The first day of Eurovision 2024 rehearsals finally arrived in Malmö and the anxiety of all Eurofans was great for the first taste of the acts of the artists. The program for today had 7 of the 15 countries competing in the 1st semi-final, with Silia Kapsis (Cyprus) first and Baby Lazagna (Croatia), one of this year’s favourites, performing last.
Since last year, in Liverpool, accredited journalists have to deal with a new situation, since there is no longer any access to the Press Center during this first week where the technical rehearsals take place, neither on site nor online. A situation that makes predictions and even comments a complicated matter. The first time we will have a complete impression of each entry this year will be in the first dress rehearsal for the 1st semi-final, on Monday 6 May afternoon. We will nevertheless attempt a first general commentary, based almost exclusively on the visual effect achieved by each delegation, since the audio clips are very short and of poor quality.
The central theme in most of the performances we saw today was the emphasis on the overall aesthetic impression of the staging. In that perspective, those countries that managed to give a strong aesthetic result also won the first impression and took the lead for the qualification. Other countries improved the positive elements of their national final appearance (Lithuania, Serbia, Croatia), other countries followed a new line (Ukraine, Ireland), which admittedly elevated the performance. A different approach was followed by the two countries that chose their representatives internally, with Poland giving emphasis to the props and Cyprus to the choreography. Let’s take everything we saw today from the beginning (in the active links with the name of the country you will find rich material from today’s rehearsal) :
In the opening rehearsal of the day we saw Cyprus . Silia Kapsis dressed in white with silver sequins in a comfortable ensemble to support her choreography. Visually, Cyprus lags behind, compared to anything else we saw today. The staging, the color theme, the choreography, the costumes do not give Cyprus the required oomph to stand out. The song is aimed at younger audiences, a fact that the organizers realized and therefore chose it to open the show. The younger audiences will perhaps identify with the four dancing boys, but hardly with Silia. We consider the choice of make-up and hairstyle to be inappropriate, as they deprive her of the natural freshness of the 17-year-old girl she is. Cyprus unfortunately disappoints with the first rehearsal which looks sluggish and without character.
Second in the running order we find Serbia . A staging that teaches aesthetics, tapping into the Balkan-goth element of Teya Dora’s song. As always, Teya’s interpretation is beautiful in this special Balkan ballad. The concept of the national final has evolved and fits nicely with the big stage in Malmö. In an entry with many good elements, qualification may be in danger because of the monotony of the melody from one point onwards, but also by the lack of charisma of the otherwise very capable performer.
We move on to Lithuania and Silvester Belt, who gave us an upscaled performance in relation to the national final, without deviating from this original concept. He did very well because what we saw seemed to work. Luktelk is one of the most popular songs of this season and will probably have no problem making it to the finals.
Emphasis on atmosphere is also prominent in the participation of Ireland and Bambie Thug. The mystical ceremony set up on the stage and the otherworldly creature that sings make up a theatrical setting. The short video clip does not help at all here in drawing any conclusion. But judging by the photos and Bambie Thug’s excellent performance in their recent appearances, Ireland appears to be very close to their first finals qualification in many years.
Coming on stage fifth, alyona alyona and Jerry Heil represent Ukraine in the first semi-final. Perhaps the most feelgood rehearsal of the day. The girls’ duo transformed from the dark black backdrop of the national final to become bathed in light here in Malmö. The golden colors, the cosmic lighting, their costumes and above all the special timbre of Jerry Heil’s voice create a scene that is eternal, universal. The general feel, perhaps due to the color palette, is quite reminiscent of last year’s winner Tattoo. It will finish high on the board on Saturday night, but it remains to be seen if it will go as high as Tattoo. Qualification will definitely not be a problem.
Poland on the other hand thought big and brought two huge towers on stage to support Luna and her song. Poland’s rehearsal is almost without competition the most lavish and exuberant of the day, with Luna’s basic song turning into a televised extravaganza. The Poles did what they had to do to support their participation, visually it works great and soundwise Luna’s voice isn’t that annoying anymore. Is all this enough to qualify? It remains to be seen and that is why we are anxiously awaiting the second rehearsal to get a clearer picture.
The day ended with the rehearsal of one of the two bigger favorites, Croatia. The Croatians didn’t skimp either and gave the boost the song required by throwing in lots and lots of pyros. The national final set-up remains more or less the same, but the improvements that have been made all have paid off. Baby Lasagna has worked a lot on his technique these past two months and his vocals are more than decent now. What we expected from Croatia on a good day, that’s what we got today. Qualification is certain. Will it win? We will have to watch the remaining rehearsals carefully.
This was the first day of rehearsals, we are anxiously awaiting tomorrow for the second, to complete the picture we have for the first semi-final (detailed program HERE).
After emphasizing that the above commentary was based on the material provided by the organizers and with every reservation (since the complete three-minute presentation is the only fair way to judge the entries), we invite you to do the same and vote in the poll below which you think was the best rehearsal of the day.
Stay tuned to ogaegreece.com for all the action from day 2 of rehearsals!
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