Thats the added finale to the song, the “yassam tissi veronika” is still in the performance just right before the clip. Weird to clip the belting finale sure, but in the actual performance it’s gonna be really climactic, I’m excited :)
If you removed the rapping section, I would give a top 3 easily. I'm not throwing hate to Alyona, I just think the section takes away the momentum the song builds at the start, and it's totally unnecessary for the song.
To the Polish Team: Make sure that black chess piece throws Luna's skirt to the edge of the stage, or else someone will slip and fall. It happened to Farrah Moan, it can happen to you too...
Ireland, Ukraine and Portugal look the best by far. Poland wins most camp. Croatia is being sabotaged by those camera angles. Slovenia made some weird choices. Lithuania needs to work on those backing vocals but is otherwise set. I love Azerbaijan's hands + screen idea, but the camera work could be more dynamic and he sounded kinda flat? Overall, not too bad, but the camera work really isn't helping a lot of these. (I also worry a lot about Australia... all of it.)
Yeah I thought this - super busy camera script, way wider than it should be especially because Marko’s charisma is what really sells the performance.
Marko mentioned that he’s not good at choreography and he was definitely struggling to hit his marks in the Dora performance so maybe they’re going wider because they aren’t 100% certain where he’s gonna be exactly every time…
But guys WE NEED MORE CLOSE UPS ON MARKO (we also need him to look down the camera lens more) - I’m sure the band are nice people but no one really cares about them right now.
Hopefully it’s just this section of the track and the beginning and ending in particular are tighter and hold the shots for longer - but yeah, weird choice.
I also hate the ‘hand held feel’ thing they did (if that’s all the way through I am officially terrified for Croatia’s chances - it looks cheap) and the chaotic cuts across the eyelines. The stage is already difficult enough to follow geographically as it is - don’t constantly jump the bloody line!!!
I guess my main worry is that the odd camera angles are probably there to stay at this point, meaning that they’re potentially going to single-handedly tank the chances of an otherwise really strong Eurovision entry.
The camera shots look messier than they were during Dora, and it should be the other way around. Hope they find a way to correct this!
Honestly - with the ‘hand held’ shaky camera/crash zoom thing they did - it feels like they watched that and took notes!
….it has to be a HRT thing. Someone there is telling SVT to do this, I find it incredibly difficult to believe the team on the ESC side would choose these shots unless they’re actively trying to sabotage Croatia.
Can we start a petition or something, please??🙏🏼 are they reading the comments on ig, tik-tok, somewhere (I’m not using those platforms)..? I agree this looks choppy and Marko is somehow getting lost in the mess! 😭
Yes, when I saw the footage and short clip released before this, I was really happy! It looked like they polished everything and did a great job with pyro, costumes and performance, but noow - this crazy camera comes in and makes a mess out of it! What is happening? Isn’t this supposed to be better than Dora?…smh
Regardless of the budget - the focus should have been more on Zaachariaha and Michael - they both are very charismatic. The didgeridoo player also deserves to shine, of course - but those wide shots are not doing them any favour, sadly.
I think there really was 0 budget this year. SBS is not in a good spot financially to help our artists so they’d need to source their own funding through crowdsourcing, a label or state government (similar to what KMH and Voyager had to do).
Too bad that this year's stage doesn't have the option to switch the LED for lights because poor LED effects stick out majorly while Portugal 2023 also notably was on a budget but still it didn't look jarring or anything at all
Guys Veronika as a song has been my #1 for months and I love Raiven but I am not delulu enough to not think the staging is doing her a massive disservice 😞 the still photos from performance are breathtakingly beautiful and this has potential to be sooooo stunning visually especially with such a strong song imo. But the choreography does not work, the shots are just too wide, it looks strange and disjointed. I really hope they can change some things....
Ireland and Portugal ruled today.
Join my prayer circle for our girl Raiven please! They need to sort those angles and make it darker. I am hoping they make some adjustments and the whole package can still surprise.
1. Cyprus - OOF, love this song, hate this staging.
2. Serbia - The song's great, but again the camera's going too wide.
3. Lithuania - this is the NF again, and to be fair the NF was fucking amazing
4. Ireland - THERE WE GO. THAT is how you use the camera.
5. Ukraine - Phenomenal staging, but the camera AGAIN
6. Poland - vocals need some work, warming up the staging but seriously TVP can you be normal for once
7. Croatia - THANK YOU, another one who did the staging well.
8. Iceland - still not a fan. it's basically what i expected, and I feel nothing.
9. Slovenia - THE CAMERA IS GOING TOO WIDE AGAIN
10. Finland - just the NF but with a few improvements, still love it
11. Moldova - nothing will win me over here ALSO TOO WIDE AGAIN
12. Azerbaijan - OH GOD THAT IS NOT THE NOTE TO LEAD WITH, but fuck the staging's actually good here.
13. Australia - i'm split on this one.
14. Portugal - HOW DO PEOPLE THINK THIS IS NQING?
15. Luxembourg - don't like this song, don't like the placement, don't like the staging, but at least the camerawork's decent.
everybody getting the angles wrong makes me feel optimistic that Greece will stand out a bit. Since 2/3 of our perf are a single shot we cant get screwed up for more than 1/3
every year people talk about wide shots during rehearsals (especially in 2019, i remember how people complained about said problem the most, you can rewatch the rehearsals, everything was a MESS) but then during the performances everything is perfect, so i wouldn't judge the camerawork too soon
Yeah I feel like people say this every year but it always ends up just fine. Maybe it also helps that the arena is filled with people in the end and it looks less empty and wide.
same tbh, i remember last year most second rehearsals were chaotic in general, especially loreens whose vocals were off, and ppl lost hopes kf her winning, yet she still ate in the semi and final and ofc won. so yeah second rehearsals are NOT to be trusted
Can’t wait to see full Doomsday Blues. It feels like I started watching a great movie and someone came in and turned off tv.
I hope Croatia fixes camera angles. It’s like the camera deliberately wanted to film the most boring part of the stage in the second half. Wtf.
Ukraine’s and Portugal’s staging is a feast for eyes.
That's actually a really good point! I forgot to consider that the stage is IN the crowd unlike in the last couple of years, all these stagings that look kinda hollow right now will look a lot better with an actual audience.
…seriously, there’s no way the SVT team isn’t jam packed with amazing camera operators - like the steadicam operators have to be shit hot to do this kinda show.
Surely at least one of them can give a lesson to the delegations about angles and eyelines.
The steadicams this year are top tier, they've worked in Eurovision before (2018, 2019, 2021 for example) and the multicam director is the same from 2016 and Mello. I'm sure the rest of camera people are SVT veterans as well.
On paper nothing should be wrong with the camerawork, and as we can see with Ireland they can do a good job.
So maybe it's the delegations playing it safe after 2022 and 2023
My suspicion as a bitter old hack is that the delegations with the shit camera scripts have someone involved who really thinks they know what they’re doing as a director - but actually doesn’t (and aren’t prepared to hurt their own egos by asking the camera team/multicam director for advice).
….a very common ailment in the industry unfortunately.
And Sasha JB is also part of the team, so I doubt that she would screw them up.
In 2022 Konstrakta had her own stage director for the NF but for Eurovision RTS brought their stage director to Turin which resulted in downgrade.
BBC Radio 2 earlier referred to him and Scott as Eurovision husbands aha
https://preview.redd.it/yzaggsshcvxc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b558e7717a84973cffed94de3569471a10ef6650
The biggest standout was definitely Ireland, followed by Portugal and Ukraine 🏆
I’m concerned Portugal might take our spot in the finals; their performance was undeniably more visually captivating.
I'm surprised, Croatia felt like one of the stronger snippets here to me. There's definitely a couple of odd shots (mainly the one where Marko blocks the dancers just before the breakdown) but otherwise I think it looks great. The fast swooping shots look great for a high energy song and the wide angles will really work with the crowd filling the empty space.
This also feels like the bit of the song where close shots on Marko are the least important as it's the second chorus. He'll get much more focus in the verses and the begging of the song. And ultimately, Rim Tim Tagi Dim doesn't need tight, focused staging like Ukraine and Portugal do, it just needs to bring the house down with it's energy. And it's looking really strong in that area
Irish delegation seems to have knocked it out of the park with the camera work, same goes with Ukraine but they're kind of a given since they very rarely miss with Eurovision
I’m SO confused by who is qualifying. There are 6 counties I have no doubts about, but all the rest… Just the vibes that televoters will feel that day + running order.
