Our fourth day of rehearsals closed with maNga’s very modern, possibly the most contemporary of the 39 songs this year. And it was a total contrast to the three ballads before it.
If the second semi-final wanted to finish with a bang, the Turkish song was an obvious choice. After three ballads, this rock-influenced number may indeed wake up some of the viewers.
The band are dressed in black, as befits a dark song like this. The singer, Ferman Akgul, two guitarists, drummer and keyboard-player are joined by a dancer, but more of her later. The look is completed by a tower of guitar amplifiers on either side of the stage. There did appear to be some problems with the lighting. At various times, they were completely in silhouette (so you couldn’t see them), or being obscured by the strobing lighting behind them. They will need to work on this.
Our blonde backing dancer starts off in full leather and helmet, as you would expect a motorcycle despatch rider to wear. She brandishes a fake machine gun that fires off sparks during the instrumental break, before proceeding to discard the leather and helmet to reveal a short dress, predominently black. She also waves black and white flags, to go with the flags flanking her.
Despite these visual problems, which can be easily resolved, it is the only song of its kind in this semi-final. So, on the basis of originality, this should qualify.
