Yesterday, the remaining countries in the second semi-final, from Latvia to Portugal, took to the stage and the press conference room, although not at the same time.
Latvia was on first and they arrived at the press conference in full costume. They were asked about the apparent lack of props on the stage during their rehearsal. Roberto, who was also in Bonaparte.lv for Latvia last year, answered “Well, they considered us pirates very dangerous at the airport so we couldn’t bring the items straight away!" He was asked about how different being in Bonaparte.lv was from being part of Pirates of the Sea, “Well, we were six guys last year, and as you can see we have a mixed group this year. With every year we have changes; we need to be different from the others, especially when there are 43 countries. We just want to give 100%, enjoy what we do and show our heart and soul."
Unsurprisingly, some of the attention of the Croatian press conference was on the age of 75 Cents, who will be the oldest performer ever to sing at the contest. Can you guess how he got his name? That’s right, he’s 75 years old. All the band was happy with their first rehearsal.
The Bulgarian representatives have been busy; they revealed during their conference that they have recorded ten different versions of their song, although it seems that Bulgarian isn’t one of them. They went on to promise more surprises in their performance.
Denmark’s Simon Mathew thought his rehearsal was “excellent” and he is excited to be representing Denmark. His favourite song in this years contest is the Turkish entry.
Georgia’s second entry in the Eurovision Song Contest will be sung by Diana Gurtskaya and she sung an acapella version of ‘Peace Will Come’ at the start of her press conference. She said that she is convinced that peace will come one day, including in her own country, which is currently at war.
Csézy from Hungary sung a bit of the Hungarian version of ‘Candlelight’. The dress seen in the preview video was one of five she was offered.
Morena from Malta said that participating in the contest is a dream come true for her, a dream which started in 2006 when she first sang in the Maltese national final. The ‘Vodka’ referred to in the song is not the drink. It is a secret code for Morena, who is a spy, in the song at least.
The head of the Cypriot delegation was asked if Cyprus could host the 2009 contest. She believes it is as Cyprus is the host of the 2008 Junior Eurovision contest. Despite trying out the song in French and English, Evdokia from Cyprus said that they decided to stick to Greek.
The Macedonian delegation was asked how three successful solo singers have combined for the Eurovision. The songs composer Vrcak replied “It was my idea, we were all close friends beforehand, I was the complete author of the song. I knew the others voices, so it was a natural choice really, we have the same energy." The hospitable Macedonians invited everyone to sample regional food and wine at the Macedonian party.
Last but certainly not least were the Portuguese. Carlos Coelho, the composer, explained that the song is based on a poem. Vânia said that she finds the song emotional and that it is about Portugal.
Tomorrow sees the second rehearsal of some of the songs competing in the first semi-final in less than a week.
