Eurovision 2025 Semi-Final 2 Dress Rehearsals Live Commentary

Doron Lahav

1 year ago

Live from Basel, it is the semi-final 2 jury show
19 countries will take the stage tonight (16 semi-finalists and 3 automatic qualifiers)

1. 🇦🇺 Australia: Go-Jo – Milkshake Man
2. 🇲🇪 Montenegro: Nina Žižić – Dobrodošli
3. 🇮🇪 Ireland: EMMY – Laika Party
4. 🇱🇻 Latvia: Tautumeitas – Bur man laimi
5. 🇦🇲 Armenia: PARG – Survivor
6. 🇦🇹 Austria: JJ – Wasted Love
AQ. 🇬🇧 UK: Remember Monday – What The Hell Just Happened?
7. 🇬🇷 Greece: Klavdia – Asteromáta
8. 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Katarsis – Tavo akys
9. 🇲🇹 Malta: Miriana Conte – Serving
10. 🇬🇪 Georgia: Mariam Shengelia – Freedom
AQ. 🇫🇷 France: Louane – maman
11. 🇩🇰 Denmark: Sissal – Hallucination
12. 🇨🇿 Czechia: Adonxs – Kiss Kiss Goodbye
13. 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – La Poupée Monte Le Son
14. 🇮🇱 Israel: Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise
AQ. 🇩🇪 Germany: Abor & Tynna – Baller
15. 🇷🇸 Serbia: Princ – Mila
16. 🇫🇮 Finland: Erika Vikman – Ich Komme

The article will be updated along the show

#1. 🇦🇺 Australia: Go-Jo – Milkshake Man

The performance starts with a video as with Go-Jo as salesperson in a TV box.
Then we are transferred to the stage, with mainly blue, red, blue and pink lights.
The performance is heavily influenced by the 1970s and 1980s era.
Go-Jo wears a white suit with a red-striped collar and a red cravat. 2 dancers accompany him and wear red and white striped dresses.
The performance features a big prop: a large milkshake cup/ blender “filled” with 2 blue drinking straws
We will have a quick outfit change during the performance. The outfit beneath is light blue overall with starry elements. The outfit exchange is done into the prop, while it is filled with white smoke.
Towards the middle of the performance, the lighting will create an exploding color effect. The LED screens show the writing “MILKSHAKE MAN”.
At certain point, he will remain with an exposed chest.
After the “Sweet, Sweet, Yum, Yum” part, the LED screens will be filled with graphics, and the scene will be more of a pink neon party.
The vocals were shaky from time to time. Although the staging concept was stable and energetic. vocally he was quite tired.
The whole thing is very colorful and uplifting.

#2. 🇲🇪 Montenegro: Nina Žižić – Dobrodošli

Nina wears a white dress with a long train. It also features a panel of structured fabric that creates a circular frame. The circular element spans from her knees to above her head.
Nina is alone on stage, her eyes will be covered in a mask, which will be removed in the first chorus. Her makeup was classic and features a red bold lipstick.
The performance starts with the dramatic intro, we see her from the back with white smoke,
The camera angles are quite diverse, with many shots of her looking directly into the camera with her eyeys.
The LED walls show white, gray, and blue light and graphics, including some swirl shapes. However we do have some colorful (green, red, blue) flickering lights of the LED.
After the second chorus, she removes the circular part of her back of the outfit.
This is all about powerful vocals, drama, and meaningful text.

#3. 🇮🇪 Ireland: EMMY – Laika Party

The performance has changed since the Irish “Eurosong 2025”.
Emmy is accompanied by her brother Erlend on the keyboards, and 4 female dancers.
Emmy wears a silver metallic dress with a pleated skirt, silver boots, and a helmet-like hood. Her brother wears a silver shirt with a star decoration, gray pants, and sunglasses. Her dancers wear silver pants and black/silver vests.
Emmy started the performance standing on a shiny metal lunar-shaped platform in the center of the stage.
Location-wise, the four dancers dance in front of Erlend. However, in the verses, they get to the corners.
The floating bones aren’t part of the performance anymore. Instead, we have marching space dogs in each “Bam Bam” humming. The LED walls present neon planets.
In the first chorus, we can see dancing “humanized” dogs dancing in colorful light blue and pink cubes. Sometimes we can see in big columns, and sometimes in smaller cubes
In the second chorus, we can see the shape of Laika coming out of the stars.
The final chorus features fireworks jets.
Vocally, it isn’t disappointing!
The overall impression is quite cyclic, which means: We’ve seen almost each visual aspect by the first chorus.

