The second dress rehearsal for the Semi-Final Two of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is about to begin. Follow all the action in our liveblog!
At 21:00 CEST, the nineteen acts performing in the second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will take to the stage in Basel in front of the media for the first time. The line-up for the show is:
1. 🇦🇺 Australia: Go-Jo – “Milkshake Man”
2. 🇲🇪 Montenegro: Nina Žižić – “Dobrodošli”
3. 🇮🇪 Ireland: EMMY – “Laika Party”
4. 🇱🇻 Latvia: Tautumeitas – “Bur Man Laimi”
5. 🇦🇲 Armenia: PARG – “SURVIVOR”
6. 🇦🇹 Austria: JJ – “Wasted Love”
🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Remember Monday – “What The Hell Just Happened?” (automatic qualifier)
7. 🇬🇷 Greece: Klavdia – “Asteromáta”
8. 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Katarsis – “Tavo Akys”
9. 🇲🇹 Malta: Miriana Conte – “SERVING”
10. 🇬🇪 Georgia: Mariam Shengelia – “Freedom”
🇫🇷 France: Louane – “maman” (automatic qualifier)
11. 🇩🇰 Denmark: Sissal – “Hallucination”
12. 🇨🇿 Czechia: ADONXS – “Kiss Kiss Goodbye”
13. 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – “La Poupée Monte Le Son”
14. 🇮🇱 Israel: Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”
🇩🇪 Germany: Abor & Tynna – “Baller” (automatic qualifier)
15. 🇷🇸 Serbia: Princ – “Mila”
16. 🇫🇮 Finland: Erika Vikman – “ICH KOMME”
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Live Coverage Ended
20:55 CET // Well, what a surprise to see you. This is Basel calling, my name is James. And we’re here to bring you the second dress rehearsal of the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
We’ve already seen the stagings in the arena in the dress rehearsal earlier, but now is our time to watch the broadcast. Let’s see what happens!
21:00 CET // And, bang on time, we have gotten underway with “Te Deum”. Let’s get going.
21:01 CET // We begin with an opening montage of Eurovision fans enjoying the Opening Ceremony in Basel – it’s been amazing to be here in the city and watch it embrace the contest in the way it has. Danke Basel!
21:02 CET // The opening sequence takes us into the arena, where a fan places a heart into the centre of the Eurovision logo on the LED floor. From there, the whole stage comes to life and wakes up with a thunderous bang – I experienced it earlier, and I will have hearing loss in the future now.
21:03 CET // From there, we meet our hosts once again – Hazel Brugger and Sandra Studer. They introduce us to the show with the usual flair, and go through the traditional ceremonies. Going through the voting rules, promoting the Eurovision app, and doing it all over again in one of Switzerland’s many languages.
21:04 CET // There’s also a reminder about not voting for your own country – described as being like “trying to tickle yourself”. Accurate!
21:05 CET // And with the ceremonies over, we’re about to get underway. 19 songs to get through and watch on screen for the first time. During this liveblog, I’ll try my best to describe the experience of what watching each song is like on screen, and point out any new details I’m picking up on!
🇦🇺 Australia: Go-Jo – “Milkshake Man”
21:10 CET // First up is Go-Jo from Australia, singing “Milkshake Man”. First thing to note – there are loads of on-screen graphics making this look like naughty QVC. In the second verse, we meet a woman called “Susan”, who follows Go-Jo into the magical milkshake machine for a costume change. It’s very Stars in Their Eyes.
During the “Sweet Sweet, Yum Yum” section of the song, there are cuts direct to the audience to really bring out the call and response element of it. And, after a dizzying ending full of flashing lights and shirtless knee slides, we end on the television once again – this is some commercial!
🇲🇪 Montenegro: Nina Žižić – “Dobrodošli”
21:14 CET // Nina Žižić’s performance is all about creating drama. During the first chorus, there are fades to black through Nina’s vocals. And, as the song builds, there’s a good balance of close-ups and large wide shots that make Nina look practically angelic.
Much of the lighting comes from the back, with large streams shooting out above Nina’s head and into the audience. There’s a lovely steadicam shot that helps her go to the frame stage while keeping intimacy with the audience, too. That means we see even more of Nina as she enters the dress change and toughest part of the vocal. It just makes it more impressive.
