Big Five

Malmö Messages: The Big Five plus Sweden

We haven’t heard from the big five plus Sweden yet. Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the host Sweden automatically qualify for the final. They had their rehearsal tonight. The United Kingdom was the first to rehearse. If you think you have ended up in the locker room of a boxing match; this is still the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Olly Alexander is wearing red pants and a white shirt. His hands are taped up. Around him are a number of dancers in red shorts and with bare chests. According to eurovision.tv, the camera moves in such a way that it seems as if the room is spinning. It could make you “Dizzy”. Isaak, representing Germany, appears to be in a very luxurious living room while singing his song “Always on the run”. We see a fire pit, lots of flames, and the cube coming down again. Isaak himself is dressed in black and is flanked by four backup singers; live singing matters here too. Marcus and Martinus are performing “Unforgettable” for Sweden. And as usual, the Swedes have the exact same act on stage as they did during Melodifestivalen. The twins are dressed in blue and black. On the LED screens behind them, and on the cube above them, many colors and patterns are visible. Occasionally, the title of the song also appears. The act is the same, but huge. The contestant for France, Slimane, is dressed in white during his “Mon amour”. He starts lying down and sings the first part of the song on his knees. Later, he stands behind the microphone and steps away from it to sing the last piece a cappella. The smoke machine does its job. The Spanish duo Nebulossa rehearsed next. Their song “Zorra” starts from the cube, which is now not hanging but has come all the way down. Mery is wearing pants with wide legs and a blouse with large puff sleeves. The red sofa, which Mery also was standing on during the national final, has come along to Malmö. There is smoke on the floor throughout the performance. Angelina Mango will perform for Italy in a red dress. On her arms and legs, we see some sort of plant images. The four dancers emerge from four large cubes to lift Angelina. She stands among them in front of a large throne made of branches. The whole scene is set against a backdrop of a sort of forest with bare trees. In short, there will be much to see during “La Noia.”

🇸🇪 News from the HoD meeting

Today, there is some interesting news from the Head of Delegation meeting. This meeting took place today, and some decisions are made about the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest: Iceland It was a big questionmark whether Iceland was going to take part or not. Icelandic broadcaster RUV stated that they, together with the artist, would make a decision. Icelandic artists expressed serious concern about their country taking part in a contest with Israel being there.The decision now made is that Iceland will take part. Big releave for singer Hera Björk, who now will for sure represent her country. Marcus & Martinus Always, the place for the host country gets drawn at the HoD meeting. So this time, it was decided where Sweden would perform in the final. And the result is: they will open it! In 1984, Sweden opened the show too and won. Is it an omen? Big Five For the very first time, the artists from the Big Five countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – and host nation Sweden will each perform their entries in full live during the Semi-Finals. In other years, a part of the rehearsals was shown, but never the entire performance. Longer ago, even that didn’t happen and only a part of the video was shown. The voting A new feature for Malmö 2024 includes extending the timeframe for voting during the Grand Final. Voting will start just before the first song is performed on Saturday, 11 May. This allows viewers to vote for the songs in real-time as they are being performed, a departure from the traditional method where voting commenced after all the entries were showcased. This approach was the standard since the introduction of public voting in 1997, with the exceptions of 2010 and 2011 when voting opened at the show’s start. Moreover, fans from countries not competing (Rest of The World) will be given almost 24 hours to vote for their preferred songs before the start of each live show. For these international fans, online voting will be available right after the conclusion of the second dress rehearsal for each Semi-Final and the Grand Final, continuing until the commencement of the live broadcasts.

Day 8: Of good voices and proper acts from the Big Five!

It’s the end of the individual rehearsals every year: those of the Big Five. And every year it is the disappointment of a group of countries that seem to be unable to bring anything good to the stage. Last year there was already a noticeable change in this, but this year the countries really surprise! Rehearsals Big Five FRANCE: For the first time since 1996, the Breton language can be heard at the Eurovision Song Contest. Back then France finished at the bottom. That won’t happen now, but the act made quite a messy impression during rehearsals. The points will really have to come in thanks to the song and enthusiasm of Alvan and Ahez. ITALY: The performance of Italy, now that Blanco is around, is rather disappointing. This is mainly due to the poor vocals of both. Mahmood is dressed in black, Blanco in white and there is a lot of light. But that doesn’t help much if the vocals remain as bad as they are now. However, our friends from songfestivalweblog.nl remember that Mahmood did not excel during the rehearsals in 2019 either, but when it came to the jury final and the final, he really showed his best. Perhaps that will happen again three years later. UNITED KINGDOM: Sam Ryder stands amid scaffolding singing his song. And that is all he needs for this song. His strong voice seems to be enough for a very high score, something for which the British have to go way back. The British will also finally experience that you can end up high with a good song. SPAIN: We remember the act, in which singing and dancing are combined, from the Spanish national final. This usually has an effect on the singer’s voice. Not so with Chanel. Because with this performance she proves that she is more, much more than an average pop singer. Like the British, the Spaniards can look forward to the festival with confidence. GERMANY: With guitar and drum machine Malik Harris manages to show an act that is not bad at all. As far as vocals go, Malik continues to do well. The act is not directly in the top-5 with the bookmakers, and the song is perhaps just a bit too anonymous for that. One thing is certain: Germany is also out of the lower regions this year. Conclusion: unlike in previous years, the Big Five seem to be doing reasonably well this year and there is even a potential winner. Has Måneskin’s win brought new impetus to these five countries? Who’ knows…?