Eurovision 2024 Semi-Final 1: Dress/Jury Rehearsal Live Commetary

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You can find the full rehearsal schedule here

18 countries will take the stage today – those are the countries that have been allocated to perform in semi-final 1 (including 3 automatic qualifiers)

Petra is wearing a orange pants-suit, while Malin is wearing the same outfit just in pink

🇨🇾 Cyprus: Silia Kapsis – Liar

• Silia wore a white outfit, composed of a white fabric crop top and white pants with tiny silver dots.
• There are no props on stage, but you can expect a graphic video in red and green spirals to give us some summer vibes. Part of the artwork will be waterfalls that will erupt in the form of a distillation
• The Cypriot delegation will utilize both the floor and the backdrop to show the graphics.
• The graphic mainly shows a swirl of water in spirals or circles.
• Silia will be accompanied by 4 male dancers on stage, wearing a white over-sized T-shirt and black wide pants. They will pull off their shirts in the final chorus.
• The lights will be mainly blue, white and red. The scene is quite dark
• The dancers will make some breakdance/acrobatic moves
• It will be a high tempo energetic performance, with a dance break before the bridge.
• Vocally, she wasn’t always on point, hope this will be improved.

🇷🇸 Serbia: Teya Dora – Ramonda

• Teya will wear a dark grey-purple lilac dress with black decorated sleeves featuring some silver rings on top. The lower part of the dress features a kind of trail/cape.
• The staging will be a bit similar to the one presented in “Pesma za Evroviziju 2024“, but some changes will be implemented.
• The main prop on stage will be a huge rock.
• The performance states with smoke and unclear images to showcase the singer’s mood.
• In the chorus we can see spirals of smoke and the huge rock is lit. We also have circular camera angles.
• Video art will feature clouds, lightning and stats. The setting itself will be quite dark. We will be able to see some shadows on stage. The lights will be purple, blue and white.
• She lies, sits and leans on the rock while singing.
• Towards the end, we will be able to see a blooming ramonda flower.
• There will be a wide use of smoke on stage.
• The vocals were amazing. I hope people will appreciate this very intimate ballad.

🇱🇹 Lithuania: Silvester Belt – Luktelk

• Silvester Belt chose to continue with the same outfit as the one in the national selection: It is a red leather suit. He also wears black shoes with the printing “Luktelk”.
• Silvester will also wear silver earnings and his recognized silver nose jewel
• The performance is similar to the one we’ve seen in  “Eurovizija.LT 2024“. Silvester is accompanied by 4 male dancers on stage. They wear black masks that look like hoods, covering their heads.
• The lighting will be mainly red and blue, more like the one with back strobe lighting. The scene will be quite dark. Silvester can be seen on the back video drop.
• There will be no props on stage. There will be pyro elements. In the backdrop we will be able to see a human character.
• The presence of Monika (the backing singer) was quite dominant.
• I found the staging too red in terms of color diversity. However, we have some blue as well
• The performance conveyed high energy and indeed it was danceable.

🇮🇪 Ireland: Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue

• Bambie Thug will wear a black outfit. Their lips are colored in black lipstick, while their face is covered in white makeup, with black paint. Part of her outfit is made of black cones. They will also wear a tutu skirt. Her hair is dressed into horns.
• Underneath she wears a light blue and pink holes shirt
• They will be inside a circle of candles. Babmie will be accompanied by a bare-chested ballet dancer, with his body and face painted in blue/black.
• We will see the dancer for the first time in the first chorus, with Bambie around him. Later on, he will dance far from her on stage.
• The backdrop will feature a galaxy view in the colors blue and pink. The lighting will be orange, red and blue.
• In the chorus, we can see a blue-purple river filling the LED floor.
• There’s a wide use of pre-recorded backing vocals.
• Towards the end, the candle circle raises up The backdrop led will present the phrase “Crown The Witch”. Bambie will remain in the bottom body suit only.
• There will be a use of low level ground smoke and flame jets.
• The performance will feature a lot of camera angles and a set of a horror movie.
• I still think the vocals are to be improved, but it is better than the national selection.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom – Olly Alexander – Dizzy