🇮🇪 Ireland: EMMY – “Laika Party”
21:18 CET // Up third is Emmy, and this is definitely going for the ‘fun vote’. Emmy’s silver suit is a bit Dune-like, with a grey hood above her head one of many things giving this staging a subtly spacy feel. There’s a constellation of the star of this song, the space dog Laika, on the big screen behind them, before the dancing space dogs show up for the chorus.
Emmy spends the majority of the song on the prop at the centre of the stage, with the dancers providing much of the motion in this song. There’s also a lot of moving lighting and crane shots to keep this looking dynamic on stage. There’s a big ending, too – big sparkler jets surround the stage as the party comes to a close.
21:19 CET // There’s a little moment for Hazel to chat to a couple of Australian fans down at the barricade as Latvia sets up – expect this to be a little delay to get the world’s most elaborate curtains in place.
🇱🇻 Latvia: Tautumeitas – “Bur Man Laimi”
21:23 CET // There’s RAIN coming down the screen at the start of this, which along with some deep blue lighting gives this such a different feel from the off. There’s also some great fast edits of the girls using obscured lighting – this is a performance that cares more about how something feels compared to how something looks. It is pure vibes.
The curtain is sibtle, but it just gives everything on the screen a little more texture. And what comes out most to me is the natural chemistry Tautumeitas have for one another – they are united in this. And the staging choices serve to emphasise the most interesting parts of the production, too. Final thing – there’s a shot where they have animal tails!
🇦🇲 Armenia: PARG – “SURVIVOR”
21:28 CET // Onwards with Parg – literally, with that treadmill on stage! And this opening is really stylish, too – stark backlighting and quick edits give this the vibe of a 2000s rock music video to start with. From there, the party trick comes out – and I’m not talking about Parg without a shirt. The lights move the other way, running against him, adding to the feeling of movement.
This performance has a bit of personality and a bit of aggression about it, too. Parg’s not afraid to get really up close to the camera, almost confrontational to his audience – he wants you to know how hard he will fight to stay aliver. The whole staging is really active, in fact – it’s got great energy from the first to the last second.
🇦🇹 Austria: JJ – “Wasted Love”
21:33 CET // After a brief delay, it’s time to see Austria’s staging as it was meant to be witnessed – on TV. The black and white filter changes the character completely. It is so tender, so fragile – and that’s what makes the force in JJ’s voice even more powerful. It’s in a 4:3 aspect ratio, too – it’s absolute cinema.
By the second verse, the storm intensifies – the boat appears to move through choppy waters and JJ sings while fighting with the mast. There’s great camerawork to add to this, angling up and down to unsettle you. But it’s the final few seconds where, and I mean this, this staging just absolutely EXPLODES. No more than that – you’ll have to see it for yourself.
21:35 CET // Remember Monday from the UK need a bit of setup time for their chandelier – so we get to visit the 60+ disco in Basel! Honestly, it looks like my sort of party pace. And my sort of people as well.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Remember Monday – “What The Hell Just Happened?” (automatic qualifier)
21:40 CET // It’s always a special moment for me as a Brit when I see our staging for the first time. Special hasn’t always meant good over the years, but Remember Monday’s is different. The girls are always at the centre, with smart camera movements that add scale without taking away focus.
There’s such a strong musical theatre vibe with this. From the chandelier to the little sound effect after “sip my tea”, it’s playful. There’s also new backing vocals added to the arrangement. Huge crane shots see the girls surrounded by swimmers in water in the LED floor. And in the quiet moments, their personalities really shine. Dare I say that this is *good*?!
🇬🇷 Greece: Klavdia – “Asteromáta”
21:45 CET // A little delay before Asteromata starts – same as in the rehearsal earlier today. That’s a tight changeover. What makes this staging stand out is its sense of scale. Klavdia is often a silhouette of the background of colossal graphics and big lighting sequences both on the screen and the LED floor, too.
The word that comes to mind for me is mature when I see this staging. It’s not over the top at all or adding too much pace – it works well with the song, accentuating the little details in the production while giving Klavdia plenty of room to shine. And, in the final shot, Klavdia appears in a white dress on a white background – it’s a gorgeous closing.
🇱🇹 Lithuania: Katarsis – “Tavo Akys”
21:50 CET // There’s some nice new details I’m seeing on the broadcast feed. Lukas gets close into the camera at several points, almost trying to reach out to the audience emotionally. Not only that, there’s another visual trick up their sleeve. – a change in FRAME RATE of all things. Every year countries find new ways to innovate, don’t they?
