Yesterday we hit off Day Three of Eurovision rehearsals in St. Jakobshalle in Basel. Now we bring you a wrap up from the rehearsals.
The first and second rehearsals for Eurovision Song Contest 2025 are being held behind closed doors without the presence of the media. The Eurovision Song Contest’s official Reddit account is running a live blog daily from the rehearsals with the latest developments.
In this article we bring you the ‘I’ve Arrived Videos’ and excerpts from Eurovision’s official Reddit account’s live blog:
Australia
Go-Jo – Milkshake Man
Eurovision’s official reddit account reports:
We came into today with no idea what to expect from this performance, as Australia didn’t have a national final this year. But we were hoping for a little of the retro party energy of the official video, and since Australia are celebrating their 10th year Eurovision, maybe a sprinkle of…extra sprinkles?
However, we’re delighted to report we’ve received our second set of staging notes! Go Australia, you got yesterday’s friendly memo. Here’s what they have to say:
“The performance opens with a retro infomercial, featuring Go-Jo as an enthusiastic salesman. Go-Jo’s boundless energy and knack for the element of surprise also come through in the staging – it takes inspiration from the Milkshake Man video clip with bold neon tones, playful wardrobe choices, and nostalgic charm.
The era leans heavily into the 70s and 80s, which also serves as a fun nod to fellow WA artist Voyager and their 80’s staging from two years ago. And yes, there’s even a keytar solo too. Midway through the performance, there’s an explosion of colour that captures the same wild, cheeky energy as the music video.”
So essentially, this is a LOT of fun and a feast for the eyeballs, with some very cute graphics that support the retro infomercial vibe. Clearly these are only visible to the TV audience, but there’s still plenty for the arena audience to enjoy – Go-Jo in a very 70s-style white suit with a red-striped collar and a red cravat, two dancers in red and white striped dresses, and a big finish after the sweet sweet/yum yums where the graphics flood every corner of the stage and the whole thing goes pink neon laser disco party.
There’s also a central prop that…isn’t the ice cream truck, but it’s big and it’s fun. That’s all we’re can say for now, but we’re told all will be revealed soon!
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Montenegro
Nina Žižić – Dobrodošli
Eurovision’s official reddit account reports:
Dobrodošli has a VERY different vibe from that – it’s a Bond theme-esque Balkan power ballad with a soaring orchestral arrangement. At Montesong Nina sang this in a very structured white dress with an eye mask, but in the official video she wore a black dress with no mask. We can confirm that her costume for this first rehearsal is…similar to Montesong, but also something else entirely.
The mask remains until the first bridge into the chorus, but the white dress now has a huge white train and a built-in panel of structured fabric that creates a circular frame from above her head to below her knees. So imagine the circle that Vladana wore in 2022, but make it bigger and an integral part of a pure white dress, with Nina’s red lipstick being the only colour. There are some camera shots taken from the side where she almost looks like a swan – it’s VERY dramatic.
The LED wall features white light particles that come together to form swirling shapes on the LED wall, and there’s some very clever use of blue and white lighting that builds through the song. This performance is also less static than we saw at Montesong, helped by a much bigger stage – Nina starts in the centre, then walks to the frame stage for the big vocal finish.
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Ireland
EMMY – Laika Party
Eurovision’s official reddit account reports:
This performance has definitely had a glow-up since Emmy’s winning performance on the Late Late Show Eurosong Special. Emmy’s silver playsuit has been replaced by a silver metallic dress with a pleated skirt, silver boots and a helmet-like hood.
She starts the performance spotlit on a shiny metal platform in the centre of the stage that looks like a lunar module, with her brother Erlend on keyboards at stage level in front, wearing a metallic silver shirt and his trademark star-shaped shades. There are four female dancers, all in silver trousers and black/silver vests, who dance in front of Erlend during each chorus.
So it has the same vibe and energy we saw at the Irish national final, but the routine is much more precise and polished, and the staging is on a Basel scale. The biggest difference is the impact of the neon lighting and LED walls – the floating bones are gone, instead replaced by neon planets and animated marching space dogs for each set of bam bams. During the chorus the main LED wall features a constellation that forms the shape of Laika the dog out of stars. We’re not crying, you are
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Latvia
Tautumeitas – Bur Man Laimi
Eurovision’s official reddit account reports:
We’ve been wondering if Tautumeitas would retain the ethereal curtain we saw at Supernova, or whether they would lean more into the fairy forest vibe from the official video with a different staging concept. We’re not surprised to see that they’ve retained the curtain – it’s such a simple way to create atmosphere and intimacy, and the way this performance uses light on sections of the curtain to create pools of shadow is really immersive and hypnotic.
In fact, the whole routine is more or less exactly the same as Supernova – during the second run-through we simultaneously played the Supernova version on our laptop to see if we could spot any differences, and the changes are VERY subtle. The lighting is definitely more dramatic and powerful, and at one point the LED wall gives them tails to make them look like animals, which requires them to be in exactly the right place on the stage. They are, and it looks really effective.
Their costumes are also different – instead of the floaty dresses we saw at Supernova, Tautumeitas are all wearing matching gold catsuits with detailing that looks like branches and fins, and stunning gold headdresses that light up and change colour through the song. Hopefully you’ll be able to see some of the detailing on the TikTok video later, but you’ll definitely get a better look on the photos tomorrow.
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