Van de live blog:
10:40 CEST: Rehearsal 1: 🇮🇸 Iceland -VÆB – RÓA
Let’s kick things off with an Icelandic party banger, shall we? VÆB (pronounced ‘vibe’) are brothers Matthías Davíð Matthíasson and Hálfdán Helgi Matthíasson. They are the first TikTok-born act of this Semi-Final, but definitely not the last. RÓA means ‘rowing’, and this song is very much about boats. Like a sea shanty, but make it an anthemic Nordic banger.
The routine is fundamentally the same as the one we saw at Söngvakeppnin, but with a little Basel polish – the two-part wooden boat is painted white with some waves at stage level, and the three backing dancers have upgraded outfits - silver dungarees with cute Icelandic jumpers and silver bucket hats. But the two VÆB boys are in the same outfits with hoods we’ve seen previously, and of course their trademark silver shades. The whole routine has been elevated, and the arena is already jumping. Is there a mic drop at the end? Of course there is.
Two interesting things that we’re going to see used to great effect this year – the LED wall at the back of the stage is full width and height, so it allows the artists to create hugely impactful graphic backdrops. VÆB use it for very cool geometric landscapes and seascapes in neon red and blue that feel very Icelandic, along with VÆB in giant letters that we saw at the national final.
Also the front of the stage has an enormous rectangular frame that supports the roof - this is also entirely clad in LED pillars on all three sides, so they can use front and back graphics to create depth of field. It's really clever, and looks amazing both on screen and in the audience.
PYRO update - lots of smoke jets, for the Icelandic geyser vaeb. Our eyebrows are so far intact, but Poland is incoming.
IT'S GREYSIE IT'S PARTY