Rehearsals for Eurovision 2025 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel are now in full swing! We have seen snapshots of the performances of the first eight participating artists in this year’s second semi-final, with commentary provided via Reddit.
🇦🇺 Australia: Go-Jo with “Milkshake Man”
Go-Jo’s team have provided staging notes, which read: “The performance opens with a retro infomercial, featuring Go-Jo as an enthusiastic salesman. Go-Jo’s boundless energy and knack for the element of surprise also come through in the staging – it takes inspiration from the Milkshake Man video clip with bold neon tones, playful wardrobe choices, and nostalgic charm. The era leans heavily into the 70s and 80s, which also serves as a fun nod to fellow Western Australian artist Voyager and their 80’s staging from two years ago. And yes, there’s even a keytar solo too. Midway through the performance, there’s an explosion of colour that captures the same wild, cheeky energy as the music video.” There is also a large blender-like prop on the stage that forms a major part of the stage show. He also appears to strip during the course of the song.
🇲🇪 Montenegro: Nina Žižić with “Dobrodošli”
Compared to the performance she won Montesong with, Nina’s performance has enhanced elements of her national final performance. There is a lot of heavy smoke on the floor throughout to add to the performance. Nina’s face is obscured with a blindfold that comes off at the beginning of the first chorus, before Nina is hit with a big wind machine. Her dress also features a large white circular structure akin to Vladana in 2022. White circles and lights illuminate the LED screen as she delivers emotion in her final notes.
🇮🇪 Ireland: Emmy with “Laika Party”
Ireland’s performance has taken elements from their Eurosong staging and elevated it to a whole new level. Emmy’s outfit has shifted from a metallic two-piece jacket/skirt combo to a full-blown silver dress, detailed with embroideries that resemble circuit boards. She stands on top of a plinth while blasts of white and orange lights rain down on her. A constellation resembling Laika, the hero of the song, is also seen as Emmy, her brother and four dancers perform the iconic choreography for their track.
🇱🇻 Latvia: Tautumeitas with “Bur man laimi”
Heading on with the rehearsals, next up was Tautumeitas from Latvia, who brought the threaded curtain from their Supernova staging. Low fog and dry ice are a key component here, as Tautumeitas act ethereal on stage, almost floating above the smoke. The colours of the song have shifted to a more darker palette, with navies and whites the key colours involved. The group’s outfits have also massively changed, as they appear to adopt a more natural, birth-like aura for their performances, but still maintaining their individual headpieces.
🇦🇲 Armenia: PARG with “Survivor”
After lunch, rehearsals kicked off again with PARG from Armenia. The lighting from above is lowered to “barely above PARG’s head”, creating an intimate but explosive atmosphere. PARG is seen running around the stage, kicking and jumping as he gets into the spirit of the song. The stage performance is entirely different to that of Depi Evratesil, with strobe lights playing a major role in the song’s storytelling. After an initial walk through the lights, as if in a tunnel, PARG climbs onto a treadmill – where he runs for the majority of the song. Pyro is also present, with flames galore as the song goes on; even the treadmill looks like it is about to explode!
🇦🇹 Austria: JJ with “Wasted Love”
Austria’s staging is deliberately designed to be shown in black-and-white, with JJ standing atop a boat that is appearing to enter stormy seas. As the song progresses, he appears to cling onto the boat’s mast as the song gets more and more intense. For the EDM breakdown, camerawork appears to go feral, with JJ appearing to hold on for dear life to the boat. At the end of the song, the boat appeared to be “sucked into a vortex” before a lighthouse shows up on the LED screens, to signify the calm after the storm. JJ is also seen wearing a black leather outfit, with silver studs lining the seems of the outfit.
🇬🇷 Greece: Klavdia with “Asteromáta”
Klavdia’s performance is a far cry from that of Ethnikós Telikós which embraced the light. Instead, Klavdia is keeping things dark as she wears a black dress with large shoulder pads and a slit along the arm for added movement. Staging notes provided by ERT read: “Klavdia begins her appearance on the Eurovision stage standing on a pier. Her movement toward a rock symbolizes the fiery journey each person undertakes to the light. The presence of a second person on stage, along with the movement of the set, reflects the theme of separation – the central message of ‘Asteromáta'”. A dancer is seen in the second verse of the performance, with added overhead camerawork adding to the intensity of the song’s message.
🇱🇹 Lithuania: Katarsis with “Tavo akys”
Much of Katarsis’ winning performance from Eurovizija.lt has been carried onto the Eurovision stage – with the blue/grey outfits and rather bleak background on the LED making a return. The exploding house is also present in the stage show, with the band going all out to let their emotions out. The band are spread out further across the stage, and camerawork has changed to fit the Basel stage. However, added lighting is also an important feature as it only heightens the emotions in the already-intense song even further. During the final minute of the song, the lights from the roof come down to make a pair of wings, almost as a way of signifying hope in all the doom and gloom. The performance ends in a flash of white lights.
Today (May 6th), the first rehearsal for the remaining acts competing in Semi-Final Two took place in Basel, with the official photographs being revealed tomorrow (May 7th).
All About Eurovision 2025
Switzerland will be hosting the 69th edition of the competition following Nemo’s historic win at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö. A few weeks after their win, Reto Peritz, and Moritz Stadler were announced as the Executive Producers, with other roles revealed in July 2024.
Basel, Bern & Biel/Bienne, Geneva, and Zurich submitted bids to host next year’s competition, with Basel and Geneva being shortlisted as the final two cities. After the shortlist, it was decided that Basel will host Eurovision 2025, at St. Jakobshalle with the shows taking place on May 13, 15 and 17.
The visual identity for this year’s contest is “Unity Shapes Love”, which was developed by Art Director Artur Deyneuve, and was inspired by the Swiss tradition of direct democracy, with the message conveyed visually through the iconic Eurovision heart symbol.
What do you think of the rehearsals so far? Let us know in the comments or on social media! Be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we prepare for Eurovision 2025
News Source: That Eurovision Site / Eurovision.tv
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming/Sarah Louise Bennett/Alma Bengtsson/EBU
Giwrgos Oiko