Israel Eden Alene First Rehearsal Eurovision 2021

Israel’s Eden Alene has taken to the stage inside the Rotterdam Ahoy for her first rehearsal of Eurovision 2021. Her performance includes a costume reveal and a spectacular whistle note. Are they enough to win? Let’s see.

Israel’s Eden Alene “Set Me Free” — Eurovision 2021 first rehearsal

Oliver: She hit the whistle note! Eden’s vocal was shaky on the first run but was much smoother on the second take. This shows promise she’ll nail it on the night. The staging, however, is quite bland. Eden’s backdrop is mostly static and looks like an old school Las Vegas billboard, with the song title plastered in blue and purple. Further up the stage, there are more billboards with hanging lights that show Eden’s outline moving in stop-motion. A lot happens in the last 30 seconds and it’s very jarring when compared to the slower opening. Eden’s white coat suddenly reveals into a rather underwhelming black dance costume, and she’s crowned with a braided hairpiece (which ended up wonky in two of three takes). Altogether, this last segment looks sloppy.

Padraig: Israel is elevated! There’s lots of neon, including giant signs in the image of Eden. There’s also a costume change and a crowning moment when the dancers place a crown of braided hair, like her own, upon her head. Eden owns the stage and she knows it. She smashes the high note too. We saw three takes, with the last one being the smoothest by far. That was the only time the reveal went without a hitch.

Reaction to Israel’s first rehearsal at Eurovision 2021

 

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What do you think? Did Eden Alene live up to your expectations? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

Read more Israel Eurovision 2021 news here

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lin
lin
2 years ago

Eden looks so beautiful and stylish!

Jake
Jake
2 years ago

Am I the only person who favors Israel and Eden over Malta and Destiny…I know I’m in the minority–but this just feels way more polished and Eden also delivers solid vocals and I love the ethnic instrumentation

gurki loko
gurki loko
2 years ago

Her tighs and calves have the same width. It looks scary.

Séimí
Séimí
2 years ago
Reply to  gurki loko

Also her head looks too big for her body.

lin
lin
2 years ago
Reply to  Séimí

And you ? I wonder how you look lol

Drusitta
Drusitta
2 years ago
Reply to  gurki loko

We all know she looks better in those outfits than any of y’all so stfu and stop discussing her body.

ESC Stan
ESC Stan
2 years ago
Reply to  gurki loko

First you have issues with a woman’s breasts. Now you have issues with a woman’s legs. Gee im sorry you must have so many body issues yourself to be hating on others like that

lin
lin
2 years ago
Reply to  gurki loko

I bet you are Miss universe………..

Lin
Lin
2 years ago
Reply to  gurki loko

How envy are you to write about someone so beautiful like Eden those nonsense..really..

sombooty
sombooty
2 years ago
Reply to  gurki loko

what was the point of this comment

Trina
Trina
2 years ago

A moment of solidarity for all of us who have ever had to wear “nude” tights or costumes involving mesh, where the costumer clearly had not thought through that some of us come from significantly different colour palettes. (My immediate thought to the top photo was, “okay, I totally get why Surya Bonaly’s mom made all her costumes herself.”)

I like this performance, though, and I hope they qualify!

Rob
Rob
2 years ago

Eden always said she wanted to have a Diva moment, but the cards she’s been dealt with only allow her to fulfill that fantasy in about 20 seconds at best. The mini-dress reveal is an act of bravado as if she’s playing caution to the wind, but only a desperado (the stylist) would actually commit a fashion crime with an unflattering and grotesque mini dress that looks like a Rorschach test. Somebody has to be brave enough to paint that picture for her. The staging has a lot to answer for too: It was probably too much to ask for… Read more »

tomtomtom
tomtomtom
2 years ago
Reply to  Rob

You’ve been posting negative comments from day 1, predicting it won’t qualify. So when this ends up being a solid qualifier, are you going to stop the negativity and admit you are wrong headed about all of it?

Last edited 2 years ago by tomtomtom
Alex
Alex
2 years ago

The outfit is giving me suspiria but not in a good way

tomtomtom
tomtomtom
2 years ago

If she hits the high notes this will be around #3-6 in SF1. So an easy qualifier.

Denis
Denis
2 years ago

Coming after Croatia with similar song and staging wasn’t such a good idea! One of them wll have to NQ

tomtomtom
tomtomtom
2 years ago
Reply to  Denis

They have nothing to do with each other. I think both Croatia and Israel qualify because they are both good in different ways and will outshine some of the other less exciting songs.

Last edited 2 years ago by tomtomtom
Jacob S
Jacob S
2 years ago

love it! i just wish she had girl dancers instead 🙁

Sabrina
Sabrina
2 years ago

Though the obvious comparison is with Croatia (As Heyey commented, this can even become a case of “mutual cancelling”), I also feel this is like Sweden in the sense that Eden and Tusse are much more compelling than what they’re singing and what’s going on around them.

Denis
Denis
2 years ago
Reply to  Sabrina

At least Sweden and Israel are in different parts of the semi so it isn¨t that competetive. But coming third after two similar songs is much more competitive.

Sabrina
Sabrina
2 years ago
Reply to  Denis

Just to be clear, when I compared Israel to Sweden, it was just more in a personal level of how I feel about them. Casual viewers won’t probably even put them in the same category, one feels more party pop, the other is more anthemic.