#4. 🇱🇻 Latvia: Tautumeitas – Bur man laimi

The main changes are in the lighting and customers, compared to the staging in “Supernova 2025“.
The band members wear matching gold catsuits with natural decorations (like branches and leaves) and golden shiny gloves. They have gold headdresses that change colors along the song.
The main prop is the beautiful curtain we’ve already seen. The golden colors from “Supernova” are more silvery and cold (like gray, blue, green), but we still have some gold and orange moments.
It starts with a dark scene and blue light. We mainly see 6 black shadows, interacting with each other.
In the first verse, we see the band members going out of the curtain. The lighting is served with warmer colors like red, gold, and orange.
In the bridge, the lighting is more silver and blue.
It sound like the last part was removed a bit, where electro and bass elements were boosted.
Towards the end, they step away from each other. There is a special effect of the LED walls on top.
It ends with captivating visuals, where neon lights on their bodies, and they look like fairies or even wild animals.
Vocally, their harmonies were out of this world. I believe they have increased their chance to qualify

#5. 🇦🇲 Armenia: PARG – Survivor

The song starts with strong bass and blue lights.
The scene is quite dark, while the lights are blue and white.
Parg is shirtless and wears black leather pants. He is alone on stage. Some lights are lowered just above Parg’s head, while others are as high as the arena’s roof.
He starts the performance between the beams of light, while the lights move with the bass beats
The main prop here is a treadmill, which is located in the middle front frame.
He runs during the choruses and slows down for the other parts. Part of his treadmill routine features a non-basic choreography. He was walking along, running and jumping,
In the Armenia part, the stage is red and it is covered with thick smoke.
Towards the end, the lights wall opens and puts the scene in a different visionary space.
The song ends with a pyro effect of big flames. In the chorus before the bridge, flame jets appear on stage.
Vocally, he served the expected raspiness, but at the same time relied a lot of backing vocals,

#6. 🇦🇹 Austria: JJ – Wasted Love

JJ wears a long black leather coat with metal accents, and will be alone on stage.
Initially, he is covered with a while blanket, while a tiny lamp is next to him.
The main prop is a boat (looks like it’s made of crates) with a wooden mast and a white sail. JJ will be on the boat throughout the performance.
The performance is meant to be broadcast in black and white only. Lighting will be mostly used for lights and shadows. The lights will change based on the drama delivered in the song.
The chorus comes with a kind of hand choreography
Another prop on stage is wind machines. They will blow powerfully, and sometimes it will look like JJ fighting to stay stable.
He is clinging to the mast as a storm begins in the second chorus. He performs some choreography with the wind, which is in the style of modern dance.
The performance features smart camera artwork, alongside the wind, and different angles.
In the last upbeat 20 seconds, we see waves and storm clouds building on the LED screen, spinning camerawork, flashing strobe lights.
The performance ends with an overhead camera, while a swirl fills the LED floor. While this happens, a tall lighthouse appears on the LED wall and represents the hope for a better story.
The LED floors shows waves and storm.
The rave part includes some dancing and smart camera angles. He lies on the boat later. The performance ends with blue light,
Vocally, he was flawless and filled the arena with huge vocals.
Jury will rank it very high, let’s see about the public.

#AQ. 🇬🇧 UK: Remember Monday – What The Hell Just Happened?

