Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

As there isn't much to blog when rehearsals are done with closed doors (and yes, I'm all for it!)  I will just do a feature with a couple of  photos from the rehearsals as published by Ebu.  Apparently all went by smoothly and most everyone gave a polished performance of their national final show if there was one. And many dancers from Cyprus to Lithuania, Ireland, Poland and Croatia.  Today, the first day of rehearsals we had the first technical rehearsals of 30 minutes by following countries: CYPRUS SERBIA LITHUANIA IRELAND UKRAINE POLAND CROATIA Follow more on eurovision.tv 

Today the first countries took take 30 minutes on Eurovision 2022 stage in Pala Olimpico di Torino, and apparently there were some problems with the rotating sun but generally most delegations were happy, at least in public. Here are some photos published by eurovision.tv with some first impressions - even if it's a bit insane to do any when having not seen a thing really but that's what we do. Judge without seeing. Enjoy! Albania opens the show and just like the song is a cliché of of the Eurovision ethnic dance bangers of yesteryear so it seems is their performance: Bare chested men in skirts to please the gaydom and fandom. How very original. Not. Not impressed at all. And that is just my own opinion, nothing more. I'm just a bit tired of this genre. Latvia is colorful and energetic as expected with a lot of veggies in the backdrop as expected, because it's sexy as f*ck.  Lithuania sticks to the same performance as before, even with the same silver and black dress. W...

The last three to rehearse today include also two major favorites Estonia and Bulgaria, with Belarus sandwiched inbetween. In the strange twist of fate four of the major favorites are all in the first semi-final's first half.... Belarus - Alekseev - Forever Gone is his projector shirt or whatever it was in the national final and better so, as Elina is coming right after with her dress. Innstead we have some drama with roses and some apparently rather offputting imaginary in a form a blooded shirt. He's got a rising platform and a dancer, the said real rose and some more petals in augmented reality. And the vocals are still all over the place - or maybe they simply are like that? "Gothic romance", "Dramaric", "WTF", "Slightly offputting", "Extravagant", "Disgusting" Estonia - Elina Nechayeva - La forza In the end they got the money and the dreadful dress is here. But it's a good distractio...

The rehearsals continue after lucnh break with threee more countries, among them two top favorites Czech Republic and Israel, still #1 in the betting odds, and this blogger's favortire Lithuania... Czech Republic - Mikolas Josef - Lie to me It seems one of the favorites didn't quite deliver yet as Czech Republic's entry is described a mess pretty much in unison. The colors (pink/blue/purple) are there, the stairs are there, so are the breakdancers miming also as trumpet players and having their own props: light walls, and the choreography but it doesn't fill the stage the way it's ment to do, nor the camera angles are right there. If they only get the idea and concept work on screen.... Colorful and fun, vocally no problem. This blogger believes they'll sort it all out. Mikolas himself tried different acrobatics to add to the performance, such as front flip... Let's see what he'll do in the end...  Update: He has been taken to hospital fo...

The serious business is on. The first acts are having their 30 minutes technical rehearsals to check out the stage, the lights, the camera angles - all this has been already worked out with substitute artists and on going negotitions between RTP and EBU people on spot and the delegations at home the past few weeks. Now it's time to put the theory into practise and make the necessary changes, adjustments and final touches and see how everything looks and feels like in the real world. I will be following the rehearsals at home, spicing up the comments with those picked up from social medias and websites. Enjoy! Azerbaijan - Aisel - X my heart Aisel and her four backing singers/dancers, including Portuguese Rui Andrade, are working those mountains in a choreography that feels a bit too busy at times and dry ice. All dressed in white with mainly white and blue/purple backdrop it seems rather simple and traditional staging with the added props and wind machines. I suspect w...

  Today's the day. Azerbaijan will kick off the rehearsals 11am local time behind closed doors, as it has been now for a couple of years. Even more rules have been set by EBU in the last minute this year: a maximum of two minutes footage can be published by fan sites and blogs, and if I understood corretly none in private social media pages but only on blogs and sites. Same goes for photos.... But hey, I'm all for it. Too many times "fans" have slaughtered acts even before they have got their act together on that new stage (think Belgium last year for example) making them drop in betting odds etc. It's not only question of peace of mind for the delegations and the artist and money, it's a question of respect.  Let them get their act together before you judge, ok?  If you complain have a long look at the mirror. Fandom gets what fandom deserves. Simple as that. One of the best decisions by EBU for years, the best since closed doors rehearsals actually. Now...

The circus has started and the first eight countries have rehearsd for the first time. The stage looks nice and cozy, just as they promised. The artists were asked to wear their stage dresses already to see how they will look like and most everyone did so. Austrian Natália Kelly was one of those who didn't. She will have five backing vocalists with her doing a joint choreography behind her. Estonian Birgit needs to work on her dress yet as it's flowing all over the place - maybe not the best choice for a pregnant woman walking on catwalk and in dry ice supported by her three male backing singers, but it does look amazing. Slovenian Hannah and her team of two Danish female backing singers and three hunky male dancers are doing a complicated routine on stage but Hannah pulls it off well even if it all includes catwalk and very high heals. Croatian sextet of men keeps it essential in their performance, wearing a traditional costume. The biggest favorite as yet, Danish Emmelie D...