Basel Bulletin: The Big 5 and Switzerland

The Big 5 and Switzerland are on today. We haven’t seen or heard anything so far about them but here they are! They rehearsed today!

EBU has decided to release photo’s of it only the day after. But still we can show you (if available) the national final performance or any other live performance so you got an idea what the artists are capable of. Disclaimer: for the description of the performance, we have to do it with what the EBU tells us.

🇩🇪 Germany

Germany’s first rehearsal for Eurovision 2025 featured Abor & Tynna performing their electro track “Baller.” This is Germany’s first entry in German since 2007. The duo, who are siblings, originate from a musical family based in Vienna. The performance begins with Abor playing a white LED-lit electric cello in front of a tall curtain. As the beat drops, the curtain falls to reveal Tynna standing atop a large 1980s-style boombox prop, about three metres high. She performs the first verse and chorus there before descending to the stage. Four dancers use handheld spotlights to illuminate her as they freestyle around her.

Tynna’s outfit includes black military-style shorts, a crop top, knee-high boots, and leather gloves. The visuals feature intense white and blue strobes, industrial-style graphics, and the word “BALLER” in large LED lettering. For the finale, she dances on the walkway while Abor plays above. The final chorus includes pyrotechnics and a firework display.

🇫🇷 France

France’s Louane rehearsed her song “Maman” for the first time in Basel, presenting a minimalist and symbolic staging. She performs barefoot, wearing a long black lace dress, within a sand-covered circle at the center of the stage. Throughout the song, a steady stream of sand falls from above onto one side of the circle, representing the passage of time.

The performance includes a moment where Louane kneels and clears a patch of sand to reveal a mirror. Her movements are precisely timed with the musical arrangement and camera direction. The lighting builds gradually alongside orchestral strings, culminating in an intense sequence as the drumbeat grows louder.

All visuals are centered around the theme of time, with the hourglass imagery and falling sand reinforcing the song’s message about love, loss, and personal growth. The performance concludes with a wide, backlit shot, highlighting Louane’s stillness as the sand continues to fall.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

The United Kingdom’s 2025 Eurovision rehearsal features vocal trio Remember Monday performing “What The Hell Just Happened?” The staging begins in a vintage-style boudoir on one side of the stage, designed to evoke the “morning after the night before.” A padded screen with a heart-shaped cut-out frames the trio as they begin the song in corseted dresses—pale blue (Lauren), pink (Holly-Anne), and yellow (Charlotte).

As the chorus hits, the group moves down the catwalk toward the main stage, where a large, tilted chandelier sits—around 2.5 to 3 metres tall—with candles and multi-coloured lighting. This prop represents the chaos referenced in the lyrics.

Throughout the performance, dynamic camerawork follows the trio’s movement, including overhead shots of the LED floor and a sweeping pan over the chandelier. The song concludes with the singers back in the boudoir, framed by the heart cut-out.

Pyrotechnics are expected in future rehearsals but were not included in this run.

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Switzerland’s first rehearsal for Eurovision 2025 features Zoë Më performing “Voyage” in an intimate, cinematic setting. The performance, set entirely in black space with sculptural lighting, is filmed in one continuous handheld shot. There are no cuts, choreography, props, or LED content. Instead, the camera moves gently and closely around Zoë, responding to her presence in real time.

She begins seated and remains alone on stage throughout, wearing an off-the-shoulder black silk dress printed with abstract florals in deep reds, purples, and blues. The performance is shot on vintage Zeiss Super Speed lenses, creating soft highlights and a shallow depth of field that isolates her in the frame.

During the bridge, the quiet atmosphere ruptures with smoke, wind, and overexposed flashes, while the camera continues uninterrupted. As the performance resolves, the audience appears with phone lights raised, before fading to black. The concept focuses entirely on emotional detail and visual restraint.

🇮🇹 Italy

Italy’s first rehearsal for Eurovision 2025 features Lucio Corsi performing his glam rock ballad Volevo Essere Un Duro. The 31-year-old singer-songwriter from Tuscany brings a 1970s aesthetic, both musically and visually, echoing Bowie-era piano ballads. The staging closely follows his Sanremo performance: Lucio begins seated at an extended piano, wearing a bright yellow, giant-shouldered bolero jacket and his signature white face makeup. He is joined on stage by guitarist and co-writer Tommaso Ottomano.

