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6 months ago
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Olly Alexander gave it his all as he took to the stage in Malmo Sweden for the first live performance of his Eurovision entry at the Semi Finals on Tuesday evening.
The Years and Years singer, 33, who's representing Great Britain with his catchy tune Dizzy, was joined by group of hunky shirtless backup dancers as they performed the explosive number.
With the help of some clever camera work, Olly and his dancers appeared to be spinning around and walking on the ceiling in the jam-packed performance.
Olly's boxing themed routine, which is already guaranteed a place in Saturday's Grand Final, saw him don a distressed vest and red trousers which was worn with a colour coordination jock strap over the top.
The raunchy number saw Olly sensually running his hands over the dancer's shirtless bodies before they entered into a dance sequence and the singer thrusted to the beat.
Olly Alexander set pulses racing as he performed his Eurovision song Dizzy live for the FIRST TIME at the Semi Finals on Tuesday evening
And as fans go wild for the staging some share concerns for his 'shaky vocals' as they hope the singer is 'saving his voice' for Saturday's final
Filmed inside the room for the majority of the performance, it was only in the final chorus the entourage broke out onto the stage as he belted out the final notes.
As the crowd went wild, the commentary hosts Scott Mills and Rylan Clark exclaimed: 'Yes Olly, that's how you do it!'
However it seems fans were split on the performance as they took to Twitter to share their opinions.
While half seemed to love the song and raved about the expressive staging, others noticed Olly's vocals were slightly off and shaky, as one even hoped he was saving his vocals ahead of Saturday's final.
Raving about the performance fans exclaimed: 'so proud of you Olly!❤️✨ you smashed it, the vocal, staging, visuals, choreo, dancing was stunning!!! And those pirouettes by the dancers incredible! Well done #teamdizzy #Eurovision #Eurovision2024 ❤️xxx'.
'Loved Olly. Great song. Great staging. Fab performance'; 'OMFG @alexander_olly OFF THE SCALE TONIGHT!!!!! SO SO SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!#Eurovision2024 #Eurovision2024 @bbceurovision always doing a great job!!!!!'
'Fantastic performance from @alexander_olly amazing staging. Look how far we’ve come'; '@Rylan@BBCRadio2#Eurovision2024 omg when I watched olly i swear to god i thought he was in a video the best ever i ever seen'.
Making reference to the suggestive dancing, another joked: 'olly Alexander made me dizzy for his pelvic thrusting nevermind his kisses'.
With the help of some clever camera work, Olly and his dancers appeared to be spinning around and walking on the ceiling in the jam-packed performance
Olly wore a distressed vest and red trousers which was worn with a colour coordination jock strap over the top
Olly appeared to be giving it his all as he belted the lyrics and thrusted through the dance moves
In one shot Olly appeared to hang from the ceiling as he stuck his tongue out
However it seems fans were split on the performance as they took to Twitter to share their opinions
The majority of the song was filmed inside the box, with the entourage only breaking out into the stage in the final chorus
The dancers lay on top of each other during the intimate routine
Many fans expressed their pride for the British act
Others gushed: 'I thought Olly did well tonight! That staging was the best enthusiasm I’ve seen for Years and Years (pun very much intended) so maybe we can hope for a left-side finish this year? #Eurovision2024'
However others shared their concern over Olly's vocals as they wrote: 'Well, Olly's vocals were a little dodgy in places, but that staging was superb. What an ending.'
'Not sure if Olly got overexcited or nervous but that vocal was very pitchy, I've heard him live before and he can do much better than that. Just hope the over-staging doesn't detract him too much from the vocals.'
'Even though I’m from the Uk , Olly’s vocals were shaky and I wasn’t keen on the staging. Song is catchy'; '#Eurovision2024 Semi Final UK I expected better vocals from Olly tonight'
'Tbh with the quality of the semi finals I think Olly should call in sick on Saturday'; 'Shall we just say that Olly is "saving his voice" for Saturday'; 'Those vocals were s**t, jittery, all over the place and out of breath, I hope they are fixed for the final'.
