Day 5: A sun that doesn’t move, a Greek tavern and COVID19

Today we saw the second rehearsals for the first 14 countries from the first semifinal. For the first time the press was allowed to see the rehearsals on large TV screens in the press center. It is now certain that the kinetic sun does not rotate. During the first rehearsals it turned out that the time between performances was too short to move the center part of the sun. As a result, several countries had to adjust their graphics, because they were not or only partially visible

ALBANIA: The outfit had been changed and Ronela Hajati also had her own blond hair again, instead of the pink hair she had during the first rehearsal. It was a dynamic performance, in which there was almost constant dancing, together with her four dancers and a dancer. After the first rehearsal, there were some comments about an allegedly offensive dance move by Ronela with her dancer, but she kept it in anyway.

LATVIA: The six were wearing the familiar colorful suits and the decor was also very colorful. Various types of vegetables were displayed on the LED screen. In the middle of the song there was a moment for the saxophonist. The performance ended with the singer making a split.

LITHUANIA: Monika Liu stood alone on the big stage in Turin and mainly sang her song into the camera. She moved elegantly and attracted all the attention. The song doesn’t really need anything more.

SWITZERLAND: Dressed all in black, Marius Bear was on stage and a broken heart was visible on his face and on the floor. So emotions abound.

SLOVENIA: As said before, it was a big disco ball that mainly caught the attention of the Slovenian act. The boys wore 1970s-style velvet suits and the drummer appeared to be drumming above the disco ball. Compared to the previous rehearsal, there was little change.

UKRAINE: There was a lot to see on stage, besides the colorful costumes there was a lot of visual spectacle. It was traditional, ethnic with a modern twist, just like last year’s contribution. Because of the war in Ukraine, this performance has something emotional and that is subtly reflected in the visual spectacle.

BULGARIA: The performance started with a split screen, showing the drummer on one side and another member of the group. A small rock concert with all the trimmings, including a lot of fire(work).

THE NETHERLANDS: There were few noticeable changes from the first rehearsal of S10. In the Netherlands, there was some fuss about the singer’s bare belly, but it is still naked for a while. A lot has been taken out of the lighting of S10.

MOLDOVA: After the intimate moment of the Netherlands, a party erupted on stage with the contribution of Zdob şi Zdub, who are participating for the third time. They used the entire stage for their folklore song: Hey ho, let’s go…, but no train on stage. Lots of color, matching the contribution.

CROATIA: During rehearsals today, Mia had problems with her in-ears. No surprises at Mia’s performance. The postcards were also shown to the press today. A drone searches for the location where the artist of the country in question can be seen and we see the visual artist in the area.

DENMARK: The beginning was just like in the national final, Siggy starts alone at the piano, with her quieter part of the song and then the rock show starts. Last year we went back to the eighties with Denmark, now it seems back to the nineties. In case you don’t remember the name of the band, REDDI appeared on the LED screen.

AUSTRIA: Of course there is a Halo on stage. Lots of fireworks and strong staging. The vocal part of the duo was, as we can see now, quite disappointing.

GREECE: For those who don’t understand the act of Greece: Amanda seems to be in a Greek tavern; hence the chairs around her. But some of the seats have fallen over. That fits with the lyrics of the song. Amanda could count on a big round of applause from the audience.

PORTUGAL: A delegation member from Portugal tested positive for corona, so the entire delegation had to go back to the hotel and be tested. Fortunately none of the ladies tested positive and they were able to rehearse for their performance, but later than planned. After all the rehearsals had been completed, Portugal was allowed to go on stage after Greece. During this rehearsal it was clear that it was one of the background singers who tested positive for corona. The ladies were lined up in a circle and brought this atmospheric contribution in a good way.

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Martijn

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March 30, 2026 No Comments
History
Martijn

70 years of Eurovision, slipping into the sixties

The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1959 France chose to organize the contest in Cannes. Eleven countries came together. No Luxembourg this year, but the United Kingdom was back. Monaco made its debut. The presentation was in the hands of Jacqueline Joubert, who would go on to do so more often. The big favorite was Domenico Modugno. After the success of “Volare,” he entered for Italy again. He did not show up for the first rehearsal. He did not consider it important. The French broadcaster thought different and scheduled a rehearsal for him anyway. He did not win by a long shot. His “Piove” finished in sixth place only. Also noteworthy were the participants from Germany: the recently deceased Kessler Sisters, who sang their song entirely in sync. But France did not want to grant Italy the victory. The same applied the other way around. And where two dogs fight over a bone, the third one runs off with it. And that was the Dutch Teddy Scholten. With the artfully rhymed “Een beetje,” she took first place, much to her own surprise. When someone from the production team urged her to go to the stage because she had won, she didn’t believe a word of it. And yet it was true: the Netherlands had won for the second time in four years. 1960 It became a bit too much for the Dutch broadcaster to organize the contest yet again. Therefore, the British BBC took over. The contest moved to London, and for the first time, but certainly not the last, Cathy Boyle hosted the event. Thirteen countries participated. Luxembourg was back, and Norway made its debut.Big stars participated. Siw Malmkvist represented Sweden. Camillo Felgen competed for Luxembourg (in Luxembourgish!). Rudi Carell, who would later become a big star in Germany, competed for the Netherlands. None of them finished high. The winner was 19-year-old Jacqueline Boyer. Conductor Franck Pourcel was displeased that she had to perform last. After all, she had to go to bed early, the conductor said. At Pourcel’s request, the entire rehearsal schedule was rearranged. And Jacqueline won! “Tom Pillibi”, a song about a pathological liar, became a huge success and an international hit. 1961 The Eurovision Song Contest returned to Cannes, France. Jacqueline Joubert hosted it for the second time. By then, the number of participating countries had grown to sixteen. Spain, Yugoslavia, and Finland made their debut. Lale Andersen participated for Germany. She had gained fame during World War II with the song “Lili Marleen”. A Greek also took to the stage, which was the first time. Although Greece itself was not yet participating, singer Jimmy Makoulis represented Austria. The final unintentionally became very exciting between Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. Unintentionally, because for a long time, too many points were accidentally recorded for the British on the scoreboard. The British duo, The Allisons, did have the big Eurovision hit of that year with “Are You Sure?”. Frenchman Jean-Claude Pascal won for Luxembourg. In “Nous, les amoureux,” he sang of a love that was disapproved of by others. Only much later Pascal admitted that this song was about the love between two men. In this, Pascal was far, very far ahead of his time.

Read More »
March 30, 2026 No Comments
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