Friday 15 May 2015

Haiku #5

Reduced Dutch bosom
Otherwise much the same. Now:
A thousand pizzas

Recap of Dinner: Semi 1 run 2 day 5.

RUSSIA
Second run through had an issue so it was stopped. Perfect again from the next round. This cannot be anything but a contender. Seems like all acts today have an issue with the in-ear levels.

DENMARK
The boys seem remarkably comfortable on stage. After one of the runs, the tech guys were on stage sorting something out but clearly we have no clue what. I am assuming it must have something to do with beer - which I approve.

ALBANIA
Elhaida has a tattoo on her left hip - the revealing outfit shows so. She is no Rona Nishliu when she screams but despite this, staging is working well. Now, if only Gridi Kraja would make an appearance and say "Dashuri" we would all be happy.

Ooh, we needed a sound check run. "Yes it's ok" said Elhaida after a few notes.

ROMANIA
All suitcases appeared this time, I guess some airline (cannot name in case we get libel) must have lost them first time round. The floor shows photos of the boy which when seen from above seems as if the suitcases are the pins keeping them to the wall. Tip for you Romania. It would have made more news if they were pictures of actual kids left behind in Romania rather than a boy who has acted in a movie - doesn't have the same effect as poor little nameless orphan child from Flămânzi.

GEORGIA
In-ear issues again. You can also see some wire sticking out of her back... sure that will be fixed. Mic stand was hit during fierce warrior motion and ended up just wobbling in the background, losing the fierceness of the shot. She does hit the spot on the floor though where she needs to stand for the effect to work - which she didn't first time round. Surely this will do fine.

Or maybe not... after quite some time of tweeking we tried a second run through, which lasted a few seconds and got stopped. Run three... and still fierce! Ooh, and wire is gone.

Now... off to San Marino party! There's apparently 1000 pizzas! You cannot say no to that!

Recap of Lunch: Semi 1 run 2 day 5.

ESTONIA
Smouldering hot looks from Elina. She still however doesn't place herself well enough on the shadow. Piercing blue eyes! We will see them on Saturday - I say so ... and we all know how always right I am ...

FYR MACEDONIA
Second run through one of the tech team which I would think is audio is on stage taking down some notes. One of the guys from Merge talks to her a bit but not sure its about the sound. Daniel is still wearing his raincoat which actually comes in handy today.

Third run seems not to need audio lady any more.

SERBIA
Flags are still white for the rehearsal. We've already been told they will not be white in the show. We thought so and it just was made correct: they are all going to be a single colour but together they form a rainbow (well, as well as you can with four flags). Blue, Red, Pink and Yellow.

Bojana really belts this out though. I admit being one who did not understand why people cheered her before now but I have to admit the lady can command attention.

HUNGARY
She came, she sang, she sang more, she really kept on singing. She left. We survived.

It will qualify though, so whatever we think about it, it doesn't matter.

BELARUS
Maimuna smiles quite well now. Everything works OK but that is about it. It doesn't seem to have anything stunning to make it shine from the rest. Still, it has a violin and thunder and wing effects and clouds so that must count for something.

UPDATE: Belarus had to cancel all interviews since the schedule was not kept for them. We were given Swiss chocolate in order to say "Sorry" even though it was not their fault. SPACIBO BELARUS!

Interview: Estonia

Estonia know how to bring a duo together. Elina and Stig are amazingly funny - despite they come from a Nordic country not really known for its comedy - as most of us found out when we were baffled by their 'vaheklipid' series entitled "Alasti Tõde" (The Naked Truth) during Eestilaul this year. If you didn't get to watch them - lucky! If you want to - here (but don't say we didn't warn you).




Interview: Belgium

Loïc as you know was kind enough to give us an interview some weeks ago. Therefore, no need to go into much details - if you haven't seen the interview yet (shame on you!) you can see it below:
  

We caught up with the Belgian representative again here in Vienna to see what has been up with him since then and go through the extra questions.


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Recap of Breakfast: Semi 1 run 2 day 5.

MOLDOVA
Music seem to have caught everyone off guard and at some point Eduard stops singing. He then mentions "I can't hear". This surely shouldn't count. Jump could do with better angle. it seems he should be breaking the floor when he lands, but it didn't quite show or time that properly.

ARMENIA
Still not getting the circle very circular and some funny camera angles while trying to get in it. Would have been better if they just moved around in a circle until they met rather than the awkward way of it currently. Other than that, it is the only song which gives me goose bumps.

BELGIUM
Nothing really wrong is happening, but also, nothing really great. Some moments that I'm not sure about like - why is there a shot of his crotch while lying on the floor? Not complaining, just asking. And why is he having an argument with his face at some point?

NETHRLANDS
THE DRESS IS GONE!!!! Good times! The vale still has not - bad times! It does get taken off after a short while but it still does nothing for me and many others. Still so many questions in the song lyrics and in general about the whole thing. At least that damned dress has gone, but will it be enough to save her?

PS: OOh, a red suit this time - but prefer the leather!

FINAND
Watch any video of the performance from anything on youtube and just add the ESC stage. Done.

GREECE
Blueness, shinyness, fabulousness. Why did we ever have a doubt on this song? How far it came from a parking lot in Athens Mall. Such sassy. Much emoting. Wow.

Interview: Moldova


A quick look at Eduard's official website, and you find out that he has been performing since the age of 5. Also, he participated in the Ukrainian "President's Christmas Trees" in the years 1999-2002. The question left unanswered is, as what? Was he just a mid-tree decoration or was he the fairy on top? His career also sees him in many contests with the term "Magic" and instances of "Slavic Bazaar" mentioning a total of 28 accolades. Trying to make a long bio short, love him or hate him, not many 22 year olds can boast of having their own label while having two master degrees with honours. Not only that, he is pursuing his PhD, writing a thesis in "International Competition of Tax Systems and Tax Policy of Ukraine in the Context of Euro Integration". As someone who has a 9-5 in Finance, that is quite a mouthful and definitely not an easy task while flying the flag for Moldova during the next 14 days.



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Guten Morgen

Another cloudy day in Vienna. I mean really. Someone tell them the sun is meant to shine non-stop during Eurovision fortnight!

Having said just about all I could manage to say about the first rehearsals, I'll be handing over to Tom today who will summarise the complete set of semi 1 second rehearsals for you in easy bite-size nuggets.

I'm planning to be a bit of a tourist and if you're all very lucky I might post some pics of big, old buildings.

(Although I might pop into the press centre first to laugh at the Netherlands)