We’re up to Day 3 here in the press centre for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, and over the last two days we’ve seen all 19 competing acts in the first semi-final take to the stage for their first rehearsals. Today, we’ve got the first half of the second semi-final, starting with Norway and ending in Australia! Follow the action here with us at Eurovision Union!
Netherlands
The Netherlands have been on a roll in recent years, having qualified more times than not with a consistently improving notion of what will work at Eurovision, and what won’t. This year, they’re going back to the tried and true Country style rock sung by Waylon, and we think this is one of the 10 qualifiers.
Visuals:
We’ve seen some pretty predictable stage performances, but out of all the performances, this was perhaps the least expected. As a country song, you’d expect them to really play on the typical country music stereotypes, but yet they refrain from doing so which is an interesting twist on what could have been a very predictable performance.
On stage, there is a multi-level platform in which Waylon and his backing artists are stood on. The platform features golden lights beaming which is in contrast to the blue backed stage. For a portion of the performance we see the backing artists simply playing instruments, but where it subverts is when we see one of the backing artists break into a very intricate dance (in the crumping style), that in some ways suits the song, but in other ways feels like a surprise that we’re struggling to get past.
Up until this point, it’s very rock and roll, but as soon as we see the dance portion kick in in the second verse, it moves into a different dimension. Once we’ve reached the bridge/chorus, the backing artists are all dancing on stage surrounding the platform, with some even doing flips.
Costuming:
We see Waylon dressed in a longline leopard jacket, which is perhaps an unexpected choice but it mixes well with the yellow toned lights, which then contrasts the blue lit stage. Of course, Waylon has his hat on, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
The backing artists are all dressed in various outfits, but all are quite casual jeans and jacket style outfits, but no shirts, at least for the two front backing artists.
Vocals:
I definitely think we’ve seen better today, but it’s definitely not the worst. During the second run through, Waylon hit most of his notes, and it was fairly seamless, however during the third run through he was off key on a few notes throughout the song. Being a country rock song, I think it’s more flexible with vocals, but it is noticeable at times. I’m not too concerned with this at the moment, as it’s only the first round of rehearsals. We’ll see how this goes by the second rehearsal.