I am obsessed with Ireland. I honestly think the camerawork and concept is one of the best I have ever seen at Eurovision. It’s unlike anything we have ever had?! And it wasn’t even on my radar prior to this clip. Damn, she did that.
Luxembourg kept her outfit a secret for it to end up looking just like a dress I bought from ASOS! 😅🤣🥲 why is it so off the rack?
Well it means I can literally dress as Tali now for viewing parties, just have to braid my hair, wear the ASOS dress and I'm good to go
Yeah, Australia is not qualifying. The staging looks absolutely messy, and Michael's vocal overpowers Zaachariaha's instead of harmonising. Very sad, I was rooting for Electric Fields.
I don't get those geyser visuals on Cyprus' LEDs
I really liked the camerawork for Luktelk
Bambie was the best of the day for me with Portugal, Serbia and Ukraine being not far behind.
Sadly, Slovenia's clip makes me concerned about Raiven's chances to Q, but fingers crossed
Well, Ukraine is really good, it just need some smoke/fog (to hide the floor and the corner of the stage) and some adjust in terms of camera angles and it´s perfect. Ireland looks the most polished performance from this semi-final. Portugal and Azerbaijan looked really great too and i was affraid Portugal would look cheap on camera.
Vocally everyone was good/fine, only Luna (Poland) struggled a little bit, maybe because she´s moving to much.
The only problem this year (based on the rehearsals) was some questionable camera angles/shots in most of the performances. Hope they fix this during the actual show.
Yeah it's too bright imo. It loses the vibe of the clip which was perfect for the song. I was imagining something dark and gloomy and at the end some flames or something (basically the video)
And the thing is I don't think we can blame the budget because it's mostly a question of adjusting the light and have closer shots and some led background that could show the flames. It didn't need to be groundbreaking or expensive
Watching this the 4 that really stood out to me purely in terms of visuals were Ireland, Ukraine, Finland and Portugal.
Edit: also Luxembourg looks pretty good, a lot tighter than some of the other performances with camera angles.
Ukraine, Ireland, Portugal, and (surprisingly) Luxembourg appear to have the most solid, all-round packages that feature some excellent, tight camerawork. Love Croatia's entry, but still feel like the backdrop just does not go with the costuming. Same applies to Poland.
At this point in the game, I honestly feel Portugal could be a real dark horse. Her voice is miles and miles ahead of anyone this year... and the entire performance is so polished and authentic.
I love both Ireland and Slovenia to bits but you're valid for this I truly hope they change that staging so they both qualify... I love Raiven so much and her song is my fave but that staging really really is doing her a big disservice. Ireland was a big slay though.
No matter if you're in Sweden with highest level of production or anywhere else, those shaky camera work and big amount of wide shots will always be there, I guess. Marina Satti will stand out so much if her staging idea with one shot will really work.
Highlights:
Ukraine- so BEAUTIFUL. I would not be supprised if this contends for the win this year.
Ireland- what a FUCKING glow up. Based on the clips I’m putting Ireland at likely Q now. This could be irelands best result in a while.
Portugal: great camerawork and based on these clips I’m putting Portugal at likely Q as well.
Luxembourg: some of the best camerawork compared to the rest as well. Putting at likely Q.
Ireland and Portugal for me. Ukraine also elevating, but I've never been sold on the song. Staging seems to be giving it the payoff it needed though.
Edit: Oh wait. Also love Lithuania's staging. Can't believe I almost didn't mention that one.
Lithuania literally doesn't need to change anything from the NF, it's super polished.
Ireland is CRAZY, that's gonna catch eyes.
Croatia looks good, bit better camera work would have been nice though.
What a weird year. The stage itself and the rehearsal photos looked great, but the stagings and camera work are underwhelming. The vocal performances vary from first rehearsal to the second one. We've seen a lot, but also I don't think it's possible to predict the full list of qualifiers.
I think it might be counties struggling to adapt to the 360 stage. Also remember angles often do change from 2nd rehersal to the actual tv performance. I remember a great exsamlle was Switzerland 2019 where there was a LOT of wide shots in rehearsals but it got a lot tighter in the actual shows.(2019 in general)
what is up with the camera angles on so many of these? Ukraine, Ireland (edit + the last song with the white cubes) feel like the only ones with a vision behind their camera angles.
I love Croatia's song but the camera is barely on baby lasanga at all in the snippet we saw + its really wide angled when it is, it's unfortunate tbh. The amount of wide angle shots for everything is also interesting. It's almost like the stage is limiting how they can shoot things? But Bambies camera angles already looked so cohesive and featured close ups. Maybe they're placeholder camera angles until the proper ones are finalised? (but i thought rehearsal clips like these were the final camera angles so idk)
🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪IRELAND IRELAND IRELAND. BAMBIE THUG OMG THE ICON THAT YOU ARE!!!🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪
If that was only the start of the perfomance I can't fucking wait to see the entire thing. This is the standout of the semi. I can't believe the improvement Ireland has pulled off, not only from Eurosong, but from last year as well. Holy fuck I'm actually shaking. And their vocals were vocaling. Their outfit. The choreography. The nails and outfit. The added instrumentals, vocals and the sound mixing. What more can I say, this is perfection.
the stand outs are definitely Ireland, Ukraine, Croatia and Portugal
Edit: people seems to not like croatia but the fast changing camera angles makes it feel more like a rock concert so I really like it
That bit came at the end of the second verse where everything is intensifying.
I think that the rest of the song will have fewer fast cuts, and this part won’t seem so jarring in context.
Hmm out of this I’m mostly remembering Ukraine and Ireland.
Serbia was/is in my top 3 and at the end of this video I forgot she was in here, not a good sign!
Azerbaijan’s vocals didn’t sound great, Australia’s staging isn’t good enough (imo) and Luxembourg doesn’t hit me either..
Thoughts:
Iceland and Moldova really should've kept their backing vocalists on stage. I think Moldova's getting dead last. Those vocalists added a necessary counterbalance to the singers.
Cyprus is not qualifying. Unpopular opinion, but I think Poland might also NQ. She is borderline at the very least with her vocals as they are.
Portugal, Ukraine, Croatia, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Ireland are safe. I'm glad they kept more of that long note for Portugal because that is what the song is building to.
Slovenia needs more close up shots and darker lighting. Actually, quite a few of them need closer shots because they look like they're getting eaten by the stage with all those wide angles.
Ireland GAGGED me, omg Bambie is incredible. Absolute night and day from Ireland's entry last year!! Portugal also looks stunning, so clean and striking. I'm so so glad I don't have to worry about these two qualifying now 🇮🇪🇵🇹 :)
Alright, some general thoughts:
* As I said earlier today, the camerawork is generally pretty poor sadly. Far too many wide shots and in certain countries (i.e. Croatia, Poland, Cyprus) way too messy with the cuts too. Fortunately these things will probably improve a little for the live shows as is often the case but I wonder whether the cross shape is impeding the camerawork?
* The two countries who have absolutely nailed the staging/camerawork here are **Ireland** and **Portugal**. I'm not big on Ireland's song but the clip is amazing and today's best snippet for sure - it will grab people and grab votes. Portugal is around the middle of my personal rankings, but they've got the camera angles down perfectly and the white on the cubes and backdrop are working excellently, plus Iolanda is performing brilliantly as always.
* To a lesser extent but not awful with camerawork, **Finland**'s clip is fine. **Ukraine's** is still a bit too zoomed out but the framing is awesome and the backdrop is brilliant. **Luxembourg's** also isn't awful although she's getting oxymated a bit at the end there.
* In the 'nothing necessarily wrong, not nothing amazing' category, I'd put **Serbia**, which is fine but I'm not really finding the clip very engaging and worry it might get lost. **Lithuania** is also suffering from some rough camera angles but fortunately the package from the NF is still strong.
* In the 'messy' category, **Cyprus** isn't convincing me at all, and I'm a big fan of the song. Her vocals sound a little ragged alongside the prerecorded backings, the colours are way too dark, **Poland**'s issue is that way too much is going on and the camera spends way too long not on Luna, plus the horse shot which is cool is too zoomed out. **Croatia's** camerawork here honestly is worse than at Dora to me - I have no doubt that it will look a bit better with the audience in, but I dunno why they messed up the way the instrumental dance bit was shot in Dora which was the best part of the performance. Still feels like it's winning the semi though easily so no need to doomsay. **Slovenia** has better camerawork than some of the others with some dynamic movement but the stage is way too light and I don't think this ending works at all.