The performance tells the story of the mourning that comes after a chaotic night.
The girls are wearing a Bridgerton-like corseted dresses: Lauren in pale blue, Holly-Anne in pink and Charlotte in yellow, with lots of flounces and sparkles.
The first verse is located in a boudoir/bedroom. The performance starts with them standing on the floor of the first prop, with their back to the audience.
As the first chorus starts, they walk down the catwalk and reveal the mess from the previous night
The main prop on stage is a big chandelier about 3 meters high. It has crashed down to earth, and candles surround its outside. It is lit in various neon colors.
In the second half of the song, they walk around the chandelier.
The camera artwork is diverse, including short films focused on the chandelier, the room, and the girls
In the final chorus, they are singing and located through the heart-shaped hole in the boudoir screen.
The performance will feature pyro effects as well.
I felt like they had great chemistry, but they barely communicated with the public. Towards the end, they do some vocal improvisation which I didn’t find essential.

# 7. 🇬🇷 Greece: Klavdia – Asteromáta

Klavdia wears a long, black dress, the fitted gown that sparkles with tiny jewels.
Klavdia starts the performance standing on a pier. She walks along the pier during the first verse.
She starts the singing part a cappella. The stage is black, and a blue light is on top of her head.
Slowly, we see more of her and the stage.
She is standing on wooden bridge which is near by a rocket.
In the chorus, the blue view is replaced by burning trees and orange lighting.
The dancers joins her on stage, but she is on the floor.
In the second half os the song, we see waters and flying birds in more forest landscape.
She is on the rock, while the light are mostly red.
Towards the end, she removed her outfit and remained in a pure white sleeveless dress.
There are multiple LED and light effects, as well as professional camera artwork, along with the performance. Some of the camera shots are overhead, which enhances the drama created by the LED effects (water, burning trees, and volcanic landscapes).
The video art is rich and impressive, showing visuals like stormy waters, winds, flying birds, as well as red water and lava.
The peak point of the performance is when the singer raises her arm, and the blue lights sweep across the set. The performance ends with slowly lowered descending lights.
Vocally, she was perfect, as always!

#8. 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Katarsis – Tavo akys

The performance remained very faithful to the original one in the national selection.
The scene is quite dark, and the band members wear blue uniforms. Graphic elements like a bleak landscape, flying rocks, and an exploding house appear here as well, but on a larger scale.
The Basel performance also features more waves and water elemnts
Katarsis utilizes a bigger stage in Basel, and therefore, they are more spread out on the stage.
The main difference (compared to the Lithuanian selection) is the use of lights and shadows. For example, the camera focuses on Lukas’s face, while half of it is covered by shadow.
The performance is most dynamic as they move on stage. In the second verse, Lukas and the 2 guitarists move down to the frame stage.
The performance is generally served in a brighter theme, while the mysterious atmosphere is preserved.
Towards the end, the lights descend and create a gradual light effect that converts to a wings-like view around Lukas. The song ends with flickering strobe lights in each “Tavo” becoming a vivid white flashlight.

#9. 🇲🇹 Malta: Miriana Conte – Serving

4 dancers (2 males and 2 females) accompany Miriana. She is wearing a bright yellow dress with black sleeves and a huge skirt made from tiered netting, a kind of golden underwear on top of the skirt. Later on, the top part of the outfit is removed to reveal a sparkly red and black catsuit.
Her dancers wear red fishnets, strappy black underwear, and red fur jackets.
The concept of performance has changed since “MESC 2025”. However, the Swiss physio balls and the “Sound of Music” theme remained.
The main prop on stage is a set of huge sparkly red lips holding a spinning disco ball. Its height is around 3 meters, and it stands in the middle of the stage.
The performance starts with Miriana inside it. Later on, she is lifted out of this prop.
The dance moves stayed pretty much the same.
Towards the end, Miriana and the dancers are close to the main rectangular frame, where they will be on the red Swiss balls.
The LED screens will present some of the lyrics and will end with “DIVA NOT DOWN”. Along with the song, the LED screens will present dancing legs, exploding flowers, and bouncing leopard visuals.
In the chorus, we see fire jets in action.
The dance break towards the end is gone, and the chorus is more instrumental.
Something was off for me about the energy and the vocals. Maybe we have had a technical issue.