'People vehemently arguing with me that Olly wasn't out of tune during his performance God, I love this platform. It really does give a voice to all sorts. Shame it doesn't give hearing to them as well... #eurovision2024'
'Great performance and staging by Olly Alexander at the #Eurovision2024 but it will be a huge mistake if they broadcast the entire song like that on Saturday. With no stage context wides, it looks like it was 95% pre-recorded video and that he wasn't actually on stage
The raunchy number saw Olly sensually running his hands over the dancer's shirtless bodies before they entered into a dance sequence and the singer thrusted to the beat
The raunchy performance featured intense lighting and close up shots
However, others noticed Olly's vocals were slightly off and shaky, as one even hoped he was saving his vocals ahead of Saturday's final
The first 10 acts were confirmed on Tuesday evening after half the countries representatives took to the stage in Malmo Sweden to fight for a place in the final.
Taking to the stage with an extraordinary performance, Ireland are straight through to the final with many viewers even predicting it could win the contest.
Bambie Thug, 31, a non-binary artist from County Cork, delivered a showstopping performance of their song Doomsday Blue as they sang while performing a ritual surrounded by candles and were joined on stage by a male dancer wearing demonic makeup and fake teeth.
Also joining Ireland in the final are Serbia's TEYA DORA, Portugal's iolanda, Slovenia's Raiven and Ukraine's alyona alyona & Jerry Heil.
As well as Lithuania's Silvester Belt, Finland's Windows95man, Cyprus' Silia Kapsis, Luxembourg's TALI, and Croatia's Baby Lasagna, who are also a firm fan favourite.
However, sadly Australia didn't do enough as their band Electric Fields were axed in a brutal elimination.
The group, comprised of vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and musician Michael Ross, set the stage alight with their song One milkali (One blood), which contains Yankunytjatjara lyrics - the language of the Anangu people.
They were joined on-stage by vocalists Brendan Maclean, Alyson Joyce and Simi Vuata, and didgeridoo player Fred Leone.
It was the first time Indigenous lyrics have been performed on the Eurovision stage, as well as the first time a contestant has ever played the didgeridoo.
Ireland's Bambie Thug leads the country into the final while Australia exit the competition in shock result
Sadly Australia didn't do enough as their band Electric Fields were axed in a brutal elimination, despite debuting the first ever Indigenous performance
Australia are one of five bands out of 15 who didn't make the cut, joined by Poland's Luna, Iceland's Hera Björk, Azerbaijan's FAHREE feat. Ilkin Dovlatov and Moldova's Natalia Barbu.
A further 10 will then be confirmed on Thursday after the second semi final as 20 countries going through will join the Big Five - UK, Italy, France, Spain and Germany - who automatically have a place in the final, as well as last year's winners Sweden.
On Thursday the remaining countries Malta, Albania, Greece, Switzerland, Czechia, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, Israel, Norway and the Netherlands will compete for their spot at the second live semi-final.
Last week Olly revealed he came close to a 'breakdown' amid fierce pressure on him to quit the competition.
There have been intense calls for him to pull out due to Israel's involvement in the show, which has enraged fans due to the country's ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
Olly told The Times about looking downcast at a recent Eurovision pre-party in London: 'Yes, I struggled that day. I was holed up in a room trying not to have a breakdown.
'Normally, you get on stage and turn it on, but I felt really unable to do that.
He continued: 'It was tough... I just could not get it together and then I felt ashamed of myself and embarrassed.'
Olly also reportedly began to cry during his chat with the newspaper as he added: 'Obviously there are a lot of things I wish were different.
'And this is so much bigger than me and Eurovision, it really is.
'Obviously, I wish there wasn't a war or this insane humanitarian crisis. I wish for peace and I have found this experience, at times, extremely... I've just felt really sad and distressed.
'But I still believe it's a good thing when people come together for entertainment. That's why I wanted to do Eurovision.'
Last week Olly revealed he came close to a 'breakdown' amid fierce pressure on him to quit the competition
A week before his Eurovision showcase, Olly responded to an open letter signed by Queers for Palestine, a collective of more than 450 queer artists, individuals and organisations asking him to quit Eurovision as part of a protest over Israel's involvement.
Olly and his fellow Eurovision contestants have stated their performances would go ahead.
He said in his statement: 'It is important to us to stand in solidarity with the oppressed and communicate our heartfelt wish for peace, an immediate lasting ceasefire, and the safe return of all hostages.
'We stand united against all forms of hate, including antisemitism and islamophobia.
'We firmly believe in the unifying power of music, enabling people to transcend differences and foster meaningful conversations and connections. We feel it is our duty to create and uphold this space, with a strong hope that it will inspire greater compassion and empathy.
The Eurovision Song Contest final airs on Saturday at 8pm on BBC One.
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