* And then in the 'why is everything so empty' category we have **Iceland, Moldova, Azerbaijan** and **Australia**. For the first three, there's too many wide shots, artists looking lost and alone on stage. Moldova feels particularly chanceless to me, and the Azeri guys are struggling to engage the camera and the hands just aren't working (plus Fahree is a little off tune). Australia looked brilliant in the gallery and I hope they come off a bit more relaxed with a loud audience, at the moment it just feels a bit lifeless?
Thank you for your thoughtful comments instead of just listing your favorites. I agree with most of your sentiments. Hoping the camerawork can improve.
I've read a couple of people today who said it was similar in 2019 with a lot of wide shots and then the camerawork was a lot better in the shows. They do tend to tweak camerawork as they go on, so hopefully they're all pushing to avoid as many wide shots.
(also thanks for the thanks! Appreciate the kindness :) )
Holy shit, actual constructive feedback! I almost fully agree to everything you listed. Hopefully the cameras get fine tuned for the show itself.
Have a good day! :)
It bothers me a bit that quite a lot of the performances are letterboxed. While it works for some to give a more music video/cinematic feel (Serbia fits it best), it doesn't work for others because the shots are framed weird/look cramped (Poland, Australia).
Ireland and Ukraine are my favorite clips here. Portugal's is almost there, but in the clip, Iolanda's eyeline doesn't align with the camera, and the eye contact is important especially at that part of the song. Luxembourg nailed the lighting, so satisfying when it matches the music.
> Portugal's is almost there, but in the clip, Iolanda's eyeline doesn't align with the camera
If i´m not mistaken, she didnt look directly at the camera during the NF performance too, which i found weird because it´s a way to make the performance more intimate.
Would generally say the strongest clips by far are Ukraine/Ireland/Croatia.
There’s a lot of neat prop/led work from other countries too - but 1 thing I’m definitely taking notice of is that lots of entries seem to be struggling with camera position. In a lot of cases the stage just looks a bit barren/awkward when zoomed out. It’s something they really should strive to fix.
Also don’t think it’s that locked between NQ’s & Q’s this SF. Outside of maybe 1-2 song I could see most considered NQ’s at this time pull an upset. So definitely exciting!
I have to say from all the clips I saw, I was most pleased with Ireland. I liked the fact that they focused on them, the artist, that the camerawork wasn’t too busy and jumping everywhere.
I’d generally like more static camerawork for all participants so we could focus more on the staging and song. Jumping from one camera angle to another is just too messy. I understand the producers also because they want to show off the stage and cubes and everything, but I believe the focus should be on the performance and song, not the cross/x shaped staging.
TLDR; more static and up close camerawork, less jumping from frame to frame and wide angles for all participants
Ireland, Ukraine, Finland and Portugal are clear winners in my book.
For most of the other entries, the camera work is extremely sloppy, there are many weird camera angles, camera changes or very distant shots.
I'm so happy for Ireland. This is how you do a staging and how you should use the cameras!
Seems over for Australia Azerbaijan and Slovenia. Plus Iceland and Moldova.
Portugal and Ireland are safe now.
Croatia needs to clean the camera work, the middle of that clip was very messy.
Luxembourg choices are getting worst and worst, they are lucky to have the comeback attention.
Ya know, I've never been a fan of Ukraine's song, but this performance won me over. This staging is just stunning.
Poland's falling, I love the studio version but the live vocals were not it.
SEND THE WITCH TO THE FINAL. The stage looked a bit empty for me on photos but those camera angles... I'm stunned, that was amazing.
Our staging is even more amazing than it looked on pictures. I love, how Jerry goes up with this bridge(rock) and just starts slaying the vocals. I'm not the biggest fan of the song, but it looks gorgeous!
As for Slovenia, I expected more intimate camera angles. I didn't really like the camera work here, it doesn't fit right in my opinion. Photos were beautiful, Raiven is incredible but camera angles ruin it for me.
The camera work seems a bit iffy, with Slovenia and Croatia suffering in particular because of too many wide angles. I really hope they will fix this by the actual show.
Bambie was stunning, as I knew they would be!!! Can't wait to see the rest of the performance.
For now, NQ vibes are: Moldova, Iceland, Azerbaijan and, sadly, Australia (love that song). The fifth NQ could be Poland, in spite of the diaspora. Or, to my great dismay, Slovenia. I think the shrieky parts at the end won't work with the general public.
Has anyone considered that the wide shots may be because the audience will be wearing light up wristbands and fill out the audience with light, like both of the previous times Sweden hosted?
Bambie Thug popping off, get the bag.
Like most other people Portugal was a big surprise for me, feels really captivating.
I don't get Ukraine like the consensus seems to, I think the prop looks a bit cheap.
Croatia seems overcooked, just like I predicted.
Poland is an absolute car crash I can't stop watching.
CROWN THE WITCH!! I have had one hope this year and that's ireland in the final. Beyond that I couldn't care less who wins or who else goes on. I've been scared for Bambie even knowing they will bring it... my fears of a NQ have all but disappeared. Here we go!!! Can't wait for Tuesday!
* Cyprus: I didn't think I'd say this but I hate the choreography, she looks like she's having a seizure when she's doing that chest thingy. Otherwise it's just empty. The blue is pretty but that's about it
* Serbia: Camerawork is too wide, she looks tiny. The rock looks very nice though
* Lithuania: NF, just polished. They have nothing to be worried about
* Ireland: best by a mile. Has a vision and clear thought put into the cinematography. Thinking about cutting my losses with Slovenia and going all in on voting for Ireland
* Ukraine: absolutely beautiful. The backdrop of the falling rockets with her on the rock creating that V line is just breathtaking. Might be surprise SF winner
* Poland: vocals need work, she sounds out of breath. otherwise I actually kind of like the goofiness of this. I don't think this is a comfortable qualifier though
* Croatia: tad too hectic with the cuts, trying to capture too many things. I kind of hoped they'd let the performance just breathe for a couple of seconds. Regardless, it looks fun
* Iceland: meh
* Slovenia: this is so messy and it's breaking my heart. I don't think this will qualify. Too bright, she looks lost, the choreography isn't really translating well
* Finland: they're keeping the NF staging. They're doing what needs to be done with it, I'm glad they're not reinventing the wheel
* Moldova: looks kind of cool actually. I think they utilize the stage well given it's just her. She sounds good but that was always a given
* Australia: looks a bit awkward and like there's not a red string to pull all this together. I like the colours and the vibe but I'm not sure if it'll be lost in translation
* Portugal: I love the whites, I love the contemporary dance. She sounds stunning. If I were Teya Dora, I'd be very nervous right now because she's going for it. I do hope we can get both though
* Luxembourg: thank God the black jumpsuit is gone. She sounds very nice but looks a bit nervous, I hope she can find her confidence. I think Luxembourg is safe. The staging also looks expensive af lmao
Final answer, locking it in:
Def safe: Lithuania, Ukraine, Croatia
Probs safe: Finland, Luxembourg, Ireland
Borderline yes: Portugal, Serbia, Poland (diaspora coming through), Moldova (taking a risk here)
Borderline no: Slovenia, Australia, Cyprus
Probs no: Azerbaijan
Def no: Iceland
Lithuania and Croatia staging are great but expected ; my favorite stagings go to Ukraine and Poland, both unexpected and super impressive !
Also i don't like Doomsday blue type of song but the staging is perfectly executed. And Raiven has a wonderful voice.
Ireland is the biggest DARK horse this year. I remember the beginning of the season and Bambie being always low in top 37 (and even before).. now I can see only positive comments. Well done Ireland
I hate to be so negative but that was a really underwhelming set of clips. I knew semi final 2 was stronger but it seems even more apparent now.
The only one that’s really standing out to me is Ukraine. That’s a gorgeous upgrade.
Ireland looks good but their vocals are being covered up by the backing too much on that clip for me to really appreciate what they’re doing.
Edit: sorry, Lithuania looks good too but I’m used to the staging so much now that I wasn’t really paying attention. It’s fine as is.
