ESCXTRA.com are live for day five of Eurovision 2024 week!
After watching the dress rehearsal this afternoon, we are back to update you live about the Jury Show of tonight.
From 21h CEST onwards, we will be updating this page with our reactions to the show.
Refresh the page to see updates on the dress rehearsal below! (All times are in CEST)
21h00 – Let the show begin!
Once again, the “Te Deum” resonates between the walls of the press center, with applause but less enthusiasm than before. The atmosphere has been difficult here for the past few hours, since we got the news about an investigation regarding Joost Klein, the Dutch artist.
And after the “Te Deum”, the screen remains dark for a few seconds before the introduction begins.
The introduction is a video of very dark places, enlightened by a moody yellow light, with extracts from Abba and others as a soundtrack. Then, lights from all over Europe join together over Malmö Arena, and we can finally see inside the arena.
21h03 – Björn Skifs opens the show
The show is opened by Björn Skifs, the first Swedish artist to end up at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
21h05 – The Flag Parade
Then flag parade begins, with each country’s colours being spread as lines on the wall and floor LED screens. The artists walk from the back of the stage and exit from the left and right, alternatively.
The Netherlands is announced but the camera only shows the audience, as no ones walks the stage. We can hear a few cheers of support from the press center. Joost Klein will not be performing tonight, as explained by the EBU, but the footage of the second semi-final will be used.
21h12 – Here come the hosts
As Kaleen from Austria leaves the stage, Petra Mede and Målin Akerman steps forward on the notes of “The Winner Takes It All”.
“Yes, the winner takes it all, 25 countries have to fall,” as Mållin says. The final begins with loud cheer, once again, mainly for Petra. This feels very much like 2016, with the joke of “the end of tonight’s show, in approximately 3 to 8 hours”.
Petra shows the trophy the winner will win, although it is just a water bottle for now. We don’t want it to be broken in a rehearsal, do we?
21h16 – Let the voting begin
A new element this year, the televoting opens at the beginning of the show. As such, after the classical explainations in English and French (20 votes maximum, jury and televote being used, the existence of the Rest of the World vote, the means to vote, etc.), the hosts start a countdown to the opening of the voting lines.
21h18 – Sweden – 🇸🇪
The preparations for this begin before the postcard even starts, which is made easier by the fact . Most of the light we see around them don’t actually come from the sliding walls but from the cubes, which are lowered at the beginning of the performance, and can be seen through the walls, or at the end of their “corridor”.
This works wonders as an opener, being a strong pop song and the host act. You can hear the people clapping on the TV feed. Despite that, the enthusiasm in the press center is not lifted as we would expect. The days’ event are still permeating the atmosphere.
21h22 – Ukraine – 🇺🇦
This afternoon, Jerry Heil clearly let the backing vocals do most of the work to preserve herself for tonight. But tonight, she and alyona alyona are giving it their all, knowing it matters and they may get a good score from the juries.
The chorus is captivating, and alyona alyona gives all the needed gravitas to her entrance, as she extracts a pin from her hair.
The reply inside the press center is more enthusiastic. There is almost something therapeutic about the soothing chorus of “Teresa & Maria”.
21h27 – Germany – 🇩🇪
Firey, strong vocals, Isaak gives it all tonight. Germany knows that a lot of people give them very little chance do get an even moderate position, and the juries may be the only way for “Always on the Run” to escape the dreaded 26th place.
The performance is slightly darker than the semi-final one, although that’s perhaps because his hair appear darker.
21h31 – Luxembourg – 🇱🇺
For the first time in over 30 years, Luxembourg performs in a Eurovision Grand Final. Tali takes to the stage from her rectangle prop andd leaves it with her dancers.
Nothing much has changed, and we still believe the virtual feline predator (a puma? a lynx? a tiger?) in the back was a bit too much.
For this performance, Tali also looks like she did in the semi-final, while she often had her hair attached behind her head in other rehearsals.
21h34 – The Netherlands – 🇳🇱
Joost Klein is not allowed to peform until further notice by the EBU. As such, after the stage-ready, we see the exact same performance we did in the semi-final. So much that the televote number in the lowe part of the screen is still “16” from yesterday night.
However, the voting number of each country is indicated during the postcard, with the national details to give the vote, and this appeared correctly as number 5.
Quite a few loud clapping and cheers from some tables of the press centre here, in support of Joost.
