You’re in my sweaty palms today until Mr Phil reaches the hall after a hard-earned morning off. I’ve been granted access to a handful of live streams and a bunch of avid watchers. And see if you can spot my theme.
Greek entrant Katerine Duska was up bright and early today and hitting a series of flawless high notes. I still tend to see this as a studio song – much like Sennek’s Belgian entry last year – having said that, ‘Better Love’ is in the hands of a more experienced team (and performer).
The camera work was much tighter and the colours worked better suggesting careful direction. Clearly the delegation had words.
Katerine was still in her wedding frock and there was a lot going on, but everything seemed so much more controlled and considered compared with the first rehearsal. Given there was so much going on, the Greeks could probably allow for the odd slip without it being noticed.
There was still that huge ball tossed into the audience, presumably to be carried mosh-pit stylee over heads. The backing vocals were excellent, and everything ended with what the arty set might call a tableau vivant.
‘Better love’ will appeal to juries (it’s well-composed and the performances today were spot-on) and I can’t see why televoters wouldn’t like it too – beyond the guaranteed 12 points from a certain sunny island.
All three run-throughs earned a big round of applause in the Press Centre.
Qualifying? Yes