# 10. 🇬🇪 Georgia: Mariam Shengelia – Freedom

The performance starts with the ethnic sounds, blue light and dancers running on the stage.
We see her behind a vivid white light.
Mariam wears a silver gown made of satin, and 4 dancers wearing traditional coats, headdresses, and black boots accompany her.
The main prop on stage is a big rock, on which Mariam will stand. The rock has a unique structure, so it looks like it is united with her dress at a certain point. At the beginning, there’s a low fog around the rock. The dancers and Mariam come out of the fog.
The dancers will wave blue and white flags during their complex dance routine.
LED screens will show diverse views like the rising moon, mountains, red sun, stormy clouds, and neon circles and rings.
She is standing on a geometrical rock, quite behind. The dancers are on the front stage.
The lights becoming red and blue.
The dancers wave white flags.
Mariam removed the dress in the jazz, and stepped forward from the rock.
Something feels messy about it, but vocally it was on point,

#AQ. 🇫🇷 France: Louane – maman

Louane is alone on stage. She is barefoot and wearing a long, black lace dress.
The main element is a circle covered is sand in the middle of the stage. The sand drops down slowly and continuously on one side of the circle, with a spotlight on her.
It starts with Louane lying on the side, with orange-yellow lights on her face.
Later, she kneels and clears some space in the sand to reveal a mirror.
The lighting builds with the orchestral strings, and the drum starts to pound through the floor like a heartbeat until the camera pulls back for a final backlit wide shot.
Towards the end, we have some vocal improvisations.
The performance is very intimate, and the focus is on Louane.

#11. 🇩🇰 Denmark: Sissal – Hallucination

It starts with white, gray lights that become blue, pink and purple.
It sounds to me that the synth elements in the intro were boosted.
Sissal‘s outfit has 2 parts, and the top is removed during the performance. She started the performance in a blue and white coat with hundreds of organza layers and sparkly blue boots.
4 dancers accompany her on stage. They wear
The main prop is a central transparent curtain hanging in the middle stage. It starts from the ceiling and ends at the floor. This prop interacts with the wind machines. The curtain moves along the performance and creates movements around Sissal.
She starts the performance standing on a black plinth in the middle of a tunnel of pulsing neon lights and strobes.
In the second verse, she removes the top part of her outfit and remains with a long-sleeved leotard.
The 4 dancers move around her like ghosts, their bodies wrapped in a blue fabric curtain, and they hold blue handkerchiefs.
In the final chorus, she steps down from the platform and moves to the front stage, while the dancers lean forward.

#12. 🇨🇿 Czechia: Adonxs – Kiss Kiss Goodbye

ADONXS wears a white vest with sleeves, white gloves, and silver wide-legged trousers.
The performance showcases an elegant and classic line, which enables focusing on the singer, the vocals and the message.
The staging is white, with bold black graphics on the LED walls.
He starts the preference alone on stage, and before the dance break, he is joined by 4 male dancers in matching outfits. During the dance break, the LED floor is lit in white. Then the lights descend for an uptempo dance break bathed in red strobe lighting.
He has a kind of black spider object on the microphone, and later on his hand.
The camera work includes several close camera shots.
We have some blur frame shadow effect over the dancers in some parts.
Overall, it was good vocally, but I felt like the staging is too modest and lacks something,

#13. 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – La Poupée Monte Le Son

The staging is more than I expected!
It started with Laura inside a fake doll’s house, while the TV shows France Gall’s performance from Eurovision 1965.
We can see 3-dimensional objects floating on the floor and a big hand trying to relocate her in the room.
Laura wears a pale peach-pink dress with corset-style lacing and silver thigh boots. Later she removed the top part and revealed another outfit.
5 male dancers accompany her on stage, they wear red velvet.
The lighting is mainly blue and red. The dancers electrifying effect is kept
The main prop on stage is a red and pink doll’s house, where she starts the performance. An effect of animated hands trying to reach her and control her position. It is a metaphor to the doll that other want to shape and move by their needs.
In the second verse, she walks along the stage and gets out of the doll’s house. The dancers follow her.
In the peak moment, she reveals the outfit beneath: a sparkly silver dress.
She performs the last part of the song near the rectangular frame stage.
We can see bold lights, graphic and neon effects along the performance, which feels more natural.
Towards the end, we have an outfit reveal: a shiny silver dress.

