With the announcement of the Barbara Dex Award for 2014, we here thought that the fashions on show at the Eurovision Song Contest deserved a little bit more catwalk than the annual vote for “OMG, what is that?!?”. So we asked Debbie O’Hare to cast an expert eye over this year’s rags to see where the riches were.
When I was asked to write up the Top Five outfits that were on show over in Copenhagen, my ultimate thought was that if I was doing a look at the top, I needed to check out the bottom five as well.
I base these decisions on the style of dress, trends that are now ‘in’ and mainly how the ensemble looks in action, as ultimately the same outfit can look rather different on different people.
So lets start at the bottom and work our way to the douze pointer!
Un Point…Paula Seling (Romania)
Here we see the beautiful Paula Seling in a short black silver dress with ruffled material on the bottom left side. For me there is something missing with this. Maybe it’s the lack of jewellery that’s not ‘teamed’ with the outfit; a longer necklace may have had more impact and taken the attention off her boobs. Also, I do think this style of dress needs higher heels than those Paula was wearing.
Its aim was most certainly the Eurovision standard ‘sexy and sparkly’, but I just find this a little boring.
Deux Points…Cristina Scarlat (Moldova)
Fancy dress springs to mind. Okay, its cute and I like the idea of the styling as a whole. I’m just not really a fan. A Roman Empress in Moldova…maybe I didn’t listen closely enough during history lessons.
With the dancers in shot it looks interesting and the light purple of the cape looks great with her blonde hair! But on mute I would think I was watching Hercules.
Trois points…Vilija (Lithuania)
First of all, I actually quite liked the first outfit that was used in rehearsal. I love the idea of the pancake tutu, keeping it young and edgy, but then these Tron-themed outfits came out with the stripes of blue and the holes…the holes I’ll say no more on that factor, except it probably sealed the Barbara Dex Award for Vilija.
I do think this could have really worked if it had been ultimately colorful, and if parts of the costume were fluorescent with a nice glow under the stage lighting, which I think was the original aim.
Quatre points…Elaiza (Germany)
Street clothes: that’s what comes to mind here. Whilst the three members of Elaiza each took on board completely different outfits, they each suited the wearers to a T. For a competition on the scale of Eurovision, I was upset that they didn’t go for something more different with a bit more fun. They do look like they are here for a rehearsal and have just finished a day’s work at their normal jobs.
For the record, I’m putting this out there: I would love to style these girls!
Cinq points… Suzy (Portugal)
I adore Suzy and completely get why she wore what she wore. But the more I see of the staging the more I wonder, “why is she trying to look half naked? Why not just wear less?”
I have always had issues with these types of dresses that aim to look ‘half invisible’. It’s like wearing tan tights when you’ve already got a tan! Now I do love the red sparkle and with her long blonde hair; she wears this colour well! More red sparkles, please, Suzy!
And now… the top five outfits that in my opinion all deserve a place in this years Hall of fame!
Six points…Emma (Italy)
Now I am all about having fun with clothes and taking risks, so this has to be in my top five, no questions asked! I love the play-off between Roman Goddess and Rock Chick! And yes, we all probably know that poor Emma has had a lot of bad media over in Italy about this dress, but it’s the Eurovision Song Contest and if you cant go over the top here, where can you?
I love the cape, and just wish she had used it more rather than taking it off after a few lines. The gold embellishment on white works so well.
Emma’s dress was made by Italian designer Stefano Del Ellis, a handmade bespoke creation created just for Emma’s use on the Eurovision stage. There are no more in circulation. Can I sing in Eurovision, please?
Sept points…Mariya Yaremchuk (Ukraine)
Mariya is a perfect example of what ‘knowing how to use what your wearing’ is. The slits at waist length give this dress a lot of, shall we say, ‘extra leg room’ – but with the extra material comes a harder job. You need to really know how the fabric moves so that there are no accidents or slips.
Watch carefully and you can tell the work here has been done in the dance studio as well as the haberdashery. Mariya and the dress move in complete unison. Also the colour couldn’t have been a better choice; it’s perfect for both her skin tone, hair colour, and the stage lighting.
Huit points…Lise Rønne (Host, Semi Final 2)
Now there are so many ways to wrongly wear a full-armed jumpsuit, but this one I love, and it is worn so well!
The silver lace neck and arms take away from the all black and I love the lace-fringed pockets and high neck. Very classy and with the hair worn up! Good choice from Lise.
Dix Points…Illse (The Netherlands)
This is such a pretty and simple dress and completely suits the song. As Country as the song is, this dress looks as if it would be perfect to wear bare-footed, running through fields, and Ilse looks stunning! There’s not much to say about this as the dress says it all. Of course, this deserves my dix points!
Douze Points…Mei Feingold (Israel)
Now I’m not too sure on Mei’s backing dancers outfits, but Mei’s dress is beautiful and very (very) now!
With a sleeveless black dress featuring a chiffon train at the back, the dress also had the over the shoulders fringe (and fringes are in: Gucci are using them on a range of this season’s handbags). With the dress being short at the front it also gives her room to ‘do the strut’ and choreography with ease – a perfect blend of form, fashion, and function.
And that, as they say, is a wrap! The bottom five and top five from Copenhagen…Yes, I’m sure some of you didn’t agree! But that’s life.. and fashion… and somewhere for you to leave comments!
After seeing the results of the Barbara Dex poll I’m obviously in a minority, but I think the roadkill someone sprayed gold and stuck to Molly’s shoulders was far more deserving of the award than Vilya’s Tron ballet costume!
I liked Vilija and Sarunas’ sexy sci-fi costumes. Stylish wearable art that really enhanceed to the routine. (Also, their performance was perfect on the night, just a shame about the song)
I’m one of those purists who wishes B-Dex were stricly for fashion fails, not deliberate wackiness.
Agree on Marija and Mei. In both cases, matching cut to movement was a factor.
Emma’s costume might have been fine if she didn’t seem so awkward in it.
Footnote for Cleo — The hip-hop/folk style fusion coordinated well and suited her.
And how about the chaps?
I thought Pollaponk’s suits with white shoes and bow ties made primary colours look almost chic.
Aram’s fingerless gloves and long coat added a lot of character, and helped him to fill the stage with a very static performance.
Yes the guys the guys! I did have both Softengine With the sliver blazers and Sebalter’s ranges of suits and tux’s are there somewhere but if I’m honest the ladies were just more fun to chat about!!
And as much as i love Pollaponk For fashion stakes I’d leave the dress wearing (see red carpet) to Conchita! 😉
He was wearing Fingerless gloves? I guess he didn’t do enough to make me notice what he was actually wearing… (He’d never make a catalog model 😉 hehe!)
Completely agree about Emma though!! I get the feeling she didn’t rehearse in it enough.
Oh right, the gloves were just in the semi.
True, the femmes are more fun, but I thought it worth a mention.
They weren’t glamorous, but PP were great on the red carpet, and all the better for being casual and understated about it.
Now, Emma was glamorous on that occasion.
My personal favorite Pollapönk outfit wasn’t their formalwear (the dresses), their stagewear (the suits), or their casualwear (the tracksuits)…it was their ultra-casualwear!
When Steven, Ewan, and I went to meet them in their hotel for their longform interview, they came down in coordinated bathrobes, and I’m pretty sure Mr. Red was *only* wearing a robe. 🙂
I tend to agree with Sam.. and you will all be glad it was just an audio interview.
Well done Debbie – a whole world of Eurovisioness that had passed me by!
It’s a bit like Royal Ascot – it’s supposedly about horseracing except that it’s so much more – if you know where and how to look! Just as Eurovision is all about the songs – except that it isn’t!