Friday sees Austria and Trackshittaz return to the stage for their second rehearsal. Their first run through saw the two turning in a rather flat perfomance vocally. So did the daring duo manage to improve on what primarily is the main flaw of the act?
The second rehearsal saw them wearing the same costumes as in their first – the lime green and black tutu/corset creations on the three pole dancers may be interesting, but just seem to come across rather lewd and tawdry to be honest. Whether or not your average European is ready for that kind of tittilation on a Saturday night remains to be seen. It didn’t work for Dita Von Teese and Oscar De Loya for Germany in 2009 and neither for The Jet Set and Time To Party for Poland in 2007. Someone should also whisper something in the boys’ ears, as flashing led lights on their stage outfits are just so old hat – in parts it comes across extremely well, but there are also certain shots that are completely wasted, there’s just too much going on.
There’s no faulting the interaction between the energetic pair and their dancers – this comes across fantastically on screen. WHat does however let them down is the aural impact this makes when shown on the screen. From the arena, Woki Mit Deim Popo is a full blown unapologetic attack on all senes, both visually and aurally. But on screen the vocals fail to pack as much of a punch as they did in the hall today. The staging of the act is faultless – they make very good use of the stage, bounding and leaping about with so much energy that would quite frankly give an olympic gold medallist a hard time of keeping up! The camerawork, although suiting the entry perfectly in that punchy, aggressive kind of way does look rather too hectic on screen , switching relentlessly back and forth perhaps giving those watchingsomething of a headache.
The backdrop is still the same, a wise decision to keep that unchanged. It fits the act like a glove – vibrant, fresh, youthful with a slightly indutrial/modernistic minimalist feel when the screens are covered by dozens of what looks like greenhouse window panes in various shades of white, grey and black. A brilliant contrast comes a fair bit into the song, when the screen explodes in a riot of colour – bright green and pink give the backdrop a kind of 80’s theme,
playing perfectly against the part sound of the song.
While Trackshittaz have to be applauded for their refusal to compromise, you really can’t help but wonder if ORF and Austria have mistimed and misjudged the European viewing audience; that they’ve come up with something just a tad too risqué, youthful and in your face that might just alienate the voters instead of attracting the all important votes to get them oou of their semi final. A considerable improvement on their first effort but at this point in time, a place in
the final is rather questionable.
