I'm not sure that I saw that smile leave this lady's face all day in Amsterdam! After chatting with Saara Aalto, my wanderings around the press event room found me at the Lithuanian table where I had the opportunity to chat with Ieva Zasimauskaitė. Just before I was given the opportunity to sit down alongside her (Ieva obviously recognised that I was one of the 'older generation'), the Lithuanian Head of Delegation gave me a small gift:
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Was it as an acknowledgement of me giving him my blog's calling card in London or just that he was giving them out to everyone? Nice touch though...
Anyway, onto the interview - I will admit straight off that Ieva told me her full name so I could say that as my intro but I chickened out and stuck to just her first name! Once I got that out of the way, it seemed as though I had been beaten to the punch by other interviewers by some of the questions asked - still, if you want to find out:
Anyway, onto the interview - I will admit straight off that Ieva told me her full name so I could say that as my intro but I chickened out and stuck to just her first name! Once I got that out of the way, it seemed as though I had been beaten to the punch by other interviewers by some of the questions asked - still, if you want to find out:
- Why Ieva thought that 'gruelling = good' as far as Lithuania's selection process was concerned...
- Shoes on or shoes off? Ieva also learnt something about barefooted Eurovision history...
- Some insights as to how "When We're Old" will be staged and how the tv viewers will see something extra... and
- Her plans after Eurovision.
Here are the answers:
Ieva is an experienced singer so Eurovizijos would have held no fears for her and the opportunity to tweak her performance will set her up well for Lisbon. It was also interesting to hear that there will be something for tv viewers and jurors to see, separate to that on the Altice Arena during Ieva's performance, to make up for not having a screen to show her couples on - I suspect that this will be a common way around the 'no LED screen' issue in Portugal. As you heard, Ieva was happy to answer my 'special question' too with hers:
Wow, that was deep! Surely that is more interesting than finding out that all the artists like "Euphoria", isn't it? I know from background research that Ieva and her husband regularly visit India on spiritual excursions and so this wasn't absolutely unexpected from her - my answer to this one?
I said that I'd provide an answer for any questions posed - such a really deep question to be asked, maybe I should have limited it to Eurovision only! It does highlight a very important aspect of Ieva's life, however...
So I had managed to interview one of the artists that was on my 'must do list' - next vacant slot was with a guy this time (just to prove that it isn't just female artists that I speak to), someone who I was hoping to catch but not expecting to, mainly because his interviews to date have been comic gold and I thought that he would have a queue all day waiting for him. As it was, I was behind him getting my interviewing material ready and he turned around, asking if I wanted to speak to him! I didn't get one of his memorable one liners but I did get perhaps the funniest answer to my special question - who is he?
Ieva is an experienced singer so Eurovizijos would have held no fears for her and the opportunity to tweak her performance will set her up well for Lisbon. It was also interesting to hear that there will be something for tv viewers and jurors to see, separate to that on the Altice Arena during Ieva's performance, to make up for not having a screen to show her couples on - I suspect that this will be a common way around the 'no LED screen' issue in Portugal. As you heard, Ieva was happy to answer my 'special question' too with hers:
"Are you searching for the purpose of this life? What are we doing on this planet?"
Wow, that was deep! Surely that is more interesting than finding out that all the artists like "Euphoria", isn't it? I know from background research that Ieva and her husband regularly visit India on spiritual excursions and so this wasn't absolutely unexpected from her - my answer to this one?
"Honest answer? No, I'm personally not spiritually minded so have never thought about this at all - I suppose I could now view my purpose as being involved with the Eurovision Song Contest as much as possible, not on a spiritual level but definitely on an emotional one. As for why we are on this planet - humanity is here until whatever 'power that be' decides that we've caused enough damage to the Earth and makes us extinct."
I said that I'd provide an answer for any questions posed - such a really deep question to be asked, maybe I should have limited it to Eurovision only! It does highlight a very important aspect of Ieva's life, however...
So I had managed to interview one of the artists that was on my 'must do list' - next vacant slot was with a guy this time (just to prove that it isn't just female artists that I speak to), someone who I was hoping to catch but not expecting to, mainly because his interviews to date have been comic gold and I thought that he would have a queue all day waiting for him. As it was, I was behind him getting my interviewing material ready and he turned around, asking if I wanted to speak to him! I didn't get one of his memorable one liners but I did get perhaps the funniest answer to my special question - who is he?
Vanja Radovanović!