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ESC2019

Australian Ambassador House hosting

Eran on Tue, 05/14/2019 - 19:42

Yesterday, the Australian ambassador to Israel, Chris Cannan, hosted an event at his residency.

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In the event, the historian Dean Vuletic gave a lecture about the history, the political roots and the political influence of the Eurovision Song Contest, as described in his book "Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest". The title of the lecture was "Why Are Australia and Israel in The Eurovision Song Contest". Obviously it did not evolve around the technicalities (Israel is part of the EBU and therefore allowed to take part), but rather around the cultural connections that lead to both countries to not just participated, but also be heavily invested in.

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We were also informed at the event, Vuletic is currently working on a new book, that will evolve around the "Intervision", the soviet bloc song contest. We'll be waiting on that one.

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Ambassador Chris Cannan,

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Dean Vuletic

Azerbaijan - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 12:40

Chingiz is closing today's rehearsals. I'm trying to understand what I missed in the first rehearsal that made everybody in the press room feel it. The rehearsal went the same as it was last time. Chingiz changes his hairstyle and looks better in my opinion. I think there were some sound problems, cause he entered after the music throughout the entire song.

North Macedonia - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 12:14

Tamara Todevska takes the stage once again. Nothing much has changed from the first rehearsal. It's a solid powerful performance. Tamara's voice takes time to warm up, but once it does it can melt icebergs. She's a powerful performer with a lot of presence. The last image shows her and her little girl.

The Netherlands - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 11:46

2nd rehearsal to favorites to win. The Netherlands still leading according to all the bookmakers. The rehearsal went very well. On top of the keyboard player, they've placed a transparent plastic cube and on top of it a round shaped lamp, instead of the lamp that was there before. The stage is moody with heavy clouds in sunset blue. Duncan sounds magnificent. The colors of blue and purple contribute to the melancholy atmosphere, and the backdrop really enhances the drama.

Norway - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 11:20

KEiiNO takes the stage for a 2nd rehearsal, The trio gives another good vocal performance and are supported by a video backdrop that goes from the snowy mountains to space. The spirit can be seen as an amorphic colorful image in space. While Fred is Jojking, there are tribal patterns forming in the backdrop, as well as on the LED floor. Towards the end, the flight in the backdrop accelerate and the cold colors of the mountains and space are combined with the spirits to create warmer colors.

Albania - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 09:58

Jonida Maliqi's rehearsal is good vocally as always. She now has her hair tied back. The camera shows us the backing singers, who now moved a bit forwards. They got rid of the black eagle in the graphics. Her see-through black dress gives her a nice silhouette. Camera work has improved, and there is a video of flames in the background. On the LED floor there's a video of a nest, where people gathers, as a metaphor to Jonida's cry for immigrants to come back to Albania.

Lithuania - second rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 09:05

Jurij's rehearsal is the same as his first rehearsal was. The performance relays on his charisma, which he has in large amounts. He's basically carrying the entire performance on his back. He tries one rehearsal with a simple look of a black t-shirt. Jurij gives good vocals, but unlike many performances in this semi-final, the Lithuanian once doesn't have any attention grabbers factors. Admirable, but might be risky.

Malta - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 08:47

Michela's second rehearsal seems to be not as strong as the first one. She wears her hair down and it seems even some of the choreography has changed. She's not focused throughout the entire rehearsal. In the 2nd and 3rd attempt, it seems to get better and better, and Michela delivers the vocals as she knows. We see the on-screen graphics they're gonna use, like small fishes when the video art shows the underwater and virtual rain when Michela sings she can "change like the weather".

Croatia - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 08:24

Roko is opening the 7th day of rehearsals. I've just noticed that the staging tells a story of rising from the depth of earth (Hell?) to Heaven. The camera shakes to resemble an earthquake as Roko arises and accent from the fiery hell to the sky, where he meets the two angels/dancers who give him wing. This has a very strong Christian motive, and I'm sure televoters will have it in their top 10 in the semi-final.