Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears has taken to the Rotterdam Ahoy stage for his first rehearsal of “Tout l’univers” at Eurovision 2021. He’s among the favourites, but did he live up to the hype? Let’s see…
Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears “Tout l’univers” — Eurovision 2021 first rehearsal
Oliver: Nobody could have predicted this kind of staging. Gjon is alone on stage, stood on a white cube-like structure. As the song builds, it slowly comes apart, illuminated by dazzling monochromatic lights. The symbolism of it is difficult to decipher but it’s intriguing nevertheless. Gjon’s outfit is similar to that of a flamenco dancer, although not quite as camp — it’s got a huge oversized collar and tidy embroidered sequin lines. And as expected, his vocals are on point. The contemporary choreography however, though subtle, seems superfluous and unnecessary. At times, he flails his arms around in wavy motions that seem almost inspired by an inflatable car dealership mascot. Again, the semiotic meaning behind these gestures is confusing. Regardless, this was a solid first run for Switzerland, and one of the tidiest rehearsals to date.
Padraig: His odds took a hit after his first live performance in Spain some weeks back, so many were apprehensive leading into today’s rehearsal. Today Gjon silenced the doubters. He pulled off a highly stylised stage show that’s distinct from all that’s gone before without taking attention away from the song itself. Dressed in an oversized shirt with puffy sleeves and a high-waisted pants, Gjon looks every part the avant-garde artiste. He stands inside a white frame, as white lights flash continuously behind him. He does some light choreography. As the song reaches its climax, everything becomes much more frantic – the lights, his movements. The frame also separates into three distinct parts. In the midst of it all, Gjon’s vocals remain strong and emotive. Fans will be happy. But, personally, this doesn’t give me feels in the same way Bulgaria did.
Reaction to Switzerland’s first rehearsal at Eurovision 2021
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What do you think? Did Gjon’s Tears live up to the hype? Let us know in the comments below.
Read more Switzerland Eurovision 2021 news here
Photos: EBU / THOMAS HANSES
I just don’t get why this is diving in the bookmakers and the popularity! I love this entry! I want Gjon’s Tears to win!
I find Gjon really excellent. His aerial voice transports us very far and his song is truly magnificent. it could be a movie credits. I hope with all my heart that he will make a very good ranking, and if they could follow him and Barbara, that would be fabulous, especially since they both like each other a lot.
Bonne chance a la Suisse !
Not what I had expected, but it was quite nice. I hope it looks better and polished onscreen
At this time. This is my winner, let’s see France, but right now, i think this is the one
You didn’t see anything from that clip. The actual performance is breathtaking.
So basically Baptiste screwed over Malta just to go full creative mind for Switzerland. Smart move from the Swiss.
Stupid comment. Why would she screw over her own work? No artist does that…..
Kudos for trying a different approach than the piano man style. In fact, now IT IS enough different to Duncan Laurence to win it all. I think this is it. Just hope the camera work is on point though. I’m just waiting for “Voila”, but THIS IS IT. I must said I’m kind of jealous. Please, Spain, do something nice one day.
Celine Dion 1990
You have the recipe for success, and you add in an ingredient that leaves a strange aftertaste. And yes, I’m talking about the dancing.
I will agree with Oliver on this one, although I believe it might win in the end.
In any case, we have to wait for the live before we are conclusive about it.
Good luck Switzerland.
I love how Gjon’s Tears keeps on honoring Dutch architects and painters. In his clip for Europe shine a light he had a Mondriaan hanging in the back and now he looks like swirling on a Rietveld rooftop!!
He got me, he got me dirty, voting!!!!!!
Tout l’univers will vote for Switzerland ! 😉
The staging is great but can we talk about the outfit? Everyone talked about the pink dress of Destiny but I don’t see any comment talking about Gjon’s shirt and shoes… I don’t understand these choices.
His vocals are perfect though. Well done Gjon.
It looks super sleek and modern. I love the concept. Winner material.
I think this will come to life even more with the proper camera work. It’s already stunning and different and meaningful, but it will be even more meaningful by the time next week rolls around.
Funny how two main (at least according to odds) contenders did their best to diminish their chances.
Very true.
Guess what’s common between then: Sacha Jean Baptiste… she’s usually have one entry in the top 10 every year.
Well, then I hope this year it’s Switzerland, not the other option.
Well, nobody can say Sasha was lazy or predictable with this one. Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about yet, I’ll add it to the “I need to see how it works on camera” pile. It seems while Bulgaria went for our emotions, Switzerlands is going for our senses.
I feel like Sasha picks one country that she likes and works with them fully. Then trashes the rest. Malta for example.