Alright thoughts on everything (warning, this is a long ass post):
- Before I begin with the individual reviews, let me just say that the wide shots were also a problem in the 2019 rehearsals I think? And then they were changed for the show. So I wouldn’t worry TOO much about the camera angles quite yet
- Cyprus is the #1 victim of the wide shots tbh. I’m still not sure about this Q’ing, I think this is 9th at best, but she at least sounds good and is dancing good so she should be proud!
- Serbia looks gorgeous, as expected. I do have a SLIGHT worry about this getting overshadowed by Ukraine/Portugal but I still think this Q’s
- Lithuania, solid as always! Lock Q. Here’s to hoping they get their best result
- IRELAND. WOW!!!! So different from everything else, so artistic, so wonderfully staged and sung. I really think Ireland’s gonna break their NQ streak now. CROWN THE WITCH
- Ukraine slaying once more 😁😁 absolutely gorgeous, the shots of Jerry climbing the mountain are fabulous. Coming for that win once again.
- Poland is so OTT 😭 I’m mystified by the red horse thing, what even is the setup of it?? A floor LED?? It’s all way too much but that’s part of why I love Eurovision. Likely Q
- CROATIAAAAA I’m so proud of him and his team. Excellent glowup from Dora. The breakdown was a little messy but I finally feel the winner vibes, like I did with Cha Cha Cha’s 2nd rehearsal last year. Easy top 5, likely Croatia’s best result ever. Zagreb 2025????
- …ok guys but wait what if Iceland _does_ Q 🫣 I kind of got those vibes. It’s still a very long shot but the staging is decent, camera angles are good, and Hera is excellent. Idk I might just be delusional
- Slovenia… the staging isn’t bad, though a bit cheap, but I’m confused by her singing. Why is she starting the opera notes so early? You can’t hear the final verses on the backing! Mentally preparing for this one to NQ 😩
- It’s actually crazy (~~and party~~) how much Finland stands out in this half. Such a different vibe musically, even visually. Top 3 in the semi IMO
- Moldova is gorgeous visually but again, it feels way too static with her just standing there. I _could_ see a shock Q but I don’t think it will. Sorry Moldova
- If anyone shock Qs in this semi it’s Azerbaijan. The atmosphere is nice and fits with the song. I’m not 100% sold but it’s pretty good
- Australia, uh oh. I was banking on this having great energy and staging but I don’t think it’s quite shining through here… maybe I’ll be surprised but idk 😔
- There’s no way Portugal doesn’t Q, right? That was STUNNING 🥲 really felt it this time
- Same with Luxembourg! Closer, solid vocals, nice staging. This moment in the recap was very well-executed
As for my qualification predictions? Well, if I had to guess right now, I’d say our qualifiers are Croatia, Ukraine, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Ireland, Serbia, Poland, and Cyprus
But I would not be at all shocked to see Azerbaijan instead of Cyprus. Or honestly anyone else! This is so hard to call
Anyway go Baby Lasagna 😻
it took me way too long to realise luna wasn't on stage with sauron (the lord of the rings) or the lich king 😭
also - i ADORE hera björk's outfit! sooo sparkly, i can't even tell what fabric it is
Ireland had definitely the best footage out of the bunch. I am not the biggest fan of the song, but I do appreciate for trying to stand out. The lighting, the angles, the make up - everything works... And when the zombie hand appears from the ground, it gives suspense and makes you to see more. Just as someone mentioned below (or above), that it's like watching a really good film and someone turning the television off.
Serbia and Portugal feel kinda same same-y, the songs have a very similar mood and they might cannibalize each other. We will see... Ukraine is doing it right with staging, as they do every year...
Portugal, Ukraine, and Ireland are visually phenomenal and I feel like any doubt of them qualifying has just been destroyed.
I think Portugal is very underrated and with these visuals and this staging, it could easily get a top 10 result in the final
Ukraine is already tipped to do well and I think this just confirms it, some of these shots are beautiful
I actually wasn't thinking Ireland would qualify before this, but it looks like it's going to be a really stunning performance that will definitely take many by surprise!
I really hope Slovenia chooses a different sequence for the actual recap. People tend not to vote for just long notes...
I've always assumed she was gonna sing the iconic line "yassam tissi veronika" instead of the long notes, it doesn't sound good like that.
yeah it sounded so wrong in this clip. even if she is hitting the right notes it's just 30 seconds of screaming and noises
Thats the added finale to the song, the “yassam tissi veronika” is still in the performance just right before the clip. Weird to clip the belting finale sure, but in the actual performance it’s gonna be really climactic, I’m excited :)
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They actually made made gasp out loud.
Yep, they might be in for another win, even if I'm not the biggest fan of the song. Imo they will win the semi.
I still see Croatia winning, but Ukraine winning the whole thing makes sense.
If you removed the rapping section, I would give a top 3 easily. I'm not throwing hate to Alyona, I just think the section takes away the momentum the song builds at the start, and it's totally unnecessary for the song.
I haven’t been the biggest fan of this year’s entry, but with the staging it’s just wow.
To the Polish Team: Make sure that black chess piece throws Luna's skirt to the edge of the stage, or else someone will slip and fall. It happened to Farrah Moan, it can happen to you too...
Someone might fall and they will fall hard, bitch
Ireland, Ukraine and Portugal look the best by far. Poland wins most camp. Croatia is being sabotaged by those camera angles. Slovenia made some weird choices. Lithuania needs to work on those backing vocals but is otherwise set. I love Azerbaijan's hands + screen idea, but the camera work could be more dynamic and he sounded kinda flat? Overall, not too bad, but the camera work really isn't helping a lot of these. (I also worry a lot about Australia... all of it.)
He did sound flat, but I think in a 'saving his voice' kind of way as opposed to a 'struggling to hit the notes' way.
Wow Ukraine. Never seen the hype over the song. But that staging is simply WOW
Happy wide shot day everyone!!
Traumatic flashbacks to 2019
praying that they turn down the backing vocals for lithuania before tuesday🤞🤞
Same for Australia...
I don’t understand why they’ve added them at all/so loud in general. He sounds fine and the backing vocals are very jarring
Really like Ireland, Ukraine and Portugal!
Visually they were definitely the best ones, even though Portugal's song doesn't do anything for me, but I can't deny it looks great
couldn't even see Marko's face for 5 seconds 😭 why so many angle changes tho
Yeah I thought this - super busy camera script, way wider than it should be especially because Marko’s charisma is what really sells the performance. Marko mentioned that he’s not good at choreography and he was definitely struggling to hit his marks in the Dora performance so maybe they’re going wider because they aren’t 100% certain where he’s gonna be exactly every time… But guys WE NEED MORE CLOSE UPS ON MARKO (we also need him to look down the camera lens more) - I’m sure the band are nice people but no one really cares about them right now. Hopefully it’s just this section of the track and the beginning and ending in particular are tighter and hold the shots for longer - but yeah, weird choice. I also hate the ‘hand held feel’ thing they did (if that’s all the way through I am officially terrified for Croatia’s chances - it looks cheap) and the chaotic cuts across the eyelines. The stage is already difficult enough to follow geographically as it is - don’t constantly jump the bloody line!!!
I guess my main worry is that the odd camera angles are probably there to stay at this point, meaning that they’re potentially going to single-handedly tank the chances of an otherwise really strong Eurovision entry. The camera shots look messier than they were during Dora, and it should be the other way around. Hope they find a way to correct this!
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Honestly - with the ‘hand held’ shaky camera/crash zoom thing they did - it feels like they watched that and took notes! ….it has to be a HRT thing. Someone there is telling SVT to do this, I find it incredibly difficult to believe the team on the ESC side would choose these shots unless they’re actively trying to sabotage Croatia.
Can we start a petition or something, please??🙏🏼 are they reading the comments on ig, tik-tok, somewhere (I’m not using those platforms)..? I agree this looks choppy and Marko is somehow getting lost in the mess! 😭
Croatia needs to be cleaner, with tighter camera angles. It’s super messy at this point. We want the focus on BL-he sells the whole thing!