After the first third of the song, Lucio moves to the centre stage with his guitar. New for Eurovision are two large retro speaker props at the back—one square and approximately four metres high, the other slightly smaller. A sepia filter is applied to the broadcast, enhancing the vintage atmosphere, and English subtitles appear on-screen to support accessibility. A harmonica solo precedes the final chorus, one of the few live instrumental moments in this year’s contest.

🇪🇸 Spain

Spain’s first rehearsal for Eurovision 2025 features Melody performing her uptempo track Esa Diva. Known for her long-standing career in Spanish pop, Melody presents a completely reimagined staging compared to her Benidorm Fest performance. Previously seen elements such as the swing, throne, and neon pink visuals are no longer present. Instead, the new staging introduces a more refined and structured concept.

The performance is now divided into three distinct acts, each marked by a specific visual theme. First, Act One uses purple lighting and graphics. Then, Act Two shifts to red tones, adding intensity. Finally, Act Three transitions into pure white, blending with a mountain backdrop projected on the LED screen.

Throughout the performance, Melody is joined by five dancers—three male and two female—who perform different routines for each act. Additionally, her outfit features a black corseted design with sharp shoulders and hips, paired with a fedora and thigh-high boots. The performance opens in silhouette and concludes with a powerful, high-energy final dance sequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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70 years of Eurovision: a child and a double

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. 1986 For the first time, Norway was allowed to host the Eurovision Song Contest. Former contestant Åse Kleveland hosted the event at the Grieg Hallen in Bergen. Greece withdrew at a late stage, and Italy was not included either. However, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia were back, and Iceland made its debut! Elpida, who participated for Greece in 1979, entered the stage for Cyprus. The ladies of the French group Cocktail-Chic had performed in backing choirs many times but had never participated solo. Debuting Iceland had selected a solo singer for the national final, but internationally he was flanked by two colleagues. Together they formed the group Icy. For Turkey, the group Klips Ve Onlar performed a song about Halley’s Comet. 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Immediately after she won, presenter Åse Kleveland promised her a giant ice cream. In the turmoil following the victory, it took a while before she actually received it. Sandra Kim is still a well-known singer in Belgium. A few years ago, she won the Belgian version of “The Masked Singer”.   1987 In Belgium, the agreement was that the Flemish and Walloon broadcasters would organize the contest in case of a victory. Given the political sensitivity of the time, this went disastrously wrong. Ultimately, it was the Walloon broadcaster that organized the contest. Viktor Lazlo presented the Eurovision Song Contest at the Palace on the Heysel in Brussels. She garnered much praise for this.  Gary Lux participated for Austria for the third time. The group Wind, finishing second two years earlier, performed for Germany. We saw one of the group members, Rob Pilatus, shortly afterwards as half of the duo Milli Vanilli. The two scored a number of big hits before it came out that they didn’t sing a single note themselves. Alexia was once part of the first group to participate for Cyprus, but now she was alone on stage. She performed the swinging “Aspro mavro”. And then, of course, there was Johnny Logan. For the second time, he was on the Eurovision stage as a singer. He was immediately the big favorite. Big stars Umberto Tozzi and Raff participated for Italy. Their song, “Gente Di Mare”, came third. People were outraged that the two did not appear in tuxedos, but they certainly had a gigantic hit with the song. By now, we can consider “Gente Di Mare” a Eurovision classic. Also noteworthy were Anne Catherine Herdorff and her backing band Bandjo. Their “En lille melodi” was frequently compared to “Ein bißchen Frieden”. And then there was Novi Fosili, the group that participated for Yugoslavia. Singer Sanja Doležal celebrated her birthday that day, although presenter Viktor Lazlo did not allow you to tell anyone. For group member Rajko Dujmić and his colleague Stevo Cvikić, it was the first entry they wrote, but certainly not the last. Johnny Logan The Irishman Johnny Logan, whose real name was Sean Sherrard, won the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1980. After that, just about everything went against him. As an inexperienced artist, he was ripped off by producers and managers. As a result, he took to drinking and ran into financial trouble. The years that followed his Eurovision win were not pleasant for Logan. But the Irishman fought his way back. And when things improved for him, he wanted to go to the Eurovision Song Contest one more time, if only to prove that it *can* be done in a pleasant way. And he did it. Johnny Logan was the overwhelming favorite for the final victory. When it finally came to that, Logan was so emotional that he could barely manage to sing the reprise. He had to stop halfway through, and the final note didn’t come out very cleanly. But that didn’t spoil the fun. Johnny Logan never disappeared from the scene. As a composer, he would even win the Eurovision Song Contest one more time. And anyone who is a loyal visitor to the annual Het Grote Songfestivalfeest in Amsterdam can still see him live every year.

