Welcome back to ESCBubble’s coverage for Eurovision 2021! After the first seven countries took to the stage at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam for their first rehearsals, we are flying through to day 2! Today, the remaining nine countries performing in the second half of semi final one will be rehearsing so keep following our coverage for all the updates throughout the day.

As always, you can check out our ongoing coverage through both our Live Rehearsal Blog and also rolling  daily updates on our Twitter Account.

If you are avoiding potential rehearsal spoilers then don’t read any further! Semi Final One will take place at 21.00 CET on Tuesday 18th May 2021 with sixteen countries competing for ten qualifying spots for the final.

We have one final country rehearsing before we break for lunch, none other than… Belgium!

First Rehearsal

Belgium has given us exactly what they do best, broody and dark staging which has an interesting aspect to it. Very classic and intimate vibes with a vintage feel. The band are placed around her playing their respective instruments with lead singer Geike in the middle. She moves around with the camera (stood mostly on the same spot in the middle) however there are lots of close up angles and she’s a very intense performer. Long steady-cam shots, some great angles of Geike and the backing singer behind her.

They’re all dressed in black, as you’d expect, with Geike wearing quite a smart & glitzy black dress. The backdrop gives Blair Witch Project vibes with black and white close ups of her face and occasionally other things like her hands or arms. All in all a really atmospheric staging with the focus very much being on the voice. Her face when singing about you wearing her Johnny Cash t-shirt is particularly intense as she gives the camera the eye. The past few years, Belgium have struggled with staging but this seems to be the end of that curse. Of course, the creative director also worked on the masterpiece that was “Calm After The Storm” by The Common Linnets (Netherlands 2014).

Before Eurovision

Legendary band Hooverphonic have been releasing music for almost three whole decades, so there were many fans very happy when Belgian broadcaster announced that they would be representing Belgium at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. Despite the cancellation, both Belgian broadcasters VRT & RTBF came together to provide the band a second chance at Eurovision success in 2021.

However, the band is known for semi-regularly changing the lead singer and the singer who was on their 2020 track “Release Me” Luka Cruysberghs was replaced by previous singer Geike Arnaert. Geike was previously the singer for the group between 1997 and 2008, the period which saw Hooverphonic gain the most success in their career. All three felt that the 20 year anniversary of their most successful album release felt like a good opportunity for a reunion. This year, they will be bringing angsty indie ballad “The Wrong Place”. Check out the music video here: