Live in Basel: Eurovision 2025 rehearsals — Day 6 (Thursday 8 May)

Day 6 of rehearsals for Eurovision 2025 is a funky one.

To begin with, we’ll continue on with the second rehearsals for nine acts from semi-final 2. Like on Wednesday, the EBU will release 30-second teaser clips on social platforms throughout the day, with a full roundup published on YouTube at the end.

After this, it’s the turn of the automatic qualifiers to have their first rehearsals. For these, we return to the Reddit live blog followed by first look photos released tomorrow morning.

We’ll try to update this post as things drop. Regardless, please share your thoughts in the comments section throughout the day!

Eurovision 2025 rehearsal schedule | Day 6 (Thursday 8 May)

Here’s the full Eurovision rehearsal schedule for Thursday 8 May. All times are in CEST.

• 10:30 — 10:50 Australia
• 10:55 — 11:15 Montenegro
• 11:20 — 11:40 Ireland
• 11:45 — 12:05 Latvia
• 12:10 — 12:30 Armenia
• 12:35 — 12:55 Austria
• 14:00 — 14:20 Greece
• 14:25 — 14:45 Lithuania
• 14:50 — 15:10 Malta

• 15:40 — 16:10 Germany
• 16:20 — 16:50 France
• 17:00 — 17:30 United Kingdom
• 17:40 — 18:10 Switzerland
• 19:20 — 19:50 Italy
• 20:00 — 20:30 Spain

Eurovision 2025 rehearsals | Day 6 part 1

 Australia: Go-Jo with “Milkshake Man”

 Montenegro: Nina Žižić with “Dobrodošli”

 Ireland: EMMY with “Laika Party”

 Latvia: Tautumeitas with “Bur man laimi”

 Armenia: PARG with “SURVIVOR”

 Austria: JJ with “Wasted Love”

 Greece: Klavdia with “Asteromata”

 Lithuania: Katarsis with “Tavo akys”

 Malta: Miriana Conte with “SERVING”

Eurovision 2025 rehearsals | Day 6 part 2

Germany: Abor & Tynna – “Baller”

Comments from Eurovision Reddit:

Are you ready for a German electro-banger as our first Big 5 rehearsal of 2025? Ja, wir auch.

Germany’s Abor & Tynna are our sixth (thank you commenters) on-stage siblings this year (see also: Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Ukraine, Portugal) – these two hail from a family of musicians based in Vienna, so Austrians representing Germany in Switzerland – never let it be said that Eurovision doesn’t transcend borders. This is the also first time Germany have fielded a song in German since 2007, and it happens to be an absolute bop.

So, let’s talk staging. This is another performance that’s had a huge glow-up since the national final – it opens with Abor playing a classical intro of Baller on cello in front of a floor to ceiling curtain, but it’s a very cool white electric cello that’s lit up with white LEDs. Then the curtain drops along with the bass, to reveal Tynna on top of a huge prop – an 80s-style boombox stereo, maybe 3 metres high, with a central platform where Tynna performs the first verse and chorus before descending to join her four dancers, who light her up with handheld spotlights while they freestyle around her.

Tynna is wearing an outfit that’s giving Lara Croft at a Berlin rave – black military-style hotpants and knee-high military boots, a black crop top and elbow-length ruched leather gloves. The lighting and graphics add to the gritty, industrial vibe – lots of pulsing white and blue strobes, BALLER in huge white letters on the black flashing LED wall, and a huge echo on Tynna’s vocal in the chorus that makes it feel like this party is in the biggest warehouse ever.

For the final verse and chorus Tynna dances on the walkway while Abor plays his cello on top of the boombox for the second half – worth noting that his are currently the biggest shoulder pads at Eurovision 2025, but we haven’t seen Italy yet. The cello-smashing at the end? Gone, but never forgotten.

Also PYRO UPDATE – the boombox explodes in the final chorus, and there’s a big firework finish.

France: Louane – “maman”

Comments from Eurovision Reddit:

Next to rehearse is France’s Louane – she’s an icon of the French music scene, having first come to prominence on The Voice a decade ago with her big vocals and emotional ballads.

The song recounts the journey of a lifetime – a child who became a woman, and a daughter who became a mother. In the official video, the suspended dialogue between past and present is told by Louane looking into a house from her childhood to see her younger self, but the staging in Basel has been taken in a different, but no less powerful, direction.

