Day two of Eurovision 2021 rehearsals is behind us.
In total, nine acts took to the stage in Rotterdam for their first rehearsals. We got our first glimpse at how the acts from Cyprus, Norway, Croatia, Belgium, Israel, Romania, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Malta decided to stage their songs.
Elena Tsagrinou brought the fire, Hooverphonic went for dark glamour and Go_A brought a psychadelic rave to Rotterdam. But who gave the best first rehearsal? Take a look at all of our reactions then vote for your favourite in our poll!
Scroll down to vote in our poll.
Eurovision 2021 rehearsals: Day Two (May 9)
Click on each entry to read our reviews, watch our reactions and see the rehearsal snippets.
- 🇨🇾 Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou — “El Diablo”
- 🇳🇴 Norway: TIX — “Fallen Angel”
- 🇭🇷 Croatia: Albina — “Tick-Tock”
- 🇧🇪 Belgium: Hooverphonic — “The Wrong Place”
- 🇮🇱 Israel: Eden Alene — “Set Me Free”
- 🇷🇴 Romania: Roxen — “Amnesia”
- 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Efendi — “Mata Hari”
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine: Go_A — “SHUM”
- 🇲🇹 Malta: Destiny — “Je Me Casse”
Poll: Who had the best first rehearsal on May 9?
As always, you can vote for as many songs as you like, but you can only vote once. So make it count! This poll will close on May 10 and we will publish results shortly after.
[polldaddy poll=10827498]Who did you vote for? Did your favourites live up to expectation? Let us know in the comments below.
Belgium and Ukraine are the best
Its like the end of the world here Malta will change what have to be change comeon guys give her a break is thats why rehalsals are for ? we all know destiny is an 18 yr old diva . second rehalsal will be on top again destiny we are behind you go girl skay that stage as you always did.
For me Belgium was most professional, but loved Malta and Romania as well
My Top 9 based on what I saw (again, dv or uv me for all I care) 1st Ukraine – If someone ask why Ukraine still has a qualification streak, this is why! Ukraine knows how to pull off a show and considering Go_A created a masterpiece of a performance in Vidbir 2020 with Solovey, it’s no surprise they’ll be able to pull it off in Rotterdam too. 2nd Cyprus – I think Germany made the great decision of passing this off to Cyprus, as Elena manage to become one with Oxa and stole the show. Stable vocals and creative… Read more »
Norway last as it should be (not last in this semi of course, but definitely last today). Never understood how he managed to stay in the bookies’ top 10 favorites until today.
Romania should be last and Amnesia is in my top 6. I trust Roxen and I am confident she will improve, but we are judging the clips we’ve got today and Roxen was clearly the worst unfortunately.
Semi final 1 qualifiers after 1st rehearsal (in random order):
1. Lithuania
2. Russia
3. Sweden
4. Cyprus
5. Norway
6. Croatia
7. Israel
8. Azerbaijan
9. Ukraine
10. Malta
This is a bloodbath of a semi so could easily see Belgium, Ireland or Romania potentially qualifying.
Croatia will not be left in the semi finals
Croatia didnt come to play and I love it
This is a tough semi. I’m a little sad for Destiny and Malta…it doesn’t look like winner staging. I wish they had recreated some element from the music video. While Ukraine impressed, I fear this could go the route of Triana Park and Latvia 2017, being too acid trip and over the top and miss out on the final.
Ukraine made the biggest jump up in semi 1 odds from 16th place to 11th and it keeps growing, my respect to their team and stage manager, wow! I love Cyprus staging so much, slick and beautiful, Croatia and Azerbaijan were amazing as well, Eden looks so tiny like tinkerbell with powerful voice, adore her 🙂 Malta looks bright and joyful, maybe not the best outfit, but still looks very cool, Destiny is a queen! My poor girl Roxen, I hope they will fix things up for the staging cos now it looks a bit dreadful, but I still adore… Read more »
Cyprus 56 seconds rehearsal video is trending in Greece,Spain and Germany. Last time that happened was in 2018 😉
On the night, I definitely could see Cyprus turning out big results.
Cyprus and Ukraine delivered today! I’m so excited, because I’ve liked Shum since it was released (it’s a nice song I would dance to in a rave while tripping, and I really mean it in a good way), so seeing them uplift the song (with such an original and clean staging) and their qualification chances makes me happy. Sometimes I wish Ukraine and Australia (as they haven’t so far) to go NQ –and idk why tbh, because it doesn’t affect me, but Ukraine never fails to bring the whole package every year. I didn’t like Cyprus’ song much at first… Read more »
Cyprus had everything going right in this rehearsal. Elena looks and sounds stunning. At this point, I think Cyprus could win the semi.
Greece will have Green screen effects.