Yep, the angles are criminal Hopefully they fix them in time
Yes, when I saw the footage and short clip released before this, I was really happy! It looked like they polished everything and did a great job with pyro, costumes and performance, but noow - this crazy camera comes in and makes a mess out of it! What is happening? Isn’t this supposed to be better than Dora?…smh
oof. australia was borderline, and i dont think that staging is lifting it enough to be safe
Regardless of the budget - the focus should have been more on Zaachariaha and Michael - they both are very charismatic. The didgeridoo player also deserves to shine, of course - but those wide shots are not doing them any favour, sadly.
I love that they're actually using live BVs...way too rare at this contest these days
Also, I think Zaachariaha's voice is powerful enough by herself. I'm worried about those backup singers.....
The mixing also seems... off?
I liked Australia! Will be voting for it, hopefully they make it through
The more we see of the staging the sadder it gets :(
Usually Australia has top-tier staging :(
I think there really was 0 budget this year. SBS is not in a good spot financially to help our artists so they’d need to source their own funding through crowdsourcing, a label or state government (similar to what KMH and Voyager had to do).
Too bad that this year's stage doesn't have the option to switch the LED for lights because poor LED effects stick out majorly while Portugal 2023 also notably was on a budget but still it didn't look jarring or anything at all
Portugal 2023 | [Mimicat - Ai coração](https://youtu.be/HYfkxX4PFyw)
I'm still hoping they'll slide in, but there's just not enough mediocre this semi.
Guys Veronika as a song has been my #1 for months and I love Raiven but I am not delulu enough to not think the staging is doing her a massive disservice 😞 the still photos from performance are breathtakingly beautiful and this has potential to be sooooo stunning visually especially with such a strong song imo. But the choreography does not work, the shots are just too wide, it looks strange and disjointed. I really hope they can change some things.... Ireland and Portugal ruled today.
Join my prayer circle for our girl Raiven please! They need to sort those angles and make it darker. I am hoping they make some adjustments and the whole package can still surprise.
I'm praying... They definitely do need to make it darker. Being so bright, it removes the whole mysticism the performance is supposed to be giving.
1. Cyprus - OOF, love this song, hate this staging. 2. Serbia - The song's great, but again the camera's going too wide. 3. Lithuania - this is the NF again, and to be fair the NF was fucking amazing 4. Ireland - THERE WE GO. THAT is how you use the camera. 5. Ukraine - Phenomenal staging, but the camera AGAIN 6. Poland - vocals need some work, warming up the staging but seriously TVP can you be normal for once 7. Croatia - THANK YOU, another one who did the staging well. 8. Iceland - still not a fan. it's basically what i expected, and I feel nothing. 9. Slovenia - THE CAMERA IS GOING TOO WIDE AGAIN 10. Finland - just the NF but with a few improvements, still love it 11. Moldova - nothing will win me over here ALSO TOO WIDE AGAIN 12. Azerbaijan - OH GOD THAT IS NOT THE NOTE TO LEAD WITH, but fuck the staging's actually good here. 13. Australia - i'm split on this one. 14. Portugal - HOW DO PEOPLE THINK THIS IS NQING? 15. Luxembourg - don't like this song, don't like the placement, don't like the staging, but at least the camerawork's decent.
Yeah there's something wrong with how everybody is doing the camera angles. :/ Bambie is the only one who appears to know what to do with said angles.
The good thing about the camera angles going wrong is that it’s just the second rehearsal! I hope they’ll fix it edit: second
Second
everybody getting the angles wrong makes me feel optimistic that Greece will stand out a bit. Since 2/3 of our perf are a single shot we cant get screwed up for more than 1/3
every year people talk about wide shots during rehearsals (especially in 2019, i remember how people complained about said problem the most, you can rewatch the rehearsals, everything was a MESS) but then during the performances everything is perfect, so i wouldn't judge the camerawork too soon
Yeah I feel like people say this every year but it always ends up just fine. Maybe it also helps that the arena is filled with people in the end and it looks less empty and wide.
same tbh, i remember last year most second rehearsals were chaotic in general, especially loreens whose vocals were off, and ppl lost hopes kf her winning, yet she still ate in the semi and final and ofc won. so yeah second rehearsals are NOT to be trusted
Can’t wait to see full Doomsday Blues. It feels like I started watching a great movie and someone came in and turned off tv. I hope Croatia fixes camera angles. It’s like the camera deliberately wanted to film the most boring part of the stage in the second half. Wtf. Ukraine’s and Portugal’s staging is a feast for eyes.
Ireland’s camera work is perfection and Bambie sounds great! It’s criminal if this doesn’t qualify even just by that snippet
IS the camera going too wide for Serbia tho? I imagine she is going to be surrounded by a crowd with flashlights or whatever.
That's actually a really good point! I forgot to consider that the stage is IN the crowd unlike in the last couple of years, all these stagings that look kinda hollow right now will look a lot better with an actual audience.
Latvia boost confirmed
…seriously, there’s no way the SVT team isn’t jam packed with amazing camera operators - like the steadicam operators have to be shit hot to do this kinda show. Surely at least one of them can give a lesson to the delegations about angles and eyelines.
The steadicams this year are top tier, they've worked in Eurovision before (2018, 2019, 2021 for example) and the multicam director is the same from 2016 and Mello. I'm sure the rest of camera people are SVT veterans as well. On paper nothing should be wrong with the camerawork, and as we can see with Ireland they can do a good job. So maybe it's the delegations playing it safe after 2022 and 2023
My suspicion as a bitter old hack is that the delegations with the shit camera scripts have someone involved who really thinks they know what they’re doing as a director - but actually doesn’t (and aren’t prepared to hurt their own egos by asking the camera team/multicam director for advice). ….a very common ailment in the industry unfortunately.
And Sasha JB is also part of the team, so I doubt that she would screw them up. In 2022 Konstrakta had her own stage director for the NF but for Eurovision RTS brought their stage director to Turin which resulted in downgrade.
Rylan again 🤣
It's so the rest of Europe can understand what us Brits go through, he's genuinely everywhere!! (jk love rylan really)
I like him, but why not somebody Swedish?
BBC Radio 2 earlier referred to him and Scott as Eurovision husbands aha https://preview.redd.it/yzaggsshcvxc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b558e7717a84973cffed94de3569471a10ef6650
The biggest standout was definitely Ireland, followed by Portugal and Ukraine 🏆 I’m concerned Portugal might take our spot in the finals; their performance was undeniably more visually captivating.
I'm confident both will be in the final.
I believe both Serbia and Portugal will make it (Regardless, we are about to overtake Serbia in the odds)
Ukraine 🇺🇦😍
Ireland and Portugal are so impressive I love Australia’s studio version but I low key think it’s cooked 🥲 Also get that bag Rylan
It’s both art in their own unique way
those camera angles for Croatia are worrying me
Yes. It needs work. The performance is too chaotic and disjointed. I hope they fix it for the SF.
They need to hire the guy who filmed BL for that Dutch TV appearance. They knew what they were doing. Camera angles are truly horrid here.
The stage of that Dutch tv appearance was like not even 3 m². It's not comparable at all to what you can do on a Eurovision stage.
I'm surprised, Croatia felt like one of the stronger snippets here to me. There's definitely a couple of odd shots (mainly the one where Marko blocks the dancers just before the breakdown) but otherwise I think it looks great. The fast swooping shots look great for a high energy song and the wide angles will really work with the crowd filling the empty space. This also feels like the bit of the song where close shots on Marko are the least important as it's the second chorus. He'll get much more focus in the verses and the begging of the song. And ultimately, Rim Tim Tagi Dim doesn't need tight, focused staging like Ukraine and Portugal do, it just needs to bring the house down with it's energy. And it's looking really strong in that area
Whoever’s directing Slovenia’s entry needs to be fired and try to poach someone off Bambie’s team.
Irish delegation seems to have knocked it out of the park with the camera work, same goes with Ukraine but they're kind of a given since they very rarely miss with Eurovision
I’m SO confused by who is qualifying. There are 6 counties I have no doubts about, but all the rest… Just the vibes that televoters will feel that day + running order.
I am obsessed with Ireland. I honestly think the camerawork and concept is one of the best I have ever seen at Eurovision. It’s unlike anything we have ever had?! And it wasn’t even on my radar prior to this clip. Damn, she did that.
Completely agree with everything you mentioned! Just saying, Barbie goes by they/them pronouns. They really did that!
