That was it! The 4th rehearsals day is already gone, with the first technical rehearsal of Ukraine. Last year’s Eurovision host country has been set to close the second semi-final, performing 18th. Let’s see, will this help them for an unobstracted qualification to the Grand Final?

The country’s 2018 hopeful is the young artist MELOVIN, after his victory at the national selection Vidbir 2018 last February, with an electropop entry called Under the ladder.

Admittedly, MELOVIN’s looks with his impressive light blue eye, could predict an out-of-the-ordinary 2018 performance for Ukraine. Probably this is becoming a reality, as the published 45-second video shows the lead artist playing a giant piano over a ladder that is gradually being set on fire. Let’s see if he finally goes… under the ladder!

Taking care of the country’s staging is Konstantin Tomilchenko, who has also been Jamala’s choreographer in 2016. According to Ukraine’s press release, this has reportedly been quite a demanding performance, especially due to the fire that has to be released at the a specific moment, when he starts playing the piano. Moreover, the piano’s probs require very careful handling, otherwise the artist may be seriously injured.

MELOVIN had the following words to say regarding his Eurovision staging:

“Nothing but your will sets you on fire. Fire lasts forever” – this line from my song inspired Konstantin Tomilchenko and me to create this theatrical staging. I wanted to keep the fire but kind of escalate the whole props story to another level. With Konstantin we share the same vision of how exactly my performance should look like and I also love what he’d done for Jamala.

In vocals, he is supported by 4 backing vocalists, producing a rather good result.

First impression of Ukraine’s first rehearsal

Official first rehearsal clip of Ukraine 2018

Ukraine’s first rehearsal in images

Footage is provided by eurovision.tv

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