It is day five and we feel alive.

Today 15 acts from Semi-Final 1 take to the stage for their second rehearsals and we’ll review them in groups of three. We kickoff with Cyprus, Montenegro and Finland.

Reactions to second rehearsals at Eurovision 2019: Cyprus, Montenegro and Finland

Cyprus: Tamta with “Replay”

In first rehearsal we did not have vocals, but this morning Tamta dispelled any doubts over her abilities. She sounded studio quality in both runs of “Replay” she managed this morning. Cyprus was slightly late starting, which meant they only squeezed in two rehearsals, but the improvements Cyprus made were impressive. By second run the performance was brighter, had tighter camera shots and a real sense of pace. This song is opening the show for a reason.

Tamta, “Replay”, Second Rehearsal Preview Video

Montenegro: D Mol with “Heaven”

D Mol sounded fantastic in their second rehearsal. Harmonies are on lock and the solos shine. But unfortunately that is where the good news ends. Although ethnic elements in “Heaven” sound amped up, the overall production has a lot of problems. Camera shots film the wrong soloist singing at the wrong times and in terms of choreography the band appeared to get muddled. A final run through showed big improvements, but overall the finished product remains unpolished.

D Mol, “Heaven”, Second Rehearsal Preview Video

Finland: Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman with “Look Away”

Category is Tom of Finland. Sebastian Rejman commands the stage in his leather-heavy look and is one of few performers this year to make use of the catwalks. Finland started out shaky, but had started to consolidate their performance by the final run. Finland is not without problems: The first minute feels limp, but the last two make up for it. In particular there’s a beautiful set of transitions set to the hand-clip beat in the bridge. This still has a way to go, but is a world better than during first rehearsals.

Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman, “Look Away”, Second Rehearsal Preview Video

Check out all of our rehearsal news here

Photo Credit: (EBU)

67 Comments
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TheRainFromAbove
TheRainFromAbove
4 years ago

In Real Life Madona is dancing with Maluma! But you here stress about Malta Women? —

Conchitaah
Conchitaah
4 years ago

Cyprus is damn awful. And please, stop making excuses regarding the fact that “oh she had technical difficulties, she got new rehearsal” etc. You all got so disappointed by the fact, that she cannot sing this song live. That rehearsal, was not even a LITTLE near to the studio version. Even if you listen to the Studio Version you will see that there’s autotune in the high notes, in order to make the audience SORT OF SHOOK for the rehearsal and the actual performance, same as for the acoustic version, where you can easily recognise there was a lot of… Read more »

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Conchitaah

She had this great accustic version on an Israeli radio show. I liked it a lot. Not the same requirements as a live stage show, but worth noting.

Conchitaah
Conchitaah
4 years ago
Reply to  Whisker

Yeah, but her voice was OBVIOUSLY edited in the Acoustic version that you referred to, Whisker.

LiliWood
LiliWood
4 years ago

Cyprus was awful. Music is a banal pop but could be improved with good staging. What they present is something that seems very cheap and vulgar (clothing, choreography) with poor vocal work.
Montenegro will never cease to be weak. But they deserve a few points for trying. Still the voices are good and this is already more than a few performances this year.
Finland is lost between a reasonable music and poor camera work. Is this Israel should not have a better stage and better footage? The 3 of them are NQ for me!

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
4 years ago

I’m still crying over the Montenegro mess. 🙁
Cyprus I worry for – I hope the issues are sortable.
Finland? No comment.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Here’s a tissue. You will survive.

Kosey
Kosey
4 years ago

Cyprus – looks nice but vocals sounded dodgy?
Montenegro – why are there 6 of them? Just seems far too muddled and confusing
Finland – surprisingly better than the reviews have said – graphics look nice and all 3 of them are bringing their own thing to the table.

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
4 years ago
Reply to  Kosey

Montenegro should have been a duo with the rest of singers serving as backing vocals.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

Brilliant idea.