And to help us all understand the vision, we’ve had some staging notes! Merci beaucoup to the French delegation. They describe the performance as follows:

“On stage, the sand falls—grain by grain, like time slipping through an hourglass. It’s more than a performance. It’s a reminder: time moves fast, and every moment counts.

“Maman is about love, loss, and the strength to move forward. The hourglass becomes a symbol of life itself—the cycle, the urgency, the beauty of now. Through the pain, Louane delivers one clear message: no matter what we face, we can always rise. And while the sand keeps falling, we must live—fully.”

So, a few specifics. There’s a circle in the middle of the stage that’s covered with sand. Louane performs the entire song spotlit inside the circle, barefoot in a long, black lace dress, as sand rains down in a continuous stream from the roof above her, falling on one side of the circle.

At one point she kneels and clears a space in the sand to reveal a mirror – every movement is precision-choreographed to meet every drum beat and camera angle, and there’s some stunning camerawork of Louane through the spotlit grains of falling sand. The lighting builds with the orchestral strings, and the drum starts to pound through the floor like a heartbeat until the camera pulls back for a final backlit wide shot. Another one of those performances where we forgot to breathe for a while.

United Kingdom: Remember Monday – “What The Hell Just Happened?”

Comments from Eurovision Reddit:

Next up it’s the United Kingdom and their vocal trio Remember Monday. Made up of Lauren, Holly-Anne and Charlotte, the group’s melodies have made them a hit on social media. We’ve seen them perform What The Hell Just Happened? several times over pre-party season, and now they’re bringing their unique brand of post-party chaos to the Basel stage.

And we’ve had some more staging notes! Here’s how the UK delegation describe the performance:

“It’s the morning after the night before. We reveal Remember Monday in a Regency style boudoir reflecting on the events of the previous evening.

“As the first chorus hits we pull out and with a burst of movement the girls progress down the catwalk taking us back to the chaos of the previous evening.

“On the main stage is a giant chandelier that has crashed down to earth. The chandelier is a striking reminder of the chaotic antics of the night before. The energy then builds before the stage plunges into darkness – leaving the chaos in its wake, the lights return and the girls re-emerge in the safety of the boudoir for a final sweet moment.”

So, to answer the questions we know you’re going to ask – the chandelier is maybe 2.5 or 3 metres high, with candles around the outside. It’s in the centre of the stage, slumped on one side, and it flashes and lights up in various colours through the performance. The boudoir is one one side of the stage – a vintage-style padded screen with a central heart cut-out.

In terms of costumes, it’s very much the Bridgerton-meets-Moulin Rouge corseted dress vibe we saw in the official video – Lauren in pale blue, Holly-Anne in pink and Charlotte in yellow, with lots of flounces and sparkles. There’s some really clever camerawork that adds to the chaos party energy – a swooping shot over the chandelier, and some nice overheads of the LED floor. There’s also a very cute final shot where they sing the closing notes through the heart in the boudoir screen.

The three-part harmonies take the roof off St Jakobshalle, but there’s also a really powerful connection between these three singers – at one point they all start to laugh as they sing, and it feels really warm and natural. Their west end stage experience really shows, but they’re also best mates and that shows too. The whole thing is just a huge amount of fun, in the best possible way.

PYRO update – it wasn’t featured in this rehearsal, but I’m told by the Head of Delegation that there will be pyro. We’ll just have to wait…

🇨🇭 Switzerland: Zoë Më – “Voyage”

Comments from Eurovision Reddit:

Time for host nation Switzerland now, with Zoë Më taking us on a melodic Voyage. Zoë was born in Basel, so this is very much a homecoming – Voyage is sung in French, but she’s known for singing in both French and German, blending poetic pop with traditional chanson.

We’ve had some more staging notes! This time from Switzerland’s Creative Director Theo Adams, who has essentially written this entire section for us in spectacular detail. Here’s how he describes Switzerland’s performance:

“Switzerland’s Zoë Më presents “Voyage” as a three-minute, unbroken moment of cinematic intimacy. The performance unfolds in a single continuous handheld shot, with no cuts, no dancers, no choreography, no set pieces, no props, no LED screen content, and no fireworks. It focuses entirely on Zoë’s presence, unfolding in a quiet, concentrated world built on emotional detail.

“The image is soft and expressive, filmed on a full-frame cinema camera using the exact same Zeiss Super Speed lenses from the 1970s that were used to shoot films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. These lenses create blooming highlights, delicate flares, and a shallow depth of field that gently isolates Zoë in the frame. She begins seated, surrounded by infinite black and sculptural lighting that gives the performance the feeling of a Caravaggio painting.

