Welcome back to ESCBubble’s coverage for Eurovision 2021! After a marathon day yesterday and this morning of second rehearsals, we’re back with some more first rehearsals! Join us this evening as we check out the first rehearsals of the six automatic qualifiers.

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! The final will take place at 21.00 CET on Saturday 22nd May 2021 where we’ll find out the winner of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest.

Third up in this late afternoon session is… The Netherlands!

First Rehearsal

Jeangu is dressed in an edgy dark blue suit jacket over the top of what looks like a black harness. The aesthetics are SO good. He is joined on stage by three backing dancers but Jeangu does just as much awesome dancing. He is on the main stage for the majority of the performance and the vocal plus general vibe of the performance is vastly different to the live performance we heard during Jeangu’s live premiere of the song. The song starts with a glass breaking background which is there until the colour comes in near the end.

As the song builds, the colours in the background do too – before culminating near the end with just hugely colourful explosions in the backdrops and also good use of the side screen as he makes his way to the satellite stage. It’s great to see more than anything that he is also there having fun with the performance. There are some really beautiful camera angles there too which are some of the best we’ve had yet. Really shows the grand stature of the stage and how wonderful the satellite stage screen can look.

The intricacies of the dance routine and the camera angles really work with the backing singers on stage too. During the chorus the Sranan Tongo language lines are shown in big letters in front of the colours, alternating with the English translation that you won’t break me. Really powerful staging, great job from the Netherlands!

Before Eurovision

Jeangu Macrooy was chosen as the 2020 representative for the Netherlands, earning the honour of being the home nation representative! His song “Grow” was one of the most emotional songs of the last year, connecting perfectly ahead of time with the mood that the lockdowns brought upon Europe.

This year, Jeangu has opted for a much more optimistic song, “Birth of a New Age” which also captures the optimism across the world as Europe comes out of its lockdowns with the vaccination rollout underway. It is also fantastic to see Jeangu add his Surinamese culture to the song too. Check out the official music video here: