ESC United - Rehearsal and Live Show discussion megathread

[Sean]

It's time for the rehearsals to finally get underway for Eurovision 2024 at Malmö Arena! 37 countries will begin their preparations for this year's contest today, with over two weeks of coverage to come from the ESC United team on the ground!

The schedule for rehearsals is below (thank you Eurovisionworld! All times in CEST);

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You can check out Matt's pre-rehearsal live stream below in case you missed it;

DAY ONE

Eurovision 2024 Rehearsals - Day 1 Round-Up Live Stream

Join Matt and his team as they discuss the rehearsals of the day and answer your questions. The first dress rehearsal is closed to the press so we'll be here...

www.youtube.com

The team will be on hand to cover everything going on in Malmö over the coming weeks, so make sure to follow ESC United on Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, and YouTube and Twitch to not miss a minute!

Please also use this thread for any rehearsal coverage and discussion, including for jury shows, dress rehearsals and the live shows!​

 

[Malagant]

We don't know how much or little running order has to say when it comes to results in ESC (though many have the impression that coming late in the final is better/more favourable than early and say in positions 2-6),

BUT it is a song competition, not just a show, and I cannot for the life of me understand how it cannot be obvious that there should be a random draw for the running order to make it fair for everyone - and to make it appear fair, because as things are now there will always be some suspicion that the show producers 'manipulate' the running order in order to favour some countries.

So even if they don't do it deliberately and play fair so to speak (randomly placing fast songs and slow songs in positions without considering which countries they are) there will always be the suspicion of 'foul play' and that is enough. The only way to remove such suspicion is to have an impartial, random draw.

Well, that is my view.

 

[BorisBubbles]

That's not true... there were fans demanding the EBU to disqualify Ukraine for saying that after their performance.
Even on this forum.

Eric Saade's protest will be treated the same - maybe the SVT has to pay a fine since it's a "political" symbol but dunno.

The fans don't really care about it if you ask me.. it's the nonsense media for the straight folks which massively pick it up.

You cannot fully eliminate politics from Eurovision, so it's pointless to try. But the way the EBU handles matters shows that they want it to stop and don't have any power to enforce it truly.

I think a few silent protests here and there CAN be allowed. Eric's scarf should be allowed. The stickers Systur put on their guitars, should be allowed. Bambie Thug's Ogham, which only a handful of Irish people can read, should be allowed.

None of these things DISRUPT the flow of the show.

What CAN disrupt it are more outward showings such as MARIUPOL AZOVSTAL and the likes. Disruptions which are encouraged by responding negatively to the above harmless signs as this shows how truly toothless the EBU is. They can only partially prevent; once it's happened, there are no reprecussions.

Worse it can also be interpreted as certain biases which fuels the fires even more.

Tolerating the smaller showings (on both sides) would improve matters, even if it politicizes the contest a bit. But since this is a competition between countries, that is always a hard one to avoid.

 

[Lindon]

I've listened to the show yesterday with over-ear headphones. Since the pre-parties, I always read complaints here and on X and other platforms about Kaleen's recorded backing tracks. But that's nothing in comparison what I heard yesterday with only three exemptions. Either recorded backing vocals are allowed or they are not. So singling out one artist is really hypocritical when almost everyone does it, including Croatia very, very heavily.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1787441805358706998

 

[BorisBubbles]

That's actually very interesting, Lindon. I was not aware artists heard a metronome rather than their backing track. You learn every day, no matter how old you get (34 as of today, in my case).

 

[nudiecrudi]

Safe to say Saade is winning the PR war, all the headlines here are dominated by him the day after.

Here nobody talks about Eurovision, besides some newspapers giving votes and considering it trashy and cheesy.

 

[EscGeek]

Me, knowing the melody of slovakia 1998, ireland 2009 and france 1983

 

[hpp0]

I went back and watched parts of the live stream of the semi and although I understand the criticism for Sweden's minimalist approach, I'm actually glad for it.

I liked the concept of the postcards, it was simple and to the point, although I would have preferred if they showed the debut or best result for each country. And the final part with the posing wasn't needed but I didn't mind it too much.

The title cards were pretty basic but they did the job and didn't look bad. The graphics in general were pretty good, I like that they are more colourful than usual, even if purple is the dominant colour it seems.

Hosts never mattered to me and as long as they give the instructions and present the results properly, I'm satisfied.

Now I'm generally not a fan of interval and opening acts at all, but I understand that they serve a purpose so if we are to have them, I would at least prefer if they have some local artists. I'm kinda sick of the Eurovision-themed acts, which keep getting more and more the past few years.

 

[Etanna]

and of course the Czech media refer about yesterday's semi-final by accentuating Finland's naked ass in the headline and the main photo yeah that's not gonna help with the image of Eurovision here

 

[GermanBango]

Here nobody talks about Eurovision, besides some newspapers giving votes and considering it trashy and cheesy.

The Italian media being utterly arrogant and disrespectful? Well that has never happened before - said no one ever.

 

[Zeus]

My ranking of semi 1. Ratings are from my original ranking (so based on the studio versions) but now affected by the live performance impact.

1. 7.4 (+0.9)
2. 7.2 (+1.3)
3. 6.2 (+0.9)
4. 5.8 (-0.8)
5. 5.6 (+0.3)
6. 5.3 (-0.2)
7. 5.3 (+0.1)
8. 5.1 (+0.3)
9. 5.1 (+0.4)
10. 4.8 (+0.7)
11. 4.7 (-0.6)
12. 4.6 (-0.1)
13. 4.5 (+0.2)
14. 4.4 (+0.2)
15. 3.7 (-)
16. 3.6 (-0.5)
17. 2.5 (-0.2)
18. 2.0 (-0.1)

Biggest upgrade: (+1.3)
Biggest downfall: (-0.8)

 

[lolito]

Some, win the contest.
Some, make history.
Chanel and Eleni, the best last night.