But the comparison between Croatia and Israel will be unavoidable, given the genre, the color scheme and the running order. I feel Croatia is catchier, but Israel looks more professional. Maybe Israel has the upper hand because of the jury.

Colin
Colin
2 years ago
Reply to  Sabrina

I’d dare to say that the Israeli song is perhaps even slicker and punchier than the Swedish one, albeit perhaps even more abstract and calculated.

Sabrina
Sabrina
2 years ago
Reply to  Colin

I agree. And I’ll add that if one doesn’t pay attention to the inconsistency in the lyrics like we did, “Set Me Free” is very easy on the ears.

Blanche
Blanche
2 years ago

Her vocals are good as expected. Song is still bland and staging is.. well female vocalist with all male dancers.. (shocking). Still she may qualify who knows, she has a lot of supporters in this site.

Why that dress though..?

Somebody
Somebody
2 years ago

So far, every high-tempo choreography besides Israel’s have a lot of inconsistencies with sync. Dancers should really work on that till next week.

Great performance by Eden.

Candy
Candy
2 years ago

Hmmm I don’t really like the black “dress” maybe her voice will get some points with the juries but I would be happy if someone else qualified in her place

Kristian
Kristian
2 years ago

Israel was above Croatia yesterday , but Croatia is back again at the 10th qualifying spot in the odds .

However , Croatia is at the 6th spot at the odds to Not qualify.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
2 years ago
Reply to  Kristian

y’all give too much importance to numbers decided by british men with a gambling addiction

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
2 years ago

main pop girl energy. literally the full package. she deserves the world

kas
kas
2 years ago

!!! Nice dresses fit so good in the whole concept. Problem in the high note in the 1st run, very improved hit at the end. Overal this is surprisingly a big grower.
Likely qualifier !

willchrisiam
willchrisiam
2 years ago

Oh, no! Why those uninspired costumes? She should have kept the pink pantsuit from the video. That was fun and fresh. This is basic. The leds are bad. And the dress reveal? Ew. It doesn’t suit neither the song nor the performer. Who came up with the idea of having Eden in the nude, covered with her braids? I’m really disappointed and sad for her. They need to mail her the sparkly bodysuit and the pink outfit from the video for the second rehearsal asap.

Last edited 2 years ago by willchrisiam
Sot
Sot
2 years ago

The “What are we livin’ FOY” and “Like we did befo-OY” made me wheeze, sorry

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
2 years ago

I don’t think Aiden should be hitting those whistle notes right now. I feel like she should be marking that part until we get closer to live show date so that her voice doesn’t wear out and her whistle notes sound bad or can’t reach them.

Ashton Schier
Ashton Schier
2 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

I love Aiden Eileen

Eurovision2016>
Eurovision2016>
2 years ago

croatia is 100% qualifying and will outshine israel. croatia is the guarantee of israel not qualifying because people will vote for croatia instead.

Yeah yeah fire
Yeah yeah fire
2 years ago

Meh, looks like JESC in my opinion.. I don’t like the dress or the shoes especially. The backdrop boring.

Jo.
Jo.
2 years ago

wut!!??

Eurovision2016>
Eurovision2016>
2 years ago

that dress is ugly af lmao. I don’t think loreen would have won melodifestivalen with that dress hahaha. guess we have our last place in this semi.

Last edited 2 years ago by Eurovision2016>
Roodi
Roodi
2 years ago

She is 100% gonna qualify Juries will plce her top 5 for her voice and the song is good produced.She is charismatic so televoters will place her also high.

Balint
Balint
2 years ago

Please change the dress

Séimí
Séimí
2 years ago
Reply to  Balint

It’s hideous, reeks of desperation in a “I will wear anything for attention” sort of way.
A small it of subtly would do much better.

Heyey
Heyey
2 years ago

By the looks of it Israel’s and Croatia’s stagings (mainly background/neon lights/costumes) look very similar, so they might cancel each other out. They are very close to each other in the running order as well. I think we will lose one of them in this semi 🙁

Last edited 2 years ago by Heyey
BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
2 years ago
Reply to  Heyey

That’s what I figured too. We either have Croatia or Israel the final, or neither will qualify, but I can’t imagine both qualifying. They’re both too similar and Might cancel each other out.

Heyey
Heyey
2 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking! I think Israel screwed itself over more, because they probably knew Croatia would go with the neon theme. Like you said, it could possibly be that they both fail to qualify. Israel has the voice though, that could please the juries, and I think that televoters will like Croatia more.

Last edited 2 years ago by Heyey
Hello hi
Hello hi
2 years ago

Another barbara dex contender . Do these people not see how crap their outfits are

Colin
Colin
2 years ago

She can SING, and we all know that. However, this isn’t a sexy diva banger like Cyprus, Azerbaijan, and Croatia are. This costume is very out of place here. Had she picked Ue La La, this would be a good fit. For Set Me Free, not so much.

Teddy
Teddy
2 years ago

This semi final just keeps getting more difficult.

Tonks
Tonks
2 years ago

I think the background didnt fit a costumes

Sot
Sot
2 years ago

ANOTHER DRESS REVEAL?

Oh boy this is gonna be a fun semi

SeNhiT
SeNhiT
2 years ago

(nvm)

Last edited 2 years ago by SeNhiT