Well, after procuring coffee and toast from the OnEurope press centre canteen, I now feel fully human and, you know what, Croatia is growing on me.
Albina gives good face in this performance, five of them when the graphics kick in behind her (you lot just wait for it) and, spoiler alert: she has dancers that are in some sort of silver faux spaceman outfits – all very futuristic … if it was 1995.
There were dropped notes in the second run-through, which were very noticeable, but there must have been some adjustments in the break, because by the camera recording (the third run through), Albina sounded so much better. Right until she went for the big note at the end of the Croatian language chorus, which she missed by the width of the Adriatic and that kinda spoiled the whole thing for me. Luckily, it’s a rehearsal so there is plenty of time to get her tuning right.
There is lots of choreo in this one, as you would expect, but nothing that looks out of place or forced. The backdrop – which looks like lasers – is really effective. It’s slick and polished and looks fab, and a complete contrast with the supposedly better efforts of Cyprus and Norway. Get the one note right, this is back in with a shout.