lowculture Eurovision blogger Squeezy swans around Belgrade trying to uncover the secrets of Eurovision success, stalking the participants as he goes…
After an eventful first day in Belgrade, I wondered if day two could possibly live up to the standard that had been set. I had a full agenda – attending the press pentre, the first dress rehearsal of the first semi final and the official parties for Malta, Belarus and Bulgaria.
Upon arriving at the press centre I was greeted by Teresa from the Czech Republic, who gave an accapella performance of her entry, If You Wanna Have Some Fun. She told me that she was “very excited about the competition and that she hoped that she would do well”.
While this was going on, Diana from Georgia and her entourage – all decked out in Georgia flags and Peace Will Come t-shirts – were holding some sort of vigil. Diana is taking the Peace Will Come aspect very seriously, by releasing doves as symbolism of what her song represents as well as organising a Peace Will Come march through Belgrade. She told me that it is her dream to perform in London. Well, her dream might become a reality if she wins this year, as she could end up in London performing at the UK Eurovision Winners Party.
The big news at the Press Centre yesterday was that Jessica from No Angels is ill with a virus – but we have been assured that she will be well enough to perform in the contest.
Next stop was the arena to watch the first dress rehearsal of the first semi. My inital reaction to the stage was “wow”, as the theme of the “confluence” really works. After a dull start with the first six songs, the contest really going going for me with Azerbaijan. Their performance was exactly what Eurovision should be – completely over the top. The theme may be a cliché, but it really did work.
Slovenia were next, with Rebeka performing Vrag Naj Vzame with a colour scheme of lime green, silver and purple. This performance reminded me of some elements of Kate Ryan’s back in 2006.
The beautiful Maria from Norway gave a stunning performance of Hold On, Be Strong which was a very simple and subtle compared to the previous two. Her was breathtaking, with lots of lights behind her twinkling like stars. I have a feeling that this works better in the arena as I think it might get lost on television and I really hope that doesn’t effect Maria’s result.
Isis Gee came next with a great vocal, despite some very strange facial expressions – it will interesting to see if this qualifies as I have a feeling that, with Norway and Poland side-by-side, they might cancel each other out.
Ireland was one complete hot mess on stage and if this qualifies I will eat my hat. Gisela for Andora singing Casanova is a big disappointment – her vocals were weak.
One of the highlights for me was Bosnia’s Laka, with a fantastic performance which is crazy but really cute. I think Armenia and the Netherlands might face the same problem as Norway and Poland by having their songs together – they are quite similar. The Netherlands are going to suffer, though, as Armenia’s Sirushu is a better singer and has a better song.
Finland was Lordi part two – without the gimmick – and doesn’t deserve any more space on my blog.
Dima Bilan, back for Russia this year, gives the most self-indulgent performance ever. It starts with him lying on the stage and generally appearing to think he is some kind of god. It’s a shame that his vocals are so bad that you cannot understand what he is singing, despite it supposedly in English. Having an ice-skater glide round him on a disc looks like one big mess in the arena – though it might look better on television.
Kalomoria’s Secret Combination is another performance that has everything – including a dance breakdown. My personal favourite part is the pop-up book that opens up to reveal a huge heart – talk about interpreting the words literally! I actually cannot believe that tonight we will know which of the 10 will qualify to the final – I will obviously then take elements from those 10 songs to construct my Eurovision song and performance for next year.
The evening saw me at the official party being held for Malta, Belarus and Bulgaria. Ruslan from Belarus had boxes of CHOCOLATES with his face on them to give away as promotional items – I wondered if it was a deliberate attempt to sweeten people up to sway the vote. Bulgaria seemed to go for the gay market at the party with their fierce vocalist Joanna camping it up performing You Make Me Feel Mighty Real and a 90s dance megamix of Corona tracks – AMAZING!
Sadly Malta’s Morena didn’t raise her game and gave a disappointing performance of Vodka and Casanova (her other entry for the Maltese national selection). Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse for her she put a complete downer on the evening by performing Knocking On Heaven’s Door – WHY?!
Ani Lorak from the Ukraine turned up and completely stole the show by showing Malta, Bulgaria and Belarus how it should done with a tight, professional performance of Shady Lady, which put the performances we had just watched to shame. Another big buzz was Dima Bilan showing up to perform Believe in support for Belarus – although I don’t think there was actually any support at all for Belarus, it was Dima doing a bit of extra promotion for himself.
After the show I mingled with Teresa from the Czech republic who told me that “she loved the fact that this competition brings everyone together” when I asked her what made a winning Eurovision song she replied If You Wanna Have Some Fun – I had to admire her confidence.
Evdokia from Cyprus told me that she was a Femme Fatale herself, and when asked if she had a favourite song she declined to single anyone out by saying “Many”. Fortunately there are many, many good songs”. Squeezy performed too – I gave an impromptu performance of Scooch’s Flying The Flag at Euroclub – much to the delight of the crowds.
By this time tomorrow we will know who has qualified from the first semi – the excitement is really intense here. I’ll be back tomorrow to report on the results and my other adventures at Eurovision!
