Following the rehearsals today, each of the Big 5 acts (France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom and Germany) drew lots to decide which half of the grand final they get to perform in next Saturday. Host nation Israel is already confirmed as the 14th song to appear.
To (tediously predictable) cries of foul, France, Italy, The United Kingdom and Spain all scored spots in the second part of the show. Germany was left to sing in the first half. This kind of split last happened in 2017, where Italy were in the first half, with the other four in the second.
(Eurovision urban myth has it that German TV and the EBU have a deal that if picked for the first half, Germany will only ever sing tenth or later in the running order.)
Coming next
Today was the last day of individual rehearsals and saw bookies shorten the odds on a French victory. Italy too attracted interest. The other acts tended to drift somewhat.
We’ve heard that Moldova and the Netherlands will have extra rehearsal time this afternoon to iron out technical issues – but these won’t be open to fans, so we can’t report back. As you already might have heard, Estonia and Portugal have taken advantage of a third rehearsal.
Tomorrow, there’s a full dress rehearsal in the afternoon for the first semi-final and the jury show in the evening. So far, ticket sales are sluggish, with LOTS of empty seats at all prices – we fully expect them to be given away free tomorrow.
This evening an orange carpet opening ceremony sees all of the participants in their Sunday best posing on contract cord and answering questions about the weather and what they like most about Israel.
It’s broadcast live online, join us and pass comment.
Summary days 5 till 8:
(Just those which show difference than before and a full comments for big 5+ host country)-
Cyprus – Tamta found her inner Madona. Reply may be Fuego mark 2.0 but Tamta is no Eleni.
Serbia – is probably top Balkan market.
Iceland – stronger than before. Still very deviding opinions and depends if you are on the jock or not.
Greece – why the lack of interest?
Armenia – much aggressive than before and she is alone on stage.
Switzerland – slik but missing something.
Sweden – polished and much tighter staging as you would have expected from them.
Austria – the one where staging elevate the song and suddenly everyone think is could be a surprise qualifier.
Malta – they are doing a good job on that one.
Russia – when staging is not doing what it should done
Norway – it’s not getting better.
The Netherlands – for a favourite, the staging is still a miss.
North Macedonia – it’s working better than one would have expected
Israel – Depends who you read. Most say it isn’t doing anything and some stage the staging is actually helping the song.
France – again, depends who you read. Some like the staging and say it fits the song and some don’t like that the message is shoved down your throat. Suddenly France is in the top 5 by the bookies.
Spain – a bit too busy staging for such a song, but they manage to capture the fun element of the song.
Italy – Is it hit or miss qua staging? It is also not clear if he is accessible enough for the viewers at home.
U.K. – good voice, bad staging and a meh of a song
Germany – they made a big miss in the staging that has backfired them. Not going to do anything in this contest.
That’s All Falks – bring on the semi’s
Summary days 5 till 8:
(Just those which show difference than before and a full comments for big 5+ host country)-
Cyprus – Tamta found her inner Madona. Reply may be Fuego mark 2.0 but Tamta is no Eleni.
Serbia – is probably top Balkan market.
Iceland – stronger than before. Still very deviding opinions and depends if you are on the jock or not.
Greece – why the lack of interest?
Armenia – much aggressive than before and she is alone on stage.
Switzerland – slik but missing something.
Sweden – polished and much tighter staging as you would have expected from them.
Austria – the one where staging elevate the song and suddenly everyone think is could be a surprise qualifier.
Malta – they are doing a good job on that one.
Russia – when staging is not doing what it should done
Norway – it’s not getting better.
The Netherlands – for a favourite, the staging is still a miss.
North Macedonia – it’s working better than one would have expected
Israel – Depends who you read. Most say it isn’t doing anything and some stage the staging is actually helping the song.
France – again, depends who you read. Some like the staging and say it fits the song and some don’t like that the message is shoved down your throat. Suddenly France is in the top 5 by the bookies.
Spain – a bit too busy staging for such a song, but they manage to capture the fun element of the song.
Italy – Is it hit or miss qua staging? It is also not clear if he is accessible enough for the viewers at home.
U.K. – good voice, bad staging and a meh of a song
Germany – they made a big miss in the staging that has backfired them. Not going to do anything in this contest.
That’s All Falks – bring on the semi’s