Brooke was up next today in Turin with the Irish song ‘That’s Rich’. After an extended chat with the stage manager about camera angles, off we went into the first run-through.
The staging has been kept fairly straightforward for this – and it works all the more for not trying to turn it into a circus. ‘That’s Rich’ is a full-on pop song and there’s no need for high concept thinking. Brooke also oozes personality.
She starts lying down in the middle of a projected heart surrounded by her four dancers. From there on in, it’s a straight, tightly choreographed and well-performed song. There’s lots of pinks and blues and purples and a back drop of tumbling hearts. If I had any nitpick, it might be the sweeping camera angles take away from the energy – again easily fixed.
A wee bit distorted
Now and then, Brooke loses which camera to look into, but as she did a second take, much of that issue went away. She’s in good voice, the backing track at just the right level to produce a full sound. She did complain after the first run through that maybe her voice was sounding ‘a wee bit distorted’ despite turning down her mic pack, but from where I was sitting, that wasn’t an issue. By the second take, though, something had changed, and she was more up front, lending her voice a richer level of tone it didn’t have before. There’s a deliberate distortion on the spoken part that’s really effective in dividing the song into two parts, ready for the big finish.
Everyone on stage works well together, and it’s a decent pop tune – there are too few of these types of song this year and it’s going to prove a welcome break from downbeat ballads.
I didn’t rate this before. Now I see it just about making it through – and that’s all credit to Brooke who looked to be very much in charge today and came across as both likeable and professional.
Now then, as strange as it may sound, but #Ireland feels more urgent and entertaining after the song that proceeded it. It has its issues, of course, but that’s a welcome little fun explosion at a good point in the running order. Ooh now! #Eurovision
— EurovisionApocalypse (@ESCApocalypse) May 6, 2022
Ireland. Might. Actually. Qualify. #Eurovision
— Matthew Joyce (@MatthewwJoyce) May 6, 2022
#Ireland Oddly Brooke now sings sickety over sicky. Come in for betting advice and stay for the linguistics. This is way better than I expected tbf. Brooke is in good form, vocally assured and staging is fun. Lighting good. Given themselves a chance. #Eurovision
— EntertainmentOdds (@EntertainOdds) May 6, 2022