Today was the final day of delegation rehearsals and press conferences. The last seven countries competing in the second semi-final all had their second rehearsal, as did the ‘Big 5’
Slovenia got the ball rolling this morning. At the conference afterwards, lyricist Urša Vlašič, was asked about the meaning of the words in the Slovene and English versions of the song. She said that they are not about the same subject. "The two are separate lyrics, there was another woman mentioned in the original lyric, No One is not a translation they are totally separate lyrics."
Romania has done well recently in the contest, including 3rd place last year. Does this put pressure on Hotel FM? "We didn’t come here to break the records, we just do the best we can," said lead singer, David Bryan.
Estonia is one of the favourites for success on Saturday, but, should she win, this wouldn’t put Getter off singing in the contest again, whatever the result. "I feel so good here," she said. Of her rivals, Sweden, Italy and Germany are among her favourites, "but we have the Belarusian song in our heads, they have the dressing room next to ours!"
Smaller countries always have to deal with the question of their ability to host the contest. The Belarusian Head of Delegation attempted to allay any fears should Anastasiya Vinnikova win at the weekend, saying that Belarus is ready to host the contest. The composer revealed that I Love Belarus was written in three days.
In a crafty move to avoid having to answer too many questions, Latvian duo Musiqq, chose to sing a medley of songs. The population of Latvia seems to have high hopes for the song, they are hopeful of a finish in "the top one."
At their first conference, the Danes were asked about the origins of the name of the band. Today, they answered more questions on the same subject. It is "about meeting people everywhere and having new friends all over."
The irrepressible Jedward were next. They were complimentary of the opposition, "We’ve checked everyone’s songs out on line, Lena is very cool, Norway, France and Denmark are also really good." They have also been flirting a bit, "Lena is very cool. We met Lena lots of times, we gave her flowers last night, but she just wants to be friends!"
France, United Kingdom and Italy all gave conferences yesterday and so didn’t hold one today. Spain rehearsed last yesterday and couldn’t give a conference due to the official reception, and therefore spoke to the press today. Lucia is the first singer from the region of Galicia, and is very proud of this. "People on my region are very happy, and the large community of Galicians living in Europe support me too! The promotion I’m getting back home couldn’t be better, and nationwide the work done so far is also extraordinary, especially by our broadcaster, TVE. Galicia will be very much present on stage, not only through my own person, but with the arrangement of the song done with Galician instruments and also my costume, designed by Galician young fashion artists". Although she wasn’t keen on the song initially, she has warmed to it, saying "This song has a positive energy that I didn’t realise at first".
Tomorrow, the rehearsals for the first semi-final start when the show will be practiced in its entirety.
