Eurovision 2025: Rehearsals Day 3 recap

The first rehearsals of Eurovision 2025 in Basel have begun.

On Day 3, eight acts from semi-final took to the stage for their first run through of 30 minutes each.

Photo galleries are provided by Eurovision and we've taken some of their team's description of the performance.

Eurovision provided details of the rehearsals on a live Reddit thread.

All images courtesy of the EBU.

Australia,

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

Before they provided their own commentary, they were provided staging notes from the Australian delegation.

The staging notes said:

“The performance opens with a retro infomercial, featuring Go-Jo as an enthusiastic salesman. Go-Jo’s boundless energy and knack for the element of surprise also come through in the staging - it takes inspiration from the Milkshake Man video clip with bold neon tones, playful wardrobe choices, and nostalgic charm.

The era leans heavily into the 70s and 80s, which also serves as a fun nod to fellow WA artist Voyager and their 80’sstaging from two years ago. And yes, there’s even a keytar solo too. Midway through the performance, there’s an explosion of colour that captures the same wild, cheeky energy as the music video.”

The live blogger then gave these details:

So essentially, this is a LOT of fun and a feast for the eyeballs, with some very cute graphics that support the retro infomercial vibe. Clearly these are only visible to the TV audience, but there’s still plenty for the arena audience to enjoy – Go-Jo in a very 70s-style white suit with a red-striped collar and a red cravat, two dancers in red and white striped dresses, and a big finish after the sweet sweet/yum yums where the graphics flood every corner of the stage and the whole thing goes pink neon laser disco party.

There’s also a central prop that…isn’t the ice cream truck, but it’s big and it’s fun. That’s all we’re can say for now, but we’re told all will be revealed soon!

Did we join in with the call-and-response ‘sweet sweet/yum yum’ section? Yes we did. It definitely lacks impact when you’re the only one in the arena, but we’re fully expecting next week’s audience to make up for our feeble yum yums.

Montenegro

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

The mask remains until the first bridge into the chorus, but the white dress now has a huge white train and a built-in panel of structured fabric that creates a circular frame from above her head to below her knees. So imagine the circle that Vladana wore in 2022, but make it bigger and an integral part of a pure white dress, with Nina’s red lipstick being the only colour. There are some camera shots taken from the side where she almost looks like a swan - it’s VERY dramatic.

The LED wall features white light particles that come together to form swirling shapes on the LED wall, and there’s some very clever use of blue and white lighting that builds through the song. This performance is also less static than we saw at Montesong, helped by a much bigger stage – Nina starts in the centre, then walks to the frame stage for the big vocal finish.

Ireland

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

She starts the performance spotlit on a shiny metal platform in the centre of the stage that looks like a lunar module, with her brother Erlend on keyboards at stage level in front, wearing a metallic silver shirt and his trademark star-shaped shades. There are four female dancers, all in silver trousers and black/silver vests, who dance in front of Erlend during each chorus.

So it has the same vibe and energy we saw at the Irish national final, but the routine is much more precise and polished, and the staging is on a Basel scale. The biggest difference is the impact of the neon lighting and LED walls – the floating bones are gone, instead replaced by neon planets and animated marching space dogs for each set of bam bams. During the chorus the main LED wall features a constellation that forms the shape of Laika the dog out of stars.

Latvia

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

The whole routine is more or less exactly the same as Supernova – during the second run-through we simultaneously played the Supernova version on our laptop to see if we could spot any differences, and the changes are VERY subtle. The lighting is definitely more dramatic and powerful, and at one point the LED wall gives them tails to make them look like animals, which requires them to be in exactly the right place on the stage. They are, and it looks really effective.

Their costumes are also different – instead of the floaty dresses we saw at Supernova, Tautumeitas are all wearing matching gold catsuits with detailing that looks like branches and fins, and stunning gold headdresses that light up and change colour through the song.

