Montenegro, Slavko Kalezic, 1

If you’re going to do crazy you have to commit. And Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezic did just that during his first rehearsal at Eurovision 2017, turning his man-braid into the centre of his over-the-top and ultimately uplifting performance. The X Factor Adria star turned up and turned out, wearing a translucent, skintight black top that showed off his ample assets. During the song’s introduction he wore his blue-ish Venus skirt from the music video, before stripping it off to reveal spray-on diamond-studded leggings, which cling to each of his gym-honed contours. He works hard for that body and it shows!

So far today this is the only act to receive rapturous (rather than scattered) applause in the press centre, and for good reason. Following all those ballads this morning “Space” really pops out both musically — disco updated for today — and visually — Slavko slut-dropped, whipped his hair back, spun it around and even swept the floor with it. Someone please send shampoo! At one point he writhed on the LED floor, which features a close-up of him mouthing the lyrics of his song. So essentially you have Slavko wiggling on his own mouth. It’s WTF in the most amazing way.

Vocally this still needs a lot of work. Slavko, who may have been holding out, didn’t always seem in tune and his backing vocalists struggled too. We’re going to put this down to technical issues. And thankfully the visuals made us forget any vocal shortcomings. Looking half-man, half-horse, this takes on a mythical quality and it really stands out.

Slavko Kalezic — “Space”: Reviews and Reactions

Montenegro: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2017

Montenegro: First press conference 2017

*Slavko’s hair braid t-shirt 

*Slavko’s hair braid phone case

Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews

Read all of our Montenegro Eurovision news here

Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)

27 Comments
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Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

He needs some dancers for sure.

Adam
Adam
6 years ago

That is just stupid. When you constantly grab your ponytail I suppose the point is to show it off. Well, this is a song contest, and because he’s playing the gimmick game, I don’t even remember or care to remember what on earth he’s singing about.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago
Reply to  Adam

Well he’s singing about safe gay sex, so I suppose it’s a “safe” interpretation of certain parts of the act. 😀

irada
irada
6 years ago

Slavko had problems with music he didn`t hear himself. I hope Montenegro will qualify. Greetings from Poland.

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

This was an one man show! I liked the background and the colours!

However, I’m not a fan of the song and the staging didn’t make it better! But this song is too divisive! That was too much!

oli
oli
6 years ago

It’s a pity that he chose the weirdness road, because he is a good singer, but I am afraid that the majority of the viewrs won’t get this show and will be distracted from the song, which is actually good. i don’t see a qualifier here, sorry

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
6 years ago

The song is a guilty pleasure, but this looks like a total gimmick. His live vocals are really bad. 🙁

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

Raw sex is usually hard for a lone man to sell well on a huge stage. Instead, I think that Slavko is trying to bring comedy to the routine, and it doesn’t work. 🙁

Pryk Pryk
Pryk Pryk
6 years ago

Awful. That’s it.

mocosuburbian
mocosuburbian
6 years ago

lmao @slavko jumping around the stage like a flying squirrel
also australia+croatia+montenegro having the images of themselves in the background yikes it’s as bad as kimonogate

Americanvision
Americanvision
6 years ago

After 7 (Finalnd’s rehearsal was released)
1. Sweden
2. Finland
3. Albania
4. Australia
5. Montenegro
6. Belgium
7. Georgia

Bartosz
Bartosz
6 years ago

This looks awful. I really hope we won’t see him in the grand final.

escer
escer
6 years ago

I think the wiwis are engaging in some wishful thinking here. They like Slavko and want to support him, but this is not going to do nearly as well as they hope. From the clip we have, the ‘show’ just looks bad.. he’s jumping back and forth and clumsily throwing his braid around. It looks awkward and messy. Maybe good camera angles on TV will help? Even then, juries will have this bottom 3 without question, and televoters will be too divided to help him in. One of the more obvious non-qualifiers I’d say, but time will tell

cheesecake
cheesecake
6 years ago
Reply to  escer

Amen to that.

Candy
Candy
6 years ago

His performance is ridiculous and bizarre on so many levels, but strangely enough, he manages to look absolutely stunning and attractive while swinging his ponytail like a lasso. For me, Slavko is the brightest star of Eurovision 2017.

TasM
TasM
6 years ago

To me, it’s Montenegro 2013 and Igranka all over again. The public will adore it, but the juries will ultimately seal his fate and not allow him to go to the final. Really, given the other songs, only Slovenia and perhaps Moldova can compete with this for the last place in the juries. His vocals also don’t help much.

cheesecake
cheesecake
6 years ago

Now that was a mess. I never liked the song, but the staging with him swinging his hair made this even worse IMO. Also, his vocals were bad.

M_K
M_K
6 years ago

I hope that the 30 sec clip does not reflect the performance as a whole… his “dance” looks kinda pointless (as if he’s just randomly jumping around the stage). However, I like the backdrops – they have a decent colour scheme, they’re disco but not psychedlic. Way to go!

Geo
Geo
6 years ago

So many ballads in this semifinal that will cancel each other. That means up-tempo songs will stand out and qualify… So far I see both Sweden and Montenegro qualifying, and from the ballads only Lindita (Albania). The others, Georgia, Australia and Finland will be left out. Belgium is definitely out, too. Let’s see tomorrow Greece, Latvia and Moldova… I’d see them as qualifiers, along the usual qualifiers (Armenia and Azerbaijan)

Rock Me
Rock Me
6 years ago

It was a pleasant surprise.I want him to qualify badly.

Americanvision
Americanvision
6 years ago

Okay saw the clip! I’m cracking up on the couch because this is way too much!

Watch his performance turn into a meme or a .gif, especially his helicopter ponytail move. Lmao

Eve
Eve
6 years ago

So dissaipointed with this, if it is all what I see from the video.. Is whiping with that braid the best he can do for that good catchy song?! What he wanna do, circus act?! Much more possibilities.. hope he will improve in the end. Go Slavko!

Erasmus
Erasmus
6 years ago

This is so bad, I don’t know what are you guys seeing, I admit that the staging is awsome and I love Slavko, but the song and his perofrmence are just a bad WTF

Mameo
Mameo
6 years ago

Saw the clip. It was hilarious.

NickC
NickC
6 years ago

‘Charisma-free zone’.
Padraig you cracked me up. Last year your predictions were spot-on. Keep up the good work.

Americanvision
Americanvision
6 years ago

I saw the 15 second clip on someone’s IG and now I’m curious how this turns out on the main YouTube channel. Ditto with Finland and Azerbaijan.

Hi
Hi
6 years ago

I LOVE THIS SONF