Malmo: First rehearsals are on!

A few hours ago the first rehearsals started and Austria, Estonia and now Slovenia entered the stage. Austria and Estonia did a great job and I'm sure that they will qualify while Slovenia sounded dreadful and quite painful to listen... Here are some comments from escchat.com:

"Natalia is singing well for this early on a Monday morning, let’s get that much out of the way. The backdrop is all soft purples and blues – think Maja Keuc from 2011 – although the effect is spoiled somewhat by some slightly strange illuminated fabric cylinders hanging down from the ceiling. The kind of thing Daria Kinzer appeared out of, if you’ll excuse me using 2011 references all the time! It’s a surprisingly static performance, with the backing singers standing still for the first minute or two then getting moving once the key change happens"

Estonia's performance:

"Those who think this song is a bit boring will probably still think it’s boring. Maybe they’re right – but presented like this and after Austria, to me it comes across like the real opener to the show. Birgit and her mini-Birgit fill out an elegant white evening dress and allow the cameras to revolve around them. There’s a black-and-white effect for the first verse – quite appropriate for the old-style cinema where the assembled fans are watching this! – then it all goes colour for the chorus, with the backdrops fairly dark initially then glowing in green and yellow earth tones thereafter. The big note towards the end is practically made for a big fanboy cheering moment, and well… "

Slovenia's performance:

"We know better than to judge vocals, of all things, based on a first rehearsal. Which is probably a good thing, because Hannah absolutely biffs some of those high notes that are so important to the song. Mind you, her arms – which are shown off by her outfit – look like they could do some biffing too! The staging is standard-issue “dance song at recent ESC”, with a dark stage and the potential for strobes and effects – probably the right approach really. Not sure about the dancers, their costumes look like cast-offs from “S.A.G.A.P.O.” or Cyprus 2011 (see, 2011 again!) and they do some “Yaz bitti” moves at the start that were pretty much out-of-date when Leon used them in “Blauer Planet”. Hannah is particularly shaky on the vocals when she walks – and walk she does, out onto the catwalk and podium and then back again. Anyway, the performance became a bit more assured in the later runs (it’s almost as if that’s what rehearsals are for!), so maybe it’ll all be sitting nicely by Friday."