Before Tusse even hits the stage he’s on the backfoot. In real life next Tuesday evening he’ll have just followed Russia empowerment anthem with Davros on stage so how on earth do you follow that? – He’ll suffer with the fact that Europe won’t be bothered about his story or a description of the song, they’ll all be talking bout “That Russian Woman in a boiler suit”
Dear Slovenia, this is what you do to put a Million Voices on the background – You put them on the scenery like Sweden have done. Tusse stands out in his red crossbelted…. thing against the predominantly black background which immediately provides your eyes with a focal point of “the singer” and not any of the backing dancers which fade into it throughout the song rather than overtake Tusse whose voice, it must be said has a certain quality about it but, as you will read, it’s not quite there yet.
There is some arm movement but, in the main, Tusse is left to sing the damn song and not run around like a madman and it shows that whilst the song is a not the best piece of songwriting, effective and simple staging coupled with a very good singer can make all the difference. There is still a raspy element towards the top end of his vocal range by the time the end of the second and third run throughs come round which suggests either he’s holding back for Tuesday or it needs rest but either way, I wouldn’t be worried.
This is certainly qualifying but, having said all those positive things, I still think it will get a lower than usual result for Sweden.