Estonia
I’ve been quite indifferent to this all along forgetting about it but then quite liking it on listening. On watching the rehearsal now I’m again quite liking it. Tanja’s flouncing nicely and singing nicely and frolicking nicely with a nice young man and it’s.. err nice. The backdrop is sunny and bright and I was reminded of the set of the musical Mamma Mia I can’t say wow about it and I don’t think so many televoters will choose it as their favourite. However it’s artistic and I’ve a feeling she’ll be rewarded for that.
Sweden
I’ve always been underwhelmed by the song but Sanna looks amazing on camera and sells what she’s been given very well. Lots of perfectly timed camera shots with effective use of the strobe and floor lights. As always so slick from the Swedes but I really can’t warm to the melody and still find it awkward on the ear. It’s straight out of the textbook ‘how to stage a ballad’ and I dare say straight to the final but I’m unsure then how she will fare.
On other business, the coffee machine is taking a pounding today, I’m on my fifth. I can report that the portaloos here in the tent village are very clean. Cleaner than some permanent ones I’ve had the misfortune to visit.
The earlier EBU press’s conference was interesting in that they gave us a sneak preview of three of this year’s postcards, Austria, Belarus and my own glittering performance in the UK’s one. I’m thirteenth poncho from the left by the way. Conchita forms the Austrian flag from a collection of red and white frocks of course and Teo forms the Belarussian one from hundreds of ice hockey pucks. I’m guessing that’s how you spell puck?!
Also provided was a sneak preview of a video they will use during the live shows showing a montage of the singing clips they’ve requested people send in. It’s very nice and is mix of Teardrops morphing into a rousing ‘join us’ ending.
They also revealed that they are monitoring closely the situation in Ukraine and that the intention will always be for the winning nation to host the next year’s contest. Funding will be available for any broadcaster that is financially under strain. A lot of mention of transparency here in relation to the jury members and the revealing of their names yesterday. I applaud their intent here but doing so they have opened a can of worms. People are now dissecting the lists of jurors and highlighting that some age ranges are under represented and others over. Certainly having this information is better than not but perhaps next year they will need to prescribe rules about the gender and age split of the juries? Food for thought. Ooh on the topic of food, I’ve a half eaten pulled chicken bap to get back to….
More soon.
Rosé