Dress rehearsal #1, Friday 15h00
May. 14th, 2004 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcApparently everyone else knew that the first dress rehearsal didn’t start on time. So I leaned back (sideways) in my seat and watched audio-less video of previous years’ winners. I saw Niamh Kavanaugh (Ireland 1993), Harrington & McKettigan (Ireland 1994), Secret Garden (Norway 1995 but the violinist was Oirish), Eimear Quinn (Ireland 1996), Katrina & the Waves (UK 1997), Dana International (Israel 1998), Charlotte Nielssen (Sweden 1999), the Olsen Brothers (Denmark 2000), and I was excited that I was gonna finally see a real sized (big actually) video of Tanel Padar & Dave Benton & TXL (Estonia 2001, which I’ve only seen in teeny-tiny form on the web).
Then they stopped the fookin’ tape. Bastards, da fookin’ bastards.
First impression: Stage is lovely, a sort of po-mo mosque, with the sides peeled up like a sardine tin. Colourful, with 4 risers (3 of which have projector floors, which show different images for each performer) and a nearly IMAX screen around the entire rear of the stage. All put to good use. My guess is the arena sits 4,000; fewer than a few hundred were in attendance.
I won’t divulge too much detail; part of da Eurovision luv is to be surprised by the performances. And to tell how the opening goes is just wrong. But it’s good—until the hosts start doing the chitty-chat shtick. Meh. But what else can they do?
This is a quasi-spoiler—
The weak: Austria may well get null points. I quite like the song, but it seems the guy who founded the trio insists on singing lead a fair bit. Only one of them is a strong singer—they should’ve let him sing and left the other 2 for harmony. Oh, right, I forgot—they don’t’ sing harmony well either. Poland aren’t bad performers, it’s just so wonky; in a strong year, wonky isn’t good. OK I hate her voice, but she does stay in tune and on pitch. And just because Bosnia got enough points to get through the qualifier doesn’t mean Deen isn’t gonna bottom up. Balkanized voting aside of course . . .
The strong: I never understood why Serbia & Montenegro got such a response—until today. I was moved: elegant and poised. When the base kicks in the first time . . . wow! Greece is soooo Eurovision by numbers (catchy, up-tempo, cheesy, pretty). It may be perfect to win on paper, but will it pull through? Not if Cyprus performs like she did today. Even with a couple of vocal things, it’s such a compelling and heartfelt performance. For both Serbia and Cyprus I heard myself think “that’s the winner.” Of course last year I thought that about Turkey and Greece. Turkey won, Greece was like 22nd.
The could-bes: Malta had major mic problems but were still great—they might be in the list above if the sound issues aren’t there. Norway and Iceland both gave “I’m singer with a great song, and this is supposed to be about singing and songs” performances. Plus, remember that guy from high school (or uni) who was a jock, smart and nice? Guess what, the fooker’s also a great singer: Iceland. Bastard.
The wild card: Pun intended, Ukraine’s “Wild Dances” is the power performance of the year—but will it lose impact after doing the same performance in the qualifier a mere 3 days before. My bet is yes, they will lose votes. Besides, if I want a Shakira DVD I’llburn rent one.
if you like surprises. You heard me.
OK, back to your regularly schedules programming.
Then they stopped the fookin’ tape. Bastards, da fookin’ bastards.
First impression: Stage is lovely, a sort of po-mo mosque, with the sides peeled up like a sardine tin. Colourful, with 4 risers (3 of which have projector floors, which show different images for each performer) and a nearly IMAX screen around the entire rear of the stage. All put to good use. My guess is the arena sits 4,000; fewer than a few hundred were in attendance.
I won’t divulge too much detail; part of da Eurovision luv is to be surprised by the performances. And to tell how the opening goes is just wrong. But it’s good—until the hosts start doing the chitty-chat shtick. Meh. But what else can they do?
This is a quasi-spoiler—
The weak: Austria may well get null points. I quite like the song, but it seems the guy who founded the trio insists on singing lead a fair bit. Only one of them is a strong singer—they should’ve let him sing and left the other 2 for harmony. Oh, right, I forgot—they don’t’ sing harmony well either. Poland aren’t bad performers, it’s just so wonky; in a strong year, wonky isn’t good. OK I hate her voice, but she does stay in tune and on pitch. And just because Bosnia got enough points to get through the qualifier doesn’t mean Deen isn’t gonna bottom up. Balkanized voting aside of course . . .
The strong: I never understood why Serbia & Montenegro got such a response—until today. I was moved: elegant and poised. When the base kicks in the first time . . . wow! Greece is soooo Eurovision by numbers (catchy, up-tempo, cheesy, pretty). It may be perfect to win on paper, but will it pull through? Not if Cyprus performs like she did today. Even with a couple of vocal things, it’s such a compelling and heartfelt performance. For both Serbia and Cyprus I heard myself think “that’s the winner.” Of course last year I thought that about Turkey and Greece. Turkey won, Greece was like 22nd.
The could-bes: Malta had major mic problems but were still great—they might be in the list above if the sound issues aren’t there. Norway and Iceland both gave “I’m singer with a great song, and this is supposed to be about singing and songs” performances. Plus, remember that guy from high school (or uni) who was a jock, smart and nice? Guess what, the fooker’s also a great singer: Iceland. Bastard.
The wild card: Pun intended, Ukraine’s “Wild Dances” is the power performance of the year—but will it lose impact after doing the same performance in the qualifier a mere 3 days before. My bet is yes, they will lose votes. Besides, if I want a Shakira DVD I’ll
if you like surprises. You heard me.
OK, back to your regularly schedules programming.