• Olly is wearing a white sleeveless shirt and sparkly long red pants, which are made of various fabrics. He is accompanied by 4 male dancers who are wearing red boxing gear and chest-baring.
• The scene is designed as a locker room with lit ceiling and dirty walls (white walls with an effect of sooty and dirty bricks) and shower heads.
• The performance starts with Ollie lying down and then sitting down. He is surrounded by 4 male dancers who are frozen.
• In the first chorus they move and stretch, we can see them touching each other.
• The performance is based on a lot of camera moves and camera angles, that were meant to demonstrate dizziness.
• The lighting will be mainly white, red and blue. LED walls will present fire effects, as well as galactical views. The experience from the LED should be like a spaceship hurtling toward Earth though a black hole in 1985.
• Some of the effects will only come live through the screen.
• Through the performance, the dancers will interact with each other.
• Towards the end, the “locker room” disappears, the floor presents a cube artwork and Olly runs on it.
• Olly is heavily supported by recorded backing vocals, but still I found his vocals off part of the time. It feels like this one is more oriented to visual aspects, not sound-oriented.
• The song has gone through a tiny revamp towards the end, where the production is more laid back and then explodes into drum beats and high notes (which he failed to perform).

🇺🇦 Ukraine: Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria

• Jerry wore a khaky/off white dress with a white top, while Alyona wore a shiny dark gray coat.Jerry also wore a light blue cape that she removed during the performance.
• The staging will be different from the one in “Vidbir 2024”. The main prop on stage will be a sloppy rock.
• The performance starts with Jerry wearing a “bride cape” and stepping between 2 walls.
• Jerry Heil climbs this rock platform, while the wind machine blows her hair.
• In the first chorus, the floor is converted to a spinning blue water view0.
• Later on, Alyona joins the stage while singing her rap part. In her part, the lights are gray and we can see videos of people walking on the LED cubes.
• Different shadows will feature on the LED and backdrop. The lighting will be mainly orange and yellow, with a special long light beam.
• At one point, a video of Jerry wearing the same dress as the wind blowing it, is presented on the LED wall
• The performance will feature backing vocals.
• The performance will end with one head-shot, making their 2 bodies as multi-personal visual. The floor will show a video of plenty of Ukrainian women lying next to each other, while Alyona and Jerry sit on the floor and look up at the camera.

🇵🇱 Poland: Luna – The Tower

• Luna wears a red and white outfit: It is composed of 2 parts: White short trousers with red shiny sequins and white shirt in the same design. There are 2 red cones on her shoulders and she wears red boots.
• Initially, she wore a PVC red cape with huge pointy shoulders, later on this cape was removed and we can see hear in teh white mentioned outfit.
• Luna’s eyes will be decorated with red eyeshadow and eyeliner.
• The checkmate theme from the video clip is also the main concept here.
• Luna appears on stage between 2 giant neon chess rooks that roll across the stage. One of them is black, and the other is white.
• She will be accompanied by 3 dancers on stage, they will appear faceless and in 3 different outfit colors: red, white and black. Luna will climb on one of those neon chess rooks.
• The backdrop will show a dark blue sky with a purple moon.
• Luna will dance with the dancers, especially between the black and the white one.
• At the peak point, she lies on the LED floor where an imaginary red horse appears, creating the effect she rides on it.
• In the final chorus, there will be a use of big firework jets filling the stage.
• Towards the end, we have some fireworks.
• Luna’s vocals are a bit shaky from time to time. However, she looked confident on stage.

🇭🇷 Croatia: Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim

• The concept of the performance will be similar to the one presented in “Dora 2024”, with some modifications in the line-up and in the outfit.
• Baby Lasagna wears a traditional outfit: white pants, black leather shoes, the base top is white with giant frilly sleeves and some decorations. On top, he wears a bordo bolero with yellow decorations and black collar. In addition, his pants feature silver shackle chains.
• Dancers wear white and black outfits
• The performance features rich video art, neon farm animals and some dancing cats, as well as colorful vertical rectangles.
• Traditional dance moves were kept for the Eurovision performance as well.
• Before the techno bridge, we will have cracker fireworks (somehow reminded me of the Croatian performance at Eurovision 2023). Each chorus will feature colorful fire jets, while the violin part will feature smoke effects.
• The Croatian delegation made great use of the space suggested on stage.
• The lighting and the smoke will come in different colors: Green, pink, and blue.

