1e repetitie, van de Eurovision live blog:
16:10 CEST: Rehearsal 8: 🇱🇹 Lithuania - Katarsis – Tavo Akys
We’re wrapping up the day with some alt-rock from Lithuania’s Katarsis – they’re a 4-piece Lithuanian band known for their unique blend of dark alternative and post-punk music.
Those of you who loved their winning performance from Eurovizija will be very happy to hear that the staging remains largely unchanged – the blue outfits, the bleak landscape, the exploding house and the flying rocks in the final TAVOS are all much the same, albeit the graphics are delivered on a much bigger scale, including the LED floor, and feel more immersive and impactful.
The performers are a little more spread out than they were at the national final, and in the second verse Lukas moves down to the frame stage with guitarists Alanas and Emilija. As with Latvia, we mapped the second run-through against the video from Eurovizija, and whilst there are many different camera angles and wide shots, the flow of the performance has remained generally the same.
What‘s changed is the atmosphere added by the lighting and extra effects – on the Basel stage they‘re able to add more light and shade, so there’s a really nice close-up shot where Lukas’s face is half in shadow. When he comes to the front, he battles against a wind machine in sequence of different camera shots – the whole thing feels lighter in parts and darker and more atmospheric in others. At the end the lego lights descend to create an effect that looks like a pair of wings as the strobes kick in for the TAVOs and the song ends in a flash of white light. It was already a great performance at Eurovizija, but this definitely feels like it's been elevated.
Before we wrap up for the day, can we just take a moment to celebrate how diverse this year’s lineup is? Just today, we’ve had Europop, folk, pop/opera, rock/hip-hop, a couple of huge ballads and some performance art from Australia. Whatever you’re into, you’ll find it at Eurovision.
IT'S GREYSIE IT'S PARTY