Thursday, 5 May 2016

Eurovision 2016: First Run Through - Semi Final 1 #2

In this blog Elliot Harris gives us his views on the first run throughs from the songs in the second half of Semi Final 1. You can find the link to PART 1 here.


Gabriela Guncikova – I Stand – CZECH REPUBLIC
Kicking off day two of rehearsals were the Czech Republic with Gabriela’s rather simple ballad and the staging somewhat reflected that. There was a lot of pink, a lot of purple and the geometric triangles and shapes which have been a staple in her promotion in the run up to Stockholm, she was in a simple white dress also which changes into different colours from the lights, one moment it was white, the next it was purple. Gabriela’s staging the wowed a lot of people on social media and if it all goes right on the night is looking like a certain finalist qualifier rather than someone on the borderline.

Minus One – Alter Ego – CYPRUS
Minus One were a outside dark horse for the title leading into Eurovision 2016 and they have a song worthy of winning, however there is a lot going on stage, lots of flashing and colour changing lights, the other band members apart from the lead vocals are all in cages, giving a somewhat Manga (Turkey 2010) feel, digitally projected wolves appear on the LED screens also, vocally sounded ok as well, I’m sure pyrotechnics and smoke will be added in for later run through also as that is the one thing I expected from Minus One – fire!

Zoe – Loin D’ici – AUSTRIA
Eurovision’s sweetheart Zoe from Austria was next, and firstly the treadmill was not in sight today but she has already said the treadmill will be used in the final performance so there’s an addition for later in the week. As for the day itself Zoe came out in a gorgeous off colours pink/peach coloured dress with lots of layers, the staging behind was similar to the national final but toned down and altered as she explained to us in an interview. Overall her staging has bolstered her chances of qualifying.



Juri Pootsmann – Play – ESTONIA
Juri was next on stage and again it was similar copy and paster style from Eesti Laul for Stockholm, the colour schemes of red and blue interchanging was present again, this time whoever adding the suits of playing cards on the screens at times, decked out in a royal blue suit, the whole song and staging gave a very cool jazz club/James Bond style vibe, now where’s my Martini gone?

Samra – Miracle – AZERBAIJAN
Now it soon become apparent, mainly through people in Stockholm announcing Miss Samra is currently unwell which affected her first practice vocally, however the staging itself is still rather dull, the main colour scheme seemed to be beige and gold or that parts and in true Azerbaijan style, they have backing dancers which are not for a song like this, they all interact with the backing singers at times also, however from the footage seen it looks like they’ve learnt from last year and stay Samra during the whole performance so credit for them learning from their mistakes I guess.

Highway – The Real Thing – MONTENEGRO
Highway were next on stage and there footage looked okay, very apparent to what I personally expected, lots of lights, not too much going on, they have a female backing dancer which is shown in the music video also, she is illuminated in red for the performance, but although the staging is good and in some ways simple, although im expecting more smoke and pyro in future run through, there’s nothing jaw droopingly amazing to pull this through the semi and into the final.

Greta Salome – Hear Them Calling – ICELAND
Again not much has changed with this staging, the screen behind her is still present and the second chorus of her batting away the hands and the girl running into her remains, however she now starts on the floor and after the second chorus drops the to the floor. Also we didn’t see this but her Snapchat before Stockholm showed other walking and a camera circling her around the two minute mark in the song, again national final staging worked so need to fix it and if she hits all her cues and marks it’s a winner.

Deen & Dalal ft. Anna Rucher and Jala – Ljubav Je – BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Well…this was different. Bosnia are back after three years and they’ve come back with barbed wire and a giant of tin foil it looks like. Deen and Dalal are either side of the barbed wire fence reaching for each other, Anna is playing slightly infront and (sadly) Jala is still there for his literal 15 seconds of Eurovision fame, lighting is a simple blue and black scheme, will much change between now and next Tuesday? I doubt it and if so it’s being left behind.


Ira Losco – Walk On Water – MALTA

Lastly it was Ira’s turn, and they said it would be expensive and one to watch, she will be wearing a giant projection map coat on stage which will change – think Wiktoria in Melodifestivalen but bigger, colours wree changing from red to blues and yellows, the dancer from the video will be on stage giving some frantic and to be more blunt off putting dancing, that could harm her in the long run but it’s looking vocally and performance wise Malta will safely be in the final this time round. 

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