melovin eurovision 2018 under the ladder first rehearsal
Ukraine, Mélovin, 3

Mélovin’s name is a combination of Halloween and Alexander McQueen. So it was fitting that he turned up to his first rehearsal at Eurovision 2018 looking like a high fashion vampire.

The “Under the Ladder” singer begins the performance resting inside what appears to be a coffin with cut-outs. The door soon opens and we realise he’s actually lying on the top layer of a two-tiered piano. Bathed in lights and rising high, it’s an eye-catching centrepiece that’s out there but also accessible.

His make-up is more toned down than at the national final. While the goal there was more “freak ’em out”, today’s look leaned more editorial and Kyiv Fashion Week. He’s still striking, but now the look is more dark glam than ghoulish.

The genius behind his staging? Ukrainian stage director Konstantin Tomilchenko, who also staged Jamala’s winning Eurovision 2016 performance for “1944″.

Given the height of the piano — and the fact that it includes a furnace at the bottom — the team took great care to protect the singer. In a statement sent to wiwibloggs they said:

“The complex installation serves as a hidden spot for the singer at the very beginning of the staging and as a music instrument on fire closer to the end. These props need very sophisticated technical support. If the operation button is pressed a half second earlier or later then there is a chance for MELOVIN to hurt himself seriously. And let’s not forget that the fire needs to be released exactly when the singer starts playing the piano.”

Melovin said: “‘Nothing but your will sets you on fire. Fire lasts forever’ — this line from my song that inspired Konstantin Tomilchenko and me to create this theatrical staging. I wanted to keep the fire but kind of escalate the whole props story to another level. With Konstantin we share the same vision of exactly how my performance should look and I also love what he’d done for Jamala.”

Tomilchenko, who always puts the safety of his artists first, emphasised how careful he was.

“The installation looks impressive, and that’s exactly what we want to bring to Eurovision stage. I’m really worried about how it’s all gonna work together. We need to take extra caution during rehearsals and at the semi-final.”

Mélovin — “Under the Ladder”: Reviews and Reactions

Ukraine: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2018

Ukraine: First press conference 2018

Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews

Read all of our Ukraine Eurovision news here

Photo & Footage: Courtesy of EBU (Thomas Hanses)

38 Comments
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Hannah
Hannah
6 years ago

Please, get him some serious training on the pronunciation before Saturday.

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

I wanted him to bring the piano and he did! It looked great, similar to the NF, with the stairs burning. The opening using the piano as a “coffin” looks creepy but not off putting. My favourite performance!

Yulia
Yulia
6 years ago

Accessible how? Accessible to all the other people that sleep on coffin pianos? Odd choice of words.

Simon
Simon
6 years ago

Stunning artist and performance is wow! me loving singing vampire a lot:))

Jo.
Jo.
6 years ago

Gonna do well with the public, but not so much with the juries.

Bruno
Bruno
6 years ago

He is an amazing artist and his staging is stunning ,its gonna be jaw dropping performance on May 10th ,mark my words!

fugu
fugu
6 years ago

Not a song that brings out any particular feelings for me one way or the other but I can see this getting high marks. And I could be okay with that.

The background singers choreography is good for few laughs (of enjoyment, not derision)

kkk
kkk
6 years ago

Better than sweden.

Belle
Belle
6 years ago
Reply to  kkk

No! Sweden is better!

Tuvddtgccj57g
Tuvddtgccj57g
6 years ago

Why hasn’t anyone mentioned “Love love peace peace, And a burning fake piano” yet?

Bruno
Bruno
6 years ago
Reply to  Tuvddtgccj57g

maybe because there is NO fake piano and they’re burning stairs, not piano

Tuvddtgccj57g
Tuvddtgccj57g
6 years ago
Reply to  Bruno

Well he’s not playing the piano.. and wasn’t the piano burning in the national final?

Alex M
Alex M
6 years ago
Reply to  Tuvddtgccj57g

You should just rewatch the national final performance.

Denis
Denis
6 years ago

A sure qualifier. Very good Lady gaga Halloween number

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Sure qualifier. TOP 15 placement almost asured too.

Miguel
Miguel
6 years ago

There is not much to say here. I have seen this performance before in the national final.

Melovin is very expressive and the whole performance is very dramatic. Going last will ensure the qualification. No doubts about this.

MikolasFan
MikolasFan
6 years ago

H e is simple amazing artist, go singing Dracula!

