Armenia is one I’ve really been looking forward to. I had no idea how they might stage this, especially the frenetic cranking up the pace near the start of the song. It doesn’t disappoint. This elicited the biggest (in fact really the only) cheer so far in the press centre.
Iveta is in a leotard with trailing fabric behind her, with camera angles very reminiscent of modern Melodifestivalen: lots of choppy shots, with Iveta shot in red. The final run through has some heavy duty pyros that are going to make That Rosé very excited indeed.
This is easily the best all day, and sailing to the final.
San Marino
One of the most keenly-anticipated rehearsals today is San Marino. The switch to disco has got people talking, not all in favour. There was a lot of expectation that this would be naffer than naff thing McNaff, the naffest thing that ever was. Somehow though this isn’t quite naff enough.
Serhat is in white slacks with a baby blue pullover and a nice titfer. It doesn’t feel like his stage outfit but it is in Sammarinese colours. Five (real) singers and dancers and a host or projected ones move behind him like the titles of Tales Of The Unexpected. We’re expectant, though, and Serhat isn’t really delivering. To work this had to really be completely ridiculous on stage, and I’m sorry to say that Serhat is managing to make it look quite normal, which in turn just makes it look like the substandard song it is. If anything needed bells and whistles to make it stand out as something ‘special’ this was it. It feels like a missed opportunity, and certainly a missed moment of Eurovision immortality.
Russia
So, if the bookies are to be believed the next one’s the winner – it’s Russia. Hhm… I’ve had this picked as second place since we heard it but at the moment I’m not sure he’ll even get that.
He starts solo close up and then pans out to a big back screen, just like Mans’ last year. There’s black wings sprouting from his shoulders. If you want to see it look at Iceland’s preview vide, it’s VERY similar. It feels a little too manufactured to be honest. His USP is that at one point he climbs up the screen as the projection continues. It’s a bit dark to see exactly what’s happening, and there’s a watermark on the screens in here to prevent anyone recording so we can’t really see what’s going on. On the first run through though Sergei misses his footing and falls off. There’s a collective whoop in the hall. Thankfully he seems OK and completes a full second go at it. By the end he’s fully atop the screen which has illuminated with orange like a great shining sun. It’s the first yellow spectrum we’re really seeing since Greece and is most welcome. This is through without a doubt but I’m confident that we’re not going to Russia in 2017.