Grüezi! The Building Bridges Podcast is back live on site at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest from inside the St. Jakobshalle in Basel for the first dress rehearsal of Semi Final 2.
Press at this first dress rehearsal were banned from sharing pictures and video. The most recent updates are at the top of the page:
👋 That’s all, folks!
Now the press have been asked to leave the arena, as the interval acts are supposed to remain a surprise for the big live show. Thank you all for joining today!
📼 RECAP
Now Sandra and Hazel thank all performers of the night. They once again explain how the voting works and then open the voting lines. The first recap of the night is shown.
16 🇫🇮 FINLAND • Erika Vikman – Ich komme
The words “ICH KOMME” are shown on the LED screen. Erika is standing on the very back of the stage, wearing her black body and boots. She is dragging her microphone stand with her, as she steps on a circle platform. She then drops the stand, leaves the platform and takes the catwalk, as she shouts “Ich Komme” for the second time. She is flirting outrageously with the camera. The key changes and the huge, golden microphone from her UMK performance appears. Erika gets on the microphone, which starts to take off and shoots rockets out of it. The words ERIKA are shown in fierce red letters at the end. The audience is amazed!
15 🇷🇸 SERBIA • Princ – Mila
Princ starts off alone on stage. He is wearing a red suit and a rainy sky LED appears behind him. Out of nowhere, dancers appear and hold onto him as he sings the first chorus. The scenery is very foggy and Princ falls down on his knees. The stage is set on fire and Princ gets dragged across the floor by his dancers, who grab him by his legs. At the end of the performance, Princ gets lifted up by his dancers. There is no clear theme with colors or choreography here but the dancers definitely do a lot to poor Princ.
Automatic Qualifier 🇩🇪 GERMANY • Abor & Tynna – Baller
We open with Abor playing an illuminated cello. Tynna is revealed behind a dropping curtain standing on a gigantic speaker. She walks down the prop and is now standing in the center of the stage. Four dancers are surrounding her closely, illuminating her with flashlights in their hands. As Tynna walks forward, we suddenly see Abor and his cello on top of the speaker now. Unexpectedly, the speaker shoots out rockets, catching the audience off guard and triggering a lot of cheers. Tynna’s vocals sound much better and the staging is definitely the biggest upgrade from all the entries so far. The press is definitely impressed.
We get another quick break, giving the crew some time to remove Israel’s huge prop and bring in Germany’s even bigger prop.
14 🇮🇱 ISRAEL • Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise
Yuval is alone on stage, wearing a black pantsuit. The stage is all black. Slowly a few silver sparkles start glimmering from the backdrop. Another big prop gets revealed now, as Yuval is walking up a silver staircase, which takes her up a sparkling platform, surrounded by silver chains. During the final chorus we get some firework rain as well. And of course, every single note was hit perfectly.
13 🇱🇺 LUXEMBOURG • Laura Thorn – La poupée monte le son
We peek through a key hole of a pink doll house, in which we see Laura Thorn positioned inside a tea room, clearly an hommage to Alice in Wonderland. As the chorus sets in, we get out of the doll house and Laura is walking fiercely towards the camera in a pink dress and silver high boots, joined by four male dancers in purple suits following her. At the final bridge, the dancers rip the pink dress off Laura, revealing a sparkling silver body suit. Suddenly, the sweet girl transforms into a strong woman, who delivers an impressive vocal moment at the end.
12 🇨🇿 CZECHIA • Adonxs – Kiss Kiss Goodbye
Adonxs is in a white suit with black shoulder pads. He is dancing around his microphone stand as the wind machine is in use again, blowing his coat around. Four dancers in white join him during the second verse who take his coat off him. The all white theme gets disrupted by the sudden dance break, which turns the stage red. In true top-model fashion, Adonxs takes to the catwalk in the most elegant walk we have seen so far. He vocalizes at the end of the song, as the dancers walk away from him, showing the Goodbye theme of the song. One of the first songs in a while without any props, which is not a negative thing at all. Adonxs’ stage presence is enough to fill these three minutes.
11 🇩🇰 DENMARK • Sissal – Hallucination
Sissal is seated on a black circle which is covered by a grey curtain. Purple and blue lights start to flicker, as she slowly stands up. The curtains blend with the backscreen during the first chorus, creating a hallucination of vibrant colors. Her coat is ditched during the verse and Sissal is now dancing in a blue bodysuit and high boots. The stage keeps flickering in different colors, clearly playing with the hallucination theme of the song. The audience is clapping along to this catchy song, as Sissal is taking the front stage and the wind machine is clearly set on max. This is a big upgrade from the national final performance and earns a lot of applause from the press.
After the French performance, Sandra and Hazel are shown cleaning up the sand with brooms, joking that Switzerland was saving money on cleaners with them. Sandra gets handed a huge vacuum cleaner from a crew member for more convenient sand removal.
