In April he told us that he was working hard with his choreographer to nail his stage show at Eurovision 2017. And during his first rehearsal Cyprus’ HOVIG finally showed us what he’s been working on. His staging, which consists mostly of black and white LEDs, sees him walking an illuminated line in the opening moments. It sets the tone for a performance that requires a great deal of balance: He eventually jumps and must land on one foot while performing some simple but intriguing choreography along with his two backing dancers. There were so obvious balance issues — wobble here, wrong thigh position there — but he’ll surely iron that out in subsequent rehearsals.
This has obvious shades of Belgium’s Eurovision 2015 performance from Loïc Nottet — it’s aiming for avant-garde, features lots of black and white and seeks to create something high-impact through its simplicity and edge. Whether it achieves this is up for debate. I’m feeling it and think it makes the track seem less generic. Some of my fellow bloggers, who have Belgium 2015 lodged firmly in their memory, say it’s derivative. But the vast majority of voters aren’t diehard Eurovision fans, so perhaps they won’t remember Loïc — or compare Hovig to him.
Hovig — “Gravity”: Reviews and Reactions
Cyprus: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2017
Cyprus: First press conference 2017
Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews
Read all of our Cyprus Eurovision news here
Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)
I still don’t like the song and this is Belgium’s staging from two years ago. He is more polished than I expected though.
Funny moment in the clip when Hovig can’t balance on one leg. Perhaps that’s a bad omen.
The staging does seem like Loic’s at some parts! There are certainly issues concerning the staging! Hovig needs to get used to the stage and the choreography! That’s why there are rehearsals! I really like the “trying to have balance on a line”! But he should work on it! I also like when the 2 dancers actually push him from the one side to the other and the colours change towards the end! From your review guys I got sth interesting is happening at the end! My first impression was positive in case of Cyprus! Keep up the good work… Read more »
The song itself already had some copyright controversies, then they decided to go further with that.
Copyright controversies? Court case number?
With only Slovenia (heard its meh) and Latvia left:
1. Armenia
2. Greece
3. Sweden
4. Finland
5. Azerbaijan
6. Poland (swapped after looking at pictures)
7. Montenegro
8. Moldova
9. Czech Republic
10. Australia
11. Albania
12. Iceland
13 Cyprus
14. Belgium
15. Georgia
Inc. Portugal
The chroreography has te be on spot, or it will only harm te song. Let’s hope he gets it right.
He walks like there are pins or needles on the stage that hurt his heels, lol.
So he basically ripped off Rag’n’Bone Man’s sound and Loic Nottet’s stage? This semi is going to be hard to get through…
Did not expect he has such thunderous voice. An advantage for him but also a disadvantage. There’s little room for mistake.
it doesn’t help other countries that armenia, the UK, and greece all vote in this semi :/ :/ :/
it’s artsy and it might qualify instead of iceland which will make me weep
How about the more realistic option – neither qualifies?