Welcome back Eurovision fans! It is the fourth day of the very first rehearsals of Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, in Sweden and all of the artists are trying to give the best of themselves, once they step on the stage. Today, the rest entries of the Second Semi-Final staged their performances and gave audience a hint of what is going to be presented in Sweden. The very first artist who stepped on the cross-like stage was Dons from Latvia, who performed his song, “Hollow“.
Who is Dons?
Dons is one of Latvia’s most famous singers and songwriters. His real name is Artūrs Šingirejs, and he was born in 1984, the year when Sweden marked its second win in the Contest. Dons has also won Latvian Music Recording Awards’ “Top Hit” not once, but eight times for the most played song on the radio. However, the records for him do not stop there.
He has also released eight solo albums, he has won “Best Pop Album” twice and “Best Rock Album” once, while he has also won numerous awards, including Latvijas Radio’s Muzikālās Banka “Song of the Year” five times.
Moreover, Dons began his carrer back in 2003 through the Latvian reality show “Talantu Fabrika“. Since then, he has also released a duet album, while his debut album, “Lights On” (2006), was mostly in English.
Let’s remember here that although Dons won the National Final of Latvia, Supernova 2024, hence he is a member of our Eurovision 2024 community, he had also tried to represent Latvia twice in the past, in 2010 with his song “My Religion Is Freedom“, and in 2014 with “Pēdējā Vēstule“, both finishing in second place.
The rehearsal:
First up today is Latvia’s Dons – he’s a musical icon in his home country, so he’s no stranger to a big stage. His soulful power-ballad Hollow swept up both jury and public votes at Supernova, and its position in the running order (sandwiched between an Armenian folkbop and a San Marino rock anthem) feels like a soul-stirring vocal masterclass.
The staging for this features a huge circular prop (maybe three or four metres in diameter), that Dons stands in at the start of the song. It doesn’t move or spin or light up, but it does create a really powerful focal point on stage.
Dons is wearing his trademark royal blue sleeveless pantsuit , and he’s backed by an LED wall of gently pulsing lights and circles. The lighting effects are actually really clever – lots of slow-moving blue spotlights in the verses that kick into much brighter, whiter lights in the chorus. They feel like searchlights, and it gives this whole performance a MOOD.
Below you can take a look on a snippet from Dons’ first rehearsal for Latvia on TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@eurovision/video/7363634790756551968?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7345954161927734816
Latvia’s second rehearsal has been set to take place on Thursday the 2nd of May, when we will get an even better idea of what Dons, along with his team, have in mind to stage in Malmö.
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Source: Eurovision.tv
Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun, because even more news regarding the rehearsals are coming up next!
