The first press conference, starting late of course, was the Albanian artist Ronela and the edited highlights are below:
Ronela tells everyone she wrote the song and the ideas were hers. When she decided to participate in Eurovision, she wanted a modern song but one that was definitely and authentically Albanian. She wanted the preview and the performance on stage to be totally different and, she says, she will be revealing a “sekret” in the performance. Boom Boom!
Ronela says that today’s performance was good, but acknowledged some issues like everyone will, but wasn’t too worried, because that’s why we have rehearsals. She reveals she changed her outfit and something was wrong with her in-ear monitors. Quite revealing there.
Overwhelmed
Ronela went onto say that she thought it would be cool to enter the Eurovision Song Contest, and now that she is here she is putting pressure on herself to do well. When this ends, she is going to miss the Contest and the people “so bad”. She’s been overwhelmed by the positive experience.
She is quite forceful when asked what she brings to the table, stating that she has an uptempo, commercial type of song rather than the traditional ballads associated with Albania in the past. She cites Michael Jackson and Anastasia as musical influences and reveals she is a Virgo, like Jackson. (any coincidence to his life and hers are purely incidental!).
Perfectionist
Ronela is seemingly a perfectionist and she is not yet happy with her performance, and will keep trying to make it better. When asked about superstitions, she says her late father is giving her strength and she talks to him to get inspiration. In a macabre twist, she says that seeing black cats foreshadowed the death of both her parents, but adds that she loves cats none the less. She should get on with the Latvian delegation then.
She’s currently wearing a bright neon green outfit (see the pic) but luckily for the rest of us, she has revealed that this is NOT her final dress, because she can hardly walk or dance in it (begging the question why the hell are you wearing it?).