Tere, as they say round these parts. Congratulations … I has arrived … in good old Tallinn, to see a fine final of the popular song competition called Eesti Laul.
Hoorah!
I’m not live blogging it, cos thats not the done thing, but there will certainly be reports and stuff. We’ve arrived right in the middle of lunch, and they clearly know who we are round here because we got fed with banana yoghurt.
It’s the future.
We’re being royally entertained by Synne Faltri at the moment. I think my phone is ringing. Melodifestivalen 1992 wants its song back.
After lunch
So the afternoon drifted on and artistes came and went. Bad boy Stefan was utterly charming in his press conference and even stayed on to get pictures of Tanya, Birgitt and The Swingers.
People who know me well will be aware I like the bouncy Europop that BBC folk think will win the contest this time round. The two previous entrants have a beat as contagious as cholera and really got into my head.
I took the time to reacquaint myself with the Saku Suurhalle innards and I’m glad to say it’s lost nothing of its appeal. We, with the addition of a press badge, could get right up to the stage and stand and take our pictures of the performers who, after 30 minutes of rehearsing, beat me back to my seat in the Rock Cafe press room next door.
It’s a shame I have to fly two-and-a-half hours to get this grade of access. As I type, The Swingers are five feet to my left, while Tanya and Birgit give interviews behind me. This is how a national final should be run, with everybody pulling together and a public broadcaster with enough understanding to deliver what people demand.
Anyhow, enough of the rant … Let’s get back to the music.
Little boy lost
INGER was the tenth on stage, he’s drawn eleventh so someone has done something. He’s in front of me now and he looks young. Too young for this contest methinks. Image how George Ezra might sound coupled with a year eight someone playing guitar like Tom Dice. It looks so so so wrong and yet the song is very infectious. I don’t know how ERR turn their bad songs good.
Next we finally get Uku – well we would but there seemed to have been a technical pause (and I was right, our lovely press person, bedecked in her Eesti Laul T-shirt, told us one was coming). Now when he gets on stage, Estonia‘s Sexiest Man 2010 lives up to his title. Boy can this man sell a song. Well, I’m sure there is a song in there somewhere cos I was too busy looking at him – as I suspect both of the sexes will do tomorrow night. Sure-fire contender for the top three and maybe the top one.
He reminds me of Justs from Latvia …
And that makes six
Sandra Nurmsalu ends the six I have seen, and her song is cunningly entitled ‘Tree of Wishes’ (or as I have called it The Lightening Tree – Young people, check it out on YouTube). It all looks and sounds like it has done before in Randajad and whilst she can polish this song to within an inch of its life, it still feels tired.
And talking of tired, I’m going back to our digs as I am running on fumes.
Night!