21h39 – Israel – 🇮🇱
Eden Golan appears on stage in her circle hoop to start her perfomance.
The reaction in the press centre is as usual: no booing, but silence from most people, save for a small contingent mainly composed of very enthusiastic supporters.
21h44 – Lithuania – 🇱🇹
“Luktelk” graces us with its heavy bass, lithuanian language, and Silvester Belt. The eye contact with the camera is good, the people are clapping, but the choregraphy around him looks a bit messy and less synchronized than it should be.
The reply in the press centre and in the arena is very enthusiastic at the end.
21h47 – Ad Break – back to Eurovision 1975
As the broadcast goes to an ad break, Målin and Petra recall the 1975 Eurovision song contest, the first organized by Sweden.
This is mainly a tribute to their predecessor Karin Falck, who hosted the contest in Stockholm, and had to bring her own dress and write her own script, with very little space for rehearsals at the time. Footage from the numerous issues during the voting at the time have the audience in light laughters.
The hosts then pretend to call her through a video-call. This is actually a recorded video, as it was this afternoon, in which Karin greets Petra and Målin, and wishes them good luck for the show.
Before getting back to the competition, Petra makes a few jokes about the rules needed to perform in or to be hosting the contest (like being under 40, which she “just narrowly” meets).
21h52 – Spain – 🇪🇸
Sorry for the delay in posting about Spain. Nothing wrong happened, quite the opposite, for we were too busy dancing and singing along to it in the middle of the press centre.
This has definitely started to lift our spirits, and Dominic from ESCXtra assures me that Maria was vocally on point. Perhaps this could do better than expectd with the juries?
21h57 – Estonia – 🇪🇪
Most of the act takes place on stage, but Puluup’s singer starts below the stage, between the stage and the public, before taking a few steps up to join the rest of the act.
This gets the crowd going but is not vocally the strongest. The beginning of the song always sounds off-key. I’m not sure the juries will get the best impression.
22h00 – Ireland – 🇮🇪
There is a very small delay between the postcard and the beginning of the performance. Something was probably not in place just in time. But once it begins, it hits hard: the witch is back.
Will the juries crown them? That is not certain. Bambie Thug’s vocal performance is certainly flawless, especially in the “slowest” parts.
The costume changes works perfectly, and there is no issue with the lights this time (they were some during the first semi-final’s jury rehearsal). The final screams from Bambie get our part of the press centre and the crowd in cheers, with chants of “Crown the witch” echoing around us.
22h04 – Latvia – 🇱🇻
There is once again a small delay between the postcard and the beginning of the performance. Dons “hoop” is indeed made of two parts, which need to be assembled right one stage.
The running order is terribly efficient her: after the madness and energy of Estonia but especially Ireland, Dons’ soft tones soothen us and allow us to breath by slowing down the pace of the show for a bit.
22h09 – Greece – 🇬🇷
22h14 – United Kingdom – 🇬🇧
After the mediterran atmosphere of Greece, be ready for the sweaty and dirty shower room energy of Olly Alexander’s “Dizzy”.
The staging still works wonders, with the camera effects playing with the gravity. Vocally, however, Olly’s vocals are drowned in backing vocals during the chorus. He also does not try to get very big during climax. Much cheering from the arena and the press center, but this is not taking many risks.
22h18 – Ad break and Lynda Woodruff
For the next ad break, Lynda Woodruff gets back into her role as the “EBU Spokesperson”. She also graces us with a song fangirling about Martin Osterdahl, “You’re good to go”, which I find very funny. “He’s the boss of the grand prix with his big desk energy”…
22h22 – Norway – 🇳🇴
Gunnhild looks more confident than during the semi-final, and was vocally amazing. It’s a song in which you can easily tell when the notes are not hit, and the juries should notice they were hit well.
22h26 – Italy – 🇮🇹
A very good performance from Angelina. Vocally on point, the “fast-speaking” part sounded better than in previous performances where she would let the backing vocals do the job. Could this get very high with the juries?
22h30 – Serbia – 🇷🇸
Teya Dora’s rock is back, and we kinda missed it. This is clearly her night, as most of Serbia’s support will come from the juries.
22h34 – Finland – 🇫🇮
Can the song that finished last in the UMK jury vote do better at Eurovision? The performance is slick, all the cues to hide Windows95Man’s parts are met in time, and the vocals from Henri are as good as usual.
