Eurovision 2022 Rehearsals: Semi-final 1

Will qualifyRonela Hajati was once again in charge of opening the rehearsals day. What begins as a quite dark stage with smoke turns into a very pink theme to it and she's joined by four male dancers a female dancer. As the song starts, Ronela shouts "EUROPE MAKE SOME NOISE" and a full choreographed number begins that lasts until the end. As the second verse starts, the female dancer starts interacting with Ronela and joins the group until the end. There is indeed some more sexual angles and choreographies but nothing we haven't seen in the Pop mainstream world.

Will qualifyIt's a white fantasy sponsored by Armenia. The set resembles a bedroom but this one is a little bit different as its walls, bed, couch and even windows are covered by little white papers. Rosa Linn starts her performance sitting in her bed and "playing" the guitar. As soon as the pre-chorus kicks in, she stops playing until the end of the first chorus. The second verse starts and that's when the action begins. The Armenian singer starts ripping specific papers from the walls as she runs across the room. One can read in big black letters "the last one", "June 22nd", a heart shape and, of course, "Snap". The bridge comes through and the lights evidence a white circle on the wall that catches her attention... She rips it and there it's, the Pala Olimpico arena! The stage is filled with smoke and Rosa Linn wraps up the song in it.

Will not qualifyLUM!X and Pia Maria were joined onstage by heavy (!!!) amount of backvocals. There was a lot of anticipation concerning what Pia Maria was going to sound like after the Israeli Pre-Party and the reality is... Not amazing. The singer did face off-key moments and as stated above, was heavily helped by the backvocals. LUM!X engages with the audience several times and looks like he's having the time of his life while DJing. The styling of the duo is quite edgy and the staging features a circular structure, where they're standing... It helps covering the black structure in the middle of it. Fire and smoke is used a lot by the end of the performance.

Will not qualifyIt is safe to say Intelligent Music Project will keep it simple and quite classical as this does resemble the old times of Rock music. It starts with a split screen and quickly shifts to the main vocalist having his moment until the end of the performance. There is a sort of structure built from megaphones that switch colours along with the LED of the stage that goes from black to white to red to orange. By the last chorus there's a huge fire show that wraps up with the symbol of the group contoured in fire. Classical rock at its best!

Will not qualifyMia Dimšić's performance starts with a nice effect of lights that go from low to a bright as the first violin sound is heard. Mia is joined by two male dancers and a female dancer that allow her to tell the story of the song, of this prohibited love. It's a love story on stage. She is "playing" the guitar until the end of the first chorus and despite holding her guitar until the end, she no longer "plays" it. Another change is the song itself as from the bridge onwards it is in Croatian. This second round of rehearsals was faced with huge technical issues concerning her in-ear audio that couldn't get fixed in time.

Will not qualifyThe four ladies from Denmark did not present many changes from what we've seen in the country's national selection. The performance starts with a closeup on the band's vocalists that is currently at the piano, also used as a mirror. As soon as the song grows, she leaves it and joins the remaining members at the center of the stage. It is a fun performance while very simple and minimalistic. The LEDs go from green to red to yellow to blue whereas the floor has a big REDDI written down. This usage of the LEDs with primary colours evidences the black structure in the middle of the stage a lot and ends up being a distracting the viewer. Fireworks are used from the song's bridge onwards.

Will qualifyThe intimacy and fragility of the song is very felt in the staging as well. It starts with several closeups of Amanda that starts her performance sitting on a chair. In fact, the whole staging is decorated with multiple broken chairs. Amanda ends up getting up after the first chorus and walks through the broken chairs as she follows the camera around. The vocals are quite flawless and very similar to the studio version. Despite the blue surroundings, throughout the middle of the song, the silhouettes of a man and a woman dancing can be seen.

Will not qualifyWhat a peaceful way of starting the day. The sisters from Systur gave us a quite beautiful and serene performance with breathtaking shots of what seems to be the sun rising. The open angles are so beautiful due to the fact they capture the yellow and bright staging lights. It almost looks like we're in Texas but with an Icelandic feel to it. They're joined by their brother on the drums and, despite having a slow song, they are quite well in sync when it concerns their little choreography. It's worth saying that the Icelandic team makes the black structure behind the act almost go unnoticed.

