Today, May 2nd 2022, the third day of rehearsals in the Italian city of Turin has come to an end. Today nine countries took the stage: Finland, Israel, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Australia, and Cyprus. The thing that we immediately noticed is that the artist in Semi-final 2 wear a lot of white, but maybe that is just us being too much about details.
Below you can find what we saw of each country on the official TikTok page of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.
Finland
The Rasmus – Jezebel
We see a big change from the Finnish National Final performance to the one on the actual Eurovision stage and that is that there seem to be black globes, or balls if you will, on the ceiling, and they seem to go up and down, like they bounce from the ceiling on the stage. We still see lead singer Lauri in his bright yellow coat that he takes off to continue the rest of his performance shirtless. We dig the early ‘90’s rock of The Rasmus, so we are glad that they are in this year’s contest.
Israel
Michael Ben-David – I.M
Although there were plans, that eventually became rumors, that eventually became urban legends that Israeli Michael Ben-David would not perform live during this year’s contest, we are glad that he is in Turin. Michael has brought several back-up dancers, and serves a lot of sass and dance moves for his confidence anthem “I.M”. The clothing is predominantly white, which seems to be a theme when it comes down to the outfits of the first part of the second Semi-final.
Serbia
Konstrakta – In Corpore Sano
Konstrakta of Serbia has a real bop on her hands, because there are repetitive words in her song, there is silent clapping, and slow-motion jazz hands. The Eurovision stage performance of “In Corpore Sano” is not a lot different from the Serbian National Final one, except for the fact it is all a little bigger; more lights, upgraded outfits, and more LED screen imagery.
Azerbaijan
Nadir Rustamli – Fade to Black
Nadir stands on some sort of American high school sports bleachers, together with a dancer (?) or at least someone who tells the story of Nadir’s song with him in movement. It is one of the first times we see Nadir perform live, but knowing from what we saw before, we can say that Nadir delivers his song with a strong voice and a lot of conviction. Very powerful, and we are very curious to see how the actual performance looks on TV.
Georgia
Circus Mircus – Lock Me In
This one is a bit of a “we do not know what to think” kind of performance for us. There seems to be a lot of costumes going on, some making the singer so unrecognizable that it seems to take away from the song. In a sense all the masks and things give a bit of an unsettling feeling, like the guy that is covered fully in printed fabric of Ukraine. The song’s chorus is a bop, but then the costumes, let’s just keep it at “we do not know what to think” for now.
Malta
Emma Muscat – I Am What I Am
Such a change from Emma’s National Maltese Final performance. There is Emma at a piano, which we saw before, but now there is also dancing, sparkles being shot in the sky, and Emma looking like a dazzling disco mirror ball. Emma’s singing is great from what we can hear from the TikTok snippet, but the spice this feel-good song needed has been brought, and that makes this song shine even more than before.
San Marino
Achille Lauro – Stripper
San Marinese entrant Achille Lauro must have thought more is more, because his performance has everything: Rock music, a see-through male body suit, crotch-grabbing, pyrotechnics, dazzling lights, some Chesterfield-couch mechanical bull-riding. Ok, we just saw a snippet of a couple of seconds or minutes, but although we understand that glam-rock is glam-rock we are wondering how much is too much. Achille’s outfit might change and his performance might be toned down, but wow, Achille, this is a lot of basically everything!
Australia
Sheldon Riley – Not the Same
Another fully white costume! Almost everyone in the first part of the second Aemi-final has received a memo to go white when it comes down to their stage outfits. Sheldon Riley surely has some pipes that reach until the walls of the Turin arena. His performance looks very dramatic, and that is exactly what this song needs. It kind of gives us the feels.
Cyprus
Andromache – Ela, ela
A Greek goddess, that is what Cypriot singer Andromache is. The Cypriot team came up with an original concept, which makes Andromache look like she is the Botticelli painting “The Birth of Venus”. The sea shell she stands in has projections that seem to match the waterfall that flanks the stage, and because of Andromache herself is also dressed in a modern-type of Greek toga the whole performance seems to be slick, sexy, and very Greece-inspired.
Conclusion
We were mostly stunned by Andromache’s stage performance, she brings her song in an original way with a big stage presence and grand props, which will be something audiences will remember after they have listened and seen all the songs of Semi-final 2. The ones we simply do not know what to think about are: Georgia, San Marino, and Australia. It is all a bit much, overdesigned, and overstretched, but somehow it also fits the songs respectively. The unfortunate thing of a Eurovision song is that one can kill it with a performance that is either very lackluster or every overly designed.
What about you?
What do you think? Who is your favorite contestant of day 3 of the first rehearsals in Turin, Italy?
Eurovision Song Contest 2022
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will take place on the 10th, 12th, and 14th of May 2022 in Turin, Italy.