Day 3: start of the 2nd semi rehearsals

Day three of rehearsals: the second semifinal has started. Nobody knows about the stage anymore. We try to keep you informed. For the time being, we’ll stick to the nine countries that rehearsed.

FINLAND: Expectations were obviously high with a big name like The Rasmus in da’ house. In black and yellow rain gear, the stars stood on stage between huge black balloons. Eurovision.tv praises the professionalism of the band members.

ISRAEL: It was quite exciting whether Israel would participate or not. However, the security issues died down. And so Michael Ben David stood on stage in white, surrounded by his dancers. Remarkable: eurovision.tv reports that there is good singing. That has not been done so far.

SERBIA: Konstrakta’s act is little different from what we saw during the national final. She has the healthy hair of Megan Markle, which she also sings about. She washes her hands regularly. The dancers around her carry towels. Everything to stay “In corpore sano”, in a healthy body.

AZERBAIJAN: It was to be expected: Azerbaijan has a standout act. Nadir Rustamli sings from a sort of staircase that looks like a grandstand. There is also a dancer in that stand. Halfway through the act, the stand is split in two and the dancer and singer can see each other.

GEORGIA: Circus Mircus represents Georgia. And clowns belong to a circus. A singer in a leather jacket and flying goggles, a man with an eye patch and a belly organ and a bassist who seems to have borrowed the hat from the Ukrainians. That last man has a beard of flowers. Many colors can be seen on stage. Surreal is how even the official site describes it.

MALTA: Emma Muscat performs in a dress covered with silver. She is flanked by four dancers. Later during the act, she sits behind a huge piano. She also uses the so-called B-stage, just in front of the green room. The sun springs into action and gives off its golden light during this act.

SAN MARINO: You can expect a striking act from Achille Lauro. He wears body stocking, cowboy boots and hat, a black boa and he is at a red rodeo. While you’d expect that with the title “Stripper,” the clothes don’t come off. Where there is smoke there is fire: that certainly applies to this act, which ends with a lot of pyro technics.

AUSTRALIA: Of course Sheldon Reily wears his jeweled mask. Surprising is the huge white suit he is also wearing. At the bottom of the suit is a huge tow. Eurovision.tv compares it to a wedding dress that drags on the floor. It almost seems as if Sheldon is staying in the clouds.

CYPRUS: Andromache is singing in a purple dress with what looks like a huge fan behind her. The dancers move around that fan. The fan is also used to display the graphics. Different colors are visible.

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70 years of Eurovision: small studios and lost footage

The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1962 Eurovision traveled to Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. Everything was just a little too small in this small country. Luxembourg television received assistance from the German broadcaster ZDF. The presentation was in the hands of Mireille Delannoy. The same sixteen countries as in 1961 participated. Camillo Felgen took part for Luxembourg yet again. With a third place, he did much better this time than two years before. But the absolute top favorite was Germany. Dutch commentator Willem Duys introduced her with the words: “She looked as if she had just won the entire Grand Duchy in a lottery.” After hearing the competition, she was slightly less self-assured. Ultimately, she would finish sixth with her “Zwei Kleine Italiener.” However, she did have the contest’s big hit. The French-speaking countries were in charge this year. Luxembourg itself came third, Monaco second, and France won. A ballad by Isabelle Aubret about, of course, love. Aubret received 26 points with her “Un premier amour.” That was double the score of the runner-up. That year, there were even four countries that received no points at all! That was a first time. But that didn’t bother Isabelle Aubret; she won! 1963 Because France had had enough of organizing by then, the United Kingdom took over. The festival was held in various studios of the brand-new BBC Television Centre in London. Host Cathy Boyle was in one studio, the artists in another, and the orchestra in yet another studio. This made it look just as if the viewer was watching a pop music show from those days. Big stars tried their luck. Françoise Hardy participated for Monaco, Nana Mouskouri for Luxembourg, Carmela Corren for Austria, and Esther Ofarim for Switzerland. Hardy was deeply disappointed when she discovered that she wasn’t allowed to lip-sync. Mouskouri walked away crying and stamping her feet afterwards. She was nowhere to be found at the afterparty. Switzerland won. But then the Norwegian jury had to vote one more time. The jury spokesman spoke way too fast. Cathy Boyle had been unable to repeat the points. The second time, Norway suddenly submitted a completely different result. As a result, it was not Switzerland that won, but Denmark instead. An investigation by the EBU later revealed that the Norwegians didn’t cheat. When they were called, the points had not yet been ready. Esther Ofarim has always said that she was the winner. But it was ultimately the Danish couple Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann with the three-quarter time “Dansevise”. 1964 Copenhagen was the venue. Not much footage of this festival has been preserved. Only the opening scene and parts of the winner’s performance remain. Sweden did not participate. A musicians’ strike resulted in a withdrawal. The Swedes could not send a participant to their neighboring country. However, because Portugal made its debut, the number of participants remained 16. Host Lotte Waever hosted the show. It was held at the Tivoli Theater in Copenhagen. Big stars did not come to Copenhagen. That is to say: Udo Jürgens, who participated for Austria, only achieved international breakthrough later. A trio participated for Spain: the Uruguayan group Los TNT. That is not allowed. The two male members of the group were therefore relegated to a backing choir. The broadcast did not go smoothly. Midway through, a demonstrator managed to get onto the stage. He held up a sign reading ‘Boycott Franco and Salazar’, referring to the dictators of Spain and Portugal. Little of it was visible on television. However, photos were taken of the incident. It did not get exciting that evening. Italy won with 49 points. By comparison: the runner-up, the United Kingdom, had 17. It was sixteen-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti who captured the hearts of viewers and jury members. She sang the innocent “Non ho l’eta” (I am not old enough yet). It became not only the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, but also a worldwide hit. The EBU recently posted a video on the Eurovision YouTube channel with a complete reconstruction of the performance.