Not bad for a conspiracy theory! 😀 I guess it’s just the natural result of doing staging for many countries year after year. Not just she can run out of ideas (it’s getting easy to look at one of her creations and point some repetition), but also one song may had inspired her more than the others. I just hope Malta looks better on camera, Sasha usually knows how to work well with camera angles. But yeah, Switzerland is looking much better and more creative that what she did to “Je me casse”.
Why are you comparing with Je me casse? You know that Destiny have a special voice that its hard to find, apart from her special song. This is a song festival first and foremost!
This is the winner, good luck from israel
Even though I am not 100% in love with the song, if Eurovision has any musical and artistic integrity, this should win. This appears to be the only entry that will tick all of the boxes — 12/12 voice, songwriting that is slightly out-of-the-box yet still accessible, and impactful and artistic staging.
I still like his song last year better (one of the best in ESC history) and it’s a damn shame we will never know what an ESC performance of that would have been like.
I agree about last year. I was so excited to see how it would be staged. I’m still not feeling the vibes this year although appreciate his amazing vocals.
Dancing? Not what we expected. But works really well!
He makes 2 moves during the entire performance. It’s not a dance. It’s a statement.
I can see a scenario where Switzerland, Bulgaria and France fight over the same votes. Good voices and performances and dark and dramatic ballads. Well, there is no clear winner this year, that’s for sure. And I have a feeling Malta is out of the race. That performance doesn’t feel like a winner at all, but probobly a top 5. I want to see Italy as well.
I think there will be an uptempo song in the fight to win. Cyprus seems like an option or Malta. I seriously cannot understand the ones that like Bulgaria. The snippet is underwhelming for me. And we also have Lithuania, Italy and Iceland. Do you think Iceland will win be the Nordic Country placed highest this year?
Yes, I think Iceland will place the highest among The Nordics. Lithuania will also do well I think. But I really don’t understand the hype over Cyprus among fans, though. That song is everything that Sweden is being bashed for over the years. So why is Cyprus any better? But that’s my opinion. If an up tempo song snatches the trophy then I believe in Malta and Lithuania the most. And if rock wins then it will be Italy 😀
I don’t lie Cyprus either but then so did not like Luca Hänni or Eleni Fouriera either for the same reasons. All made in Sweden. But I know that the audience fall for it. And among ”the bangers”’she is the best.
Let see Malta second rehearsal then we can comment. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
I think it might be a winner
Sacha’s best staging work this year.
Much better than playing a piano like Duncan
We’ll see
Much better? Duncan’s performance with piano was a winners performance.. so what are you talking about?
It’s not necessarily better, but it really tries to be completely different from Duncan… because the song is quite similar, coming from the same producer. I’m sure otherwise they’d have used a piano as well, it makes the most sense.
France can’t win with Gjon next to. If he doesn’t win the jury, then maybe he will have more points from the televote. But even if he wasn’t here, Barbara can’t win. France hasn’t “allies” and maybe she will disappoint
His outfit and the staging are so disappointing!
Really they ruin the song…
They must change something because it will flop
Yuck….. What do this staging and outfit mean exactly?
Well, at least they didn’t stick him behind a piano. I’m not sure I like his outfit and I wish the background was more galaxy like, but it shows a lot of promise.
I sometimes feel like Eurofans could stage a performance better than the actual staging team
Some of them sure could.
Oh, there are times where I have imagined stagings that could’ve been better than what we actually got for certain songs.
Impressive but I’m not getting winner vibes. Is this the song that Europe wants to see win after a horrific 12 months? Or will it be something more visual and uplifting?
What would be more uplifting? A singer with 4 dancers in pink/purple?
A singer with two dancers and a band in yellow!
Sunshine, with at least happy vibe i will take the pink purple orange maroons and all sorts of colours!
Yes
Maybe you shouldn’t speak for Europe.
I wasn’t speaking for Europe, I was posing rhetoric.
The public will go for a fun song i think, either Iceland or Malta. Juries better support quality: France and Switzerland.
Bulgaria’s act was so good! And it was chique and classy….not hideous like ‘others’
This nonsense about what Europe what’s needs to stop. People want the best song. It’s hard to argue that this is the best song.
Can we all agree that semi 2 has much better staging entries than semi 1? Both Gjon and Victoria nailed it! Daði and Stefania was also great.
I was very skeptical before and unlike with Victoria I remain very skeptical. This looks way too distant and heartless to me. Hopefully there is a lot of people who disagree with my taste and support Gjon which could lead him to the victory.
Wow, the staging looks interesting and exciting. I always love some epicness in Eurovision winners (“epic” could mean a lot, songwise I would say Toy is as epic as Arcade is as epic as Heroes etc… ^^). This has the potential for the big moment 🙂
Will Switzerland and France cancel eachother?
