After the first nine countries competing in the first semifinal strutted their stuff yesterday, it was the turn of the remaining nine countries to make their first appearance today.
Israel’s press conference was shorter than scheduled due to the delegation arriving late for it. There was time for Mira to explain "The idea of the song being in three languages was ours, the first time ever that the Israeli entry has Arabic in it and we insisted upon this as a condition". On her collaboration with Mira, Noa said "It was around eight years ago we first started working together, we have recorded songs together, we are old friends and it’s a great opportunity to continue our collaboration."
In contrast to the Israeli’s, the Bulgarian’s appeared at their conference soon after finishing their rehearsal. Krassimir explained that Illusion is about people dreaming of things that real life will not give them. He described his singing style as ‘popera’.
Iceland’s Yohanna described her song, Is It True? As “simple, humble, sweet and honest”. When asked if the song had been written with another singer in mind. The writers explained that the song had been written for inclusion on the album by a singer called Tinatin, but they gave it to Yohanna to perform in the Icelandic selection.
The Macedonian Head of Delegation expressed satisfaction with their first rehearsal. Next have only been together as a band for 11 months, and participating in the contest is proving to be a great experience for them.
Elena from Romania entered he press conference room, she was wearing a dress made by her mother. It would seem that The Balkan Girls is very popular in Romania “The Balkan Girls is the most broadcasted song on radio in Romania at the moment, which is great because last year the song which took part in the Eurovision Song Contest was not promoted so much on the radio, so I feel we have had more support and are better prepared for the competition." What kind of boys do Balkan Girls prefer? “He should be very funny, he should have that something, I don’t have a specific type!"
In the Finnish conference, Waldo said that the group is already very experienced live performers, having performed over 1000 concerts worldwide. Jari Sillanpää has been given the band tips for the big night, one of which is to have the volume in their ear pieces set to loud due to the inevitable noise which will come from the audience.
No doubt trying to impress the locals, Flor-de-Lis from Portugal kicked off their conference with a song in Russian. As for their Eurovision song, the band said that the lyrics are about happiness and being happy, feelings that would like the public to share.
Fan favourite Chiara was next. She wasn’t completely satisfied with the way her rehearsal had gone, “I was a bit afraid the first time I sang it today, the stage is very slippery, I’m always afraid I may fall on stage. It was good today, but I will still improve before the night". On Diane Warren’s participation in the contest as the co-writer of the United Kingdom song, Chiara said “It’s an honour to be in the same competition. I have recorded a song of Diane’s before, but we didn’t get chance to meet so I hope that we will do so in Moscow." Chiara believes that What If We is the strongest of her three Eurovision songs.
The preview video of the Bosnian song had references to communism in the costumes worn by the band. When asked about this theme, the answered that although there are nostalgic elements in the song, these refer to love, not communism. They want a love revolution. At the end of the conference, the assembled press were treated to a rendition of Bistra Voda in Russian.
You can see photos of some of the press conferences by visiting our Photo Gallery, or by clicking the links below.
Links
Iceland’s Press Conference
Malta’s Press Conference
Bosnia’s Press Conference
