Being a part of the Eurovision rehearsals is –of course – an absolute gift. But after four days of frantically racing between meet & greets and rehearsal streams for up to 12 hours at a time, an element of fatigue – if not full-blown cabin fever – does threaten to kick in. By the end of initial rehearsals for the second semi-final, I’m staggering, glassy-eyed and disoriented out of the press centre feeling like a war veteran who’s seen too much to ever be rehabilitated into mainstream society.
On paper, Day Five looks like it could be the breaking of me. Today we’re set to run through the entirety of Semi Final One – which means sixteen consecutive press conferences crammed into a single day. With the greatest respect to the artists this year, not many of them had anything particularly illuminating to say the first time I met them. A second lap on the merry-go-round feels like it has the potential to turn into a Kafka-esque nightmare of broken English and inane questions.
As it turns out, the change of pace has a surprisingly revitalising effect. There’s a lot more to get through today, and everything has to be a lot faster, tighter and more controlled. These second press conferences are rather more official than the initial meet & greets, with the artists being joined by their full delegations in front of a considerably larger stage. The non-stop timetable doesn’t offer many opportunities to slip in and out, but it does mean a lot less waiting around.
Anti-Social Media ad-lib an ode to Austrian chocolate.
Photo: Eurovision.tv
There’s a definite sense that most of the really burning questions have already been answered during the first round of interviews, so the artists adopt a variety of tactics to keep things moving. Daniel from Macedonia brings in his backing vocalists Merge – better known as the artists formerly known as Blackstreet – for an impromptu jam session incorporating their classic hit ‘No Diggity’, while Denmark improvise a German-language song with lyrics made up from the names of popular Austrian chocolate brands. Most impressively of all, Maimuna from Belarus attempts (and apparently succeeds) to break the world record for the fastest ever solo recital of ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’, clocking in at around 55 seconds.
Bojana from Serbia hands out colourful flags to the assembled journalists, but her personality is more than enough to fill a room, and for the second time in a row she’s the clear highlight of the day, extolling the virtues of brightly coloured clothing for disguising inconvenient fast food stains and delivering a pitch-perfect impersonation of Edina Monsoon from Absolutely Fabulous.
Bojana from Serbia effortlessly charms the press once again.
Photo: Eurovision.TV
Dutch singer Trijntje Oosterhuis is possibly the first Eurovision entrant in history to receive rapturous applause in the press centre for what she’s not wearing – the hideous front-slit ensemble has been replaced by a more casual black dress and jacket combo that feels far more appropriate to the warm and inviting tone of the song. She certainly seems happier and more relaxed, though when asked she refuses to rule out reverting to the original look when asked during the press conference. Don’t do it Trijntje!
Russia’s Polina Gagarina is still answering questions exclusively via an interpreter, which is causing increasingly vocal confusion among the press, as it’s obvious she has a perfectly strong grasp of English. Members of her delegation insist that she simply lacks confidence, but it seems telling that many of the other entrants who appear far less fluent in the language are a lot more comfortable switching back and forth. Once again she gets an easy ride from the journalists, although the rather stilted back and forth with the translator doesn’t leave time for more than a couple of questions.
Polina Gagarina from Russia remains curiously unwilling to try out her English skills.
Photo: Eurovision.tv
Despite the double-packed schedule for the day, things progress at a remarkably brisk pace and despite a delayed appearance from Georgia – who experience major technical problems during their rehearsal – we wrap up considerably earlier than previous days, leading to what is possibly my most disorienting experience so far – leaving the press centre into actual daylight.