Ezal
Ezal
4 years ago

Montenegro- this amateurism is painfull to watch. At least they’re having fun 😛 NQ
Finland- dude, it must be hard to sing about world problems in those pants NQ
Cyprus- this is favourite to win the semi, really?!

Otto
Otto
4 years ago

Why does Wiwi say Tamta was studio quality? Maybe it’s my hearing but it really doesn’t sound great to me at all..

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Otto

It seems that ESC official channel uploaded as the official rehearsal video the “bad” run-through. I wonder why.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Whisker

I followed the Wiwi livestream for a bit, that’s what they said – also that the footage is from the first run-through of today. So the post here says one thing, but during the livestream something different. Confusing!

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago

Cyprus: the snippet is quite disappointing. It sounds bad and looks cold. The replay effect is so shy that could be mistaken as a streaming issue. A decent opener, a finalist, but at this point it’s maybe more “Monsters” than “Fuego”.
Montenegro: they’re clearly trying, but it isn’t working. I hope they’re having a great life and professional experience.
Finland: there was a cohesion in the UMK performance that seems lost here. The snippet is chaotic.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago

Cyprus, bad vocals, can be improved. However, the botox and anorexic look cannot.

Sylvia
Sylvia
4 years ago
Reply to  Whisker

That’s kind of unfair. Tamta is only 38 years old and she has always been thin. I wouldn’t call her anorexic.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Sylvia

No offense to Tamta. What’s unfair is the pressure on women to look a certain way, young, thin, beautiful, desirable. Also in the era of HD Tv. Being on camera – the camera “adds pounds/kg”, every pore, expression line, peach puff is visible.

Kosey
Kosey
4 years ago
Reply to  Whisker

There is pressure on men too. Unless you can tell me another reason why Luca and Sergei are so high in the odds? Also, I know this is controversial but are you really telling me that Duncan is such a strong favourite purely because of the song? I really wished people would have more confidence to be themselves – I think it makes you more attractive when you are yourself anyway, and even if no-one else likes you, at least you like yourself.

Ksenija
Ksenija
4 years ago

Finally watched tamta’s rehearsal with sound. There are no excuses for such terrible vocals. I expect her to put a blame on technical issues, if she hasn’t done it already, just like last year’s greece.
How can wiwibloggs write she sounded like in a studio version is beyond me.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Ksenija

What did Greece last year say? That was a disappointing performance.

Ksenija
Ksenija
4 years ago
Reply to  Whisker

In all of their rehearsals both vocals and the staging were terrible, and they blamed techical team for not doing their job well. There were constant talks about them waiting for the staging to arive from greece to portugal but due to transport and customs issues it didn’t get on time for rehearsals. Tbh i don’t remember if it finally got there but i remember that they always asked for impossible. It was a mess. The blue hand was always a part of the staging tho.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Ksenija

Thanks Ksenija. I don’t know. Custom issues from an EU country to another EU country? That doesn’t sound right. Transport? Plan it wisely. Free piece of advice: don’t ask for the impossible and don’t screw with the producers. There are 40ish countries in the run. I am sure the producers aim at the highest levels of professionalism, a good show will “show” for their skills, expertise, knowledge besides making all of us happy for a great show, but there must be some decency on the part of delegations. Yianna was just not good enough performance-wise, the vocals were ok though… Read more »

Skiwalko
Skiwalko
4 years ago

Quick review #1:
Cyprus – I’m underwhelmed, the vocals are not there, too many wide shots, the “replay” effect should be emphasized
Montenegro – dull and amateurish, it’s gonna be quickly forgotten by the public
Finland – not as bad as I thought it’s gonna be, but I get an awkward vibe from Sebastian, the shots are a bit messy

crime_dog
crime_dog
4 years ago

I can’t believe how lame and unimaginative the camera work is this year. That’s especially obvious with Cyprus – this is NOT how you direct a dynamic dance number. It’s just pan in – pan out – pan in – pan out…

Andy
Andy
4 years ago
Reply to  crime_dog

I totally agree and it feels like all the rehearsals so far have been a bit below par re the camera angles. I can see why countries like AUS or Malta that present video clip type of staging can profit.