Mr Gold
Mr Gold
6 years ago

France does not deserve its position in odds, but they will completely lose in televoting.

Germany have at least some message in their song (anti-abortion)
France is a depression with shallow lyrics.

Mr Gold
Mr Gold
6 years ago
Reply to  Mr Gold

Shame on France and all fans of France. They troll all rankings / polls every year. SHAME ON YOU!!!

Mr Gold
Mr Gold
6 years ago
Reply to  Mr Gold

Bad country with bad fans. Europe is ashamed of you. I hope you know it.

NickC
NickC
6 years ago
Reply to  Mr Gold

Yes, we are ashamed. Thanks for bringing some sense into us.

Mr Gold
Mr Gold
6 years ago
Reply to  NickC

Let’s beat the plus record for this comment!

Mr Gold
Mr Gold
6 years ago
Reply to  Mr Gold

If someone is a child here and does not know what is going on, then here you have one of the examples of French inventions for humanity:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine
It’s hard to believe, but it’s most probably true, since it’s even on english Wikipedia.

namename
namename
6 years ago
Reply to  Mr Gold

Read the German lyrics again. There is nothing about abortion

fugu
fugu
6 years ago
Reply to  namename

No kidding. It’s about a guy missing his deceased father.

Sabrina
Sabrina
6 years ago

Vibdir’s performance was very entertaining, but also random. So maybe the vampire nods are there for storytelling purposes (since the lyrics won’t help on this department). I agree with Chris, the fire effects were underwhelming when compared to the previous effort. But since the great strenghts on Vibdir were the camera angles and Mélovin looking super cool on each and every take, I’ll wait to the final cut to decide what I think about the changes. I hope his enunciation is indeed better. Can’t tell by the snippet.

Evie
Evie
6 years ago

My favourite. Love this song so much!!

Anita
Anita
6 years ago

With his new haircut or whatever he looks a little bit too sleek for me – I prefer his performance and appearance at the national selection. But maybe if I see the whole performance he convinces me that this is better.

Passarinho
Passarinho
6 years ago

Off topic, but i’ve checked Mikolas instagram and he is already walking and will be tomorrow at rehearsals, he seems to be much better

Alex M
Alex M
6 years ago
Reply to  Passarinho

That’s really good news.

Sabrina
Sabrina
6 years ago
Reply to  Passarinho

Great news. 🙂 He seems to be very perfectionist, so I bet he can’t wait to get back to work.

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga
6 years ago

Based on the descriptions (coffin, piano) & the short clip, I’m getting semi-Gaga “Fame Monster” “Born this Way era” vibes. Which means, I’ll probably like the final product. He just needs to ensure it’s not over the top dark, as that’s what turned off the general public from Gaga 3-4 years back

NickC
NickC
6 years ago

Here is my daily update, I think the winners of the day are Hungary and Ukraine. 1 France 95.47 (+1) 2 Israel 95.12 (-1) 3 Cyprus 88.26 (+1) 4 Czech Rep 87.91 (+5) 5 Sweden 86.40 (+1) 6 Norway 85.00 (+1) 7 Bulgaria 84.19 (-4) 8 Estonia 77.91 9 Australia 77.44 10 Austria 74.07 11 Finland 73.02 12 Belgium 72.56 13 Ukraine 65.58 (+2) 14 Spain 63.26 (-1) 15 Belarus 61.28 (-1) 16 Moldova 60.35 (+2) 17 Italy 57.67 (-1) 18 Azerbaijan 55.12 (-1) 19 Lithuania 54.88 (+1) 20 Germany 54.07 (+1) 21 Switzerland 52.21 (+3) 22 Greece 52.21 23… Read more »

oscillate
oscillate
6 years ago

Enunciate. Enunciate.

This is what he badly needs.

Alex M
Alex M
6 years ago

Nice staging. I also hope they’ll do more fire at the actual show.

Ally
Ally
6 years ago

Winner of the semi, mark my words!

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

I find this entire act so off-putting, it’s like he’s doing too much on a very forgettable song and I can’t consider this a certain qualifier seeing how similar entries have failed in the past.

P!nk Forever
P!nk Forever
6 years ago

Fantastique!

I‘m burning inside out. Dead in a ditch on so many levels. Lit and shook. Chewed up and spat out completely.

Welcome to the final, Mélovin!