 

[nofuxCZ]

and of course the Czech media refer about yesterday's semi-final by accentuating Finland's naked ass in the headline and the main photo yeah that's not gonna help with the image of Eurovision here

And Czech TV themselves tweeting that "that the public AND jury" decided first 10 qualifiers of this year's Eurovision Czech TV

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1788194937156018569

 

[nudiecrudi]

The Italian media being utterly arrogant and disrespectful? Well that has never happened before - said no one ever.

Let's be realistic though.
Finland was really the essence of ESC trash. Croatia's staging is very near of being trash.
The trash quotes are always guaranteed and present each year.

 

[nofuxCZ]

Honestly, that's one of the most interesting articles I have read about Eurovision in ages, as it goes directly to the source. I very much recommend reading it.

The most interesting points for me:
(about creating the running order): "I do not have access to the semi-final results. Martin Österdahl has them. If I ever mess up in the order I'm proposing, he can tell me "this song there, maybe you should put it elsewhere". And there, I know that this means that the song had a result that I had not envisaged."
So in theory, Chris has no idea of the results when creating the running order - but Martin can override him - for songs Martin wants to.

(about the change with voting starting immediately): "I believe this will give a fairer result, mainly for those who pass near the beginning. We know that they are more quickly forgotten when there are so many candidates."
So - even the producers themselves believe a later running order is beneficial. Can everyone thinking the running order doesn't matter let that sink in, please?

I think it just confirms what we can see in this video from 2017, where Jon Ola Sand is present and discussing with Christer during his running order creation process

 

[crashworld]

Didn't bother with the actual show, too late for me (will be 3am) as I need to work the next morning and wasn't feeling overly excited for this year's edition. That's why I am so grateful for the jury show leaks so I know how the full performances will look like. I skipped all the interval acts and nonsensical fillers and zoomed into the 15 performances in SF1 (will be doing the same for SF2).

The stagings overall have massively improved, I don't think there is a single staging that was utterly bad.
Even songs that I detest, I appreciate what they brought in terms of staging.

On a personal note, I am glad the and pulled through. I need my girlie pops.
Shock qualifier for me is , I am convinced it is chanceless.
Got 8/10 right for my predictions, put in and instead of and .

*Too lazy to do anything about my own prediction list, so threw this in just 10 mins together with SF2.

Now on to SF2!

 

[GermanBango]

Let's be realistic though.
Finland was really the essence of ESC trash. Croatia's staging is very near of being trash.
The trash quotes are always guaranteed and present each year.

Not gonna argue on Finland. Though Croatia? I mean the song is so not my cup of tea but even I found the performance engaging.

The thing with the Italian media and sadly with a large part of the Italian fans (no attack but that’s what I am seeing on insta a lot) is that they act as if all of the other entries are way below the Italian one. That’s such a turnoff and it seems to get worse and worse every year.

Not liking and criticising entries and performances is one thing but completely invalidating them and calling 95% of the participants trash is something that just doesn’t sit well with me.

 

[nudiecrudi]

Not gonna argue on Finland. Though Croatia? I mean the song is so not my cup of tea but even I found the performance engaging.

The thing with the Italian media and sadly with a large part of the Italian fans (no attack but that’s what I am seeing on insta a lot) is that they act as if all of the other entries are way below the Italian one. That’s such a turnoff and it seems to get worse and worse every year.

Not liking and criticising entries and performances is one thing but completely invalidating them and calling 95% of the participants trash is something that just doesn’t sit well with me.

In this forum the italian members are very gentle and polite.
You have prejudices about things connected to Italy.
Have you ever read the medias talking about the superiority of the italian songs?
They hardly touch the argument. They are really harsh even with the SanRemo paretcipants.
On the other hand, asking for quality isn't a bad idea, and I'm sorry for you that don't appreciate the italian entries, you said that dont like 95% of the italian esc songs, but there is always quality in them ( and the esc public and juries appreciate just notice the exellent results )

 

[AlekS]

oops. Thankfully, it's just the 1st dress rehearsal.

 

[GermanBango]

In this forum the italian members are very gentle and polite.
You have prejudices about things connected to Italy.
Have you ever read the medias talking about the superiority of the italian songs?
They hardly touch the argument. They are really harsh even with the SanRemo paretcipants.
On the other hand, asking for quality isn't a bad idea, and I'm sorry for you that don't appreciate the italian entries, you said that dont like 95% of the italian esc songs, but there is always quality in them ( and the esc public and juries appreciate just notice the exellent results )

I was specifically pointing out the people on Instagram though.
No, I don't enjoy most of the Italian entries of the past few years but that's just my personal opinion/taste. You still won't see me calling them trash or something similar. That's the thing with music or any other creative medium - views on them are highly subjective. And that's fine. Who exactly determines what quality is in that regard?
All I am saying is that I don't like the gate keeping and a certain sense of elitism when it comes to Eurovision. That's obviously not an Italy specific phenomenon. Our press for example is being pretty disrespectful towards other entries themselves from time to time.

 

[AlekS]

https://imgur.com/XRBFQd6

almost doesn't sing the chorus. It's pre-recorded vocals.