After the furious staging at the national selection, MELOVIN brought to Lisbon turned on its head version of his entry song ‘Under the Ladder’. The stage act’s idea realised together with a Ukrainian stage director Konstantin Tomilchenko, who also staged Jamala’s winning “1944” performance back at Eurovision 2016.
Probably the most avant-garde and theatrical props of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is a two-level gigantic piano brought to Lisbon by the Ukrainian delegation. The complex installation serves as a hidden spot for the singer at the very beginning of the staging and as music instrument on fire closer to the end. These props need a very sophisticated technical support. If operation button pressed a half second earlier or later there is a chance for MELOVIN to damage himself seriously. And let’s not forget about the fire need to be released exactly when the singer starts playing the piano.
‘Nothing but your will sets you on fire. Fire lasts forever’ - this line from my song inspired Konstantin Tomilchenko and me to create this theatrical staging. I wanted to keep the fire but kind of escalate the whole props story to another level. With Konstantin we share the same vision of how exactly my performance should look like and I also love what he’d done for Jamala, - MELOVIN says.
‘The installation looks impressive, and that’s exactly what we want to bring to Eurovision stage. I’m really worried about how it’s all gonna work together,’ – shares Konstantin Tomilchenko. – ‘We need to take extra cautions during rehearsals and at the Semi-Final.’
Sweden first rehearsal
As expected the Swedish rehearsal looks and sounds pretty much the same as in the national final. It's still all very polished and slick. Vocally there are no issues here. Solid performance for Benjamin and the song is unlike any of the others this year. From this semi-final it should have absolutely no problems qualifying.
Latvia First Rehearsal
Latvia 1st rehearsal. Laura in a red dress. Good lighting and confident performance. Slightly overchoreographed, but displaying more vulnerability than before. Sensual. #Eurovision
— ESCKAZ Chris (@EsckazChris) May 2, 2018
Not a lot has changed from National Final, but the performance itself is much more in line with the meaning of the song now. Well done.