🇮🇸 Iceland: Hera Björk – Scared of Heights

• Hera Björk wears a golden sparkly dress. The dress is considered to be a heavy one (6 kilograms).
• She starts the performance standing on a low black platform (kind of a few stairs)
• The graphic package which is reflected on the LED screens is mainly in gold. We can also see silhouettes of dancers.
• She will be accompanied by 5 backing singers in black elegant outfits with golden decorations.
• Overall (besides the outfit) the performance is quite similar to the one from “Söngvakeppnin 2024″.
• The lighting will be mostly blue and orange
• Pyro won’t be part of the staging.

🇩🇪 Germany: Isaak – Always on the Run

• Isaak is wearing a black elegant suit.
• The song was revamped with symphonic arrangement for the first verse,
• The performance starts with Isaak located in a stylish living room, made from a black metal framework. This enables us to see him from all sides. The room also has an open fire.
• Starting the first chorus, the 3 sides of the room burst into fire. Isaak interacts with different parts of the room, during the performance
• Isaak is accompanied by 4 backing singers
• The set is located under the middle cube (which has descended from the ceiling). During the performance, the whole set is wheeled away and we can see the main stage with the backing singers.

🇸🇮 Slovenia: Raiven – Veronika

• Raiven wears a black transparent outfit with silver leaf decorations.
• She is accompanied by 5 backing dancers, who wear “nude” bodysuits. They dance around her in the genre of contemporary dance. In some parts, they will perform a complex routine of intertwining bodies
• Raiven starts the performance on the floor and she will communicate with the LED graphic though movements.
• The general atmosphere is dramatic and mysterious, just like in the video clip.
• The LED will show elements like water and sky
• Vocally, Raiven sings the opera parts live and she nails it as expected.
• The performance will also feature low fog and wind effects.
• The lighting will be mostly blue and white.
• Towards the end, the male dancers will carry Raivan as she gives the very last high note.
• The performance mainly focuses on her facial expressions. However, I think the zoom out and the camera angles were sometimes too much. Sadly, the stage looks quite empty.

🇫🇮 Finland: Windows95man – No Rules!

• Windows95man wear brown sandals with white socks, a very tiny underwear in body color (may we add: too provocative), while T-shirt with blurred Windows logo and a very long colorful wool coat (with the Windows colors: red, yellow, blue and red). In the 2nd rehearsal, Windows95man wore a short jeans panties.
• Henri wears the same outfit as in the “UMK 2024″ performance: Blue jeans rectangular torn fabric.
• They start the performance by focusing on the hugs Jeans-egg, where Windows95man will get out from.
• The performance will feature a cloudy LED wall.
• They will be accompanied by 2 dancers: Jesse Wijnans and Matti Myllyaho. They wear wide blue pants and light blue shirts. At some point, they will be chest-bare. while covering their face with the shirts.
• The performance is quite similar to the one presented in the national selection.
• The effect of the jeans panties on a rope will be part of this as well.
• Handheld fireworks and smoke will be part of the staging as well.
• On many occasions, the camera shots will serve the idea that Windows95man is naked (even though he isn’t).

🇲🇩 Moldova: Natalia Barbu – In the Middle

• Natalia wears a white dress, with a brown belt. The upper part of the outfit will expose parts of her body. She also has a golden decoration over one of her shoulders.
• She will have a white violin with her.
• Natalia will be alone on stage, unlike in the national final.
• She will be standing on the center on the stage, and the LED floor will create a pink swamps effects. We will be able to see fish swimming inside the water video on the floor
• Static routines, including hand claps and armography, will be part of the staging.
• The backdrop will feature natural views: flowers, butterflies, trees and sea.
• Flying birds will be presented on the cubes LED.
• During the instrumental part, the LED walls will show huge wings, which will make the impression Natalia in an angel.
• As always, we can expect her to hit the notes.
• It felt like her singing is more of soul elements.

