Hello everyone and welcome to another Eurovision article on The Blogging DJ. Today marks the second day of rehearsals of the 2019 edition of the contest, held this year in Tel Aviv after Netta’s victory with “Toy”. The eight countries who are testing their entries today are Belgium, Georgia, Australia, Iceland, Estonia, Portugal, Greece and San Marino. This page will be updated throughout the day with text and videos on each entry so stay tuned!
10) Belgium – Eliot – “Wake Up”
On stage, Eliot is dressed in a jacket that resembles a modern form of a tunic, featuring chunky orange parts on a jacket. He is joined by three giant drums that face the audience (think Bulgaria 2013 or Ireland 2014). Throughout the performance there are some choreography from the drummers in which, in addition to playing throughout the song, they raise their sticks in an interpretive way. The backdrop stays fairly neutral throughout, with vertical lines occasionally pulsing in colours of white and purple.
11) Georgia – Oto Nemsadze – “Keep on Going”
In terms of stage presentation, it is relatively simple. Oto is standing on stage with his backing singers arranged in a line behind him. Massive focus has been put on the LED backdrop and flooring, with long strands of barbed wire twisting behind the singer, highlighting some of the dark messages of the song. In the last run of this rehearsal, the delegation added a lot of smoke and some pyro to their performance, giving a true fire and brimstone feel to the show. This song has been elevated by a presentation that clicks with the theatrical and ethnic influences.
12) Australia – Kate Miller-Heidke – “Zero Gravity”
After sending quite average stage shows for the past couple of years, the Australian delegation have brought one of the most elaborate performances this year. Kate is joined by two backing dancers, but they are not standing on the ground. Instead they are ten feet in the air, strapped to an individual pole that flexes from side to side (see their national final performance through clicking on the song name for a similar performance). They sway from side to side, as though they are lost in space. Because the backdrop is of space rushing by and there will be holographic images solely for the TV viewers, there is a lot going on.
13) Iceland – Hatari – “Hatrið mun sigra”
Another of the more unique entries to enter this year’s contest, Hatari are arranged in a similar way to the national final, with a dancer on a cage cracking whips instead of using a giant hammer. The higher-pitched singer comes forward towards the end of the song, accompanied by a BDSM pup. There are also more pyro and sparks included in the latter runs of the rehearsal, creating a dynamic and vibrant show that completely stands out from anything else this year. Europe will remember this performance when it comes to the televote portion.
14) Estonia – Victor Crone – “Storm”
Another country that have transferred the national final performance onto the stage of Tel Aviv. The Estonian delegation are keeping the special effects from Eesti Laul, so spent a good portion of his rehearsal slot doing that and trying to make the live performance in sync with that. As for the backdrop, it is quite neutral with blues and gold blocks pulsing on the screens. The one change is that the female singer will not be joining Victor on stage for the softer bridge of the song. After the last three entries, this is a simply staged entry, allowing the focus to be on the performer and the song.
15) Portugal – Conan Osiris – “Telemóveis”
Conan have made a couple of changes from his national final performance in the first rehearsal stage at Eurovision 2019. His costume has changed to a green robe with ruffling at the back, looking like a martial arts expert. The contemporary dancer performing alongside him is in matching green trousers. The backdrop and LED floor are black and red with images of roses and electrical streams intertwining, giving a passionate feel to the performance. There are also some stairs which Conan and the dancer interact with. We have yet to see the dancer perform a full death drop as we saw in the national final but it could happen in the second or dress rehearsal.
16) Greece – Katerine Duska – “Better Love”
Greece’s stage performance is really elegant and links to the concept of nature. Katerine is standing on one side of what appears to be a giant stone with a pointed top. Her backing singers and dancers are dressed in nude colours and she throws a smaller stone into the audience. At the top of the song, the stone turns around and the stone is bursting with flowers. There is also a lot of pink in the backdrop, really pushing forward that natural and soft tones. She also sounded very good during the run-throughs, constantly hitting the very high note at the climax.
17) San Marino – Serhat – “Say Na Na Na”
Serhat is bringing that disco feel-good factor to Tel Aviv with this performance! Dressed in a white suit, he is joined by two male backing dancers dressed in suit jackets and shorts and some female backing singers. There is fun choreography from Serhat and the dancers that will get the audience dancing The backdrop flashes up “Na Na Na” and other lyrics on multiple occasions, like a lyric music video, with the colour choice very vibrant. He did bring a small screen up on stage, but this was removed for later run-throughs of the performance.
So those were the eight countries who rehearsed today. Who impressed you the most and can any of these challenge for overall victory? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below and don’t forget to vote in the poll below. Stay tuned for more Eurovision themed articles in the next couple of weeks!
Who had the best rehearsal on Day Two of Eurovision 2019?(polls)
The Blogging DJ 
Thanks for these posts – it saves me my often fruitless searches for good clips of the rehearsals.
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I always refer to the Eurovision YouTube and Instagram pages. They normally post videos a couple of hours after the rehearsals. But thank you – I’m trying to get as much of these out as I can!
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