My top 9 for 2nd day of rehearsals: 1. Cyprus: The level of staging, choreography, outfit, is so highly professional and her voice was so stable and very close or even better than the studio version. 2. Croatia: don’t know why they re so low on the odds. Albina is such a good performer and the stage was something. 3. Ukraine: well this song is kinda addictive and the energy on the stage is strange but I like it! 4. Azerbaijan: I was about to put it on 5-6, but still hope for something more on the stage from Efendi…I’m… Read more »
Even though i did not like the Cypriot entry, i loved their rehearsal! Well done Cyprus!!! I can not wait for Greece and San Marino OMG
Malta had a retina-burning train wreck of a rehearsal. If they only replicated one of the outfits from her video, it would have sealed her favorite status… but this… it can only go downhill from here.
Croatia had a big change and for the better… there are some effects that are not in the snippet. I think they went to almost certain to qualify category.
With televote only not even sure for qualification. Lazy juries will give high points just because the overhype and betting odds.
Croatia and Ukraine
Preach sister!
Bruh, betting odds mean nothing and our opinion means nothing. You think that 4 of my friends that are gonna watch esc with me know that Sweden and Norway changed nothing from NF. No they don’t. Do they care? Absolutely not.
Haters are gonna hate and malta is gonna win
we are not haters, Malta was my number 1 in this semi but this is not a winning perfomance…
Who I think deserves to go through based on the rehearsals (in no particular order): Lithuania, Russia, Cyprus, Belgium, Romania, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
Who I think will go through, well… That’s anybody’s guess, it’s a very unpredictable SF. I think Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, Cyprus, Romania, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Malta are safe. That leaves 2 spots for at the very least Belgium, I hope. I really could not understand if Eurovision doesn’t reward a quality entry and flawless live performance like Hooverphonic’s with at the very least a SF qualification.
Actually it’s pretty likely Sweden goes NQ with that messy staging
I would be surprised if they NQ. Their song is pretty middle-of-the-road, but considering it’s Sweden I think they still have the bare minimum required to qualify. But hey, if they don’t go through at least it frees up a spot for another country, for once!
I mean, you’re right, we’re talking about Sweden after all. Though I don’t know what to think about them, let me explain: Tusse is a talented and promising singer with a nice stage presence and a good voice (even though he’s recently undergone a minor operation), but his song is pretty meh, the staging is nothing special but an absolute mess and there’s at least 10 better songs in this semi tbf, so it’d be nice to see televote sink this enough so Sweden doesn’t reach the finale (obviously because Sweden’s entries these last years have been average and formulaic… Read more »
Romania is FAR from safe…
Cringe
Hey guys, wow, what an exciting day, wasn’t it? So, I’m gonna give my two cents and I’m gonna start by saying that all the artists have to be really proud of the work they put into their performances, thank you from the bottom of my heart, that being said, let’s go: CYPRUS: Elena is a goddess, not only she looks like an Angel but she sounds like I one too, I’m very pleasantly surprised by her vocals, the staging looks epic, sensual and powerful, which is what we all expected, well done Cyprus! NORWAY: whilst I prefer the Norwegian… Read more »
Sometimes I want Ukraine to just go NQ (idk why thought), but they always deliver, it’s amazing and they have my respect tbh
Ukraine can be last country in a contest that always qualified to the final,if Australia will NQ
I’m happy for Ukraine, Cyprus, Croatia and Israel, but I’m so worried about Romania, I love song so much but the staging gives me NQ vibes 🙁
Flo Rida isn’t coming to Rotterdam, right?
Honestly I would rather see Australia in the grand final than Azerbaijan
Very that
Any other than Malta and I would be happy.
well i hate to ruin it for you but Malts is gonna qualify.
Azerbeijan staging is very dull, I’m afraid.
Based off of these first rehearsals I think qualifiers will come from these 12 (VERY rough order of preference)
Ireland
Russia
Ukraine
Malta
Lithuania
Cyprus
Belgium
Israel OR Croatia
Sweden (begrudgingly)
Azerbaijan
Australia
Norway and Tix could do it but only if the camera shots and vocals are perfect, especially for the jury final
Sweden low-key doesn’t deserve to qualify in my humble opinion. I just think that the song is mediocre and the only reason the bookies are giving it so much attention is because it’s Sweden. It’s generic and, by the half way point, I’m bored. Out of interest, who do you think will qualify between Israel and Croatia as there’s been a lot of disagreement today across the fandom. I’m rooting for Eden! I love the song and I think that the staging is actually really nice and measured. It’s not massively over the top and complicated but it accompanies the… Read more »
I think it should be Eden as well! She’s got the better vocals and Tick Tock really doesn’t do anything for me. I prefer the Mediterranean vibes from Set Me Free haha. I think Croatia does have a slight edge as pretty blonde girls always perform well in televotes but it’s possible El Diablo being in the same semi will draw some away too. Very exciting to see how it actually goes down
Both Israel and Croatia will qualify. This choice between them is dumb. Someone said it based on costume similarities and everyone is following the herd like sheep.