Re the pan in/out could this be cause the stadium is already quite small/low ceiling so they don’t have that track where the camera goes left to right (vice versa) very quickly behind some of the crowd?

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago
Reply to  crime_dog

By the snippets released so far, it seems that the pan in – pan out thing is a general problem. Maybe they have less cameras than usual?

Denis
Denis
4 years ago

If Tamta doesn’t improve vocals she might be the shocking NQ of the season!
Montenegro: Think we might have found our 41st place. So messy!
Finland: Not bad but still think Finland might be the only Nordic country that might not qualify.

Ksenija
Ksenija
4 years ago

Cheap, dated look for a cheap, dated song. I think it fits.

Ksenija
Ksenija
4 years ago
Reply to  Ksenija

And the worst thing they weren’t internally chosen, the public and the jury voted for them and they won by a landslide. Who could vote for it, that is the question. I read the comments (i speak the language) and it seems that people chose them because they are yoing :/

Ksenija
Ksenija
4 years ago

I don’t like tamta’s outfit and i especially don’t like the outfit change. She looks cheap and tacky. I’m not putting eleni on a pedestal but she could pull this off, tamta can’t.

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

Cyprus didn’t sound good in the clip I saw. It sounds bonkers to say it but they might be in danger.

ChrisD
ChrisD
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Greek and Georgian televoting yes, but I’m not that convinced about the juries.

Zuzu
Zuzu
4 years ago

There is another video of Tamta’s rehearsal I just watched, and she does not sound like that, but better. It was uploaded in YT by ogae belgium.
If she sang better the second time, why upload the first?
I don’t get it.

Héctor
Héctor
4 years ago

Tamta sounded “studio quality”? Lmao I’ve just watched the rehearsal clip and she sounds out of breath and out of tune. Flop incoming guys, as with Saara Alto last year: qualifying and 18-26th place. Didn’t deserve more before for me tbh. The staging isn’t helping either, so unoriginal.

About Montenegro, nothing would be able to save it. Strong contender for the 41st place.

I’ve got some positive feedback about Finland, the camera angles really work for me. I still think they won’t qualify but it’s something, I guess.

Burger
Burger
4 years ago
Reply to  Héctor

Montenegro is a strong contender for 42nd place and below: can you withdraw at this late time?
Cyprus should ask SJB for their money back, only thing Tamta is contending for is Barbara Dex, and there are stronger candidates in that field too.

Esc1234
Esc1234
4 years ago

Omg… I love Tamta but let’s be real… Those vocals are not for the final… I really don’t know what is wrong she is a good singer…

Burger
Burger
4 years ago

Cyprus looks a bit cheap, and I think the vocal is strained but it will probably qualify (although that vocal could be a deal breaker): was always going to be hard to follow the staging Fuego had last year
Montenegro looks like it is even cheaper I don’t think that one gets another run after Tuesday: won’t qualify – Finland is dated and I even get the sense it sounds like Euroband in 2008: won’t qualify

Puff
Puff
4 years ago

Finland is the best from these three. I saw them all from Eurovision’s Youtube channel.

Elli
Elli
4 years ago

I love Tamta, the song is not among my favorites but it’s ok, the performance-staging could be better but i don’t hate it, HOWEVER THE VOCALS…oh god i couldn’t stand listening to a 40 seconds long rehearsal
Someone save this before the semi cause it could be a surprising NQ

Artur
Artur
4 years ago

Tamta can’t sustain a note, it was horrible. How can you say that it sounded studio quality and praise her vocal abilities? I thought you were supposed to be experts LOL

George
George
4 years ago
Reply to  Artur

Obviously, they got paid by the Swedes.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  George

And outfits, see Poland this year.

