Photo: EBU / Thomas Hanses

The 11 May saw the final eight acts competing in semi-final two of Eurovision 2021 undertake their first rehearsal on the Rotterdam Ahoy arena stage. Tornike had lyrics projected upon him, VICTORIA showed us the sands of time, Gjon’s Tears gave us avant-garde, and that’s just a sample.

After reading the reviews from the press and watching the official rehearsal clips, we asked you to vote for which act you thought delivered the best first rehearsal out of these eight countries.

There were two standout acts in this poll, with one just pipping the other to the gold medal. After counting 5,262 votes, we can now reveal the winner…

VICTORIA delivered your favourite first rehearsal on 11 May

The winner of this poll is VICTORIA from Bulgaria. Following her rehearsal of “Growing Up Is Getting Old”, she picked up 1,573 votes – that’s 29.89% of the total number of votes cast.

VICTORIA’s stage show touched many people. Sat on top of a rock with a steady flow of sand coming from above, the Bulgarian star sings next to a picture of herself and her father. Wiwiblogger Oliver was getting the feels while watching VICTORIA’s rehearsal:

“Goosebumps. We open up to a starry night, with VICTORIA sat alone beside a photo of herself and her father. It’s intimate, warm and cosy. She’s wearing all grey — an outfit not too far removed from those of Roxen’s dancers in the “Amnesia” music video. And as the song grows, wider camera angles are incorporated to give the illusion of the stage growing too. VICTORIA stands during the second chorus and is revealed to be on a rotating platform that looks somewhat like a cliff’s edge. There’s brilliant cohesion between the track and the set design and it fully immerses the listener in a three minute snapshot of raw emotion. Vocally perfect, too. It’s hard to imagine a world in which this doesn’t qualify. Bulgaria is a contender for victory.”

Following closely behind in second place is Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears. The “Tout l’Univers” singer received 1,452 votes (27.59% of the total). Whilst the star could have taken the obvious route of having a dazzling universe plastered on the LED screen, Gjon’s Tears instead delivered an avant-garde performance with black and white lighting (and a splash of purple).

There’s a nearly 900 vote drop down to third place, where we find The Black Mamba. The Portuguese band were not rated that highly amongst fans before rehearsals, but it seems they’ve managed to convert a number of people with their classy and sophisticated rehearsal for “Love Is On My Side”. They were awarded 582 votes (11.06%).

Two other acts received over 500 votes in the poll. They were Finland’s Blind Channel, who finish fourth, and Albania’s Anxhela Peristeri, who rounds out the top five.

In sixth place we find Fyr & Flamme from Denmark. They’re followed by Latvia’s Samanta Tīna in seventh and Georgia’s Tornike Kipiani in eighth.

Poll results: Who had the best first rehearsal on 11 May?

  1. Bulgaria: VICTORIA — “Growing Up Is Getting Old” — 29.89%  (1,573 votes)
  2. Switzerland: Gjon’s Tears — “Tout l’Univers” — 27.59%  (1,452 votes)
  3. Portugal: The Black Mamba — “Love Is On My Side” — 11.06%  (582 votes)
  4. Finland: Blind Channel — “Dark Side” — 10.11%  (532 votes)
  5. Albania: Anxhela Peristeri — “Karma” — 9.58%  (504 votes)
  6. Denmark: Fyr & Flamme — “Øve os på hinanden” — 5.53%  (291 votes)
  7. Latvia: Samanta Tīna — “The Moon Is Rising” — 4.81%  (253 votes)
  8. Georgia: Tornike Kipiani — “You” — 1.43%  (75 votes)

Total Votes: 5,262

Do you agree that VICTORIA had the best first rehearsal amongst these acts? Who do you think will improve the most in their second rehearsal? Let us know in the comments below!

Read more Eurovision 2021 rehearsal news here

15 Comments
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Shan
Shan
2 years ago
Josh
Josh
2 years ago

I think Semi 2 has three clear standouts: Iceland, Bulgaria, and Switzerland. Throw San Marino, Greece, Finland, and Serbia into that mix and we have another bloodbath of a semifinal.

tomtomtom
tomtomtom
2 years ago

I refuse to vote unless I see the full rehearsal. These tiny clips are useless. I have no clue who is better than who.

Atlas
2 years ago

Portugal is a dark horse?

Yikes
Yikes
2 years ago

Zzz…

Corey
Corey
2 years ago

The whole thing is just bought out, where’s the authenticity?

Michael Green
Michael Green
2 years ago

Portugal beginning to slay. Go The Black Mamba!

lithnerrr
lithnerrr
2 years ago

I literally love how did both semis just turned into blood baths

Alex
Alex
2 years ago

Slayage!

Tul
Tul
2 years ago

So popular, I noticed she got many hunderd votes within an hour! ;–D

Stan
Stan
2 years ago
Reply to  Tul

The people give their vote. I saw this for Switzerland too. So…

Rashad
Rashad
2 years ago

I don’t even need to vote Bulgaria, since it has so many fans. She’ll just fly to the final with those supportive bulgarians.. oh wait this isn’t JESC where you can vote for your own country!

Stan
Stan
2 years ago

She deserve it! Amazing vocals and staging!

Doris
Doris
2 years ago
Reply to  Stan

from the backsinger.

Ángel NF
Ángel NF
2 years ago

I really loved Bulgaria’s and Switzerland’s performances, one was so charming, the other one was so charismatical. Well done!