Odds Review-Rehearsals Day 1: 30/04/22

A combination of first rehearsals becoming closed off and an odds on favourite that isn’t really staging reliant in the typical way means we’ve had a chill start to proceedings, despite said favourite, Ukraine of course, being one of the entries we’ve seen. “Seen” is again a bit of an exaggeration- we know there is a hearty splash of yellow and blue to the colour scheme and that the backing members have upgraded their mop outfits to the German flag variety but beyond that kind of detail there’s not much to say.

Along with Ukraine, the colour palate is also being made to work by Latvia, Moldova and even Bulgaria and Slovenia with some fairly vibrant uses of colour. The contrast to the more restrained Lithuania, Switzerland, The Netherlands isn’t particularly aiding those three in my initial impressions- it’s a big stage to be alone on and as always it’s going to take a real top tier performer to make the solo-intimate angle work. Amanda Tenfjord of Greece will be banking on that working for her tomorrow. I’m also intrigued to see if there’s any staging reason for Armenia’s position as last in the semi so the

The biggest move in the market has come away from those performing with France jumping up to 8th. A good jury showing in a couple of the preview shows has been a factor.