It’s Day 4 here at the Eurovision arena, and the second half of the second semi-final is getting their chance to perform on the Eurovision stage for the first time. There are some bookies favourites in today’s schedule, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out!
Ukraine
Ukraine hosted the competition last year after Jamala’s win back in 2016, but now they’re back to the semi-finals, having to fight their way to the final. The song Under the Ladder definitely opened opportunities for a big stage performance, and they did not disappoint.
Visuals:
Trust Ukraine to turn an average song into a stage spectacular, and this year is no exception. The song begins with Melovin lying down into a prop piano, with arms that fold over onto him to make it almost look like a coffin. These ‘arms’ of sorts then open up, and Melovin is raised up to a standing position, where he then walks down the stairs to the stage. In a way it’s similar to his national final performance with the piano and stairs, but with minor tweaks.
After coming down the stairs, Melovin works the stage for a bit, before returning towards the stairs, where he proceeds to take off his first jacket, the black one, and then reveals a white jacket. He then walks back up the stairs, and the song seems to go acoustic style for a few seconds before we get back into the normal version of the song.
This is also when we start to see the stairs catch on fire one by one, which is something we somewhat expected due to the national final.
Costuming:
As mentioned above, Melovin is in a white shirt and jacket, with a black jacket on top of that which he takes off during the performance. It definitely has a straitjacket look to it, plus Melovin’s general look seems to really go with that vibe. We do get the wind machine, so while he is on the main stage his outfit does move with the wind but otherwise it’s very structured.
Vocals:
Vocally, it’s a bit weak. At time it feels like Melovin is delivering a competent performance, but it’s actually the backing vocals that are making it sound a bit off, especially in that first verse. By the chorus it all comes fine!
If we have to comment on the enunciation in English, all we’ll say is that nothing is improved, and as an English speaker, I have no clue of what he is singing, and I don’t think that will change!
