all images including title image © EBU

It is, of course, important not to read too much into rehearsals. We’ve been saying that in our blogs for a decade and a half now (yes, we old) – but it’s easy to fall into the trap all the same, especially when the drip-feed of information this year has been so carefully controlled by the EBU. And it’s fun to get caught up in the hype, right?

So now that we finally have some actual video footage from the second rehearsals of this year’s contenders – available on various channels including the official Eurovision Facebook account, if you haven’t seen them already – here’s my thoughts on how things are shaping up for next Tuesday’s first semi-final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.

First things first: the stage looks pretty glorious. The “frame” border works well almost every time we see it, and while the floor itself occasionally looks a bit on the big side, it’s worth remembering that these are just run-throughs and in many cases there are still layers of dry ice and other goodies to come.

That’s why I think Iceland makes for a terrific opener. Which isn’t to say that “Róa” will qualify – it still feels decidedly borderline to me – but the VÆB boys are clearly coming straight out of the blocks with energy that fills the space and translates nicely through their visuals.

Ay, ¿quién maneja mi barca, quién?

The delegations generally get to choose their rehearsal clips, and it’s understandable that some of them choose not to give much away. Cyprus have been hinting at all kinds of tricks up their sleeve, and a short clip of the start of their song – which is, after all, mostly talking – doesn’t give us a great deal to work with. Likewise, 25 seconds from the back end of Poland tells us little we didn’t already know other than “professionals are at play here and they’ve brought the kitchen sink”, while the intro of Estonia gives us few ideas about what gimmickry Tommy Cash will deliver or whether he’s planning to hit any of the notes along the way.

There are always some clear qualifiers in any semi-final, but this is the time of the fortnight where the wobbles set in for even the deadest of dead certs. Are Albania‘s vocals a little exposed and shrill? Is that staging just a bit too red? And wait a minute, Claude: we had the Netherlands down as a potential jury winner, but you can’t just throw some violinists at a dance-friendly track and expect that to scream “real music!”, can you? Not to mention some shaky vocals here too, but then we’ve learned not to worry too much about that over the years, haven’t we? In any case, while qualification shouldn’t be in doubt for either country, it’s these moments of “well that wasn’t quite as good as we expected…” that make this time of year such fun!

Speaking of certain qualifiers, KAJ from Sweden have had to lose a backing dancer in the transition from Melodifestivalen rules to ESC rules, but their sauna staging looks to be fundamentally unchanged and as fun and human as ever. Not having to find new things to say about a precision-tooled Måns Zelmerlöw performance remains a blessèd relief, too, so they get points for that as far as I’m concerned.

Being green is hot, being green is cool

While there shouldn’t be any such thing as a no-hoper in a semi with just 15 participants, it’s widely accepted that some countries are facing more of an uphill struggle to qualify than others. Slovenia has a lot of goodwill on its side and is relying on coming across as three minutes of normality after the in-your-face opening salvo of Iceland and Poland, but the performance does look like it’s going to be very ordinary, right down to the styling. (Can one say “ordinary” about a performance where someone is turned upside-down? It’s ESC; I think we can.) Even with the emotional suckerpunch of having Klemen’s wife appear on stage with him, I worry for their chances.

Likewise San Marino – DJ songs have always been notoriously difficult to stage at ESC, and Gabry Ponte looks to be falling into some of the usual traps. He’ll be relying on “Tutta l’Italia” simply being such a ridiculously strong hook that it qualifies on that alone. Meanwhile, as much as I appreciate the current phase of Azerbaijan trying less hard and being a bit more local in their choices, Mamagama are already giving me little indication that they’ll connect with a wider audience. This section of the running order could be a bit of a slog.

Under normal circumstances, Ukraine would probably also be in trouble here, what with Ziferblat’s Eurovision-atypical sound and look. But of course these aren’t normal circumstances. Anyway, the way they pronounce “begging” gives me vibes of Nicol’s “One More Dance“, so at least there’s that to look forward to in the grand final.

Blue and red, like I’m watching you and me

Let’s finish on some positives, shall we? Napa from Portugal are served very well by the size of the stage, if you ask me. Sometimes physically spacing out the members of a band can make them feel disconnected – displaced, even? – but here it feels like it’s giving the camera the opportunity to introduce the viewer to each of them in turn, which is a nice touch.

Meanwhile, I had Norway down as a potential NQ if things didn’t click for them, but in this company, I think it’s clear that “Lighter” is going to come across as blissfully normal for (a sufficient number of) televoters to see them through to the final. And I still do have Croatia down as not qualifying, but I’ve got to give Marko Bošnjak credit for a persuasive rehearsal clip that suggests the song is going to be presented to the best of its potential – even if he does remind me of German Leon going through an emo phase.

The biggest winner of the day for me, however, is Belgium. It feels ridiculous to say that while adding the caveat that I still don’t think it’s a guaranteed qualifier, and yet I don’t! Nevertheless, I was concerned that “Strobe Lights” would come across as ineffective and fail to get the most out of the song. Instead, the short clip suggests that we’re back in arty Belgian staging territory, but in a good way – think Loïc Nottet rather than Eliot – and that should at least make the whole package a little more memorable than it might have been. It’s still very red though, isn’t it? There’s a lot of it around this year.

And I reckon that’s about it for my semi 1 insights, such as they are. Agree? Disagree? Leave us a comment here or on our socials!