Eurovision's best staging glow-ups

The week before Eurovision is when us fans first start seeing little snippets of rehearsals, which can cause odds to drop or rise dependent on pictures of their staging alone.

Good staging can really elevate a song, tell a story and capture the attention of people watching Eurovision. Just when we think we have seen it all, another clever staging idea comes along to wow us all (and it doesn't have to cost a fortune!) Each year, the staging just gets better and better!

Sometimes we may already have an idea of what staging may look like for song, especially if the song has won a national final, as often (Sweden and Finland are good examples), staging will be reused or based on those performances.

If staging is good enough, it can shoot up the odds and even launch a song out of a possible non-qualification, as can be seen in some of the songs in the list below. We have asked the Aussievision Team what some of their biggest staging glow ups at Eurovision are - let's take a look!

DoReDoS - My Lucky Day - Moldova (2018)

"Moldova's national selections aren't known for their high budgets and huge visuals and DoReDos' performance at home certainly wasn't a showstopper. A room of mirrors with slightly too many smudge marks on the mirrors. By the time they hit the ground in Portugal the concept was fully realised with that amazing prop." ~Liv

Bambie Thug - Doomsday Blue - Ireland (2024)

"Going into the contest in 2024, this was my favourite, but again I thought it was destined to be added to the pile of Irish non-qualifications. But OH MY GOD, was this a glow up. This is actually the best staging of all time in my opinion. Every little detail thought out so well; the costume and make up, the props and dancer and every single camera angle was perfection. Bambie certainly had a vision, and they made it come alive in Malmo. I was there, the crowd ate this up and the reactions from the media room in the lead up - was phenomenal. Seriously, this has to be the greatest glow up of all time!" ~Hayley

Kate Miller-Heidke - Zero Gravity - Australia (2019)

"As a high schooler in 2009, Kate Miller-Heidke was one of my favourite Aussie artists growing up, and I was thrilled to see her get the ticket to Eurovision. But nothing at all could prepare me for the physical and artistic tour de force we were to witness at the Contest - from something that looked slightly dinky on the Gold Coast to a fully realised performance which (yes) I thought was a bit robbed. This remains my favourite Australian Eurovision moment to date, and one of my favourite moments of the Contest overall." ~Craig

Klavdia - Asteromáta - Greece (2025)

"The national final performance, while vocally wonderful, was incredibly stagnant and the colour palette was not a good choice. The final staging at Eurovision really captured the essence of the song, highlighted Klavdia's gorgeous voice, and added enough movement to make it feel a lot more dynamic. Also, almost every shot made for a beautiful still image. Definitely deserved its top 10 finish." ~Rebecca

Laura Thorn - La Poupée Monte Le Son - Luxembourg (2025)

"Laura left me wowed when I saw the performance, did not like the song at all before but that staging and performance looked so expensive and impressive that it completely changed my mind." ~Srdjan

Elena Tsagrinaou - El Diablo - Cyprus (2021)

"From that horrible drab video when this song was released to this visual masterpiece - what a glow up! Whatever the brief was on the staging, the designer got it so right. So many elements fit the theme of the song, it was sexy, the background graphics and pyro were on point, the red back up dancer suits were brilliant, the dancing was insane and that dress Elena wore was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't really like this song leading up to the Contest in Rotterdam but this impressed me ALOT!" ~Hayley

Eleni Foureira - Fuego - Cyprus (2018)

"Eleni Foureira perhaps pulled off the greatest glow up in Eurovision history, Fuego was 25th in the odds a few months prior to the Contest and absolutely rocketed to the top with one of the most spectacular staging concepts of all time." ~Liv

Parg - Survivor - Armenia (2025)

"Parg's staging looked so cinematic and impactful compared to the Armenian NF that I was certain it was qualifying when I saw the rehearsal footage (thanks Kaleen!)" ~Srdjan

Zlata Ognevich - Gravity - Ukraine (2013)

"Zlata Ognevich won the Ukrainian national final with a very different version of Gravity. Not only did the song itself undergo and massive revamp glow up to go from complete gibberish to making some sense, the staging also went from a basic cafe performance to an entirely magical, fully realised stage performance at Eurovision." ~Liv

Tamara Todevska - Proud - North Macedonia (2019)

"I always thought this was a sleeper and couldn't understand why it was only considered a borderline qualifier. Tamara had such a presence about her and the way she delivered her powerful message through the live vocals that really elevated the song from the studio version. The staging really captured the message behind the song, and the focus was purely on her and her LED clones assisted by some moving photography. No bells and whistles were required. It was great to see her not only come second in her semi-final but win the jury final for a 7th place finish overall. No one would have predicted that before rehearsals started!" ~Emma

alyona alyona & Jerry Heil - Teresa & Maria - Ukraine (2024)

"2024 was a year of many glow ups such as Ireland, Armenia and Greece. However one of the best ones was Ukraine. I remember when Jerry Heil initially got selected I was happy for her, but thought this song wasn’t as good as When God Shuts the Door. Then I saw the Eurovision staging and was completely blown away. Jerry was absolutely gorgeous and striking – like Ukraine’s answer to Britannia or Marianne. The opening of the cliffs and the water flowing was visually stunning. But the best bit had to be when Jerry climbed the cliff and persevered through the falling stars – very symbolic given Ukraine’s war with Russia. The act finished movingly when Jerry and Alyona Alyona lay in the posse of women. I believe it could have done even better had the Swedes not sabotaged it and made the decision to put it in the death slot of number 2. Nevertheless, Jerry and Alyona made Ukraine proud with their incredible glow up and bronze medal finish." ~Sam

Abor & Tynna - Baller - Germany (2025)

"A killer song with a potential hot mess of staging that got better and better each time they performed. The last performance was tight with a solid vocal and good understanding of camera placement." ~Troy

What are some of your biggest glow ups?

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