Fair
Fair
4 years ago

Guys, I can even see the underwear of the Montenegrin singer… Such a cheap outfit!

Skorkmaz
Skorkmaz
4 years ago

Sorry for Cyprus. Real replay of Fuego. Personally i feel everywhere fuego vibes in this song. This is not enought for big surpise this year. TOP 10-15 wil be great success for Cyprus.

Andy
Andy
4 years ago
Reply to  Skorkmaz

Probably correct but I think Cyprus will be ok because Switzerland’s is identical to Eleni’s (same dancer, catwalk in the beginning, colours etc.) so probably people will think Cyprus’ isn’t as much.

Whisker
Whisker
4 years ago
Reply to  Andy

Switzerland has two dancers that danced with Eleni last year. And Cyprus has at least one that danced with Sweden Robin on the treadmill.

Gigii
Gigii
4 years ago

Go Montenegrooo !

Just me
Just me
4 years ago

Cyprus looks a little cheap for me.

Andy
Andy
4 years ago
Reply to  Just me

I probably agree. I really like the song but I don’t think this outfit and wet look flatters Tamta. She has always been fashionable with bright colours that stood out and I just feel this look doesn’t do her justice. I’d probably get rid of the gloves.

Nick
Nick
4 years ago
Reply to  Just me

Absolutely agree…cheap copy of Maruv

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago

no one can hit the Heights of superstar Duncan, he can’t flop especially not in this weak year

vote for Netherlands or don’t vote, nothing can go wrong for us dutch

we are the only ones with a bop, masterpiece, best all time eurovision song

vote vote vote for Netherlands, you must or else

Esc1234
Esc1234
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

We must? Guess what

WE MUST VOTE ANY SONG WE WANT.

Salem
Salem
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

I have a feeling you’re not in fact a Duncan fan, but rather the opposite, and you construct comments like that in an attempt to make the Dutch fans look delusional. Personally I’m neither a hater nor a lover of his song, but I do hate unnecessary comments like that. Please stop.

Otto
Otto
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

If you are really autistic as you claim or have some other issues (schizophrenia?) , please tell your mother to take away your phone or laptop or whatever device you use to keep trolling. You are really annoying people with your nonsense and will only receive hate. That can’t be healthy for you either. So stop it.

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago
Reply to  Otto

goodbye then

Anna
Anna
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

lol….you’ve just a typical good balad in the most mediocre esc of last decade…If you’d the MOST MOST MOST MUST entry then you’ll never beg for some votes….here !!!

Otto
Otto
4 years ago
Reply to  Anna

Don’t take the bait. This is exactly what he wants as a response.

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago
Reply to  Otto

exactly, people won’t listen to me anyway, and we dutch will win

Matija
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

I will not vote for Netherlands, sorry hahahahh

Leo
Leo
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

This is about Cyprus, Montenegro and Finland btw.

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago
Reply to  Leo

i have a problem i admit, i am not a troll but i have mental issues

and my disappointment about arcade’s staging got to me

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

i am sad that my country never gives me what i want from us at eurovision, but Always going for basic crap, i know it is a song contest but we’re also watching a show, and i do also want a bit of show act besides a good song of course

and i like intimate songs this year Slovenia, Austria are perfect examples of that

and most emotional i get with Israel this year

WannaEatMySpaghetti
WannaEatMySpaghetti
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

I feel pity for you. You’re certainly not Dutch… Anyway I will vote for Duncan because I love his song and his voice.

EscFan2008
EscFan2008
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

I apologize for this delusional person who thinks theDutch song is the only ‘good’ song in the contest. He has no clue what he is talking about and just is searching for attention. We Dutchies are usually not so optimistic when we look at our own , but this song is an exception. It made most fans move and some even crazy (like this person). All I can say that for the very first time in 12 years of watching I am proud of our entry and I do not care how far he will go but he has my… Read more »

Nick
Nick
4 years ago

Cyprus disappoints,this will flop unfortunately beause i really like the song but it is weak like performance