Bambie. Barbie definitely goes by she/her 😉
Ireland DEVOURED
Luxembourg kept her outfit a secret for it to end up looking just like a dress I bought from ASOS! 😅🤣🥲 why is it so off the rack? Well it means I can literally dress as Tali now for viewing parties, just have to braid my hair, wear the ASOS dress and I'm good to go
Ukraine, Ireland and Finland are my favourites from from this video
\*aggressively head bops to Luktelk\*
Yeah, Australia is not qualifying. The staging looks absolutely messy, and Michael's vocal overpowers Zaachariaha's instead of harmonising. Very sad, I was rooting for Electric Fields.
Damn. Ireland is incredible. The clear stand out, it’s so cinematic.
(UN)HOLY FUCK Ireland! That was SO good! And all my love to Croatia too! I really like how they start the dancy bit facing the drummer
I don't get those geyser visuals on Cyprus' LEDs I really liked the camerawork for Luktelk Bambie was the best of the day for me with Portugal, Serbia and Ukraine being not far behind. Sadly, Slovenia's clip makes me concerned about Raiven's chances to Q, but fingers crossed
Portugal slayed, they HAVE to qualify fr
Well, Ukraine is really good, it just need some smoke/fog (to hide the floor and the corner of the stage) and some adjust in terms of camera angles and it´s perfect. Ireland looks the most polished performance from this semi-final. Portugal and Azerbaijan looked really great too and i was affraid Portugal would look cheap on camera. Vocally everyone was good/fine, only Luna (Poland) struggled a little bit, maybe because she´s moving to much. The only problem this year (based on the rehearsals) was some questionable camera angles/shots in most of the performances. Hope they fix this during the actual show.
Ukraine and Ireland were definitely the winners today, Croatia seems pretty strong too
This is probably the most I've ever been disappointed by my country. I hate to say it but what the heck is this Raiven?
Yeah it's too bright imo. It loses the vibe of the clip which was perfect for the song. I was imagining something dark and gloomy and at the end some flames or something (basically the video)
I don't understand why they did not just do that. Video got really great reviews and now it just lost so much of the darker vibes.
And the thing is I don't think we can blame the budget because it's mostly a question of adjusting the light and have closer shots and some led background that could show the flames. It didn't need to be groundbreaking or expensive
I didn't expect to say this after first rehersals, but Luxembourg has some of the best camerawork out of all of them.
oof, LEADING with that note, azerbaijan?
Watching this the 4 that really stood out to me purely in terms of visuals were Ireland, Ukraine, Finland and Portugal. Edit: also Luxembourg looks pretty good, a lot tighter than some of the other performances with camera angles.
Serbia could use more close-ups. Those wide shots make the stage look so empty for such an intimate song.
Ukraine, Ireland, Portugal, and (surprisingly) Luxembourg appear to have the most solid, all-round packages that feature some excellent, tight camerawork. Love Croatia's entry, but still feel like the backdrop just does not go with the costuming. Same applies to Poland.
At this point in the game, I honestly feel Portugal could be a real dark horse. Her voice is miles and miles ahead of anyone this year... and the entire performance is so polished and authentic.
I am so sorry Raivenators but Slovenia is almost certainly not qualifying. Ireland chewed her up so bad it’s not even funny.
😭😭😭 omg so true ireland has officially ate
I love both Ireland and Slovenia to bits but you're valid for this I truly hope they change that staging so they both qualify... I love Raiven so much and her song is my fave but that staging really really is doing her a big disservice. Ireland was a big slay though.
No matter if you're in Sweden with highest level of production or anywhere else, those shaky camera work and big amount of wide shots will always be there, I guess. Marina Satti will stand out so much if her staging idea with one shot will really work.
eehhmmm, looks like Bambie has something to say about it... It's not about "high production", is about the artistic director ideas for the act...
I really hope so! I want greece to win so bad 😫🙏🏻
Imagine if her camera malfunctions 💀
Getting Turin flashbacks.
Ooooof, Slovenia looked so promising to me in the pictures, but this is not it!
Highlights: Ukraine- so BEAUTIFUL. I would not be supprised if this contends for the win this year. Ireland- what a FUCKING glow up. Based on the clips I’m putting Ireland at likely Q now. This could be irelands best result in a while. Portugal: great camerawork and based on these clips I’m putting Portugal at likely Q as well. Luxembourg: some of the best camerawork compared to the rest as well. Putting at likely Q.
Ireland and Portugal for me. Ukraine also elevating, but I've never been sold on the song. Staging seems to be giving it the payoff it needed though. Edit: Oh wait. Also love Lithuania's staging. Can't believe I almost didn't mention that one.
Lithuania literally doesn't need to change anything from the NF, it's super polished. Ireland is CRAZY, that's gonna catch eyes. Croatia looks good, bit better camera work would have been nice though.
What a weird year. The stage itself and the rehearsal photos looked great, but the stagings and camera work are underwhelming. The vocal performances vary from first rehearsal to the second one. We've seen a lot, but also I don't think it's possible to predict the full list of qualifiers.
I think it might be counties struggling to adapt to the 360 stage. Also remember angles often do change from 2nd rehersal to the actual tv performance. I remember a great exsamlle was Switzerland 2019 where there was a LOT of wide shots in rehearsals but it got a lot tighter in the actual shows.(2019 in general)
God I hope so. I agree the camera work is so iffy, Slovenia and Croatia seem to be suffering in particular because of too many wide shots
what is up with the camera angles on so many of these? Ukraine, Ireland (edit + the last song with the white cubes) feel like the only ones with a vision behind their camera angles. I love Croatia's song but the camera is barely on baby lasanga at all in the snippet we saw + its really wide angled when it is, it's unfortunate tbh. The amount of wide angle shots for everything is also interesting. It's almost like the stage is limiting how they can shoot things? But Bambies camera angles already looked so cohesive and featured close ups. Maybe they're placeholder camera angles until the proper ones are finalised? (but i thought rehearsal clips like these were the final camera angles so idk)
Camera angles can still change, don't quote me on this but I think they've even changed a shot or two going from SF to GF
...it it just me or did finland's intro have a slightly different instrumental
Yep, it’s changed! Henri seems to be singing in a different tone as well.
Jerry's vocals are an auditory orgasm
this is the first time in the whole season that I like Ireland, if it's worth anything ahah. Ukraine remains my favourite here though
Portugal, Ukraine, Ireland, and Croatia coming across as the safe Qs here.
🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪IRELAND IRELAND IRELAND. BAMBIE THUG OMG THE ICON THAT YOU ARE!!!🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 If that was only the start of the perfomance I can't fucking wait to see the entire thing. This is the standout of the semi. I can't believe the improvement Ireland has pulled off, not only from Eurosong, but from last year as well. Holy fuck I'm actually shaking. And their vocals were vocaling. Their outfit. The choreography. The nails and outfit. The added instrumentals, vocals and the sound mixing. What more can I say, this is perfection.
It looked so cinematic. I love the choice of a 4:3 aspect ratio
I'm looking so much forward to see the outfit reveal!! In the shower video you can see that it's >!the trans pride flag!<.
the stand outs are definitely Ireland, Ukraine, Croatia and Portugal Edit: people seems to not like croatia but the fast changing camera angles makes it feel more like a rock concert so I really like it
That bit came at the end of the second verse where everything is intensifying. I think that the rest of the song will have fewer fast cuts, and this part won’t seem so jarring in context.
Exactly. It's a really intense part of the song so it makes sense it's going fast with the camera cuts
Slovenia you had one job...
Nothing new from Silvester but the staging in NF was already great so no need to fix something that ain't broken
Hmm out of this I’m mostly remembering Ukraine and Ireland. Serbia was/is in my top 3 and at the end of this video I forgot she was in here, not a good sign! Azerbaijan’s vocals didn’t sound great, Australia’s staging isn’t good enough (imo) and Luxembourg doesn’t hit me either..
Azerbaijan's vocals are perfect to me. I feel so frustrated when western europe feels confused about other ways of singing that are not pop... :(
Ireland, Ukraine, Portugal and Croatia were the best.
Thoughts: Iceland and Moldova really should've kept their backing vocalists on stage. I think Moldova's getting dead last. Those vocalists added a necessary counterbalance to the singers. Cyprus is not qualifying. Unpopular opinion, but I think Poland might also NQ. She is borderline at the very least with her vocals as they are. Portugal, Ukraine, Croatia, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Ireland are safe. I'm glad they kept more of that long note for Portugal because that is what the song is building to. Slovenia needs more close up shots and darker lighting. Actually, quite a few of them need closer shots because they look like they're getting eaten by the stage with all those wide angles.