Will qualifyAs stated before, Citi Zēni are not allowed to say the "P" word from the lyrics of their song. Regardless, there's a specific message at the beginning of the song in the LED that surely will try to get the audience to shout it. The staging is very, very colourful (asides from their colourful outfits). It's yet another choreographed staging with a lot of movement and we even see the other members of the band lipsyncing to it and having their moment. Words such as "HOT" or "COOL" can be seen on the floor of the stage and, obviously, the saxophone guy gets his moment before the last chorus comes in.

May qualifyMonika Liu kept the same concept from Pabandom iš naujo and exported it to the Eurovision stage. With this being said, do not expect massive changes (asides from a big black structure behind her). Her shiny dress fits the mood of the stage, also quite shiny with the lights behind her. Some lines, that resemble the layout of this year's logo, are seen behind the black structure and also on the floor LED. Monika's vocals are great as always. We're unsure if the simplicity of this performance will make it or break it.

Will qualifyHey ho! Let's go! Moldova's Zdob şi Zdub & Advahov Brothers deliver the most colourful performance today. And the most energetic! The main colours are pink and yellow, and lots of things are happening on the big LED's in the background, including the words "Hey ho!" and "Let's go!". Such a shame that the big black "Tunnel boring machine" is blocking most of it. The lead singer Roman Iagupov is wearing a cap, standing in the middle, while the orchestra is dancing/hopping around him in the first part. The Advahov Brothers are funny. Dressed in black and white pattern suits. As the small guitar solo is taking place (guitarist lying on the floor), Roman runs out on the catwalk where he remains until the song finishes. Happy, funny and energetic!

May qualifyFrom what we've seen so far, the most ambitious stagings will be left for the second semi-final. With this being said, Stien den Hollander – or just S10 – delivers a quite humble and simple staging. There's a platform on stage which is a square where S10 is standing until the song's bridge. The stage is also quite dark here, where the main staging concept is the use of lights. This creates an intimate atmosphere. Her vocal is powerful and confident. Strong and simple performance!

Will qualifySubwoolfer have just rehearsed. Similarly to Norway's national selection, the duo is joined by two female dancers and a male dancer and, of course, the astronaut that is in its own spaceship just in front of the black structure. We can hear the clear live vocals from the duo that, regardless of the choreography (also the same from the national selection), are intact. The graphism with "SOMEONE GIVE THAT WOLF A BANANA" or simply "BANANA" are kept and one can see the LEDs shifting from yellow to red during the break of the song. It's worth mentioning that the angles used so far could use improvement as, in the wide ones, we have to make an effort to find Keith and Jim. There's (a lot) of pyro in the final chorus that we hope that a full arena will make it look better.

Will qualifyThe performance for Maro's "Saudade Saudade" was completely changed from Festival da Canção. The singer is joined by four backvocals (which leads us to believe the missing one was the delegation member who tested positive) and they're standing in a circle within the stage B. The performance starts with a slow camera movement that goes through the backvocalists and finishes in Maro's face that then starts singing. There's an obvious intention on making the performance intimate with the amount of closeups and with the way Maro sells the song with her facial expressions. The stage is also filled with smoke throughout the entire thing and the LEDs are decorated with a "Saudade" graphism and a mixture of colours. The clapping seen at Festival da Canção is still there and the performance ends just like it starts: with a Maro closeup.

Will not qualifyThe disco mood is really on with LPS. There's a huge disco ball behind the vocalist, as one could see during the first round of the rehearsals, and a structure that elevates the person behind the drums. The remaining members are around the disco ball. The performance isn't exactly dynamic and one is aware of how young LPS are so that may be the reason behind it. As for the vocals, those were spot on!

May qualifyMarius Bear will deliver a quite simplistic performance for Eurovision. The surrounding is very dark and fits the mood of the song. There's a few light effects throughtout the performance including a big light behind him, a shaped broken heart in his face and what what seems to be tears falling down his face by the end. A big highlight to Marius' vocals that are quite flawless.

Will qualifyUkraine is ready for another great result (eventually win the whole thing). It all starts with the stage fountain that quickly gives place to what looks like the sun coming up. One barely notices the black static thing onstage as the colours used for the LEDs were the correct ones to overshadow it and because their staging is inspired precisely in it. There are some cool "shadow" effects where you see the silhouettes of the band decorated with the LED colours and patterns. There's also time for an audience engaging moment towards the end and a full break dance number. Worth mentioning that, in the main LED, there's a lady (possibly Stefania who the song is about) that starts crying. Her tears gather in the center of the stage along with the band.