all images incl. title image © EBU

There’s a successful YouTube channel called “Overthinking It” that could basically have been the motto of our online chat community for the past two decades. But if you’re not overanalysing every little detail at this stage of the season, are you even in ESC mode at all? With that in mind, it’s time for me to summarise my impressions of the rehearsal video clips we’ve now seen from the 16 participants in next Thursday’s second semi-final.

Unlike the other day, which involved all 15 of the first semi-finalists doing their second rehearsal, the schedule always gets a bit mixed up at this point in proceedings as the automatic finalists need to have their first run-throughs too. As such, the impact of these videos was spread over two days and that somehow makes it feel a bit harder to compare them directly. Nevertheless, compare them I will!

If you haven’t seen them already, you can catch up with the video clips I’m talking about on the official Eurovision Facebook page, and probably on TikTok too but I’m 46 years old.

In my first blog, I talked about how some countries prefer not to give away too much at this point in proceedings. They’re generally the ones who choose a clip from the early part of their performance. Australia is one example – although given how much is already happening here (a costume change inside a giant blender at the start of the first chorus, you say?), we’re obviously looking at an energetic and action-packed three minutes. Meanwhile, near-namesakes Austria are at the other end of the scale. Having chosen a black-and-white look for the staging of “Wasted Love”, the artistic choices here are clearly more of a slow burn, and a bit of interaction with a slightly wobbly paper boat doesn’t tell us a huge amount about what to expect in the rest of the performance. The accompanying photos, however, suggest an atmospheric “boat/lighthouse/shipwreck” theme throughout.

Ay, ¿quién maneja mi barca, quién? …no, wait, we did that one the other day

When you quite like a entry without loving it, all you really want is for the staging to get the most out of the song and give it the best possible chance of achieving its goals. That’s what Ireland are doing perfectly – Emmy’s vocals are still thin and the overall vibe remains “Aqua meets JESC”, but there is nothing to fault about the way “Laika Party” is being presented in Basel based on what we’ve seen. The dancers, the outfits and the backdrops feel like they’re working in harmony. Unlike in the Lesley Roy or Wild Youth years, if the Emerald Isle doesn’t make a Saturday night appearance, at least it won’t be down to ill-advised staging choices.

In a funny way, the same is true for Armenia. There’s nothing subtle about Parg’s approach – bare-chested shouting with lots of running about – but then there’s nothing subtle about “Survivor” as a song either, and if you’re going to try and sell it to viewers, you might as well go all out. Serbia, too, have recognised the raison d’être of their song – to do That Balkan Thing as (melo)dramatically as possible – and are leaning into it while putting Princ’s striking looks front and centre. That seems wise, although they chose a rehearsal clip that begins with Princ being dragged across the floor, which took a moment to figure out. “How is his hair doing that…?” It’s met with some hilarity on social media but honestly, if it makes the song a bit more memorable to people outside Serbia’s usual voting group, I don’t think it’s all that crazy really!

Montenegro and Georgia are the rank outsiders with the bookmakers to qualify from this semi-final (although just ask Dons from Latvia about how reliable those odds are). While Mariam is clearly giving it her all and there’s a typically feisty staging concept to at least try and make “Freedom” register with the televoters, it’s hard to know what the team around Nina Žižić are thinking – “let’s replicate Vladana’s look from our last failure but do it in monochrome this time” doesn’t exactly come across like a recipe for success. At least they’ll finish higher than 17th this time.

And speaking of not giving us enough, I’m a little concerned for Denmark – not that I can see what more they can really do with “Hallucination” as a staging concept than they are already doing, to be honest – and also for Greece. I wouldn’t say a song like “Asteromata” needs a kitchen-sink staging, but it could use a little something to elevate it from the ordinary, and I’m not sure it’s quite where it needs to be based on what we’ve seen so far.

My heart is like a clock, I’m steady like a rock

Both Latvia and Lithuania can be pleased with how their entries are looking, I think. “Bur man laimi” will be a hard sell for Europe’s televoters, especially from an unforgiving fourth place in the running order, but at least you can’t say it looks or sounds like anything else in the competition. Meanwhile, “Tavo akys” needs to feel like we’ve been dropped into a band’s concert – or even its music video – for three minutes in order for the smouldering mood of the song to come across to the viewer, and what we’ve seen so far looks promising to me.

Malta are keeping their cards close to their chest – while the clip chosen to illustrate “Serving” shows us how the performance will look in a general sense, it comes from probably the quietest part of the entire song, and Miriana surely has a few surprises to deliver yet given that even this low-key clip is about as subtle as a brick to the head. Most critically, the video cuts off just before the controversial lines – not that there’s anyone in the arena yet to fill in the missing word like they surely will on Thursday and Saturday night…

Speaking of surprises, were we expecting Israel to turn up with a large and confusing prop? Not the most obvious way to stage a gentle ballad… Whereas, of course, Erika Vikman from Finland has perhaps the most notable prop of all, but we didn’t get to see it in today’s clip. Instead, there was Erika on the catwalk, a scene that will really need a live audience to feel anything other than a bit empty. And elsewhere in that section of the draw, we have Luxembourg. My brain always turns their song into a mashup between it and “Laika Party”, so I’m pleased to report the stage presentations couldn’t be more different really – where Ireland is metallic and space-y, Luxembourg is fabric and doll’s house-y, and I don’t think they’ll eat each other’s votes too much. What the entries do have in common is that their lead performers look a bit like they’re always thinking about what their next move will be, but that’s why there are so many rehearsals and dress rehearsals, after all – anyone who hasn’t relaxed into their performance by the time of the jury final was never going to.

And finally, there’s Czechia. Between the video of Adonxs solo and the still images of the full gang, I think it’s fair to say we’re in “fashion statement” territory here. Which is fine – he’s a flamboyant guy and it’s nice to see someone embracing their style. I just wonder if there’s going to be a bit of a disconnect between the staging and the emotion the song is trying to bring across lyrically. However, we have no idea how the stage routine develops over the three minutes and what the dancers will bring to proceedings, so like everything, it’s mostly just speculation at this point.

A touch, a kiss, your heart is mine

And unbelievably, that means we’ve now seen the rehearsal clips for all but six of this year’s entries. What remains is for me to cast my eye over the automatic finalists – something I will be doing after flying to Gran Canaria tomorrow, because what else would fans like us do on a sun holiday if not sit in front of our laptops and write blogs? See you there!