Finland | Darude & Sebastian Rejman start the party at First Rehearsal

This morning kicked off an exciting two week lead up to the final with the start of first rehearsals! Join us over the next four days as we take a look at the first rehearsals of all competing semi finalists. For the first day of rehearsals, the nine countries drawn to the first half of the first semi final will take to the stage.

Image Credit: Anton Sucksdorff (Eurovision.tv)

Third up this morning is Finland - who are bringing legendary DJ Darude and singer Sebastian Rejman to Tel Aviv in a bid to secure Finland's second victory. The duo will be performing EDM track 'Look Away' in the first semi final in just over a weeks time. After being internally selected as the artist, 'Look Away' beat out two other songs in the Finnish national selection - UMK.

Darude will be most familiarly known as the DJ behind the iconic trance hit 'Sandstorm' released originally in 1999 and internationally in 2000. With his career spanning twenty years, Darude has released four albums and has performed at some of the biggest EDM and Rave festivals across the globe. Singer Sebastian Rejman, who is also the main writer on their Eurovision entry, headed up the band The Giant Leap and is also a successful actor. This isn't the first time the two have teamed up, as Sebastian is featured on a number of Darude's tracks over the past few years.

Image Credit: Andres Putting (Eurovision.tv)

FINLAND - FIRST REHEARSAL

They have definitely upgraded this performance from their national final version back in March, ditching the giant LED cube. They've opted for an environmental theme to their stage show, with the LED's showing a birds eye view of the ocean and then focusing on melting polar ice caps. The female dancer, from the National Final, falls into the water on the screen at the end of the first chorus.

The lights start out quite dark, dark blue and black however gradually gets a touch lighter, with lots of flashing lights. The dancer, in a flowing green dress, is featured on a small white platform in the centre of the main stage with Sebastian leaves the main stage for the catwalk and gets in close with the audience. For the majority of the performance, the camera's focus on the dancer with both Darude & Sebastian getting very little screentime. Could this cause a disconnect to viewers?

Sebastian's vocals could do with some help however you can't fault his enthusiasm. He was really engaging with the audience however does also need to remember to connect with the camera. Darude is up in the back of the stage on a platform with his DJ set. The outfits are similar to the national final, with Darude in a white top & Sebastian wearing a leather jacket.

Finland's second rehearsal is set for Thursday 9th May and they will be performing third in the first semi final on Tuesday 14th May.

Will you be supporting Finland at this years Eurovision? Let us know in the comments below your thoughts on Darude & Sebastian Rejman's first rehearsal.

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