With day seven of Eurovision 2021 rehearsals drawing to a close, it’s time to review the competition.
Today, eight countries took to the Rotterdam Ahoy stage for their second rehearsals. We got another look at the acts from Georgia, Albania, Portugal, Bulgaria, Finland, Latvia, Switzerland and Denmark ahead of next week’s live shows.
The Black Mamba kept it classy, Victoria enchanted us and Blind Channel delivered a dazzling light show. But who was the cream of the crop? Vote for your favourite second rehearsal in our poll!
Scroll down to vote in our poll.
Eurovision 2021 rehearsals: Day Seven (May 14)
Click on the below posts to read our reviews, watch our reactions and see snippets from each country’s second rehearsal.
- 🇬🇪 Georgia: Tornike Kipiani — “You”
- 🇦🇱 Albania: Anxhela Peristeri — “Karma”
- 🇵🇹 Portugal: The Black Mamba — “Love Is On My Side”
- 🇧🇬 Bulgaria: VICTORIA — “Growing Up Is Getting Old”
- 🇫🇮 Finland: Blind Channel — “Dark Side”
- 🇱🇻 Latvia: Samanta Tina — “The Moon Is Rising”
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland: Gjon’s Tears — “Tout l’univers”
- 🇩🇰 Denmark: Fyr og Flamme — “Øve os på hinanden”
Poll: Who had the best second rehearsal on May 14?
As always, you can vote for as many songs as you like. But remember, you can only vote once — so make it count! This poll will close on May 15 with results publishing shortly after.
[polldaddy poll=10832282]Who did you vote for? What do you think of today’s changes? Sound off in the comments below.
Read more Eurovision 2021 rehearsal news here
PHOTOS: EBU / THOMAS HANSES / ANDRES PUTTING
Yes wonderful performance from Portugal. Really class. Great voice ans compose.
https://wiwibloggs.com/2021/03/24/poll-what-is-your-favourite-eurovision-2021-entry-chosen-in-a-national-final/263516/#comment-1150619
DDRaven…Let’s see who was right!
Bruh, I will be mad if Albania not qualifying for the finals, and I will be more mad if Albania withdraws from Eurovision next year (this sadly might be the reason the broadcasters from Albania have low budget due to the pandemic)
Sure Bulgaria has a nice staging, but the song just isn’t amazing. Very basic lyrics and her singing is time to time mumblong where it’s hard to understand the words.
Couldn’t agree more – nice song, but ultimately three minutes of tedium – I’m always waiting for the Bulgarian girl to finish (and I’m usually into songs that are not meant for the dance floor).
The queeeeen of the night is comingggg….. And her chances to qualify. A-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!!
Who is she? Samanta or Victoria?
Portugal surprised me. A song that everyone had written off is now standing chances to qualify with this awesome staging.
Bulgaria and Albania get points too. Latvia has kitschy ladies but Samanta is powerful.
Denmark is cringy 80sfest.
Switzerland was the most disappointing.
Albania, love this gurl
Bulgaria was the obvious standout for me today. It does create a moment and depending on the running order in the final this could be a contender.
I’m a bit let down by Switzerland because I feel Gjon’s energy on stage doesn’t match the song, but there’s room for improvement.
Finland was very enjoyable, as well as Portugal and surprisingly Latvia – Samanta is really selling this very well. I got unnecessary Fuego vibes from Albania’s staging that don’t match the song, Denmark I simply don’t get, and Georgia unfortunately is just a sleeping pill.
Switzerland loosing its momentum… Drops in the odds significantly. Remember that I predicted this to happen?
voting me down will not change the facts LOL
My big question about this semi is if Albania, Austria and Portugal can all qualify together. Because in terms of staging and vocals, I believe all of them deserve to make it along with those I believe are secure (Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Iceland, San Marino, Serbia and Switzerland). Though I still believe that at least one more fun song will make it, someone between Czech Republic, Denmark and Moldova (I used alfphabetic order, but coincidentally this would be exactly my order of preference between them).