“She wears an off-the-shoulder black silk dress by Rowanne Studio, printed with abstract florals in deep reds, purples, and blues. The camera moves closely around her, capturing shifts between connection and introspection without interruption. Operated entirely by hand, it carries a natural, breathing quality that responds in real time to Zoë’s energy and presence. The result is a continuous flow of quiet, detailed observation. Intimate, immediate, and unfiltered.

“At the bridge, the atmosphere ruptures. Smoke, wind, and stark, overexposed flashes interrupt the stillness. But the camera never cuts. It tilts, circles, and responds to the rupture with a visceral sense of motion, remaining closely attuned to Zoë throughout. As the intensity subsides, the audience slowly comes into view, their phone lights glowing like stars around Zoë, before everything dissolves back into the infinite black where it began.

“Voyage is a performance built on restraint and cinematic precision. It uses the scale of the Eurovision stage in a different way, drawing all attention to Zoë and the emotion she carries in every frame. Nothing distracts. Nothing interrupts. Just one voice, one presence, and a moment that feels deeply personal.”

What could we possibly add? Switzerland is a MOOD.

Italy: Lucio Corsi – “Volevo essere un duro”

Comments from Eurovision Reddit:

Time for Italy’s first Eurovision rehearsal of 2025, and Lucio Corsi singing his glam rock ballad Volevo Essere Un Duro. He’s a 31-year-old singer-songwriter, originally from Tuscany but now based in Milan. He has a very distinctive and style, both visually and musically – it harks back to 70s glam rock and those timeless Bowie piano ballads.

‘Volevo essere un duro’ translates as ‘I wanted to be a tough guy’ – if you don’t understand Italian, take a look at the translation of the lyrics on Lucio’s profile on the Eurovision website, because this song is a beautiful anthem for those who feel different or struggle with their identity.

So this is very similar to the staging we saw at Sanremo – the song begins with Lucio at a very long piano, wearing a giant-shouldered bolero jacket that looks like the yellow one he wore in the official video, and his trademark white makeup. He performs the first third of the song here, accompanied by guitarist and co-writer Tommaso Ottomano, before taking his guitar to the centre of the stage. So far, so Sanremo.

But there are few striking differences – firstly there’s a giant prop, or actually two. We have two retro speakers at the back of the stage – one is square, maybe four metres high/wide, the second slightly smaller. Secondly, there’s a sepia filter applied to the version you see on TV, which gives the whole performance a 1970s vibe. The TV feed also has English subtitles, which is a lovely way to convey the sentiment of the song to the millions of viewers who don’t speak Italian. And finally, there’s a harmonica solo from Lucio before the final chorus, with both Lucio and Tommaso on the frame stage – a rare appearance of a live instrument at Eurovision.

Lucio delivers the whole thing with his usual effortless charisma – it’s entirely different from anything else we’ve seen at Eurovision this year, and it really has been a year with something for everyone. Bellissimo.

Spain: Melody – “ESA DIVA”

Comments from Eurovision Reddit:

And finally for this evening, it’s time for Spain – this year they’re represented by Melody, singing her pop banger Esa Diva. She’s an established pop artist in Spain, having released over 30 singles and 6 albums.

This song brings all the summer party vibes, and the dance remix was just the beginning of the total overhaul this performance has been given since Melody won Benidorm Fest back at the beginning of February. Melody being lowered on a swing at the beginning, the throne prop, the pink neon – all gone.

Now the staging feels much sharper and more sophisticated, and there’s a clear narrative that splits the song into three distinct acts, each packed with energy and emotion. But it’s more than just the feeling of it – each act has its own colours and graphics – from purple in the first act to red in the second, and pure white at the end that merges with the mountain backdrop at the back of the stage.

Each act also has its own combination of dancers – Melody has five in total, three male, two female – and the routines they perform are different in each act. The structure of the performance is SO clever, and despite the complexity, she owns the stage from start to finish.

We also need to give a shout out to Melody’s outfit, because it’s entirely fabulous. A black corseted bodice with pointy bits on the shoulders and the hips – it reminds us of a black orchid – paired with a black fedora and black thigh boots. In the opening shot, we see her in shadow against a white background, and the silhouette of everything from her nails to her hair is a work of art.

The dancing in the final ten seconds is a real moment – we’re not going to tell you, because we couldn’t do it justice. But just you wait.