22h38 – Portugal – 🇵🇹
Ah, sweet Iolanda. Just like Dons before with “Doomsday Blue”, this calms us down after “No Rules!”, although it goes much, much harder on the heavy bass. Iolanda’s vocal performance, is, as always, flawless, and the staging remains this incredibly balanced and smooth experience. This can end up very high with the juries.
Huge cheers in the press centre after the high note, and at the end of the performance.
22h42 – Armenia – 🇦🇲
Do you need joy in your life? Listen to “Jacko”. Jaklin sings with such an energy, without missing a note, and with a strong connexion to the camera. Huge cheers in the press center again, with people singing along with the crowd on the “Lala la lalas”.
This also adds some nergy after Portugal, which should be kept high by Cyprus.
22h46 – Cyprus – 🇨🇾
The pace remains up with Silia Kapsis and her dancers. The performance is visually confident, with Silia looking older than she usually appears, but the vocals could get a bit better. It won’t be an issue with the televote, it is not critical, but it might make a difference for the juries.
Once again, huge cheers in the arena, and the press center.
22h50 – Switzerland – 🇨🇭
Time for one of the favorite, Switzerland, currently third in the odds (though they change faster and faster these days).
Nemo has both the energy and the vocals, but they are sometimes drowned a bit by the backing music when it gets loud. This may be an effect of the speakers in the press centre though.
The long notes at the end are hit and met with applause from the journalists around us. Huge cheers from the arena and the journalists at the end, and Nemo seems overjoyed by the reaction, with a very heartfelt “Thank you so much!”.
22h54 – Ad break and Eurovision history
Målin meets the camera from the middle of the seats on the left side of the arena. Cue to some nostalgia about the 1980’s contest, but several cues are not met by the technical side (showing a video too late while Måliln already got along with the rest of her script, or an attempt at reproducing Buck Fizz’s skirt removal, but out of the camera frame.
After that, we see several shots of the arena with what could only be described as “energetic elevator music”, for far too long. Possibly another technical/staging issue, but the same thing happened this afternoon. Cue to Petra Mede promoting the DVD, CD, and Vinyl of this year… as well as the Runestone of the show. You’ll understand when you see it.
22h58 – Slovenia – 🇸🇮
The ad break probably helps Slovenia, lessening the sandwich effect of being stuck between Switzerland and Croatia.
This is visually dark but “charming”, as in, working its charm on us. The eye contact is eerie, and sends shivers down your spine.
Vocally this works fine, with the last notes being less drowned in backing vocals and music than it was in the semi-final: the mix is very jury-oriented.
23h02 – Croatia – 🇭🇷
No big dance around the press center for the rehearsals, but we are certainly singing the “Woh-oh” of the chorus. Croatia is the current favorite, but doubts remain on the jury appeal of the song. So, how does it look like tonight?
Visually, nothing really changes, though it does look slightly less chaotic than before. Vocally, you can feel that Baby Lasagna is putting some more melody in his verses, especially the second one (“Wanna find pease in the noise…”). Huge cheers in the end, and Baby Lasagna looks pleased by his performance.
Dom and I believe this is enough to give him the jury support needed for a victory, if the televote is strong enough for him. Winner alert? Possibly, but we have one of these left yet…
23h07 – Georgia – 🇬🇪
Enthusiasm and cheers in the press centre at multiple moments during the song. Nutsa’s voice is clearer in the mix, not unlike Raiven’s earlier. This is clearly trying to showcase her vocal capacity, although the song may remain too chaotic for juries.
23h11 – France – 🇫🇷
Could this be the jury winner? Yes, although….
It certainly works: the connection with the camera, the single-take, the roughness of the voice, etc. Yet, during the bing moment away from the mic, Slimane’s voice was clearly strained at two different moments, and you could hear some shivers of “Ouch” from people in the press center. But it wasn’t really off-key either. Slimane is professional enough to keep it together, get back on the right volume in a split of a second, and conclude the song with the intended impact.
Could this be an issue? In 2021, Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears tried to go too high in his big vocal moment, and very obviously missed his key. He still topped the jury vote. But didn’t win the whole thing.
23h17 – Austria – 🇦🇹
This works wonders to close the show, and is heavily cheered by everyone. I’m not conviced Kaleen’s vocal will be enough for the juries, and “We Will Rave” does not try to expose them in the same way “Veronika” or “Firefighter” did earlier.