Read More »
History
Martijn

70 years of Eurovision: a child and a double

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. 1986 For the first time, Norway was allowed to host the Eurovision Song Contest. Former contestant Åse Kleveland hosted the event at the Grieg Hallen in Bergen. Greece withdrew at a late stage, and Italy was not included either. However, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia were back, and Iceland made its debut! Elpida, who participated for Greece in 1979, entered the stage for Cyprus. The ladies of the French group Cocktail-Chic had performed in backing choirs many times but had never participated solo. Debuting Iceland had selected a solo singer for the national final, but internationally he was flanked by two colleagues. Together they formed the group Icy. For Turkey, the group Klips Ve Onlar performed a song about Halley’s Comet. Once again, Dutchman Peter Schön was asked to arrange the music. For the first time, Turkey finished in the top half of the rankings with a respectable 9th place. Also striking was the ballad from Switzerland, a song that might well have won effortlessly in another year: “Pas pour moi”, sung by Daniela Simons. And certainly striking was the Swedish entry “E’ de’ det här du källar kärlek”. Duo partners Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell were already making it a party, but when the delegation leader appeared on stage shirtless, the spectacle was complete. Sandra Kim However, no one could match Belgium. Sandra Kim sang that she was 15, said she was 14, and only admitted ten years later that she was actually 13 when she won the song contest. Sandra had already released a single before. With “J’aime la vie”, she effortlessly won the national final and later the Eurovision Song Contest. The question was no longer whether she would win or not, but by how many points she would do so. Immediately after she won, presenter Åse Kleveland promised her a giant ice cream. In the turmoil following the victory, it took a while before she actually received it. Sandra Kim is still a well-known singer in Belgium. A few years ago, she won the Belgian version of “The Masked Singer”.   1987 In Belgium, the agreement was that the Flemish and Walloon broadcasters would organize the contest in case of a victory. Given the political sensitivity of the time, this went disastrously wrong. Ultimately, it was the Walloon broadcaster that organized the contest. Viktor Lazlo presented the Eurovision Song Contest at the Palace on the Heysel in Brussels. She garnered much praise for this.  Gary Lux participated for Austria for the third time. The group Wind, finishing second two years earlier, performed for Germany. We saw one of the group members, Rob Pilatus, shortly afterwards as half of the duo Milli Vanilli. The two scored a number of big hits before it came out that they didn’t sing a single note themselves. Alexia was once part of the first group to participate for Cyprus, but now she was alone on stage. She performed the swinging “Aspro mavro”. And then, of course, there was Johnny Logan. For the second time, he was on the Eurovision stage as a singer. He was immediately the big favorite. Big stars Umberto Tozzi and Raff participated for Italy. Their song, “Gente Di Mare”, came third. People were outraged that the two did not appear in tuxedos, but they certainly had a gigantic hit with the song. By now, we can consider “Gente Di Mare” a Eurovision classic. Also noteworthy were Anne Catherine Herdorff and her backing band Bandjo. Their “En lille melodi” was frequently compared to “Ein bißchen Frieden”. And then there was Novi Fosili, the group that participated for Yugoslavia. Singer Sanja Doležal celebrated her birthday that day, although presenter Viktor Lazlo did not allow you to tell anyone. For group member Rajko Dujmić and his colleague Stevo Cvikić, it was the first entry they wrote, but certainly not the last. Johnny Logan The Irishman Johnny Logan, whose real name was Sean Sherrard, won the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1980. After that, just about everything went against him. As an inexperienced artist, he was ripped off by producers and managers. As a result, he took to drinking and ran into financial trouble. The years that followed his Eurovision win were not pleasant for Logan. But the Irishman fought his way back. And when things improved for him, he wanted to go to the Eurovision Song Contest one more time, if only to prove that it *can* be done in a pleasant way. And he did it. Johnny Logan was the overwhelming favorite for the final victory. When it finally came to that, Logan was so emotional that he could barely manage to sing the reprise. He had to stop halfway through, and the final note didn’t come out very cleanly. But that didn’t spoil the fun. Johnny Logan never disappeared from the scene. As a composer, he would even win the Eurovision Song Contest one more time. And anyone who is a loyal visitor to the annual Het Grote Songfestivalfeest in Amsterdam can still see him live every year.

Read More »
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