The Eurovision Song Contest of 2025 has officially begun, in Basel, Switzerland, while contestants from all across Europe step on stage in order to perform their songs for the very first time. The reherasals are now a thing, and today marks the second day for the first round of them, after the seven first entries of the First Semifinal had the chance to rehearse yesterday.
The curtain rose today with the very first rehearsal by Kyle Alessandro, singing his song “Lighter“, representing Norway in this year’s Contest, while he has also been drawn to perform in the First Semifinal, on the 13th of May. The song was composed by Alessandro himself along with the Swedish singer and songwriter, Adam Woods, while it was inspired by the former’s mother, who advised him to never lose his inner light, strenght and faith, after she was cancer diagnosed. “Lighter” could also be described as a song that blends elements of medieval, baroque and Norwegian folk sounds together with pop music.
Lots of elements of this staging have travelled directly from MGP, including the prop with the two stone pillars and the steps. But Kyle has a much bigger LED backdrop for a series of post-apocalyptic mountain graphics (mountains definitely a theme this year), and also a much bigger stage to work with. He takes full advantage of this, with a very polished dance routine that uses both the walkway and the wide front section (which the crew call the ‘frame stage’, by the way, so we will too).
What elevates this performance to ‘off the scale’ is the lighting – there’s a moving lighting rig on the roof that lowers in the second half, creating a stunning moment in the quiet middle eight after the dance break, when Kyle is caught in hundreds of spotlights in the middle of the stage.
As for Kyle’s costume, there’s been lots of discussion about whether he might change the armour because of similarity to Armenia’s Parg, then he confirmed he was keeping the armour, but it would be a new version. If he has changed it, we really can’t tell – to our (admittedly untrained) eyes, it looks exactly the same. Also one other small point – Kyle has three dancers rather than the four we saw at MGP, and one of them delivers some impressive breakdancing at the end.
There were LOTS of flames at MGP, so we’re assuming pyro is incoming. Watch this space!
PYRO UPDATE! Again similar to MGP, there’s a channel of flames along the front of the frame stage, and jets of flame through the second half. Anyone in the standing area should bring marshmallows.
Who is Kyle Alessandro?
Kyle Alessandro Helgesen Villalobos is a Norwegian singer and songwriter, born to a Spanish father and a Norwegian mother in 2006, which means that he is only nineteen (19) years old, making him on of the youngest participants of this year’s Eurovision. Alessandro had taken part in Norske Talenter, Norway’s version of Got Talent, at the age of 10, he has also appeared on numerous TV shows, such as Allsang på Grensen, and he has released several singles from his dedut album, Første Kapittel.
Furthermore, this is not Alessandro’s first ever experience of the Contest since he had also taken part in Melodi Grand Prix 2023, as a member of the group Umami Tsunami along with Kristian Haugstøyl and Magnus Winjum, singing “Geronimo”.
Photos from today’s rehearsal will be added as soon as they are made available.
Norway’s second rehearsal is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7, with further details expected on their final staging.
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