They can, although I feel it’s probably be gonna be 2/3 with my likelihood order being Portugal>Austria>Albania. I think all 3 uptempo entries you mentioned are losing momentum, while I’m getting some good vibes from Latvia, which thanks to the running order too can be the surprise qualifier.
It’s how I’m seeing it too, though I still feel Albania has the advantage of being the only 100% ethnic entry in the semi. By personal taste, I would probably leave Austria behind, but they stand out even more being in the 1st half.
I still have trouble seeing Latvia qualifying because I feel Samanta’s style may be too much for a general audience, but I guess it’s fair to say they’re still in contention for the “fun spot”, since Moldova is losing steam, Czech Republic has a bad running order and Denmark may struggle with the juries.
I think that the ethnic element is completely lost with this staging and she appears so lost in the big stage. Serbia and Greece are winning the Balkan votes by far and I don’t think that juries will save Albania. Regarding Samanta I was worried she will come across as aggressive which is always a big no in televoting but instead she appears to be fun and likeable, while the vocals are so good that can’t be bottom with the juries. She has this crazy positive energy that can help her just scrape through. It is very marginal in my… Read more »
I agree, the seven you mentioned are over 90% going through. Three among these are likely going through: Portugal – It used to be my last, but the staging really lifted it up, and has shown some finesse. Also, is it just me, or is his singing technique more subtle and gentle in the rehearsals, compared to FdC? It makes it a bit more emotional, and a bit less gimmicky. Czech Republic – Urgh… I was certain about Benny before, but now I’m afraid it’s going to get swallowed by others. Still, I will remain hopeful. Benny is such a… Read more »
I’m not seeing much difference in Tatanka’s vocals. Maybe they just grew on you with time? Or maybe it’s because in Festival da Canção they were more showy than the rest of the pack, since most Portuguese singers tend to keep things subtle and gentle. I tend to agree with most that you said (though I’m not rooting for Moldova andtheir sugar-free staging). About Benny, I’ve seen a longer video from his rehearsal and I don’t think he’s giving it 100% yet. Since he mentioned forgetting a few dance moves during the 1st rehearsal, maybe he’s more cofused on memorizing… Read more »
Interestingly, my top ten hasn’t changed a lot. The only changes I realistically see are Russia going up, perhaps Iceland going over Lithuania and Czech Republic, and maybe Romania dwindling a position or two (unless the live convinces me otherwise), but not enough to exit my top ten. Within ”my teens”, Croatia grew on me a lot too. This is the first time since 2016 that I really want us to qualify. I am totally supporting Albina. On the other hand, I think that my bottom has changed A LOT since the rehearsals came. There are some songs I wasn’t… Read more »
Still too early to rearrange my top 10 (which is actually a top 11, since the 11th got the same grade as 8th, 9th and 10th). Romania is the only one from the top group that disappointed me so far, but I’m still hoping Roxen will find the right times to breath and make it work. It’s still a song that I love and one of the best concepts of the year after all. Also Belgium is on the way to close the gap between first and second tier, so maybe it will end up being a top 12. As… Read more »
I was keen on KEiiNO even more than I was on my favorites from FdC, and I still really liked Tix’s song since he won. While the shock / disappointment might have played the part, I genuinely just didn’t find Love Is On My Side interesting. However, I admit that your warning was there for a reason, as they really elevated it now. Considering how many songs I like more, I cannot say that they will likely be high on my list, but they will be much higher than before. 🙂
I am much more confident in Austria than you. It feels a lot like a jury top 3, or at least able to get sufficient points to push it through. Their running order also help them to stand out in the first half of the semi.
Latvia is my crazy call, I just find this girl’s energy infectious, compared to plastic emotionless Moldova and all over the place Czech Republic. Denmark could make it instead, I haven’t ruled them out yet.
Portugal wow
Exactly! Just pure quality!