#14. 🇮🇱 Israel: Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise

Yuval wears a tailored black trouser suit with square shoulders and wide sleeves. She is alone on stage.
The main prop looks like a two-floor structure similar to a balcony or a golden cage. Each floor is circular and decorated with a glittering curtain of silver strands. This makes Yuval look like a bird in a cage.
The prop is 5 meters height and with a curved staircase on one side.
The performance starts with a shadow of blue light on the front frame stage.
She is on the floor at the beginning, walking around with the camera, showing the audience. The lights are gentle, and the scene is dark,
In the second verse, she heads back down the walkway. At a certain point, she walks around the structure where a single-shot camera follows her.
Yuval’s sleeves resemble wings and create some beautiful moments with the LED screens.
In the key change chorus, we will have a fireworks rain.
In the Hebrew part, the LED walls show flowing water over black rocks – “Many waters cannot quench love”. The song ends with the whole set fading to a white light.
Vocally, it wasn’t accurate towards the middle. But I feel like it is manageable and can be fixed.

# AQ. 🇩🇪 Germany: Abor & Tynna – Baller

The performance has changed since the national selection.
Their main prop is an 80s-style boombox stereo, with a central platform. The design is around 3 meters in height.
Tynna is wearing black military-style hot pants and knee-high military boots, a black crop top, and elbow-length leather gloves. Abor is by the cello. They are accompanied by 4 dancers on stage.
The performance commenced with Abor playing a white electric cello lit by neon lights. He is sitting on a chair. One of the staging elements is a long curtain that goes from the ceiling to the floor.
While hearing the bass playing, the curtain opens and reveals Tynna and the dancers. Tynna is standing on the mentioned platform during the first verse and first chorus.
Thereafter, she descends to join her dancers who light her up with handheld spotlights.
Among the effects, we can see diagonal smoke jets.
The LED walls present “BALLER” in black font, as well as pulsing white and blue strobe lights.
In the last verse and chorus, Tynna dances on the walkway, as Abor plays his cello on top of the boombox.
The performance ends with the boombox exploding alongside fireworks.
It a party all over, and I am here for this

#15. 🇷🇸 Serbia: Princ – Mila

The staging we’ve seen in “PZE 2025” has completely changed!
Princ wears a red suit, accompanied by 5 dancers who wear black outfits.
The performance commences with Princ in the middle of the main stage, while a low fog fills the floor. He sings the first verse while the staging showcases a play of lights and shadows.
Thereafter, 3 of the dancers drag him along the stage in a contemporary dance.
Two of his dancers are dragging him by his legs as the LED screen explodes with red lights and fiery graphics.
The performance is a combination of precise vocals and challenging choreography
A celebration of flames closes the show.
It is very homo-erotica themed, but at the same time a bit old-fashioned. The dancing is a bit distracting.

#16. 🇫🇮 Finland: Erika Vikman – Ich Komme

Erika wears a black latex outfit with thigh boots, with metallic studs and long black gloves. She is alone on stage.
The performance is quite similar to the one from “UMK 2025”, but it was fitted to the scale of the Eurovision 2025 stage.
Erika starts the performance standing on a golden circular platform and stays there during the first verse and first chorus. She walks along the stage and dance, while the camera angles makes the whole thing much bolder.
The LED walls mainly present text like “Erika” and “Ich Komme”
As the tempo gets higher, she goes back to the main stage and then rides on the big golden microphone.
The performance ends with a smoke explosion on the walkaway.
The final part has changed, and mainly relies on backing vocals. It let down the value of the performance , but still the basis is good

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