For that closing “Tavo” section, the vibe is almost haunting. The power in Lukas’s voice really shines through here, and the frame rate difference gives this a completely different feel all of its own. When you put all the elements together, it adds up into such an immersive performance on stage.
🇲🇹 Malta: Miriana Conte – “SERVING”
21:55 CET // There’s a two-minute delay between the postcard and the performance – but it only adds anticipation to what’s coming. What will happen on the chorus? Will the audience know what the original lyric was? Miriana’s staging nails the build up, with so many details that make this feel like we’ve got tickets to her tour. And…
Not really? At least on the broadcast, we’ve got the breath but not what could have been there. However, that’s a secondary thing, and what matters is that Miriana is providing service in every possible way. Huge vocals, elaborate graphics, everything adds to the diva experience.
🇬🇪 Georgia: Mariam Shengelia – “Freedom”
21:59 CET // There’s mystery from the opening frames of Georgia’s entry. Dancers spring out from behind props, Mariam stands on a sort of obelisk wearing a dress that looks like it is anchoring her to it. There’s lots of flag-waving, too, from those four dancers around her.
The performance changes as we go into English, and Mariam practically opens the door of her dress to walk down the stage. There’s no denying her vocals are impeccable, but it’s as if the staging knows she’s got that part down – instead, the camera shots focus on the movement of the dancers to add to the mysterious atmosphere.
22:01 CET // Now it’s time for France’s super-long staging setup. In the meantime, though, there’s a chance to meet some commentators in their booths as Sandra brings us behind the scenes of the St. Jakobshalle Arena. That’s giving loads of stage hands free roam to get Louane everything she needs to deliver.
There’s also a lovely section where we talk about Millstreet 1993 – if you’re relatively new to Eurovision, that’s a contest you’ll want to look up. Ireland were in their domination era and decided they were bored of going to Dublin, so they held it at a county fairground and horse racing track.
🇫🇷 France: Louane – “maman” (automatic qualifier)
22:07 CET // It took a little less time on this occasion, but France is prepared. It’s one of the big favourites for the contest, especially with the juries, but does it deliver on screen?
She’s holding an hourglass in the first shot – the passage of time made clear as a theme. Thn she dances in the sand, almost Loreen-like in many ways. The camerawork is intimate, but always moving with Louane as she interacts with the streams of falling sand around her. Technically, this must be so challenging to pull off for the production team.
From the second verse, the beat picks up and Louane digs through the sand to find only a mirror facing herself. This whole staging, to me anyway, seems to be about fighting against time and how it’s impossible to win. With the sand tornado effect, it’s more like Louane is accepting the sand’s flow. It’s a really lovely, expressive staging.
🇩🇰 Denmark: Sissal – “Hallucination”
22:12 CET // Sissal’s said repeatedly that the staging for “Hallucination” would change – and she was true to her word. The concept now is more dreamlike, more wistful. Sissal sings with a curtain around her that reflects the lighting really nicely. I love the detail that it’s only black and white lighting at first, but when she sings “colours” the colours burst in.
While the lighting is strong around the curtain, though, Sissal is more in shadow throughout the verses. By the end, she steps out of the curtain into more of a spotlight, nailing her last run of the vocal. It’s a big finish with pink and blue lighting alternating across the stage, too.
🇨🇿 Czechia: ADONXS – “Kiss Kiss Goodbye”
22:16 CET // Adonxs performance gets underway with a super wide shot, narrowing in on his eyes. Then the screen opens up to show Adonxs bathed in white light from every angle. He’s got a micstand to use that gives him a bit of extra presence on stage. As the second verse begin, his dance team joins him – acting almost like his support group.
For the dance break, though, everything changes. White turns to red. The lights lower, lower further, almost touching Adonxs head with how tall he is! And, for the final chorus, there is a gorgeous shot where the dancers come behind Adonxs, creating an effect like The Ancient One does to people in the Doctor Strange movies. A great little moment!
🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – “La Poupée Monte Le Son”
22:21 CET // The visual storytelling in Laura’s staging comes across really well on broadcast. It’s in that second verse where you can see the power dynamics shift in the shot composition and the way Laura moves. It’s not the most overt thing, but once you notice it the choreography really illustrates the song’s story.
The middle 8 almost flows like a dance break or even a call and response section. Not only that, as Laura hits the higher notes, there’s a great sense of scale with dynamic camera movement showing off the full width and depth of that stage. It’s fun, quirky and a throwback to France Gall too – Luxembourg have delivered on this.