Switzerland is so much better. I can see France picking up a lot of jury points but public votes no
Well I’d compare Barbara’s perfomance with Salvador’s so you can never know, Salvador picked up more then 350 points from televote even tho it was deemed as a not televote friendly song. Nevertheless it will be very interesting to see how these 2 songs will fair in comparsion to eachother.
That year Salvador was my pick to win even before he arrived in Ukraine. Remember with the bookies before rehearsals he was in the 66/1 range. Sorry don’t have the feeling about France but will be interesting to see if i feel the same after rehearsals
I kinda agree. France plays the same card than Portugal in 2017 but something is lacking. It can do a top 5 but there is not the magical atmosphete that Salvadore created. Barbara is talented but is she able to make all Europe feeling emotions. I’m not so sure.
I think Bulgaria can join that party.
Let’s only hope
I would never have expected something like that!! This performance gives me winner vibes it’s just amazing. People say it’s avant-garde but I should also add that it is also artistic. This is the fullest package I’ve seen up to now and I believe it is now a serious contender for the win. It is already rising on the odds!!!
The staging is really good. I’m waiting to see how the cameras will work. But tbh this just doesn’t give me winner vibes. I love Gjon and I love his song too but not a ESC winner
The song and his voice are not for me, but decent staging and I’m sure it will do well
Because the song is beautiful
This is just stunning! It’s one of those rare songs which would qualify on a bare minimum of staging as well, but this architecture is more than a welcome addition. This is already giving me winner vibes! Good luck, Gjon! 🙂
I’m so freaking excited, I could cry. Please win it, please!
It’s a smart move to take the piano away to avoid any arcade resembles.
Now I want to understand how the camera work is.
Another thing is that I think Gjon is lacking a bit of charisma in compare to other potential winners(Malta, France, Italy, Iceland),so I don’t know yet about calling him a contender.
and Bulgaria
Maybe, but I’m not sure about it like the other 5 countries (but I really like her entry)
I have been waiting to see if this works or not, and unlike other songs that found there way to being fan favourites because of a good video clip or because the artist was already known, this song works on stage. You listen to it and you get winner vibes, you look at it and get winner vibes. It elevates itself from some of the tackiness we have seen, but it also does not struggle hard to become something. IT IS! It is real, and does not rely on a quick gimmick. I also like the fact that he is… Read more »
This is beautiful and different. I can’t see it winning but it might be Top 5 which is amazing!
This is probably the hardest rehearsal to judge without seeing the camera work. Looks promising and he sounds amazing. Expectations are high.
I’ll wait till his live but I have concerns. Feels too artifical for me.
A mix of Paul Rey and Eric Saade in Melfest and I didnt connect at all with those performances. Gjon doesnt need it. He’s good.
I don’t know what to think. His vocals sounded amazing tho
The choreography reminds me of Bulgaria 2017, and that’s positive! Though I wonder if he’ll get a second placing as well… I mean, that probability definitely exists.
update: watching the first pics from his performance makes me consider this again as a favorite. i love how they didn’t risk!
That was a risk actually
They could play it safe with a simple piano and the universe and stuff in the background. But they didn’t
That wouldn’t have been safe, that would have been a ctrl+c ctrl+v from Arcade…
omg im so sorry i meant to say “they didn’t play it safe”. thx for correcting me!
Boring , give us something different
how is this not different? we’ve never seen something like this on the eurovision stage before. you haters are getting TIRING I stg
Copycat arcade
wow so original
The most boring thing are haters who can’t even explain properly why they hate a song
Toy 2.0 ?
Finally, some winner vibes! Where’s the Arcade 2.0 now haters?
They are all crying because there was no piano. Different language, different song structure …it was never Arcade 2.0.
The staging and the visuals look so impressive. Finally something different than pink/purple and galaxy/sky elements. It looks artistic, dramatic and modern while being minimalistic at the same time. He was nailing those vocals as well! I could definitely see this in the top 4.
I listened to him during first rehersal and his singing is amazing, no difference between the studio version and live.
I think it’s a good idea he doesn’t play the piano, since it would bring up Duncan references.
I’m not sure how I feel about the avant-garde look, to me, I imagined it a lot more simple and raw, so I hope it won’t overshadow the song, which is already beautiful on it’s own, without this modern, swedish kind of staging.
Winner in my eyes. Along with Ukraine, of course.
Bulgaria wins the staging battle between SF2 big hitters, but Gjon has the vocals and the song. Very wise to ditch that piano. This has Beautiful Mess vibes from 2017 for me….but “Tout L’Univers” is a better song….this is DEF the one to beat.