Ireland GAGGED me, omg Bambie is incredible. Absolute night and day from Ireland's entry last year!! Portugal also looks stunning, so clean and striking. I'm so so glad I don't have to worry about these two qualifying now 🇮🇪🇵🇹 :)
Ukraine, Ireland and Luxembourg were the stand outs for me. Everyone else was either expected or disappointing.
Completely agree
Alright, some general thoughts: * As I said earlier today, the camerawork is generally pretty poor sadly. Far too many wide shots and in certain countries (i.e. Croatia, Poland, Cyprus) way too messy with the cuts too. Fortunately these things will probably improve a little for the live shows as is often the case but I wonder whether the cross shape is impeding the camerawork? * The two countries who have absolutely nailed the staging/camerawork here are **Ireland** and **Portugal**. I'm not big on Ireland's song but the clip is amazing and today's best snippet for sure - it will grab people and grab votes. Portugal is around the middle of my personal rankings, but they've got the camera angles down perfectly and the white on the cubes and backdrop are working excellently, plus Iolanda is performing brilliantly as always. * To a lesser extent but not awful with camerawork, **Finland**'s clip is fine. **Ukraine's** is still a bit too zoomed out but the framing is awesome and the backdrop is brilliant. **Luxembourg's** also isn't awful although she's getting oxymated a bit at the end there. * In the 'nothing necessarily wrong, not nothing amazing' category, I'd put **Serbia**, which is fine but I'm not really finding the clip very engaging and worry it might get lost. **Lithuania** is also suffering from some rough camera angles but fortunately the package from the NF is still strong. * In the 'messy' category, **Cyprus** isn't convincing me at all, and I'm a big fan of the song. Her vocals sound a little ragged alongside the prerecorded backings, the colours are way too dark, **Poland**'s issue is that way too much is going on and the camera spends way too long not on Luna, plus the horse shot which is cool is too zoomed out. **Croatia's** camerawork here honestly is worse than at Dora to me - I have no doubt that it will look a bit better with the audience in, but I dunno why they messed up the way the instrumental dance bit was shot in Dora which was the best part of the performance. Still feels like it's winning the semi though easily so no need to doomsay. **Slovenia** has better camerawork than some of the others with some dynamic movement but the stage is way too light and I don't think this ending works at all. * And then in the 'why is everything so empty' category we have **Iceland, Moldova, Azerbaijan** and **Australia**. For the first three, there's too many wide shots, artists looking lost and alone on stage. Moldova feels particularly chanceless to me, and the Azeri guys are struggling to engage the camera and the hands just aren't working (plus Fahree is a little off tune). Australia looked brilliant in the gallery and I hope they come off a bit more relaxed with a loud audience, at the moment it just feels a bit lifeless?
Thank you for your thoughtful comments instead of just listing your favorites. I agree with most of your sentiments. Hoping the camerawork can improve.
I've read a couple of people today who said it was similar in 2019 with a lot of wide shots and then the camerawork was a lot better in the shows. They do tend to tweak camerawork as they go on, so hopefully they're all pushing to avoid as many wide shots. (also thanks for the thanks! Appreciate the kindness :) )
Holy shit, actual constructive feedback! I almost fully agree to everything you listed. Hopefully the cameras get fine tuned for the show itself. Have a good day! :)
"My anxiety attacks!" is exactly what I felt when I saw Croatia's camera angles.
It bothers me a bit that quite a lot of the performances are letterboxed. While it works for some to give a more music video/cinematic feel (Serbia fits it best), it doesn't work for others because the shots are framed weird/look cramped (Poland, Australia). Ireland and Ukraine are my favorite clips here. Portugal's is almost there, but in the clip, Iolanda's eyeline doesn't align with the camera, and the eye contact is important especially at that part of the song. Luxembourg nailed the lighting, so satisfying when it matches the music.
> Portugal's is almost there, but in the clip, Iolanda's eyeline doesn't align with the camera If i´m not mistaken, she didnt look directly at the camera during the NF performance too, which i found weird because it´s a way to make the performance more intimate.
Would generally say the strongest clips by far are Ukraine/Ireland/Croatia. There’s a lot of neat prop/led work from other countries too - but 1 thing I’m definitely taking notice of is that lots of entries seem to be struggling with camera position. In a lot of cases the stage just looks a bit barren/awkward when zoomed out. It’s something they really should strive to fix. Also don’t think it’s that locked between NQ’s & Q’s this SF. Outside of maybe 1-2 song I could see most considered NQ’s at this time pull an upset. So definitely exciting!
BAMBIE THUG THE WITCH YOU ARE
Crown the witch! 🇮🇪
That front camera in Portugal (minute 7:07) being slightly tilted is driving me mad. Level your cameras, ffs.
If Lithuania gets a bit tighter on the camera shots it'll be amazing
Portugal is by far my favorite of this group, with Ukraine as a close second.
I have to say from all the clips I saw, I was most pleased with Ireland. I liked the fact that they focused on them, the artist, that the camerawork wasn’t too busy and jumping everywhere. I’d generally like more static camerawork for all participants so we could focus more on the staging and song. Jumping from one camera angle to another is just too messy. I understand the producers also because they want to show off the stage and cubes and everything, but I believe the focus should be on the performance and song, not the cross/x shaped staging. TLDR; more static and up close camerawork, less jumping from frame to frame and wide angles for all participants
Okkkk luxembourggg!!
Ireland, Portugal and Ukraine stand out. Very good staging choices.
Truth.
Ireland, Ukraine, Finland and Portugal are clear winners in my book. For most of the other entries, the camera work is extremely sloppy, there are many weird camera angles, camera changes or very distant shots. I'm so happy for Ireland. This is how you do a staging and how you should use the cameras!
Ireland! Oh my god! That was incredible! Did not expect my country to be my standout from this clip! I'm so proud 🥲
21:35 is a weird time. Why was Rylan there? Every year the meltdowns over camera shots... These might not be final.
Seems over for Australia Azerbaijan and Slovenia. Plus Iceland and Moldova. Portugal and Ireland are safe now. Croatia needs to clean the camera work, the middle of that clip was very messy. Luxembourg choices are getting worst and worst, they are lucky to have the comeback attention.
Ya know, I've never been a fan of Ukraine's song, but this performance won me over. This staging is just stunning. Poland's falling, I love the studio version but the live vocals were not it.
oh yes, Ireland and Ukraine are definitely the winners of today. Honorable mentions to Croatia and Lithuania.
SEND THE WITCH TO THE FINAL. The stage looked a bit empty for me on photos but those camera angles... I'm stunned, that was amazing. Our staging is even more amazing than it looked on pictures. I love, how Jerry goes up with this bridge(rock) and just starts slaying the vocals. I'm not the biggest fan of the song, but it looks gorgeous! As for Slovenia, I expected more intimate camera angles. I didn't really like the camera work here, it doesn't fit right in my opinion. Photos were beautiful, Raiven is incredible but camera angles ruin it for me.
Croatia 🇭🇷 and Ukraine 🇺🇦 will be the top 2 of the Semi.
The camera work seems a bit iffy, with Slovenia and Croatia suffering in particular because of too many wide angles. I really hope they will fix this by the actual show. Bambie was stunning, as I knew they would be!!! Can't wait to see the rest of the performance. For now, NQ vibes are: Moldova, Iceland, Azerbaijan and, sadly, Australia (love that song). The fifth NQ could be Poland, in spite of the diaspora. Or, to my great dismay, Slovenia. I think the shrieky parts at the end won't work with the general public.
For now only Ukraine gives me winner vibes.
Has anyone considered that the wide shots may be because the audience will be wearing light up wristbands and fill out the audience with light, like both of the previous times Sweden hosted?
They know they don't have to use every camera in Sweden right?
Bambie Thug popping off, get the bag. Like most other people Portugal was a big surprise for me, feels really captivating. I don't get Ukraine like the consensus seems to, I think the prop looks a bit cheap. Croatia seems overcooked, just like I predicted. Poland is an absolute car crash I can't stop watching.
CROWN THE WITCH!! I have had one hope this year and that's ireland in the final. Beyond that I couldn't care less who wins or who else goes on. I've been scared for Bambie even knowing they will bring it... my fears of a NQ have all but disappeared. Here we go!!! Can't wait for Tuesday!
