They’re known for taking traditional sounds and setting them against contemporary beats. And Sanja Ilic & Balkanika did it again today during their first rehearsal, taking their ethnic sound to Lisbon’s thoroughly modern stage.
The performance begins with an elderly man – with a very long white beard — playing a traditional flute. That gives way to the group’s three female singers, who wear goddess-like dresses and sing before an orange background. It channels soul and adds a nice colour contrast to the group’s washed-out, lilac dresses. A bit of grit and modernity comes courtesy of the drummer beating on industrial canisters with black spray-paint detailing. They’re building a bridge from the ancient to the modern.
The group have added quite a bit of choreography, with the singers slowly lowering themselves and raising their arms as the lead singer, who wears all black, stands in the middle of them. It creates an interesting Balkan take on Charlie’s Angels.
As with so many of the acts thus far, the camera angles need a lot of work. At times the group seems to be swallowed by the stage – even in close-up shots — and this diffuses the energy of the performance. The final minute grew a bit boring, owing to repetitive camera cuts.
Sanja Ilic & Balkanika — “Nova deca”: Reviews and Reactions
Serbia: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2018
Keep checking back for more reviews of Serbia’s first rehearsal
Serbia: First press conference 2018
Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews
Read all of our Serbia Eurovision news here
Footage & Photos: EBU & RTP
Nice staging, I like they’re going for the drums and flut there like good old times. But I don’t really like it.
Wtf was that press conference about? The weirdest thing I watched in a long time. Their spokesperson is a tool. 0/10
Rehearsal was 2/10 . Cannot see this in the final. Just a mess.
Like the traditional sound, my top 3 today together whith Greece and Danmark. Hmm… all traditional sounds … I’m getting old. ; )
Good luck from Sweden
The snippet gave me the same feelings Chris had after watching the whole thing: something was lost on the way to Lisbon. The biggest strenght of this entry is that they have a bunch of very interesting people to show, but the way they were displayed isn’t working. The lighting seems darker than it should too. The good news is that all the problems are solvable, since there’s no prop on their way. I like the song and Serbia would be a qualifier to me, but after Norway and Romania had good rehearsals, they need to up their game ASAP,… Read more »
https://sr.wikipedia.org/sr/%D0%9B%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80_%D0%88%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE
Jastrebsko logor is for serbian chilrden in NDH from 1941 to 1945.
I can see some elements from the Greece staging here: blue backdrop, girls dressed in white, ethno-ballad. I’m not sure if that’s enough for Serbia to qualify but good luck.
There is not much to say here…
It’s a simple staging, but it works for Serbia. Better than last year.
they don t want to delete rude comments, only delete when some say that we had fake couple from Spain, that Australia is EBU baby, that Jon from EBU help Norway for win …
Nice to have some ethnic sound. The dressing looks cool too. But everything is very average here to me…
OMG it looks awesome!!
MESS
It reminds me of B&H in 2016. A sweet mess.
It is a strong semi and I don’t see them making it