There are another six “sneak previews” online from the JESC YouTube channel, and here are my thoughts based on the very brief snippets the EBU has leaked.
Malta
Not a lot can be gleaned from this, apart from the fact that Chanel is going to be on her own in a red dress. If the vocals in the video are the ones that have been recorded, there seems to have been an improvement from the preview video.
Kazakhstan
The Kazakhs have gone full Eastern European on this one, dressing Karakat in a very large white dress thing with wings, apparently going for the angel look. She’s clearly standing on a box, which must weigh a ton. The song didn’t need any of this gubbins. It sounds vocally good, and the backdrop looks all ethereal and otherworldly.
Georgia
This is one of the shortest preview snippets, at just a minute long, and there doesn’t seem to be that much actual singing in it either—literally about 7–8 seconds. What I can glean is that there will be dancers on stage and possibly contortionists.
Russia
From one of the shortest to one of the longest: Sofia will sing this with no help from dancers and stuff, in a lovely blue dress. It looks very pretty and very simple, showing off her vocal skills rather than hiding any weaknesses. This puts a lot of pressure on her, but everything seen and heard so far makes me think that this will do anything other than finish in the Top Three.
France
I was seemingly out of step with everyone else when I heard this the first time, so it forced me to evaluate it again. Nope—I still don’t like it. I do, however, have to give props to France 2 for putting Parisian landmarks on the backing screens in the studio, so people will know which country it is definitely from. She’s also got a raft of help on stage, including some dancer kids. I’m clearly not the constituency this is aimed at, though: it’s geared towards the younger end of the age spectrum and could do well with them.
Belarus
This one just sneaked out before I published the page—well done, EBU. Arina looks like she’s dressed in a plastic mac, which is a little disconcerting. There also seems to be something going on with a globe that represents the world being in her hands. Not a lot is revealed, but it looks and sounds polished enough.
