[LMBTO] The Final Piece Of The Eurovision Puzzle - Bulgaria's Equinox...

The first would be considered to be the most successful although I suspect that anyone without a speciality of Swedish folk music of the early 1970s would not consider ABBA to be part of that definition.  When LT United and Genealogy are considered as 'supergroups' however, perhaps this quintet could be defined in the same way, at least in Bulgaria:

Left to right we have:

• Johnny Manuel, main claim to fame is reaching America's Got Talent 2017 SF and working with the driving force behind Bulgaria's two years of amazing results at Eurovision, Symphonix International;
• Georgi Simeonov (JJ), main claim to fame is being part of a Bulgarian boy band aged 16 and a prominent vocal producer in Bulgaria;
• Zhana Bergendorff, possibly the most recognisable member of the group, was the 2013 X Factor winner in Bulgaria;
• Trey Campbell, songwriter and co-composer of their song;
• Vladimir Mihailov, actor and songwriter and the one who has previous Eurovision experience, being a backing singer for Kristian Kostov last year.

For an entry that has been controlled to within an inch of its life, with the song itself being analysed and decided upon after lots of feedback from fans and experts when compared to twelve other songs, and then the members of the group chosen carefully, through to the reveal of the song happening almost right on 'deadline day', "Bones" initially ended up being all a bit 'okay, so this is it?'  I suppose with how it was described when all the potential entries were being sorted, a lot of fans expected more:
Looking at that graphic, everything written there has been delivered but initially judging it on the basis of purely a stand alone song, there was something undefined that left me wanting more and I couldn't work out what that was.  It wasn't due to the songwriting - the lyrics about only love being the whole meaning of life are beyond reproach, albeit with a mixture of mysticism and solemnity:

The studio vocals are spot on and the harmonising between all members of Equinox are superb, the four guys providing the bulk of the audio experience with Zhana adding the lightness on top with her obvious tones.  Merely listening to "Bones" was like listening to part of a concept album, something perhaps more common in Prog Rock days - this would be a track that showed off the group's vocal skills and gave a heartbeat to the whole, pulsing seamlessly in between other songs.  I still was unsure why I wasn't getting this, why the excitement and passion felt by some others about Bulgaria's entry this year was so strong...


I have to admit that I was building up some nervous anticipation about how they would perform and sound live, and tweeted such the day before:
As you will see in more detail when I review the Party itself (even though I had no Press Accreditation this year), taking the advice of Joanne Powell and milling around the outside of the Café de Paris as the acts arrived for soundchecks proved an excellent way of meeting Equinox in a more relaxed setting:
Many thanks to Vladimir for setting up such an excellent shot of everyone there - obviously well versed at taking such shots!  All five were really relaxed and happy to chat with everyone waiting outside before they had to disappear for their soundcheck - would that set them up for a performance that would fill in the gap in my "Bones" jigsaw?  Coming on fifth from the end meant that all the fans were really warmed up by all the excellent music that they had heard before - Equinox followed Mikolas Josef's set, so what was I about to see and hear?



This was the first time that we saw Equinox perform "Bones" live, three minutes that we saw how the five members of the group interacted with each other, how perfectly they sung live, how everyone had their vocal moment with no-one really having lead vocal status and how at ease with each other they were on stage.  Most importantly, I was at the gig where this all happened, potentially witnessing the moment where Bulgaria's run to winning in Lisbon 2018 started - now why do I say that?


This nation has been building up their 'campaign' with Poli's 4th in Stockholm and Kristian's 2nd in Kyiv.  The missing part of this year's entry fell into place for me as I watched them perform "Bones" on stage - judging Eurovision entries live has always been the 'be all and end all' for me, as you have to cut it on tv during those three minutes (plus the three in front of the jurors).  Equinox have no issues on that score - they can definitely sing expertly live. 


The stage at the venue is tiny and was half filled by the five members of the group:
The London Eurovision Party performance was never going to be about staging - the initial interaction with fans and testing the live harmonies of the quintet was the key object of the exercise.  Given they also sung Jessie J's "Who You Are" and the classic "Imagine" by John Lennon, they proved that they could sing anything live (perhaps in an attempt to stop some fans claiming that "Bones" was all playback, given that the vocals on stage for their Eurovision entry were as good as the studio version).  Their set was the highlight of the night for me and has made me rewrite part of this article - in a way, it was fortunate for Equinox that I still had five nations to cover and that Bulgaria was one of those.  This might have been a different article without the live experience, that's for sure!  I spoke to Trey afterwards up near the VIP section - a very nice guy, very clued up on everything to do with this year's Eurovision and very happy for the positivity from the fans inside the venue!

So where in the big scheme of things do I see "Bones" finishing in Lisbon?  Before the London Eurovision Party experience, I had Equinox as a definite qualifier out of SF1 but based purely on the studio version of the song, mid table in the Final at best. 


This has a great chance of being the Jury winning song halfway through the voting section of the Final - the only 'fly in the ointment' is how will this entry engage the voting public on Saturday 12th May?  We have no idea what the staging will be like - will we have a Genealogy scenario, where the camera flitted between each individual during the Armenian song or will we have what we saw at the Café de Paris - all of Equinox lined up in a row, ready to put themselves forward as their part to play is reached?
We will get more evidence as the pre-Party season continues and maybe I will be able to elicit some more information when/if I get to chat with them at the Eurovision In Concert press event in Amsterdam.  Sacha Jean-Baptiste is their Stage Director which should suggest visual innovation is on the cards, given she was responsible for Kristian Kostov's on-screen line visuals last year (now used by Alexander Rybak at the Norwegian NF).  In such a potentially tight year, any little advantage could make you a winner...