🇸🇪 Sweden: Marcus & Martinus – Unforgettable

• Marcus and Martinus are wearing a one-piece glossy black and blue suit.
• The performance is quite similar to the one from “Melodifestivalen 2024″, but with utilizing of Malmö Arena.
• They are accompanied by 4 backing dancers (2 females and 2 males) who are wearing black leather body suits with cape/robe.
• The performance starts off with a dark scene and red lights. Later on. we can see them between walls of flickering lights.
• Some of the camera shots will be made from above the stage.
• The atmosphere is quite dark and mysterious.
• The cube and the LED screens present pieces of code, on both colorful and black backgrounds.
• The performance relies on flashing lights, which are also generated through the cubes. The performance starts behind the cubes, and thereafter they split and twins move to the front stage.
• The performance created the impression of a video clip.

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Fahree feat. Ilkin Dovlatov – Özünlə Apar

• Fahree wears silver shiny pants and a black silver jacket with some geometrical features. Ilkin wears black pants and a kind of elegant jacket with sparkly glitter sequins.
• For most of the time, Fahree is standing alone in the center of the stage. Fahree will perform while expressing himself with body movements.
• The LED screen shows an animated figure emerging from the water.
• In the second half of the performance, we can see a couple of huge black cupped hands on the stage Fahree stands between them.
• The lighting is quite shadowy. The artwork and lights are mainly blue with a dark scene.
• Towards the end, they are standing

🇦🇺 Australia: Electric Fields – One Milkali (One Blood)

• Zaachariaha Fielding wears a white dress with head coverage and a kind of free cut of a garment. Michael Ross wears a shirt and suitable pants: White with purple. gold, black and silver paints.
• The LED screens create a rainbow effect over Zaachariaha’s dress. Michael Ross will be in his natural place – the keyboards.
• The duo will be accompanied by 2 backing singers. The didgeridoo instrument will also be part of the show.
• The backdrop LED will show different visual of circles lights and fire. We will also be able to see the duo footage from the videoclip.
• The performance will give an uplifting cosmic world exploration experience: plenty of colors will be presented through LED and floor graphics. During the chorus, we will see the text “Milkali la” on the LED screens in a pink font.
• They will also move on stage during the performance.
• Zaachariaha’s vocals weren’t accurate towards the end. The movement and arrangement on stage looked quite random.

🇵🇹 Portugal: Iolanda – Grito

• Iolanda kept the white and clean kind of outfit for her performance, however it isn’t the same outfit from the national festival. She wears a silver necklace and her nails are colored black.
• The staging is quite similar to the one from the “Festival da Canção 2024″.
• She will be accompanied by 5 backing dancers wearing white outfits with covered faces. They will move around her and behind her in a contemporary dance.
• Iolanda hit a long high note at the end, as expected.
• The middle cube (out of those on stage) was lowered down to increase the intimate experience.

🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Tali – Fighter

• Tali will wear a summerish colorful (purple, blue, black, red)dress with geometrical figures.
• Tali will be accompanied by 5 backing dancers, wearing different red outfits.
• On stage we will have a rectangular frame where Tali and her dancers will start the performance.
• For this run, Tali wasn’t with pig-tails.
• The Luxembourgish delegation added some cubes to the stage to create a frame over the people on stage.
• The performance is energetic and sparkly. The LED screen will show a tiger, colorful swirls and fire. We can see the word “Fighter” on the LED screen, as well as a tiger, both in gold.
• Towards the end, we will have some fire jets.
• The lighting is purple, pink and red
• Vocally she sounded good as always.

Eurovision 2024 will be held in Malmö, Sweden.
The semi-finals will be held on the 7th and 9th of May 2024, and the grand final will be held on the 11th of May 2024.

Don’t forget to visit our Eurovision 2024 homepage