I’m used to give my vote to 4 countries on these polls and this time the lucky ones (oops reference) were, in alphabetical order, Bulgaria, Finland, Portugal and Switzerland. Albania comes 5th, with Denmark and Georgia following and Latvia… being Latvia, at last place
WTH…Latvia from the bottom to the second place for a few minutes… LOL
1 DENMARK
2 Switzerland
3 Albania
4 Portugal
Bulgaria again. Very good!
This time, Latvia has a better rehearsal and Samanta really likes it
Portugal finally understanding the meaning of the word “staging”. Well done!
I don’t see why everyone is suddenly upset at Switzerland doing dance moves. As I understood, he was doing them in the first rehearsal too. Where was the criticism then? Maybe the new clip shows it in more detail.. Personally, I find it cute and even cool. It really sets it apart from other emotional male piano ballads in recent years. Gjon feels like he believes in what he says and how he moves. What I will say is that I hope these are not the final editing cuts. The editing is somewhat choppy, and indeed doesn’t bring it to… Read more »
I agree with everything you said!
They were not that intense and the rap moves were not shown in the first rehearsal
Exactly… Love the song and all but those rap moves… just why lol
Like some other people have stated, the problem is not the fact that Gjon is trying to dance, but maybe at least for me he looks like he is rapping or singing an hip-hop/urban song. He is an excellent singer and performer, but this is just not the way. I love the fact they are trying to change from the Duncan-ballad style and I don’t even mind the last part of the clip released on ESC official channel, but my main problem are the hand gestures which seems so random and disconnected to the song. Tout l’Univers is my winner… Read more »
Ultimately, I’d be okay with most of the obvious front-runners winning. This year, all of my top 5 are in the top ten of the current odds (Switzerland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, France, Italy). Iceland isn’t far behind. As for Malta, while I find the song only okay, I would be happy for Malta to win after so many years of participation and (sometimes overlooked) big efforts. Destiny would be the first black woman to win, and the first person to win both ESC and JESC, and honestly, I would be happy for her. Also, Valetta looks like a dreamy place for… Read more »
I can only speak for myself, but while I appreciate they’re trying something unexpected, his moves on the snippet distracted me a little. Since it’s still a rehearsal, maybe Gjon is more worried about getting used to his marks than about perfecting the dance or conveying emotions. His vocals were flawless though. If everything looks more natural when the right time comes, I’ll be on his side, because visually the concept looks good. In the end, even if when the big nights come I still think he’s not mastering his moves, his song is still one of the best of… Read more »
Thank you for sharing your POV, Sabrina. Somehow, I believe that the performance will become spectacular when edited properly. I believe in him. 🙂 But, yeah, Bulgaria, Iceland, and Switzerland (perhaps Greece too) are the strong candidates to win the second semi, and when the competition is this strong, being 1st or 4th means quality and success. 🙂
Oh, I forgot to mention it on my reply, but I agree that the camera cuts are a little slower than they should be here. But on these few years following the rehearsals I’ve noticed that the final product is always better in this aspect. The best example was “Spirit in the Sky”, which looked disjointed in the 2nd rehearsal snippet and worked like a charm when the right time came.
I liked the rehearsals of Albania, Bulgaria, and surprisingly Latvia?? Which is weird since Latvia was my last place… Switzerland should really aim to keep it intimate and minimalistic if they want to win this, which I do!
Same. From the snippets i liked Bulgaria, Albania and Latvia. Im also not a big fan of Latvia song, the the camera shots and the special effect looks great towards the end. Im really surprised by Latvia escially hearing people complaining about her staging. The green color of the dress and per presence and voice are also so strong.
So uh. After um. What happened with Switzerland I think it might be safe to say that Bulgaria’s probably winning the second semi final.
No still too boring Bulgaria, at least you won’t be bored with Switzerland staging !
I find his staging to be too grey and kind of brutalist honestly. I know others are using galaxy themes this year but it would’ve been much more fitting with his song. Especially since his music video utilized that theme and it worked really well.
