We will update this article with the TikTok and our reaction as soon as we get it.
Today the rehearsals for Eurovision 2024 start/continue in Malmö. Countries rehearsing on Day 1 include Cyprus, Serbia, Lithuania, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland and Croatia. The second to rehearse today is Serbia’s Teya Dora.
Teya Dora’s first rehearsal
The next to take to the Eurovision 2024 stage at Malmö Arena in Malmö was Serbia’s Teya Dora. Serbia will be competing in this year’s competition with Teya Dora’s entry “Ramonda” following her winning national final Pesma Za Evroviziju.
Following Teya Dora’s first rehearsal, a clip of what went on was posted on the official TikTok account of the Eurovision Song Contest. The clip showed Teya Dora before and after she took to the Eurovision stage for the first time, as well as giving us some insight into how well her first rehearsal went.
What did we learn about Serbia’s staging?
The staging concept is largely the same as her winning performance in Pesma za Evroviziju, keeping the big ending with the blooming Ramonda flower, though the rocks she stands in front of have had an upgrade, and are now taller and pointier, the performance has drawn comparisons from the live blog to Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. With good reason, as the pyro is flooding the stage around Teya creating a atmosphere very fitting of the song.
Teya is, as she was in PzE, alone on stage and wearing a dark grey layered skirt and a chain-link style sleeve top.
What we thought of Serbia’s first rehearsal
After Serbia’s first rehearsal, Daniel gave his initial thoughts on the snippet that we saw.
Who is Teya Dora
Teya Dora, who originally goes by the name Teodora Pavlovska, is a singer-songwriter from Belgrade. Her musical inspiration is her father. From a young age Teya Dora took keen interest in Serbian folk music. You can hear the traditional Balkan sounds within her music today, which are combined with modern pop and R’n’B sounds.
At the age of 16 Teya Dora took part in an audition at Berklee College of Music, and won herself a scholarship. Teya Dora has also studied music at the University of Boston. In 2019 Teya Dora started releasing her own music starting with a track entitled “Da ma meni je”. Teya Dora’s most well known track is her song “Džanum” which has amassed over 100 million streams on Spotify.
“Ramonda” was written Teya Dora herself alongside Andrijano Kadović Ajzi. Teya Dora also was involved in the composition of “Ramonda” alongside Luka Jovanović.
Serbia’s Eurovision Journey
In 2007, Serbia made its debut as an independent country, having previously participated as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro. There, they were represented by Marija Šerifović with “Molitva”, which managed to win the competition. Since their debut, Serbia has participated 15 times (12 of which, where they qualified for the Grand Final).
Luke Black represented Serbia at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool with his song “Samo mi se spava”. At this year’s competition, Serbia managed to qualify for the Grand Final, where they placed 24th. At the close of voting, he received 30 points – 14 coming from the jury and 16 from the televote.
What do you think of “Ramonda”? What are your thoughts on Teya Dora’s staging from the photos we have seen? Let us know your thoughts! Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!
News Source: That Eurovision Site / Eurovision.tv
Photo Credit: Alma Bengtsson / EBU
Rory Gannon