🇮🇱 Israel: Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”
22:26 CET // Israel are up next as the semi-final starts to enter its closing stages. Yuval is the focus of the staging, with slow steadicam movement and simple lighting. The source of the light on the stage is the huge chandelier staircase in the middle.
Throughout, the choices in lighting are quite sparse, and the camera edits are deliberately considered. This is a song that focuses on its singer, and chooses to light her only at the right moments. The huge cascade of sparks for the end gives the conclusion of this song another edge, too.
🇩🇪 Germany: Abor & Tynna – “Baller” (automatic qualifier)
22:31 CET // Abor & Tynna’s staging is all about taking you to a club in Berlin. The camera is close on Tynna throughout the verses, and by the second chorus she’s joined by a team of dancers with lights and glowbands. Abor joins her during the performance, highlighting their chemistry on stage.
For the final drop, there’s also a glass break affect and camera shake that adds some scale to things. While it doesn’t have as much of a focus on lasers as it did at Chefsache ESC, there’s also plenty of those in the staging as well. Overall, they know they’re here to get the crowd jumping – this will!
🇷🇸 Serbia: Princ – “Mila”
22:35 CET // Princ has said that the revamped staging for “Mila” is based on Greek mythology. And the choices they make have that kind of grand scale – Princ is our hero in red, while the surrounding dancers in black seem to represent what’s stopping him from reaching his tragic love.
And yes, Princ does get dragged across that stage – it’s such a remarkable moment that absolutely catches you off guard. As the song builds towards its ending, it only seems to become more dramatic. But Princ, with his excellent vocals, sells the drama so well – as any Balkan ballad always should!
🇫🇮 Finland: Erika Vikman – “ICH KOMME”
22:40 CET // To close the show, it’s a staging that we’ve mostly seen from Finland’s national final, UMK. But just because i have seen this before in the flesh does not change anything – Erika Vikman has the most astonishing stage presence.
She starts by wielding her mic stand almost like a sniper, putting the audience in her sights. She moves decisively, choosing exactly how she wants to treat the viewers through the cameras. There are excellent camera angles, tilting and twisting around Erika, showcasing her commanding presence.
Oh yes, there’s still the big finish to come. The last minute of this is somehow even more authoritative. We have the same crowd cutaways as we saw at UMK as Erika gets into position, and then the camera shows her soaring metres above the world. There’s no staging that makes more of a star out of its lead singer – it is a masterclass.
22:42 CET // The fake voting opens and the first recap is shown.
Interval Act One
22:47 CET // The first interval act of the night gives the 2020 acts a chance to perform the entries they would have performed at Eurovision 2020.
22:48 CEST // Kicking off the medley is Switzerland’s own Gjon’s Tears with “Répondez-moi”.
22:49 CEST // Gjon’s jacket bursts into flames!
22:50 CEST // The Roop from Lithuania are up next with “On Fire”, which is what Gjon’s Tears was a minute ago.
22:52 CEST // Third up is one half of Efentix, Efendi from Azerbaijan with “Cleopatra”.
22:53 CEST // Ending it all is Destiny from Malta with “All of My Love”.
22:55 CEST // All four artists return to the stage to join Destiny in celebration.
22:56 CEST // We have our first look at the Green Room tonight. It looks exactly the same as on Tuesday.
22:57 CEST // The second recap is being shown.
23:00 CEST // The fake voting lines are closed!
23:01 CEST // For this montage, we look at Eurofans from around the world, including Malta, Turkey and Australia.
23:05 CEST // The Eurofans in the montage are actually in Basel tonight!
Interval Act Two
23:07 CEST // This interval act is a presentation of Switzerland and its people, explaining why the Swiss are the way they are.
23:10 CEST // Hazel is in the Green Room, talking to Malta.
23:12 CEST // Hazel has moved on to Finland, with Erika professing her love for the German language.
23:14 CEST // Hazel brings some fondue and bread for the Finnish delegation. This is a fever dream.
23:16 CEST // After that exhibition of cheese, we watch a recap of Semi-Final One.
23:20 CEST // The votes have been counted and the results are good to go!
23:27 CEST // The fake qualifiers are Australia, Ireland, Israel, Finland, Montenegro, Czechia, Latvia, Armenia, Malta and Serbia.
23:28 CEST // That concludes tonight’s live blog. We’ll see you again for the first dress rehearsal of the Grand Final on Friday!
