The second day of rehearsals for this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest is now complete. Kids from 8 countries took to the stage to rehearse their entries for JESC this year. I am going to comment on the rehearsals after my first watch (views expressed in this article are my own, and not essentially those of ESCUnited.com). Let’s take a look at the rehearsals:
The Netherlands: Shalisa “Million Lights”
This is such a simple and nice song and this comes out in the performance. Shalisa performs this well. The vocals seem a bit tinny at times, but I don’t think that is anything to do with Shalisa, I think that is more of a technical issue. They have kept the two dancers, like in the national final, which I am trying to decide if it’s a good thing or bad. I think it’s a good thing, but we will have to see it on Saturday on the TV to decide that. Overall this is a great rehearsal for The Netherlands but I fear they may get forgotten on the night.
Montenegro: Jana Mirković “Oluja”
Jana somewhat overperforms the song at times, but its not too bad. They have used the instrumental part to apparently wrap Jana in a large banana skin for some unknown reason. I like the use of backing dancers they work well. I think it reminds me of a school concert, and for JESC that may not be a bad thing, the kids of Europe (and the wider world) could see themselves performing this, and I think that may be a good thing. The second part of the song seems slightly better than the first, but this is the first rehearsal for Montenegro. I think they could do better than I initially thought.
Australia: Bella Paige “My Girls”
Here is our girl from Australia. Bella seems to be holding back somewhat, but is still able to bring an amazing performance. The backdrop matches her skirt / pants thing at the beginning, which changes quickly. I think this is a really strong rehearsal from the Aussies, I think this will work very well on Saturday. I just hope the running order doesn’t make this a flop, because it’s a really good song and performance. I’m not too sure how the backing dancers running 6 miles away from Bella to dance on the catwalks will work on screen. but overall a very strong first rehearsal.
Russia: Mikhail Smirnov “Mechta (Dream)”
Well this little man can sing! The whole rehearsal doesn’t seem like a first rehearsal, he seems very comfortable and this could be a performance on Saturday night it is that polished. The girl rolling around on the hammock seems a bit random and when she runs around the stage it seems a bit strange, but I think it’s one of those things that is made for TV and the camera work will make this look good. I think this guy will do very well, I think he will be top 3. The song seems to work much better on stage, I loved the studio version, but live it’s even better! Best vocals so far from today.
San Marino: Kamilla Ismailova “Mirror”
That Dress!!! I was expecting her to raise up and the whole Aliona Moonified dress to happen, but it didn’t. The backing dancers pop up after a while and remind me of Lena’s “Taken by a stranger” dancers. The whole performance looks really good and will work very well, except the fact she covers her face for the majority of the first half with her hands/arms. The only bad point is the vocals, they are not perfect and Kamilla misses parts of words and ends lines early, I assume this is because it’s the first rehearsal. I don’t know what to say about the position they will end in, I cant decide if it will do well or not due to the vocals.
Serbia: Lena Stamenković “Lenina pesma”
This is really good! I just don’t know how well it will do performing first on Saturday. Lena smashed the vocals, she can really sing. There is something about this performance that is really good, I think if it had a better running order position it could have been a contender. The whole staging works really well. Watching her on stage she reminds me of Krisia from Bulgaria last year. I think this will do well. the colours all work together, the dress, the background etc.. and she sings a great song well.
Slovenia: Lina Kuduzović “Prva Ljubezen”
Up now is the favourite for most people performing in front of a very wintery background with snow and Christmas trees. Once again I hope the running order doesn’t ruin Slovenia’s chances. Lina performs this song very well and the song is amazing! This is a really good first rehearsal and I think if this gets much better the running order may not be much of a problem for Slovenia. She performs the song alone and very well. I think the camera angles will help this a lot too. It is almost perfect.
Ukraine: Anna Trincher “Pochny z sebe”
This song I always forget, but after watching the Solayoh style flower reveal Anna I don’t think I will forget the performance. I think she performs it well but the whole staging lacks something. I think we need Carola to jump in and let Anna borrow her wind machine on Saturday. It is a nice song and the colours all work together. I think this could do reasonably well. I don’t see it challenging for the title with what I have seen today, but I think Ukraine won’t be shamed on Saturday.
