Rehearsals for Eurovision 2025 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel are now in full swing! We have seen snapshots of the performances of the Big 5, including host nation Switzerland. As always, rehearsal footage was outlined with commentary provided via Reddit.
🇪🇸 Spain: Melody with “Esa Diva”
Much of this performance revolves around what Melody had planned in her Benidorm Fest performance. However, this provides a clearer story, dividing the performance into three distinct parts – each with their own colour palettes ranging from purple to red to black to white. There are five dancers that join Melody on stage; two women and three men. Each act appears to have a different dance routine, which only adds to the storytelling. She is also seen wearing a black outfit with a huge train, before it is ripped off to reveal a silver, bejewelled corset. She also includes all the elements from her national final performance, including arriving on the swing.
🇮🇹 Italy: Lucio Corsi with “Volevo essere un duro”
Very little has changed from Lucio’s Sanremo performance, with Lucio beginning his song sat at a piano. Wearing his iconic glam-rock outfit from the Sanremo stage, he sings the first third of his song here before moving away to the front of the stage, joined by co-star Tommaso Ottomano. There are, however, some changes – including the addition of two large retro props. The television feed will also feature subtitles – helping to highlight the songs message to people who don’t speak Italian. He also adopts a harmonica solo, in a rare moment that we have a LIVE musical instrument in the modern contest.
🇨🇭 Switzerland: Zoë Më with “Voyage”
Speaking on their performance, Switzerland’s creative director Theo Adams confirmed that the performance will be one continuous shot with no dancers or cuts – purely Zoë herself. She begins her performance seated, completely surrounded in dark lighting. Camerawork plays an important role as she gets intimate with viewers whilst dealing with her introspection. This feeling of delicacy runs through the first two-thirds of the song, before the middle-eight disrupts the flow. Here, smoke, wind, and flashes dominate, making the camera tilt, circle, and move drastically, all while remaining closely attuned to Zoë throughout. The performance ends as it begins, shrouded in darkness, in what Adams described as “a moment that feels deeply personal.”
🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Remember Monday with “What the Hell Just Happened?”
More staging notes from the UK delegation read: “It’s the morning after the night before. We reveal Remember Monday in a Regency style boudoir reflecting on the events of the previous evening. As the first chorus hits we pull out and with a burst of movement the girls progress down the catwalk taking us back to the chaos of the previous evening. On the main stage is a giant chandelier that has crashed down to earth. The chandelier is a striking reminder of the chaotic antics of the night before. The energy then builds before the stage plunges into darkness – leaving the chaos in its wake, the lights return and the girls re-emerge in the safety of the boudoir for a final sweet moment.” The chandelier in question spans around 2 to 3 metres, with candles on the outside – slumped on one side of the stage. Meanwhile, the boudoir is on the other side, with a heart cut out of the wall. Pyro will feature in the performance, but was not used during their first rehearsal.
🇫🇷 France: Louane with “Maman”
Staging notes provided by the French delegation say of the performance: “On stage, the sand falls — grain by grain, like time slipping through an hourglass. It’s more than a performance. It’s a reminder: time moves fast, and every moment counts. Maman is about love, loss, and the strength to move forward. The hourglass becomes a symbol of life itself—the cycle, the urgency, the beauty of now. Through the pain, Louane delivers one clear message: no matter what we face, we can always rise. And while the sand keeps falling, we must live — fully.” Louane remains fully within a circular platform filled with sand, all while wearing a short, black dress. No pyros are seen at all during this performance.
🇩🇪 Germany: Abor & Tynna with “Baller”
Germany’s performance opens with Abor playing an electric cello in front of a curtain that runs from ceiling to floor. The cello is covered in LEDs and lights up in white, while Tynna is standing atop an 80s-style boombox. She sings the chorus and the first verse on top of the stereo prop before coming down to join four dancers on the stage. The dancers go on to illuminate Tynna with lights, as she dances in a black two-piece outfit. On the outfit, Tynna wears a detachable skirt with the word “Baller” scrawled across the back. Strobe lights are a key element of the performance, with “Baller” flashing on the LED screen several times. The duo do not break the cello at the end of the performance, but pyros explode within the boombox at the end of the performance.
Today (May 9th), second rehearsals also began for acts competing in the second half of Semi-Final Two, with the official clips from their performance being revealed sporadically throughout the day.
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: EBU
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming/Sarah Louise Bennett/Alma Bengtsson/EBU
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