Malta with a ratio of 55/45% like/dislike on Youtube. And this is a winning song ????
Odds bots must be in panic because in a normal world it should already be out of the top 10 in the odds.
Well , it’s more been a matter of France rising than Malta falling. France went up from 13% 2 days ago to 19% today.
Malta was 18% 2 days ago , and is 17% today.
Ukraine is my winner today. I never cared too much for the song, but the performance look fun!
Malta on the other hand is a complete disaster. It completely lost the classy feel of the music video. Those pink costumes feel cheap and trashy + they failed to come up with an idea of what will Destiny do on the stage. You can’t have a dance track and just stand there. Take a lesson from Netta, you don’t need to be a great dancer to make it work.
Ukraine and Croatia SLAYED
Ukraine was hands down the best rehearsal. Completely elevated the song and is yet another reason why Ukraine is one of the greats. I can’t really make a top 8 because the rest of the songs are either very similar or all had decent but not spectacular runs. However Romania was really worrying… And Croatia and Israel both having almost identical concepts was also worrying as only one of them will win the neon diva battle.
Bots from Azerbaijan can give Efendi as many votes as they want, but let’s get real, it’s just plain awful.
Ana’s song is everything but emotional lol
My ranking of today’s rehearsals:
I voted Ukraine and Belgium, and I think Romania had the worst rehearsal, idk why it’s not on the bottom (as much as i like the song ).
She was vocally the weakest. I’m sad . It’s in my overall top 5 , the song
Hooverphonic: delivers a flawless rehearsal.
Belgian fans looking at the odds: are we a joke to you?
Odds predicted Elliot and Sennek to qualify and they were wrong.
2 years later: Odds predicted Hooverhonic out and they were wrong.
They shouldn’t worry to much, Belgium has a very good shot of going thru. Too many upbeat songs and dancers in this semi-final.
If they don’t kill the whole audience with boredom, sure
I think it’s going to be tough for Belgium cause this SF is a bloodbath but I think they have a chance, if only because their song stands out. Most of the other songs are trying too hard to outscream, outglitter and outstage each other. Belgium will feel like a deserved and welcome break in the middle of that.
Combining both days, I would say Cyprus, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine (alphabetic order) were the big winners so far. Cyprus was better than their direct competitors, Lithuania reinforced their current status and Russia and Ukraine maybe will finally get all the traction they deserve.
But I would highlight Belgium also, because they’re doing exactly what they need to do. Those who think it’s boring wouldn’t vote for them anyway. They’re fighting for a different kind of audience. It’s early to tell if it will be enough, but they’re playing the right cards.
Alex would be happier not qualifying than catering to the “fireworks” televoters.
I imagine so. And it wouldn’t be a smart move either. I just hope this has great camera work. It seems on the snippet that the camera will gently move from one performer to another. It can be cool.
Not that CATS!
Exactly , this is the staging I expected . Dark and brooding and that’s what they’re doing
Good thing is that there’s no trainwreck in this semi-final. It looks like all the performances will be very good, which is great for the contest and makes things more unpredictable. Lot of stuff to fix, but overall pretty good, judging by the snippets.
I agree. Nothing was embarassing, no mistake was unsolvable and nobody seems totally out of the game yet (I don’t believe North Macedonia has much chance, but at least they’re in a better situation than before the rehearsals).
oh yeah, I forgot about that one. North Macedonia is pretty much out.
I don’t see how that will happen ? There’s no way it’s coming out of bottom 1 position in Televote
Maybe some jurors will throw it some points. With the televote I guess it’s impossible to avoid last place.
PS: I went to look what Iceland got with “Our Choice”, which I believe it’s a similar entry. They got zero points from the televote and 15 from the jury. The bad news for Vasil is that 7 came from Belarus and 2 from North Macedonia.
Lol , so 6 points remain
You have to start somewhere, right?. 😛 But at least the staging is less corny than I was expecting. I was afraid that we would see a lot of pictures of baby Vasil or stock photos of happy people. He escaped the S!sters curse, I consider it a win!
Now Vanilla I have to apologize you for spreading hate on Shum some months ago
Azerbaijan 3rd?
Lol yeah right. K
Evidently so
worst case scenario.
That will actually be a crime. I honestly don’t think I could watch on Saturday if that gets through at the expense of someone actually trying, capable of singing and playing the game fairly.
If you think mate hari lacks vocals you must be the worst listener ever to listen to a song. Staging is up to you what you think, but her vocal is one of the strongest and most secure and safe of them all. And the girl from aussis vocal is btw. very unsecure… On top of that efendi is one of the few that actually has natural charm and smiling like she actually loves what she is doing….