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70 years of Eurovision: small studios and lost footage

The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1962 Eurovision traveled to Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. Everything was just a little too small in this small country. Luxembourg television received assistance from the German broadcaster ZDF. The presentation was in the hands of Mireille Delannoy. The same sixteen countries as in 1961 participated. Camillo Felgen took part for Luxembourg yet again. With a third place, he did much better this time than two years before. But the absolute top favorite was Germany. Dutch commentator Willem Duys introduced her with the words: “She looked as if she had just won the entire Grand Duchy in a lottery.” After hearing the competition, she was slightly less self-assured. Ultimately, she would finish sixth with her “Zwei Kleine Italiener.” However, she did have the contest’s big hit. The French-speaking countries were in charge this year. Luxembourg itself came third, Monaco second, and France won. A ballad by Isabelle Aubret about, of course, love. Aubret received 26 points with her “Un premier amour.” That was double the score of the runner-up. That year, there were even four countries that received no points at all! That was a first time. But that didn’t bother Isabelle Aubret; she won! 1963 Because France had had enough of organizing by then, the United Kingdom took over. The festival was held in various studios of the brand-new BBC Television Centre in London. Host Cathy Boyle was in one studio, the artists in another, and the orchestra in yet another studio. This made it look just as if the viewer was watching a pop music show from those days. Big stars tried their luck. Françoise Hardy participated for Monaco, Nana Mouskouri for Luxembourg, Carmela Corren for Austria, and Esther Ofarim for Switzerland. Hardy was deeply disappointed when she discovered that she wasn’t allowed to lip-sync. Mouskouri walked away crying and stamping her feet afterwards. She was nowhere to be found at the afterparty. Switzerland won. But then the Norwegian jury had to vote one more time. The jury spokesman spoke way too fast. Cathy Boyle had been unable to repeat the points. The second time, Norway suddenly submitted a completely different result. As a result, it was not Switzerland that won, but Denmark instead. An investigation by the EBU later revealed that the Norwegians didn’t cheat. When they were called, the points had not yet been ready. Esther Ofarim has always said that she was the winner. But it was ultimately the Danish couple Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann with the three-quarter time “Dansevise”. 1964 Copenhagen was the venue. Not much footage of this festival has been preserved. Only the opening scene and parts of the winner’s performance remain. Sweden did not participate. A musicians’ strike resulted in a withdrawal. The Swedes could not send a participant to their neighboring country. However, because Portugal made its debut, the number of participants remained 16. Host Lotte Waever hosted the show. It was held at the Tivoli Theater in Copenhagen. Big stars did not come to Copenhagen. That is to say: Udo Jürgens, who participated for Austria, only achieved international breakthrough later. A trio participated for Spain: the Uruguayan group Los TNT. That is not allowed. The two male members of the group were therefore relegated to a backing choir. The broadcast did not go smoothly. Midway through, a demonstrator managed to get onto the stage. He held up a sign reading ‘Boycott Franco and Salazar’, referring to the dictators of Spain and Portugal. Little of it was visible on television. However, photos were taken of the incident. It did not get exciting that evening. Italy won with 49 points. By comparison: the runner-up, the United Kingdom, had 17. It was sixteen-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti who captured the hearts of viewers and jury members. She sang the innocent “Non ho l’eta” (I am not old enough yet). It became not only the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, but also a worldwide hit. The EBU recently posted a video on the Eurovision YouTube channel with a complete reconstruction of the performance.

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