It has been a cloudy Tuesday here in Copenhagen…
The sights and sounds of the ESC are noticeable the more I make my way around the city. Today was the first time that I’d made it to the area known as the ‘Fan Mile’, around which there are contest themed events and a more noticeable presence of the Eurovision brand…
There is a gentle buzz around this area, also known this week as the ‘Eurovision Village’, and there is a noticeable international crowd building ahead of the semi-final tonight. Earlier today (Tuesday) Brian and I went to the first open rehearsals for the ‘Big 5’ (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain) and host country Denmark.
On entering the arena I wasn’t exactly inspired to purchase any merchandise…
These rehearsals (where each country gets three performances) are the first for these countries that have been open to the press and fans. It all started with Germany performing their decent song, with an interesting backdrop against which the trio perform, largely static. The backdrop is doing most of the work! It’s effective enough, and the song is a bit of a grower – not exactly what you need in the ESC for first time viewers…
Second on stage was the United Kingdom, with ‘our Molly’…
It’s a really good performance! And that isn’t me being baised. Check the betting odds – she’s now third favourite. Molly is really confident, has a distinctive voice – and the backing singers do a great job. Best of all, the vision mixing and the choice of shots for the television really do add to the vibe of the song. We will not be disappointed by Molly on Saturday night!
We were all ushered out of the Arena when France took to the stage for their first run through, not sure why. I didn’t get back in time to see the other two, so I have nothing to say about their song “Moustache”.
Representing host country Denmark is Bruno Mars. Sorry, I mean Basim -he’s a bit of a clone of Bruno as you will see will probably be in the top three at the end of the day, if not win for Denmark again…
Brilliantly choreographed, and it’s one of the catchiest songs in the contest this year. As Wogan used to say, “I have a feeling”…
Italy were next. Awesome graphic design for the backdrop of the performance. The singer is styled in a very glam rock, Lady GaGa knock-off attire. The song does nothing for me, but the visuals are great, as you can see…
Finally, it was Spain that blew me away. Ruth Lorenzo, whom some of you will remember from the X-Factor a few year back, is outstanding. Madrid maybe next year, it’s that good! Ruth is “Dancing In The Rain”, and the staging uses the motif of rain throughout. I love the Swedish ballad, as you know, but this outdoes Sanna Nielsen to be the strongest ballad, by a whisker…
Not a bad performance amongst these countries. The ‘Big 5’ have upped their game in terms of their participation song selection. Great entertainment from all these countries on Saturday night.
Leaving the rehearsals, you can see that the organisers still haven’t quite got their act together with the merchandise stand…