Russia and Ukraine are the real dark horses of the year, at least from this semifinal. The will both do really well
Russia and Ukraine were both well discussed for obvious reasons weeks now my friend.
From 16th (Ukr) and 15th (Rus) place in odds yesterday to todays 12th (Ukr) and 15th (Rus) or to 10th or 8th in the grand final (upper limit for both entries)….it is not considered as a black horse route (black donkey maybe).
There are not black horses this year. One of the favs is going to win. After today Malta’s flop…one of the rest.
When many people were questioning if Russia and Ukraine would even reach the finals, they can be called dark horses as they just shut the mouth of any “hater”
I don’t like at all both entries….but never have a question about their sure qualification.
In terms of odds, from the countries that rehearsed today, big winners are Ukraine and Cyprus (even here they are the top 2 of the day), while Malta, Norway and Romania underperformed, so the odds are against them now. There are no notable changes to the other countries for now
Sorry, but did you guys see the full performances somewhere? I think the material that we got is not enough to judge the performances tbh
this is all you are supposed to get for today and this is a poll about those small snippets. which snippet is the best? is that a hard question?
On my first impressions, Cyprus had the best staging, choreography and costumes. Vocally, it sounded like they were all good — except Roxen — especially TIX, Albina, Geike, Eden, the main singer from Go_A and Destiny. From what I see, Russia or Cyprus could win this SF.
Russia would do great with Televote , not so much Jury . Malta would do great with Jury , not so much Televote. It opens the way for Cyprus or Ukraine to go ahead and win.
my ranking today: 1) UKRAINE.. i got goosebumps. this has been my biggest grower this year (its now my 3rd) 2) cyprus, i like the staging concept and i think elena looks soo hot 3) croatia, i guess no one else really thinks so but i thought the staging was really nice and this will probably qualify 4) malta, i love destiny but this staging underwhelmed me. everything is there for her to win the whole contest but it feels like SJB is duping her… 5) romania, i actually thought the staging was innovative but it was executed wrong today.… Read more »
Yes but in 2011 we were surprised in a negative way.
So to me … Sure qualifiers are: 1. Russia – outstanding performer + fun act 2. Ukraine – great and original 3. Cyprus – super polished in every aspect 4. Sweden – good performer and.. it’s Sweden 5. Malta – fantastic performer and a good song 6. Lithuania – contender for the win Sure NQ are: – North Macedonia, sorry babe you’re no Dotter – Slovenia … do I need to explain That leaves 8 countries for 4 slots and I think it could be anyone’s game among them. I would say that Israel will make it because she’s super… Read more »
No one cares about Slovenia honey. %100 NQ with North Macedonia.
You are wrong, Eurovision fans don’t care about Slovenia. We don’t know what the juries will like
Yup , with So many performers not vocally delivering and Ana delivering , I see her coming upto 4th with the Jury. She is definitely back in the game.
Azerbaijan, Croatia , Israel, Romania are slipping . Ireland is also slipping. North Macedonia is participating .
I wish to have that level of delusion
Not this
Sweden was good??? Okay…
Completely agree with everything except Sweden, their staging was messy and they ditched the elements that made it a winner in melfest
Belgium jumped on my top 5, azerbaijan from winner fell on my 3rd place, I still don’t get the hype around malta, I loved Romania and croatia. By Cyprus I was more focused on the mirror behind her, than actually her so I don’t know how much it will affect people’s voting intentions but overall I kind liked it.
Oh I forgot to mention that ireland and Australia have also entered my top 5. The only countries I liked from yesterday’s rehearsals lol
I haven’t seen a stranger top five lol
Why is it strange tho? Maybe elaborate next time instead of just saying something and then run away?
Malta is droping slowly like dripping in odds only after first rehearsal. Wait and see how polls predictions are wrong when Malta doesn’t win in May…Sorry I am sorry Malta you need to send your original like you did in the past that hit top 3 and not your this year’s entry that is nothing special, the instruments you used to make the song big with 2015 junior winner got attention of polls bookies but not real votes yet to be decided and announced in May…I have heard many entries like this one in the past tired to hide the… Read more »
I don´t like Cyprus at all. It´s very cheap.
My favourites are Ukraine and Belgium.
So what did you expect from Cyprus so that the staging won’t be cheap. You’re just hating “El Diablo” in every aspect and even if they spend 10 million euros you will still call it cheap. The staging that looked cheap was a counties which name begins from M and ends to A, which is currently 1st in winner odds.
France doesn’t begin with M or end with A and they haven’t even revealed their staging. What are you on about ?
Also , if that’s cheap then I don’t know what’s rich staging. Elena looks hot and her vocals are on fire.
Cyprus cheap? Cyprus is high fashion..only the cost of Elena’s dress, designed by Celia Kretharioti, is equal to the whole staging of other 3-4 countries together, lol.
It’s possible to spend millions and still look cheap.