Automatic Qualifier 🇫🇷 FRANCE • Louane – Maman
Louane is lying on the floor, inside a circle of sand as she flips over an hourglass. The sand is starting to rain from the ceiling. She is falling down on her knees as she sings “maman” for the first time. She continues to walk around the rain of sand. She is wearing an elegant black dress, creating a good contrast from the golden sand. The sand turns into golden rain during the build-up of the final chorus. Louane is covered in golden sand as she belts out a perfect note at the end. A lot of French media in the press here, who love this performance.
☕ BREAK
Sandra is walking along the commentator booth and then knocks on one of the door, chatting with the Icelandic commentator and practices some sentences in Icelandic. Sandra continues her journey and visits the Danish commentator in his box now, talking about his favorite Eurovision memories. Sandra interrupts his favorite memory mid-sentence as they are running behind, but she still manages to chat with the French commentator on her way out.
10 🇬🇪 GEORGIA • Mariam Shengelia – Freedom
Mariam is positioned on a silver platform, matching her gigantic silver dress. The backdrop shows a thunderstorm, rocks and a huge ring. The whole scenery looks like it is directly out of The Lord Of The Rings. At the second verse, Mariam is losing her silver dress for yet another reveal. In a pantsuit with red and white stripes, she is walking towards the front of the stage. The coloring changes from silver and gray to orange and red. The wind machine is setting in during the final and of course, Mariam hit every single note perfectly.
Guess what? The postcard has finished and the stage is not ready again…
09 🇲🇹 MALTA • Miriana Conte – Serving
We see a huge disco ball, inside of red lips. The ball is turning around and we see Miriana seated inside, wearing a yellow, feathery dress. The words SERVING are written on the screen and as she moans “Serving ahhh”, she loses the dress, revealing a tight, black and red bodysuit. The stage is all covered in red and leopard patterns and four dancers are surrounding Miriana, wearing furry red jackets and tight black boots. She is walking along the catwalk and as she reaches the front of the stage, the final chorus sets in and she and her dancers are bouncing on red gymnastic balls. The oh so serious shout the word “Kant” at the final chorus.
The stage is not ready once again… This semi definitely has the more elaborate props!
08 🇱🇹 LITHUANIA • Katarsis – Tavo akys
Katarsis are wearing their same gray suits from the national final. The same, apocalyptic feeling is still there. The stage is covered in fog and a gray, lonely field with a single cabin is shown in the background. The front singer is walking straight towards the camera with big eyes and a very shocked, almost disturbed look. At the chorus, the wind machine starts and the cabin in the backdrop blows up. During the repeated “tavo, tavo, tavo” we get thunder and lightning and we see rocks flying around, creating the illusion of the end of the world. The grief and depression is clearly caught in the front singer’s eyes. Another huge applause from the press.
07 🇬🇷 GREECE • Klavdia – Asteromata
Klavdia starts singing alone, lit by just a spotlight. She is wearing a long, black dress with silver sparkles. Slowly, the camera shows the big rock, which Klavdia is standing on. The stage turns into an orange, lava-like color as we see a burning tree on the backscreen and a dark silhouette in front of Klavdia, which she is reaching for but does not manage to hold on to. At the second chorus, it looks like the lava is gone and only solid rock with a bit of fire is left, creating the illusion of a volcano which just exploded. At the very end, Klavdia loses her black dress and reveals a tight, white dress underneath. Every single note was perfect and the press audience is cheering heavily.
Once again, the crew did not manage to remove the UK’s broken chandelier and bring on Klavdia’s rock in time. Another break between the postcard and the stage-ready sound.
Automatic Qualifier 🇬🇧 UNITED KINGDOM • Remember Monday – What the Hell Just Happened?
Remember Monday are standing closely in front of a dresser, giving the illusion that they are just doing their make-up. Suddenly, a firework goes off and they belt out “What The Hell Just Happened” in perfect harmonies. They clearly manage to engage the entire audience with their energy. They walk from the front stage to the center of the stage, standing by an illuminated chandelier which crashed to the floor. Each of them is in a different colored, princess-like dress and they are dancing carelessly during the last chorus, finishing off in one last perfect harmony. The press is a big fan of this one as well.
After Austria we clearly need a break. Sandra is doing the serious part of explaining what is going to happen next, while Hazel is in the audience again doing “the first ever Eurovision stage dive”. Improvised by four members of the crew, who lift her up in her tight silver dress, making her look very uncomfortable.
Then, we see footage of the first ever Eurovision party exclusively for people aged 60 and up, proving that age is just a number!