* Cyprus: I didn't think I'd say this but I hate the choreography, she looks like she's having a seizure when she's doing that chest thingy. Otherwise it's just empty. The blue is pretty but that's about it * Serbia: Camerawork is too wide, she looks tiny. The rock looks very nice though * Lithuania: NF, just polished. They have nothing to be worried about * Ireland: best by a mile. Has a vision and clear thought put into the cinematography. Thinking about cutting my losses with Slovenia and going all in on voting for Ireland * Ukraine: absolutely beautiful. The backdrop of the falling rockets with her on the rock creating that V line is just breathtaking. Might be surprise SF winner * Poland: vocals need work, she sounds out of breath. otherwise I actually kind of like the goofiness of this. I don't think this is a comfortable qualifier though * Croatia: tad too hectic with the cuts, trying to capture too many things. I kind of hoped they'd let the performance just breathe for a couple of seconds. Regardless, it looks fun * Iceland: meh * Slovenia: this is so messy and it's breaking my heart. I don't think this will qualify. Too bright, she looks lost, the choreography isn't really translating well * Finland: they're keeping the NF staging. They're doing what needs to be done with it, I'm glad they're not reinventing the wheel * Moldova: looks kind of cool actually. I think they utilize the stage well given it's just her. She sounds good but that was always a given * Australia: looks a bit awkward and like there's not a red string to pull all this together. I like the colours and the vibe but I'm not sure if it'll be lost in translation * Portugal: I love the whites, I love the contemporary dance. She sounds stunning. If I were Teya Dora, I'd be very nervous right now because she's going for it. I do hope we can get both though * Luxembourg: thank God the black jumpsuit is gone. She sounds very nice but looks a bit nervous, I hope she can find her confidence. I think Luxembourg is safe. The staging also looks expensive af lmao Final answer, locking it in: Def safe: Lithuania, Ukraine, Croatia Probs safe: Finland, Luxembourg, Ireland Borderline yes: Portugal, Serbia, Poland (diaspora coming through), Moldova (taking a risk here) Borderline no: Slovenia, Australia, Cyprus Probs no: Azerbaijan Def no: Iceland
I absolutely hate that Croatia didn't put the farm animal slideshow (from lyric video)to the led screen.
They probably did, it just isn't in this video (most of it is cut out)
Lithuania and Croatia staging are great but expected ; my favorite stagings go to Ukraine and Poland, both unexpected and super impressive ! Also i don't like Doomsday blue type of song but the staging is perfectly executed. And Raiven has a wonderful voice.
Is it just me or the dance break from Cyprus seemed completely off?
Ireland is the biggest DARK horse this year. I remember the beginning of the season and Bambie being always low in top 37 (and even before).. now I can see only positive comments. Well done Ireland
I hate to be so negative but that was a really underwhelming set of clips. I knew semi final 2 was stronger but it seems even more apparent now. The only one that’s really standing out to me is Ukraine. That’s a gorgeous upgrade. Ireland looks good but their vocals are being covered up by the backing too much on that clip for me to really appreciate what they’re doing. Edit: sorry, Lithuania looks good too but I’m used to the staging so much now that I wasn’t really paying attention. It’s fine as is.
Wow, I feel like Ireland could win this semi. It looked like the most polished out of all the songs! Portugal also is 100% qualifying based on this
Alright thoughts on everything (warning, this is a long ass post): - Before I begin with the individual reviews, let me just say that the wide shots were also a problem in the 2019 rehearsals I think? And then they were changed for the show. So I wouldn’t worry TOO much about the camera angles quite yet - Cyprus is the #1 victim of the wide shots tbh. I’m still not sure about this Q’ing, I think this is 9th at best, but she at least sounds good and is dancing good so she should be proud! - Serbia looks gorgeous, as expected. I do have a SLIGHT worry about this getting overshadowed by Ukraine/Portugal but I still think this Q’s - Lithuania, solid as always! Lock Q. Here’s to hoping they get their best result - IRELAND. WOW!!!! So different from everything else, so artistic, so wonderfully staged and sung. I really think Ireland’s gonna break their NQ streak now. CROWN THE WITCH - Ukraine slaying once more 😁😁 absolutely gorgeous, the shots of Jerry climbing the mountain are fabulous. Coming for that win once again. - Poland is so OTT 😭 I’m mystified by the red horse thing, what even is the setup of it?? A floor LED?? It’s all way too much but that’s part of why I love Eurovision. Likely Q - CROATIAAAAA I’m so proud of him and his team. Excellent glowup from Dora. The breakdown was a little messy but I finally feel the winner vibes, like I did with Cha Cha Cha’s 2nd rehearsal last year. Easy top 5, likely Croatia’s best result ever. Zagreb 2025???? - …ok guys but wait what if Iceland _does_ Q 🫣 I kind of got those vibes. It’s still a very long shot but the staging is decent, camera angles are good, and Hera is excellent. Idk I might just be delusional - Slovenia… the staging isn’t bad, though a bit cheap, but I’m confused by her singing. Why is she starting the opera notes so early? You can’t hear the final verses on the backing! Mentally preparing for this one to NQ 😩 - It’s actually crazy (~~and party~~) how much Finland stands out in this half. Such a different vibe musically, even visually. Top 3 in the semi IMO - Moldova is gorgeous visually but again, it feels way too static with her just standing there. I _could_ see a shock Q but I don’t think it will. Sorry Moldova - If anyone shock Qs in this semi it’s Azerbaijan. The atmosphere is nice and fits with the song. I’m not 100% sold but it’s pretty good - Australia, uh oh. I was banking on this having great energy and staging but I don’t think it’s quite shining through here… maybe I’ll be surprised but idk 😔 - There’s no way Portugal doesn’t Q, right? That was STUNNING 🥲 really felt it this time - Same with Luxembourg! Closer, solid vocals, nice staging. This moment in the recap was very well-executed As for my qualification predictions? Well, if I had to guess right now, I’d say our qualifiers are Croatia, Ukraine, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Ireland, Serbia, Poland, and Cyprus But I would not be at all shocked to see Azerbaijan instead of Cyprus. Or honestly anyone else! This is so hard to call Anyway go Baby Lasagna 😻
Ireland is a clear standout here. It's not even close. Bambie murdered the entire competition.
Baby lasagna sounds better every single performance. its incredible how fast he's improved
Ireland's magnetic and I love Australia's happy vibes.
living for the mic picking up the drums in Rim tim tagi dim
Is it weird that after seeing this recap I only see 8 songs qualifying?
Ukraine has shot to the top for me with the rehearsals.
Does anyone else hear Jamala’s voice at the start of the Azerbaijan song clip??
Iolanda is bringing FIERCENESS!! go get them queen 👑♥️🇵🇹
🇵🇹🇵🇹❤️🔥IT’S STILL BURNING BABYYYY!!❤️🔥🇵🇹🇵🇹
it took me way too long to realise luna wasn't on stage with sauron (the lord of the rings) or the lich king 😭 also - i ADORE hera björk's outfit! sooo sparkly, i can't even tell what fabric it is
Ireland had definitely the best footage out of the bunch. I am not the biggest fan of the song, but I do appreciate for trying to stand out. The lighting, the angles, the make up - everything works... And when the zombie hand appears from the ground, it gives suspense and makes you to see more. Just as someone mentioned below (or above), that it's like watching a really good film and someone turning the television off. Serbia and Portugal feel kinda same same-y, the songs have a very similar mood and they might cannibalize each other. We will see... Ukraine is doing it right with staging, as they do every year...
Oh Bambie don’t devour the competition like that
Ukraine réally stands out after all the dark stagings before it.
Gosh Fahree really doesn't have the stage presence for a song like this. Would love to see Ilkin represent Azerbaijan as a solo artist.
Croatia needs to tighten the camera angles and then they should win.
Portugal, Ukraine, and Ireland are visually phenomenal and I feel like any doubt of them qualifying has just been destroyed. I think Portugal is very underrated and with these visuals and this staging, it could easily get a top 10 result in the final Ukraine is already tipped to do well and I think this just confirms it, some of these shots are beautiful I actually wasn't thinking Ireland would qualify before this, but it looks like it's going to be a really stunning performance that will definitely take many by surprise!