Armenia

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

The first thing to note is the use of the lego lights - half of them have been lowered to barely above head height, with the other half maybe eight feet above. They strobe and flash in sync with the bassline, and also create a structural effect on the stage that feels very dark and industrial - completely different from the rock/pillar structure we saw at Depi Evratesil.

PARG starts his performance in the gap between the two halves of the lighting rig, lit with spotlights like he’s in a tunnel. Most of the performance then takes place on a treadmill in the middle of the frame stage, where he sprints during the chanting sections of the chorus, then slows down for the low tempo middle eight. The treadmill choreography is complex, but PARG has clearly been very busy in the rehearsal studio and the whole concept aligns really well with the pace and energy of the song.

The other big change is PARG’s costume – the one-shouldered armour has gone, replaced by a black vest and studded black leather trousers (loose cargo fit rather than tight, for those of you trying to picture this). After the big note at the end, the lego lights rise up to open up the stage for PARG’s dramatic final chorus, when it feels like every light in the arena is in flash mode.

Austria

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

First thing to note is that the staging is designed to be broadcast entirely in black and white, which we can only imagine was a huge technical challenge. It means the lighting is all about creating pockets of light and shadow, ramping up the light levels in sync with the tempo and drama of the song.

And goodness, what drama – both from JJ’s operatic vocals and the staging concept. The central prop is a simple boat that looks like it’s been made from packing crates, with a wooden mast and a white sail - JJ performs in the boat for the whole of the performance, clinging onto the mast as a storm begins in the second chorus. It appears to toss him around the stage, through a combination of some very clever camerawork and a wind machine cranked up to the max. JJ performs some wind-battered choreography that feels almost like contemporary dance, and as the tempo builds through the drum ‘n’ bass section at the end, so does the storm, with waves and stormclouds building on the LED screen, spinning camerawork, flashing strobe lights and JJ barely hanging on to the boat, but not losing the note for a second.

Right at the end, as an overhead camera shot makes it look like the boat is being sucked into a vortex on the LED floor, a huge lighthouse appears on the main LED wall like a beacon of hope in the darkness, and everything is still.

Greece

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

So we have our first rock of the season as a central prop, and once Klavdia has walked along the pier in the quiet opening verse, she performs the rest of the song on top of it. She’s joined by one female dancer for the second verse, but they drift away on the pier, leaving Klavdia alone on her rock, wearing a long, fitted gown that sparkles with tiny jewels. In different lights it looks either black or a very dark navy blue – it's hard to tell but hopefully that will be clearer on the photos tomorrow.

There’s some lovely camerawork in this performance, with overhead shots making it look like the pier is in water, which then morph into dramatic burning trees and volcanic landscapes that spread up the LED wall as the song builds. The lighting and graphic effects are stunning – at one point Klavdia lifts her arm, and blue lights sweep across the set. Her vocals lift the roof off the arena, with the lego lights descending at the end to create a tiered effect. We (sadly) don't speak Greek, but we can still feel the love and loss and pain in every line.

Lithuania

Eurovision live bloggers said of the performance:

Those of you who loved their winning performance from Eurovizija will be very happy to hear that the staging remains largely unchanged – the blue outfits, the bleak landscape, the exploding house and the flying rocks in the final TAVOS are all much the same, albeit the graphics are delivered on a much bigger scale, including the LED floor, and feel more immersive and impactful.

What‘s changed is the atmosphere added by the lighting and extra effects – on the Basel stage they‘re able to add more light and shade, so there’s a really nice close-up shot where Lukas’s face is half in shadow. When he comes to the front, he battles against a wind machine in sequence of different camera shots – the whole thing feels lighter in parts and darker and more atmospheric in others. At the end the lego lights descend to create an effect that looks like a pair of wings as the strobes kick in for the TAVOs and the song ends in a flash of white light. It was already a great performance at Eurovizija, but this definitely feels like it's been elevated.

Full rehearsal schedule available here

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