Belgium’s Hooverphonic have taken to the stage inside the Rotterdam Ahoy for their first rehearsal of Eurovision 2021. Does their dark and moody staging work in the arena? Let’s see.
Belgium’s Hooverphonic “The Wrong Place” — Eurovision 2021 first rehearsal
Oliver: A very classy production indeed. The whole performance has an eerie, ghostly dark atmosphere, and Geike looks stunning. She’s dressed in a simple knee-length black dress complete with thigh-high boots for an altogether bewitching look. Geike’s bandmates surround her in a square formation, similar to Russia’s Manizha and her backing singers. And as expected, the vocals are solid. Hooverphonic are doing what they do best. But therein lies the issue. This would be brilliant as a live performance at a concert or festival, but for Eurovision as a TV show, it’s perhaps not as high impact visually as some of the other more flamboyant performances. Still, this is a refreshing change of pace.
Padraig: This was a potential dark horse for me. I had hopes for staging inspired by their music video, hopefully on a similar level to the Common Linnets. And while there are nods to the Dutch staging from 2014, this doesn’t quite cut it for me. Hooverphonic are as if they’re at a live gig rather than a TV spectacle. But the focus is very much on Geike. She stands centre stage, surrounded by the musicians and supporting vocals. She also dominates the LED, we catch glimpses of her eyes, her hands and her lips. The three-minutes is definitely a moment. The question will be whether viewers will appreciate the simplistic authenticity or will it just pass them by.
Reaction to Belgium’s first rehearsal at Eurovision 2021
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What do you think? Did Hooverphonic live up to your expectations? Let us know in the comments below.
Read more Belgium Eurovision 2021 news here
Photos: EBU / THOMAS HANSES
I kind of feel this year will be a turning point for Belgium. This time they get it right where they failed ’17,’18 and ’19: stagingwise. This year they send one of their biggest names, with a well produced and performed song…very classy. If they fail to reach the final now, be prepared for or Belgium’s VRT no longer taken part or not caring at all anymore and sending the biggest trash again. It’s just very un-Belgian to send an entry like for instance Cyprus, Croatia or Serbia…We just don’t get that…Being Belgian I’m totally worried that when we miss… Read more »
I 100% agreed with your comment, until you name-dropped Witloof Bay like they were bad… They gave one of the best performances ever at Eurovision, and they were incredible doing all the music themselves with their humming and beat-boxing. Under today’s split televote/jury voting system they would have qualified (same thing if Romania hadn’t given their neighboring 12 points to Moldova that year). We need more Witloof Bay at Eurovision.
Ok I’ll exchange Witlof Bay for Axelle Hirsoux than 😉
but still there’s good and bad a cappella music. and witloof bay had a stupid song to begin with.
I still think this (like Portugal in the second semi) has an inside straight of making it to the final given they are proper bands with good instrumentation that standout in a sea of sameness of modern radio friendly tracks
Belgium serves us some class and style in a SF filled with dancy light weighted young female dance bops. Some call that boring!! Well it might be, but amongst all that circus they will be a beacon of peace. i dunno if the staging of Pannecoucke will do them just, as i havent seen enough of it to make a proper judgement. Good to Go Belgium, For me you will qualify and reaching top 10 in the Finals.
Minimalistic, but that’s what I was expecting from them and that’s the way to go for their song. It should stand out in the middle of all these other songs that are trying too hard to outscream, outglitter and outstage each other.
Geike is an experienced live performer and you can clearly tell with that flawless performance. And yet, it’s a tough SF and I’m not even sure Belgium will go through. They deserve to and I hope they will!
After seeing insights from today’s rehearsals, I am confident Belgium is going through.
Second attempt: To everyone here in this discussion: CALM DOWN! What have you seen? Just a snippet of 15 seconds from far and from distance, without angles etc. Wait until Tuesday 18 May when it will be broadcasted on the telly.
Belgium will stand out between all these Uptempo craziness… Sure qualifier.
Perfect staging, flawless voice, Belgium totally deserves the finals this year.
One of the best perfomances. I´m totally sick of this dancesongs…
Exactly!
They kept things classy and minimalist as I was expecting. If we stop to think about all the entries surrounding them in this semi, I think it’s the best way to stand out, by playing with the contrast. Plus they have Geike, one of the most reliable performers of the lineup.
This is a very classy, tasteful performance. It’s not that less is more, it’s that a true performance instead of the circus of Croatia or Israel isn’t boring, it makes the quality stand out instead of dulling your senses with ridiculous outfits and crazy choreographies. Geike looks amazing and sounds flawless. For me, this is the best of what we’ve heard until now. A deserving top 10 in the final for me!
If being visually arresting is how you decide, Vasil thanks you for your vote.
If this doesn’t qualify, it will not be Hooverphonic’s fault.
the wrong place is actually a pretty good place for them in the running order, they will stand-out in the middle of all that noise.
I wish i could vote in the first semi. If they qualify I’m gonna vote for them in the final 100%.
Leave poor Traincha alone!!! This year the Dutch will end in the final bottom with Jeangu.
I really love them, but I don’t think they will be able to stand out and shine. Unfortunately, this is not the right stage for them.
Serving class and style. Stans would never understand.
Good music doesnt need fireworks, and then you support the biggest gimmick, Lithuania…
Can we maybe just agree that all kinds of songs deserve to exist? 🙂 There are different moods and different songs to match them. Sometimes we want sophistication and emotion, sometimes we need glitter and a bit of fun. Let’s stop pretending that one is better than the other 🙂
This is in my top 5. What a great, sophistacted, elegant song. Too good for the televote, I think.
Prediction:
Jury: 5th-4th
Televote: 10th-17th (this could either be borderline with the televoters or last)
Overall: 9th-14th (depending on televote)
I just realized haha, it’s not letting me edit anymore >:(
No chance to be last with televote. Slovenia, Macedonia will be fight for last place in televote.
This song has been dropping so much in the odds lately 🙁 please make a comeback Belgium!
Agreed! They were at 55% for qualification like 2 weeks ago which is now 43%, and it’s my 2nd overall so it hurts
Are we the same person- LOL
Who’s your 1st? Mine would be France.
Interesting. I’m not too fond of Norway, they’re in my 30th-25th zone. However, I appreciate the story behind it.
Agreed, it could be too low-key for many people. I still hope they would. I really hope the juries don’t place it under Sweden, for instance.
As for Trijntje, I didn’t like the song nor the performance, so the NQ wasn’t that surprising.
Geiker will kick several asses with those boots and her extraordinary voice in SF1.
Beautifull!!!
Love this woman
This is so underrated and honestly I don’t know why. It’s a beautiful song it definitely deserves qualification and a good score in the final.
I expected this. Alex is on the same level as Salvador Sobral. He doesn’t like fireworks.
Meanwhile he is embarassing Belgium with a song not on Salvador Sobral’s level. As a Belgian, I got angry watching the clip on the Eurovision channel.
It will stand out, but it doesn’t do much when you look individually.
Belgians are always negative towards themselves but this just hurts because I hoped Alex would have seen the light after Sennek.
Sorry, but I’ve seen acts way more than Belgium. And Geike, dude, she was one of the best performers of today. And by the way I’m half Belgian.
i feel like the song title will serve some irony ^^
Let’s hope a bad result will be THE WRONG PLACE for them
Simple is art, and in this case being simple was the best thing they could do. 8/10 for this rehearsal
Four songs in, four deserving qualifiers serving quality. This is going to be nail-biting indeed. Belgium is as classy and as mysterious as I hoped they would be.
I feel it to be too empty but this might be its asset. With Ireland, Cyprus, Norway and Croatia before Belgium doing all kinds of everything on stage and with 5 other countries probably doing the same after it, it seems that simplicity might work on their favour. It could be the proof that sometimes less is more
Good point actually! I was concerned this could be to minimalistic, but with all these ‘crazy’ stagings this moody and dark ‘less is more’ performance can actually stand out.
People saying it won’t stand out or is too dark etc….this is Hooverphonic. Where people really expecting back up dancers and pyro?
They are sticking to who there are musically and I really think this could work in their favour.
Best of luck to them.
Dark, broody and mysterious.
It’s first rehearsal though, they’re holding back, like Ireland yesterday, it’s all about cues and placing this time.
On tv I expect this will be intimate, smokey, focused on Geike.
It will ooze class, I’m sure of it. Hooverphonic know what they’re doing.
And toes.
Certainly way worse in this semi than Belgium.
Reminds me of the weird, funereal thing that was Equinox/Bones 2018…..good song, flattened by too dark and eerie a look…great for a one off love gig, but not for a ESC TV show. And I am a BIG fan of the song…..sadly. This is 10th to 13th territory.
Equinox had a dynamic staging.
It’s far far away from Equinox. The bulgarian group was my 2nd favorite in 2018 but the problem for me was that it was to noisy. I found the staging not that bad tbh.
Nothing against her. She’s vocally flawless and looks classy and elegant… But Geike, ‘super sensual’ ? That’s an interesting opinion
Well, that’s an opinion, and I respect that. At the end of the day, I now think this would stand out from the other neon and flashy stage. I guess… ?
Why are you hating on Croatia under the article about the reherseal for Belgium.
the wrong place more like the last place. i’m all here for classy but this is just a snooze lol
Nice dark atmosphere between so many colors, best professional vocals till now and overall a solid performance.
In the mortal combat zone but with less chances (unfrotunatelly).
The only hope for Belgium derives from juries cuz this entry could be considered as dated from the major part of televoters. Hope to qualify !
in the wrong place…………
As a Belgian I always am a bit worried towards that first rehearsal. What will it look like? This year : I am happy! Happy to see that all focus is kept on Geike. That the band is well placed in the setting, showing it is still a group (Hooverphonic). Vocals are on point. Her stage presence is TOP. No comment possible on the dress. Remember Sennek, Blanche and Elliott? We are so blessed to have Hooverphonic now. Will we qualify? It all depends on the mood that Geike will bring to the audience on the night of the semifinal.… Read more »
It seems very class! I’ve just a problem when musicians are “faking” to play in live, of course the average viewers the big night don’t know that so it’s not an issue, it’s just me cause I know that the instruments are not even plugged. Geike vocals are flawless, they deserve to qualify imo.
Good luck Belgium, wish you the best.
I understand your point. I don’t like fake instrument either but it doesn’t bother me at all when I know that the group is so professionnal that we wouldn’t see any difference if they were playing for real. Hooverphonic is so good I cab’t imagije the final without them.
I hope for Belgium!
They all look like they died on that stage, the plus is her vocals which she deffo served and gave her best.. Other than that, not the very best first rehearsal..
I loooove this song and hope it qualifies but this staging seems really boring. Yes it’s elegant and classy, but they could have made it way more impactful. Think about lights, about original and camera cuts. About a concept. About Common Linnets. Ugh, hope it won’t be a remake of Sennek 🙁
Sometimes less is more. Dont write them off just because they dont have a flamboyant staging, Duncan Laurence was also simple and it won, a good performance and a good song can go far with a simple but tasteful staging.
I get many people are worried. The staging doesn’t look great to me, but vocally speaking it’s in a group where everybody else failed. Lesley and Albina proved to be bad vocalist in more occasions, Elena is not great, but fine compared ti others. TIX was great in MGP, but Now he was so off tune. Gejke is pure perfection and juries will love it, while televoters will respect the classy and elegante this band spreads. I still see it as a qualifier, but I admit I am not sure as I was before.
But juries would give points to Belgium either way and the public doesn’t care at all about the vocals (as we saw with king Serhat) so it doesn’t make a difference
Sennek wasn’t that good vocally and she was in a bad position, the staging was non-existent and all the pop songs were later and after her, totally overshadowing A Matter of Time. Hoovperhonic are also more famous and this will help with televote in Netherlands and Germany + they have Lithuania who always love a good moody song. Italy will gove some points too, you’ll see. Sennek and Elliot were much worse and they still got 20 points, although Sennek had not helps from voting allies, something Elliot had. This means we can expect at least 30 points from rhe… Read more »
Exactly.
Belgium is one of those countries that always take the contest so SERIOUSLY.
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, all of those songs were there to win, some qualified, some others flopped, but they always made their country proud at least. I agree with your point and I find no possible scenario where they end up lower than 12th-13th (mainly due to juries), so fingers crossed televoters will support them!
Such a class act. Captivates me the first time I heard Netherlands 2014. Wish Belgians a great success this year.
The band going after Albina and before Eden… Hope they’d still stand out after all. Otherwise, it’s another year without Belgium in the final.
Same, but I don’t think it will work as well as CATS though. Anyway qualification is on the reach. Many people will be tired of flash stagings I guess and besides juries exist.
Aaaaaaand Belgium did it again
Congratulations, after Eliot and Sennek, this ends the trilogy of stagings that ruin your country’s qualification chances… and it’s especially shameful when all three songs are bangers
But just why? Why didn’t they put props, something like the music video? That would be epic!
Quick update: After I saw the clip, it’s not all dark after all! There’s… Geike’s face in the background but that’s better than nothing! I still have hopes, yay!
Belgium and Denmark I think wili be this year dark horses. Belgium thanks to juries, and Denmark thanks to televote. I see both countries in final, and I see both in left side of scoreboard in TOP 13.
Magnetic. Best word to describe Geike. Hope simplicity and quality will be noticed.