The Best;
Bulgaria
Switzerland
The Worst:
Latvia
The Indifferent:
Portugal
Georgia
The Promising:
Albania
Finland
The Meh:
Denmark
Downvote me if y’all want (-2 atm) that’s my opinion.
If the song is bad I’m going to say, if the staging doesn’t compliment a song I’m going to say, if the song is bad and the staging is good, I’m still not going to push it up the list and say it’s good.
It’s my opinion.
-1, thanks to my vote
Agreed, Bulgaria and Switzerland are the outstands, and I hope they place top two in the semi. 🙂
I think they will for sure.
People I am sorry for Gjon, because Switzerland already butchered the song with chosen choreography, having watched only the snippet I see a guy dancing that doesn’t match with the lyrics at all, this is a sad song it doesn’t require dancing which is meaningless and ridiculous, it’s like trying to put blood a life into a stone and make stone jump, the story of this song won’t come alive now people are gonna see a male figure put the song behind him, it’s like a joke. The less than a minute of performance, snippet already ruined the song and… Read more »
Gjon said that this is a warrior song, not a sad one. I don’t understand French, so I’m worried that people like me who’ll be listening to song without knowing the lyrics won’t connect with him.
That’s what happens when you partner up with Sacha Jean-Babtiste. Sad, but true.
From what I’ve seen, SJB can make or break a song, there’s no in-between with her smh
God, this dude keeps ruining fan-favourites’ staging.
Maybe the fact that he didn’t make Italy’s one is a sign..? No?
As a French, I can say that it’s not that clear when listening to the lyrics. Cause he is speaking about what the pain revealed in him, and the need to find some air. To me that “warrior”, “powerful” feeling is more given by the instrumental that reminds Woodkid. Moreover the color of the staging and the propos are perfect for the song I think it can work. But all is killed by the dance moves.
He is saying: “I see behind us pieces of you, and that which the pain has made of me.” It really doesn’t match the dancing
bulgaria and portugal were the best today. i honestly found switzerland very distracting and the dancing or whatever he’s doing really takes away from the song. it’s definitely not the winner
I couldn’t agree a more with you on Switzerland performance, it’s horrible
Completly true. Portugal best stage and amazing performance. Wonderful voice and compose. They really have class.
Switzerland and Latvia both did great. Denmark is awesome anyway
Albania dissapointed me and Serbia is a big no
I watched Swizerland two times and it went from from wtf to amazing. I love that he has guts to do this, much better than standing there or playing the piano.
Agree. It will just take time to grow on people
Here are my comments about today’s performances: Georgia – I like the atmosphere and simplicity. Still, it doesn’t stand a chance due to the weak song. Albania – She looks powerful and she can deliver the emotion. My only concern is still her loneliness in that huge stage and the stop moments of the song. Portugal – It’s one of the performances that I’m impressed. Visuals are slick and gorgeous. I am thinking of his qualifying now. Bulgaria – Well, she gives us exactly what we need from her. Simple yet effective staging and emotion. It’s an easy top5 in… Read more »
I agree with you. The amazing stage and voice performance and the class of this beautiful song with a great message.
I applaud Switzerland for doing something different, but the moves, simply, don’t make sense. He will still easily qualify, but Bulgaria absolutely beat them in the staging department. When it comes to qualification this semi is kinda strange, because there are quite a few surefire qualifiers, but then the quality just kinda drops when it comes to the other 2-3 qualifiers. I feel like San Marino, Greece, Iceland, Serbia, Bulgaria, Finland and Switzerland will qualify comfortably, and then Austria, Portugal and mayyyyybe Denmark will qualify alongside them. I’m still hoping for Albania, but the performance just feels super empty and… Read more »
Senhit & Gjon’s Tears Adrenalina is coming
Portugal is in a league of their own – just quality in every way! Pleasant surprise: Albania (never been overly interested – but this was really genuinely good! Recall now how I rooted for Eugent Bushpepa a few years ago! And Albanian is such a beautiful language). Have commented on poor Gjon and Switzerland below – so won’t add to the “pain”!
