Yesterday we saw the last day of rehearsals, day six, for the Big 5 and the host of Eurovision Song Contest 2025. 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:
Switzerland
Zoë Më – Voyage
Eurovision’s official reddit account reports:
We’ve had some more staging notes! This time from Switzerland’s Creative Director Theo Adams, who has essentially written this entire section for us in spectacular detail. Here’s how he describes Switzerland’s performance:
“Switzerland’s Zoë Më presents “Voyage” as a three-minute, unbroken moment of cinematic intimacy. The performance unfolds in a single continuous handheld shot, with no cuts, no dancers, no choreography, no set pieces, no props, no LED screen content, and no fireworks. It focuses entirely on Zoë’s presence, unfolding in a quiet, concentrated world built on emotional detail.
The image is soft and expressive, filmed on a full-frame cinema camera using the exact same Zeiss Super Speed lenses from the 1970s that were used to shoot films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. These lenses create blooming highlights, delicate flares, and a shallow depth of field that gently isolates Zoë in the frame. She begins seated, surrounded by infinite black and sculptural lighting that gives the performance the feeling of a Caravaggio painting.
She wears an off-the-shoulder black silk dress by Rowanne Studio, printed with abstract florals in deep reds, purples, and blues. The camera moves closely around her, capturing shifts between connection and introspection without interruption. Operated entirely by hand, it carries a natural, breathing quality that responds in real time to Zoë’s energy and presence. The result is a continuous flow of quiet, detailed observation. Intimate, immediate, and unfiltered.
At the bridge, the atmosphere ruptures. Smoke, wind, and stark, overexposed flashes interrupt the stillness. But the camera never cuts. It tilts, circles, and responds to the rupture with a visceral sense of motion, remaining closely attuned to Zoë throughout. As the intensity subsides, the audience slowly comes into view, their phone lights glowing like stars around Zoë, before everything dissolves back into the infinite black where it began.
Voyage is a performance built on restraint and cinematic precision. It uses the scale of the Eurovision stage in a different way, drawing all attention to Zoë and the emotion she carries in every frame. Nothing distracts. Nothing interrupts. Just one voice, one presence, and a moment that feels deeply personal.”
What could we possibly add? Switzerland is a MOOD.
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Italy
Lucio Corsi –Volevo Essere Un Duro
Eurovision’s official reddit account reports:
So this is very similar to the staging we saw at Sanremo – the song begins with Lucio at a very long piano, wearing a giant-shouldered bolero jacket that looks like the yellow one he wore in the official video, and his trademark white makeup. He performs the first third of the song here, accompanied by guitarist and co-writer Tommaso Ottomano, before taking his guitar to the centre of the stage. So far, so Sanremo.
But there are few striking differences – firstly there’s a giant prop, or actually two. We have two retro speakers at the back of the stage – one is square, maybe four metres high/wide, the second slightly smaller. Secondly, there’s a sepia filter applied to the version you see on TV, which gives the whole performance a 1970s vibe. The TV feed also has English subtitles, which is a lovely way to convey the sentiment of the song to the millions of viewers who don’t speak Italian. And finally, there’s a harmonica solo from Lucio before the final chorus, with both Lucio and Tommaso on the frame stage – a rare appearance of a live instrument at Eurovision.
Lucio delivers the whole thing with his usual effortless charisma – it’s entirely different from anything else we’ve seen at Eurovision this year, and it really has been a year with something for everyone. Bellissimo.
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Spain
Melody – ESA DIVA
Eurovision’s official reddit account reports:
Now the staging feels much sharper and more sophisticated, and there’s a clear narrative that splits the song into three distinct acts, each packed with energy and emotion. But it’s more than just the feeling of it – each act has its own colours and graphics – from purple in the first act to red in the second, and pure white at the end that merges with the mountain backdrop at the back of the stage.
Each act also has its own combination of dancers – Melody has five in total, three male, two female – and the routines they perform are different in each act. The structure of the performance is SO clever, and despite the complexity, she owns the stage from start to finish.
We also need to give a shout out to Melody’s outfit, because it’s entirely fabulous. A black corseted bodice with pointy bits on the shoulders and the hips – it reminds us of a black orchid, paired with a black fedora and black thigh boots. In the opening shot, we see her in shadow against a white background, and the silhouette of everything from the her nails to her hair is a work of art.
The dancing in the final ten seconds is a real moment – we’re not going to tell you, because we couldn’t do it justice. But just you wait.
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