| May. 16th, 2005 @ 02:11 am I don't like Mondays (extended) |
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First of all apologies for my website being down for a long part of yesterday, but as it's hosted in Northern Ireland, there was nothing I could do to get up. It was nice but a tad disappointing that 5 people came up to me last night to say they couldn't access it! You have NO idea how much effort (and hangover tablets) it took to get me to the press area this morning. As many of my visitors are UK based I decided I should catch every moment of Javine's performance. A change to today's schedule is that Cyprus and France have swapped places in the rehearsal schedule. I have been told unofficially that all the Cypriot stage gear has been held up in customs and there was no chance to get it through by the 13.10 starting time. So France takes that time slot and Cyprus goes on at 19.45, when most people will be getting ready for tonight's official welcome party at the Marinsky Palace.
Last night the party circuit really kicked in. When I say "circuit" I really mean the trek from one floor of the Arena club to the other. Slovenia started on the ground floor with lots of free beer, wine, nibbly bits, tourist DVDs and (for me the highlight) a lovely accoustic set by Omar Naber. After watching his rather uncomfortable stage performance, it was great to see him just sit there with a guitar and sing the song, as well as Cat Stevens' "Wild World" and Robbie Williams' "Sexed Up". I'm not sure if it was the party (and people wishing to be gracious to their hosts), but there is a lot more positivity to the song than I thought. Maybe I have written off its chances too early and given that I loved the song the first time I hearrd it, maybe I've become tired of it, while others hearing it for the first few times are more positive.
I went home to freshen up, and missed the Romanian / Sisten gig in the courtyard. My apartment is 2 minutes walk from the Euroclub in the Arena I got back in time for the first ugly scrum to get into the Belarus party. Everybody had to go through a heavy security check and F1 acceditations were originally not being allowed in, so the queue got longer and uglier. There was nearly a diplomatic incident at one point!
The party itself was FABULOUS. Lots of traditional Belarus vodka, folk singing and dancing and the video of Angelica's promotional tour. Then Angelica herself (arriving in her own van this time with a huge personalized number plate in case you didn't know who it was) dressed in traditional Belarus costume. She sang a folk song, one of her hits and then late on the Eurovision song. This song is really dividing the "press corps". There are those like me who love it, and there are those that think its the musical equivilant of "all mouth and no trousers", as in its a great show but not a great song, but even those think that its a sure fire qualifier.
I got to meet loads of people, including Nikos Terzis (writer of "Shake It", "Die For You" and "Love Me Tonight"), Alex Panayi (Cyprus 1995 and 2000) who will be doing backing vocals for Greece. I got chatting to the Irish songwriter Karl Broderick, who is lovely and its wonderful to see a fan living their Eurovision dream. He told me that some of my comments had given given him sleepless nights, but he appreciated my honesty. I was honestly able to report that there is a huge positive vibe building for Ireland's chances, and that while I didn't see us qualifying, I'm now clearly in the minority.
...and so to bed..... |
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