Everyone wanted Flo’Rida but don’t worry Gjon’s Tears is here !
what does this mean
Some are saying that he has moves like a rapper.
*Gjon gets into Senhit performance and starts rapping*
Maybe all the religious pictures from Senhit’s 1st rehearsal and them being changed to Flo Rida and question marks are predicting the metamorphosis of Gjon to a… rapper? Idk, I think I’m taking this too seriously
Loool. I love Gjon
Albania Portugal Denmark Finland are the only ones I actually liked..
Switzerland just dropped to 6th in the odds. I have a feeling Gjon will be the Loic Nottet (Belgium, 2015) of this year and place 4th-5th… and then Tout l’univers will become a fan-favourite after the competition has ended, just like Loic.
Still don’t understand the odds, one dress can bring back a mediocre song at the top of the odds and just a snipset of avant-garde staging can drop a song that remains amazing with vocals out of this world.
True
it’s about people risking their money, every single thing that could make them lose their money is enough to modify the odds
If Gjon was just sitting or standing still and singing his song people would criticize him for “copying” Duncan and now that he is doing something out of the box and different, people are still criticizing him. And I must also say, his dance moves DO look more natural than the dancing in some of the bops this year, lol
What about doing something DIFFERENT but that FITS? 😉
It’s the weird jumpy camera angles for me that make me understand why he dropped in the odds
it doesn’t look like him, it doesn’t feel like him.
He tries to out Mans his Duncan song. And it shows.
The ideal staging for Gjon would be one inspired from Michael Schulte so that the focus will be only in Gjon’s emotions and his powerful voice.
Do we see Barbara dancing akwardly? No. That’s why she’s the favourite now to win Eurovision (according to bookmarkers).
i beg on my fours that gjon stop rapping and get into the mood of the song
his move in the chorus is good but dude you aren’t supposed to do dances like that when the song is building sadly
this is ruining his winning chances.
So let’s see my ranking today: 1) Finland (Oh they are now real top 10 contenders! They gonna make the whole arena put their middle fingers up). 2) Albania (WOW WOW WOW! This is literally the only staging from SJB that went just fine I think. Anxhela is very impressive and she had to perform in a powerful way like that) 3) Bulgaria (This is so pure and relaxing. I now admire this song much much more than anytime before) 4) Latvia (Actually the blood moon rose and the queen of the night came and she’s Samanta. It’s so pity… Read more »
Georgia: completely disagree with the design (“sun-shiiiine” while all the stage is blue? doesn’t match well)
Loving the rehearsals of Albania and Portugal.
Liked Latvia and Finland, but Blind Channel could do better.
Bulgaria is amazing and I think it will be on the juries’ top 3.
And now Switzerland, omg those camera angles hurt… Gjon seems a bit nervous and he doesn’t stay in the place he should. Bad rehearsal for him, hope he does better in SF.
with that being said my 2nd rehearsal top of these songs is:
1- Bulgaria (by far)
2- Portugal
3- Finland
4- Albania
5- Latvia
6- Switzerland
7- Denmark
8- Georgia (by far)
Ignoring the “favorites”: what a grateful surprise is Portugal. The idea is simple but it really works. This elevates the song, I can see them going to the final now. Good job!
A little bit unfair putting this poll up before Denmark’s performance has actually been uploaded to YouTube…..
true
Tout l’Univers is my favorite song. I guess Barbara and Måneskin can be happy now. Sacha made it again, she destroyed every chance Gjon had to take the trophy. I hope he somehow sneaks the top 3, like Sergey the last edition but I doubt it.
