The 1950s was a decade known for pinup beauties.
And at Ireland’s first rehearsal at Eurovision 2019, Sarah McTernan was a vision in a red co-ord.
She starts her performance strutting out from between the spinning LED screens, before catching up with her backing dancers at their favourite milkshake bar.
Sarah wore a fun statement necklace with the word “Pow” and big hoops, giving a modern flourish to a staple fifties look.
Ireland has a particularly beautiful shot from overhead of Sarah spinning on a bar above a star scape. The rest of the scene is given over to a 1950s comic book vibe and lyrics lifted direct from “22”.
The camera angles still need work. There are bits where it doesn’t focus enough on Sarah and in one of the runs there was a a shot where we saw a cameraman running across stage.
On the whole Ireland have the ingredients here to serve up a delectable stage show. Tighter camera angles will help.
On the vocal front, Sarah sounded the best she has all season long.
Sarah McTernan — “22″: Reviews and Reactions
Ireland: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2019
Ireland: First press conference 2019
Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews
Photo Credit: EBU
Surprise surprise. She said initially that the staging would be simple like Ryan’s last year!…well wow this looks really good!!
rises up from nowhere- this song tells a story so expect it to do very well…. ireland writes good songs..
Chris is a moan isn’t he? Pot, kettle here….. as he is always under rehearsed, misses his cue, has bad timing and no presence on camera. Sarah has just had one rehearsal and will only get better.Chris is always under par in his performance and has never got better so those in glass houses…….
Love this song, but her vocals sounded really bad on this video… Hopefully it’ll sound better when it’s actually recorded and broadcasted.
Someone who was in the press centre says virtually the only time Sarah went offkey for the entire morning was on that short clip and this is giving a totally misleading impression of the rehearsal. Apparently she sounded great on the other run throughs.
I can’t say I like what we’ve seen so far, but it gave an identity to the song, which is positive. Sarah’s voice can and should get some love for the juries, let’s see what the retro vibes can do with the televote.
The Truth About Love Tour says Hi! First Australia with their high flying elements, now Ireland with that backdrop. Truly inspired by Ms. P!nk!
LOVE IT!! THIS IS SO ORIGINAL AND FUNNY!! Well done!
I have a feeling this is sailing to the final…contrary to betting odds and fan expectations…
I hope so ?
Agree . Retro song and retro vibe of staging help Serbia 2011 to go to final(juries pushed song in final)
Good point!
Love the 1960s Pop Art backdrop, easily the best Irish backdrop since Lipstick in 2011. They appear to have staged the hell out of 22, I would say this is a natural continuation of what they started last year with Ryan O’Shaughnessy (but in a completely different style of course). Hopefully it pays off Sarah gets through to the final.
Interestingly it’s the same team. I think RTE should keep them, they know what they’re doing.
The staging is definitely elevating this. Good on them. I can see juries placing this in the top 10. She has a nice husky tone to her voice and it all has a cool retro vibe to it.
Not exactly the song I’d associate with that decade but okay.
Me likey! Cheerfull light entry between all drama, this could be surprise Q
A bit cheesy for my taste, but it’s good to hear that Ireland gave us something memorable – overall the idea sounds fun and original, with that whole retro trend nowadays I think it’s gonna get some love from the viewers. I really want them to qualify and I think they will.
The staging lifts the song!
This could be a dark horse!
I like the pop art behind the performance. I think it will be remembered from the earlier entries despite being in second position in the running order. Remember there is a recap of the songs so people will see the performance again before voting. Voters will remember the colour, fun, positivity and vote.
It looks very amateurish for me. The song is sweet, but not impactful enough for a final place.
Sorry Ireland!
Now it makes sense why they put it 2nd in running order. Quite a contrast after Armenia and before Moldova. It will do well with juries.
Liked her better than Armenia, tbh. Staging is too important, apparently.
rahrah served such a cute performance. i was wishing for less green and more pink but honestly she’s on the right way <3