The third act rehearsing today is the Czech Republic – or Czechia, who will be represented by Benny Cristo in this year’s competition with his entry ‘Omaga’.
What did we think of the rehearsal?
The performance starts with Benny wearing a glitzy yellow jacket with an embellished red rose surrounded by light-up poles with the camera panning around Benny in the first couple of lines of the song. When the beat comes in, we see that Benny is behind the stage, with the background spun open. Benny comes onto the main stage and is joined by two male dancers. The dancers and Benny do some light choreography, while the backdrop shows black and white shapes that turn to kaleidoscopes in the chorus. There’s a lot of colour as Benny sings and dances around the stage in the second verse.
At the start of the second chorus, two female dancers also join in on the choreography. Then as we go into the middle-eight of the song, Benny and his troupe stroll down the catwalk to the B stage. Benny then enters the breakdown staring at the camera on the small stage delivering the song. In the final chorus, Benny lets loose vocally while the dancers do intense choreography. The performance ends with Benny squatting to sing directly into the camera at the bottom of the stage, pointing to the viewer as he does so. The dance troupe embrace during the course of this, leaving Benny in front of them.
Now what did our team think of Czechia’s rehearsal?
Jazzi: The colours on the wall are really neat the pink vibe works very well with this song! Benny and his dancers look very hip and cool! He seemed like vocally he was holding back slightly. The kaleidoscope pink imagery on the LED and the floor work really well while! This is bright and fun I have more hopes for this now in terms of qualifying but again I do think it could depend a little on the strength of the rest of the semi as there are bits that need improvement.
Rory: You could easily tell that Benny was holding back vocally – likely to preserve his voice for other rehearsals, as well as the live show. However, I really enjoyed this performance! The use of colour and choreography work really well with the vibe and aesthetic Czechia was trying to go for in the music video. Possibly some more pyros could help to elevate the staging, but I really quite enjoyed this, and it is now a more safe qualifier in my mind.
What do you think of Benny’s first rehearsal? Let us know in the comments below or at social media. Don’t forget to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ over at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
News Source Credit: EBU/That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: DAVID TURECKÝ
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