It’s not Sacha’s fault that Gjon’s tears doesn’t have the best staging though…? His dancing just seems weird and unnatural to me, and that’s not sachas fault
In my opinion, Tout l’univers is staged perfectly. If they went down the piano route, people would compare it to Arcade and ultimately wreck its winning chances. The minimalistic staging reminds me of Eric Saade’s Melodifestivalen performance… which has never been seen at Eurovision before!
I totally disliked Eric Saade, so that doesn’t help. The delivery deoesn’t look authentic enough to me; I know it’s not simple to stage an entry but the main problem is not even the stage itself, but Gjon’s movement… that looks like a rapper would do with his own song, I think it may be really disconnecting for the viewers.
Staging is far less important than the song and vocals. Switzerland has those in spades.
Agree 100%. But people are obsessed with the a show. A good song and its delivery by a good singer remains so no matter the theatrics, while a bad song, well will still be a bad song. But the petty minded care only about the visuals.
If you really think Swiss had a good rehersal you are lying to yourself. He acts like a rapper during the emotional part of an emotional song. One question, WHY?
Gjon is giving me Saade vibes and that’s not good.
I wanna wait until see it full because the experience might feel different. They took a risk on this but Gjon didn’t need it probably
Albania’s was the most interesting snippet of the day for me. Switzerland was underwhelming.
Denmark will teach in televoting of grand final the method to burst the Italy-France-Malta bubble !
But first has to qualify.
Eurofans, Denmark needs your support and your vote.
I just don’t understand what is happening with Switzerland. They don’t have a single person in their team raising the voice and saying “this doesn’t look good”? Really? And I don’t think the idea is bad, but the execution doesn’t work. Even Samanta Tina looks more natural when dancing than him…
I agree but at the same time what if he is enjoying it and is having so much fun? Is it not the most important?
Maybe they paid for those dance moves and now they think they need to do what they paid for. But the money lost won’t be such a loss regarding the impact on the performance it has
I’ve to admit….I laughed a little bit with the clown dressing and the vertigo moves. But, this is the only one song from the supposed top5 that deserves the trophy. He is a very nice chubby boy and the whole staging (including dancing moves) fits well to him !
I like this !
I’m so depressed now that the odds for Switzerland dropped so much and everybody hating the staging…
I really had high hopes for my home country, but when I look at the negativ reactions now, it seems my hopes are crashing hard.
I love Tout l’Univers so much and Gjon is just a great person and artist. Why is this happening? Q.Q
His dance moves is what’s happening
don’t worry, it will be alright 🙂
I really wish it
I dont care about the staging. I like the song, i m gonna vote for it!!
With Switzerland till the end!
Who s with me??
Lol dont mind me tryna raise an army here to save my favourite song.
Thank you 🙂
Don’t worry. Those who cared about the song still care about it no matter what. Our singers are singers not dancers. So no bad dance move will take away the merit if the song or the singer. I was a fan of Gjon last year. I am still one this year. So don’t worry.
But most people who will vote, will see and hear the song for the first time next week. So they will probably not enjoy the song, because the staging will put them off or just confuse them. >.<
Bulgaria and Albania.
I don’t understand why the fan press were raving about the Swiss staging so much. Looks like Sasha has done as terrible a job for Switzerland as they did for Malta.
Voted for Bulgaria, Portugal and Albania. Good surprise: Latvia, bad surprise: Switzerland. That dancing…
Just looked at the Swiss clip! I have never been overly keen on the song – but this was shockingly bad! Almost feel sorry for the guy – what were they thinking – those in charge? Can’t say I’m losing my sleep over this entry, but that Gjon really deserves better! Poor guy!
The dance for Switzerland is definitely not working and even though I wasn’t the largest fan of tout l’univers, I still feel bad for him because it must be stressful to fall in the odds when everybody has winner expectations of you. Better thing to do is less movements and maybe just create a cool effect/story with the transparent LED instead. Because it looks like he is interpretive dancing but I don’t see what it’s trying to portray. Then again I’ve only seen 40 seconds. Maybe it’s all just too much. To dance, sing and have great camera expressions. This… Read more »