As the seventh day of rehearsals continue, it is now the turn of the finalist to take the stage. Shortly United Kingdom, Germany and France will complete their first technical rehearsals and press conferences. You can read the reviews below from the rehearsals and later today, our media partner, 12points.tv will provide video footage.
Final – Song02 – United KIngdom – Andy Abraham – Even if
Rich golden brown back drop for the beginning of Andy Abraham's performance which soon turns to an explosion of mutli-coloured sparkling squares that take us back to a disco. That is when the UK entry finally sounds in context. Andy's perfect vocals make it impossible to tell whether he is singing live or this is the cd playing. The performance is pretty much static and dancing is definitely not Andy's strong point but the song sounds refreshingly energetic and fun. Andy is accompanied by five more people on stage a drummer, keyboards, 2 guitar players and one backing singer. The pyros at the end are not a plus to the song. Uk will be dressed in matched sober dark blue outfits which should stand out against the colourful backdrop. And will be wearing a navy blue suit with a shiny, silver chain stitched on the edge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrcd7ShoxPQ&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0
Final – Song 04 – Germany – No Angels – Disappear
Too much going on when No angels take the stage to perform Disappear. It takes the girls 4 run throughs to find some kind of synch and solve their pitching problems. The show starts with a rich copper background and soon there is virtual feathers falling like rain. The German show has everything, dress change, pyros, wind machine, the works.Two of the ladies are dressed in blue and two in purple, with mini dresses and long transparent trails they lose midway the song. There is too much action in the background which makes it difficult to focus on the song or the singers and the heavy dose of pyros (think Happy New Year) doesn’t help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3esvT36qkI&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0
Final – Song 19 – France – Sebastien Tellier– Divine
Caribbean sunset seems to be the theme for the French entry with sunrays and palm shades moving slowly in the background, which fits the melody perfectly. Sebastien enters the stage driving a golf cart. Five backing vocalists seemed a bit out of tune during the first rehearsal but they managed to improve it on the 2nd trial. During the slow part of the song, the backdrop displays an impressive eclipse of sun, and Caribbean sunset becomes Caribbean night.
Even though Sebastien doesn’t seem to know what to do on stage it all looked very elegant. The electronic vocals on the cd are reproduced quite successfully on stage.
Final – Song 22 – Spain – Rodolfo Chikilicuatre – Baila el chiki chiki
Rodolfo is joined on stage by five female backing dancers to perform the craziest choreography we have seen so far. It looks like one of the female dancers missed the classes for this routine as she misses most of the steps and is out of sync with the rest of the girls. This makes the routine very funny. Pyros are used to produce flames on the stage as the chorus start. At one stage a dancers gets a narrow escape when she nearly gets burnt by the flame. The genuine humor of this acts works very well on the stage. And this looks like a serious contender now.
Final – Song 23 – Serbia – Jelena Tomasevic – Oro
Jelena starts singing in the background and slowly walks to the front of the stage where the male and one of her female back vocalists are lying in a V shape on the stage floor. The concept of the song is based on a Serbian tradition that wants girls to dream of their beloved one, the one they are going to marry on St Vid’s day (Vidovdan). Jelena is mainly static throughtout the performance and she is also accompanied by Bora Dugic, the most famous Serbian flute player, Marko Vulinovic, male backing vocal, Ivica Klemenc, The moves of the backing singers and other band members are slow and minimal to match the song. It took Jelena many attempts to get the camera shots and sound just right and she was ocally perfect every time.The backdrop is simple but effective with cold, dark blue and white.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_gU5UFV95c&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0