06 🇦🇹 AUSTRIA • JJ – Wasted Love
The entire image is in black and white. JJ is sitting on the floor, covered in a blanket, with only a lantern next to him. A paper boat is flying from his hands away to the sky. As the soprano part starts, JJ stands up and loses his blanket. It is now revealed that he is standing on a small sail ship. The entire floor is covered in fog, creating the illusion of him being on the ocean. The wind gets dramatic during the second chorus and wild waves are shown on the LED. As the beat drops, the camera is going crazy, shaking in different shots and the bass is shaking the arena to its core. Finally, JJ reaches a lighthouse, as the song ends. Another favorite of the press audience.
05 🇦🇲 ARMENIA • Parg – Survivor
All the headlights are brought down low for this performance, flickering in white and black. PARG is only wearing black, leather baggy pants and is already the second shirtless performer after Go-jo. He is running on a treadmill in the front of the stage, sometimes running towards the camera, sometimes running away from it. During the second chorus we also get some flames and the black and white stage turns red at the final bridge. He is running for his life during the final chorus, while not missing a single note. This definitely feels as elaborate as Poland’s performance on Tuesday.
Again, the crew did not manage to take away Latvia’s prop in time, so we get an awkward pause, after Armenia’s postcard already rolled.
04 🇱🇻 LATVIA • Tautumeitas – Bur man laimi
All six vocalists stand behind the see-through curtain which we know from Supernova. The audience is clapping along to the Bur man, bur man, bur man part. The staging is dark, mystical and the LED is showing a silver rainfall but during the chorus, the curtain turns golden and the staging suddenly feels warm and cozy. The bass is vibrating during the final “Bur man, Bur man, Bur man” build up and our fairies suddenly grow tails with the LED. The lights are glimmering like crazy during the finale, as Tautumeitas elegantly end their choreography. The press was most invested in this performance so far.
Hazel is quickly doing an improvised audience interaction with a non-exisiting audience, as the crew is busy carrying Emmy’s platform off stage and preparing Latvia’s curtains.
03 🇮🇪 IRELAND • Emmy – Laika Party
The opening shot shows Emmy’s brother playing the keyboard. Emmy is standing on a platform right behind him, wearing a silver, space-like dress with a cap, which she takes off during the first chorus. A star formation in the shape of a dog is shown on the LED screen. During the “Boom Boom” part of the chorus, we get visuals of dogs in astronaut suits doing the same dance as Emmy and her dancers. The space theme is very prominent throughout the whole song and we end with some fireworks. The lack of the audience is showing, as it felt a little bit low-energy, but this will surely change tonight.
02 🇲🇪 MONTENEGRO • Nina Žižić – Dobrodošli
We open with a dramatic flashlight, as Nina is shown in her white dress with the circle on her back, wearing a white blindfold, which she takes off as she starts singing. She is elegantly turning to different cameras, always looking directly at the viewer. The dark stage turns gray and white during the first chorus. Nina is definitely the focus of this performance, without any elaborate props or LED screen. She is elegantly walking along the catwalk during the instrumental part of the song. At the finale, she is taking off her large circle and is left in an elegant, sleeveless white dress. Montenegro is returning to Eurovision with class!
01 🇦🇺 AUSTRALIA • GO-JO – Milkshake Man
We see a massive prop getting carried on stage. GO-JO’s milkshake blender. We start with a retro television setting, GO-JO is trying to sell his blender to the TV audience like on teleshopping. During the first chorus he steps inside his blender, which starts to steam and there is our first reveal of the night. GO-JO changed from a white milkman uniform into a blue, glittering bodysuit. His female dancers go through a similar reveal during the second chorus. The words “Sweet sweet yum yum” are written in colorful, candy-like letters on the LED screen, as the dancers take off GO-JO’s top. He’s dancing like crazy on the front of the stage, while we see strawberry, banana and chocolate milk on the LED screen.
We are opening with a bang, once again.
Very quickly, our hosts let the Eurovision Song Contest begin. The opening only took 5 minutes until Australia’s postcard starts rolling.
The whole stage, LED floor and Green Room are glimmering in purple lights, as Hazel and Sandra take the stage. Sandra welcomes the fans home once again. While Sandra is wearing an elegant black pantsuit with a matching blazer, Hazel is in a sparkly, silver dress, made of recycled plastic.
We open this semi-final with clips from Eurovision fans celebrating in Basel on the Eurovision street, during the Turquoise Carpet and in front of the arena. The motto “Welcome Home” is used heavily once again.
A dancer comes on the dark stage, carrying a mechanic Eurovision heart with the Swiss flag illuminated. He puts the heart down on the LED floor, which forms the classic Eurovision Song Contest logo, with the Swiss flag inside.
Let us know in the comments or on social media what performance you’re most looking forward to, and who you think will qualify! Follow our social media profiles @buildingbridgespod as we’ll be updating you live from Basel all week!
Title photo credit: Alma Bengtsson / EBU
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