Israel – making the most of what she has to work with

Eden Alene, Israel, First Rehearsal, Rotterdam Ahoy, 9 May 2021
Eden Alene, Israel, First Rehearsal, Rotterdam Ahoy, 9 May 2021

Time for Israel. I love Eden as an artist. Will she get the whistle notes? And has she learned to like the song any more…?

Eden has found a way of standing out by being the first artist to make use of the long additional transparent ‘wall’ of projection that comes over the arena. It seems to be a piece of tech that descends from the ceiling as it’s needed, and it lights up with neon images of Eden and the song title to great effect.

Eden’s got 5 male dancers backing her, and they bust some contemporary moves that suit the song well, extending their performance out to the catwalk as the strut alongside the image wall.

They’re wearing white outfits with black striped patterns. Towards the end, Eden has a ‘reveal’ where they rip hers off to leave her in a black dress, nude effect, with stripes. It’s veering close to lingerie and I don’t think this, or the way they get to it, are especially helpful in the performance. The under-dress makes her look a bit cheap, to be honest. Maybe try something different underneath or leave her in the first costume throughout.

The whistle notes are there, and they actually seem to come quite effortlessly, or at least she makes it appear that way. They seem easier for her than some other parts of the singing, which I’m a little surprised to hear sounds just a touch off in places.

This is a nice performance, just enough to set it apart from other soloist/dancers combinations, but it still doesn’t quite cover up that the song itself is still lacking. Eden gives everything she can to help this over the line, but it may be the material she has to work with, rather than the way she works it, than holds her back.

Monty x

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