Now this will be the last article directly connected to my time in Tel Aviv and it is linked to the above picture. Not necessarily that this article will be about Tamara Todevska and her incredible Jury win but it will reflect partly on one aspect of the staging that accompanied her outstanding vocals and stage presence, together with that amazing composition by Darko Dimitrov. That aspect?
As you will remember from my other articles from Tel Aviv, I was there with ESC Fan TV and a P accreditation for Australia. I was therefore lucky enough to be present at the Opening Ceremony and Orange Carpet, go to Euroclub, attend the Press Dress Rehearsals for each show and be at 5 out of 6 of the live shows. I ended up taking a lot of pictures, most of which I look at now and realise that what looked great on a phone screen did not necessarily translate to a picture on a blog! There are far too many to post here but I have become quite proficient in posting my Eurovision pictures onto:
Whole series of pictures of artists are there - I am going to post the most memorable ones for me personally here and Tamara taking her pause during "Proud", with the pictures of 'mothers and daughters' on the backdrop behind her, was one of those that stuck in my head and I am 'proud' of. It was also interesting that I caught a figure to the left of the stage as I looked at it, dressed exactly like Tamara - I wish that I had gotten the chance to have an interview with her to double check if that was one of Tamara's backing singers. Other pictures of her and the joyful North Macedonian delegation?
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Black is so classy and Tamara, along with her delegation, did seem to have a real confidence there, something that was taken into the competition proper to give North Macedoniatheir best ever result. A lot better than the next subject of my pictures - the United Kingdom:
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It was obvious that watching the UK delegation and Michael Rice that there was a togetherness that was needed for such a young guy, although he always came across as down-to-earth, calm and quietly confident. It was enjoyable to watch him behind the scenes - the actual staging didn't match the standards set by some of the other delegations however and he was totally scuppered in the running order between Norway and Iceland. Always next year, I suppose...
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These pictures are sort of chronological now - Michael was the first press conference I caught the evening I got my Press badge. The next morning I got on the bus bright and early - that was the only time I saw the P/F bus totally empty! Next up that day was the Orange Carpet event, the main source of my pictures (apart from EuroClub and the venue) - Tamta was first along and is as photogenic as they come:
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An artist who knows what suits her and really entertained wherever she went. It was obvious that she was a seasoned performer with how she dealt with interviewer's questions, much like these guys:
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The Orange Carpet was the closest Darude and Sebastian Rejman got to me, far closer than when they were on stage to themselves or their dancer. They did provide me with one of my better 'venue pictures', as did anyone who ventured to the edge of the walkway. Odd trousers for Sebastian but nevertheless a good shot. As was this picture on the Orange Carpet:
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Everybody focuses on Hatari's outfits and yet the backdrop was superb, especially this part with the spiky head! Well done to the group for the overall package of excellent song plus their actions on and off stage. Much the same could be said for this guy, all bar the result...
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If Conan Osíris had been an interval act in Lisbon last year, everyone would have been raving about his piece of conceptual art that mystified and at the same time delighted the viewers. As it was, being a Eurovision entry did put his performance on the 'weird' level and that probably explains his DNQ - what it doesn't show is that he appeared to be a very funny guy and obviously kept his delegation entertained, judging by the smirk of his Press person in the picture and his facial expression. His outfit is of the same style as his stage one - in a way it is a shame that he did not make it to the Final. He did get on really well with another artist who made a surprise appearance:
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Eleni Foureira almost caused a major confusion amongst the Greek delegation when she caught up with them and Katerine Duska, immediately in front of the Australian 'pen'. It was interesting to see their interaction, given that it was more to do with Katerine but of course Eleni did feature in the Final. They both looked amazing and Katerine continued her 'official video' look, looking delightful with flowers in her hair. The next artist couldn't have done that, unless he had some glue:
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Wow outfit on the Orange Carpet? One of the contenders was Bilal Hassani's 'wedding dress', something that gave more of a show as he moved down the Carpet towards the eurovision.tv camera - having said that, don't most wedding dresses look best moving down the aisle? Whereas he was all in white, Moldova went for red:
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Anna Odobescu and Kseniya Simonova both looked amazing on the Carpet and it was a real pleasure to see Anna smile so broadly, something I'd not seen up to that point. The pictures below that one were what I took in the venue during their SF dress rehearsal - I posted them on Facebook and Instagram for all to see. I was delighted that Kseniya liked them so much that she asked if she could tag and share them, as examples of her craft 'frozen in time', as I feel that she wasn't as impressed with how her art was portrayed in Tel Aviv on screen. It is always a pleasure when an artist wants to use your pictures - I'm not sure that this next lady from Ireland, who we learnt later was suffering with dental problems, would want this one out there forever. Having said that, the smiles and outfits of her backing singers deserved to be seen:
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I also was able to take a lot of Sarah McTernan's backdrop during her rehearsals, this '22' shot being one of them and that 'pop art' effect was one of my favourite looks in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, much like Moldova's 'snow art', my focus was never on the singers for any of the three minutes. Moving onto my next artist, you can see the familiar sight of two or more within a few feet of each other, so you get the bonus of Kobi but the focus of my attention was Ester Peony:
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Not much left to the imagination, it has to be said! It was in total contrast to her 'Wednesday Addams' look that she had on stage that matched the tone of "On A Sunday" so well - it was nice to see her so happy here on the Carpet. Unfortunately another DNQ for Romania - Ester's video is popular on MTV's Eurovision shows though.
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One of this year's revelations were Switzerland or should I say Luca Hänni? His on stage routine was all in red on the backdrop and it made getting any pictures in focus impossible at the rehearsals. On the Orange Carpet, he was kind enough to only wear red under his dark suit. He was really enjoying Tel Aviv and together with his dancers he performed a little routine that evening - he had an ever-present smile. One member of the Swedish delegation didn't appear to be happy when his eye met my mobile camera:
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The Mamas loved the whole experience, indicating every time I tagged them on social media. The routine and their collaboration with John Lundvik secured that standard 5th place for their nation - perhaps this Eurovision has given these four ladies a taste of what might be if they go for Melodifestivalen themselves? That is for another year - a previous participant was helping a current one for Croatia and appeared in my view finder that same evening:
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Jacques Houdek was helping Roko and his 'two angels' out with all things in the bubble - they were such nice guys, very friendly and another group that will have taken all the positives from this Eurovision, perhaps for another? Roko's incredible voice will only better with age so I'd love to see him back - I'd also say the same for this young lady:
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You'd never have thought that this was Michela's first international stage, the ease and calmness with which she treated the Orange Carpet experience. Smiles everywhere as far as the Maltese delegation were concerned and Michela had the honour of opening the Final. I suspect that we will see her at some point in the second series of X Factor Malta. Will we see this next lady again in Eurovision circles again? The blue hair will be easy to spot:
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PAENDA was a delight to interview in London and also to listen to in Tel Aviv - the blueness of her hair had been topped up and she was wearing a very futuristic outfit, enjoying the experience (apart from her actual result in her SF). Norway went very traditional with Fred's Sami outfit, frills and cravat for Tom Hugo and classic black for Alexandra for the Orange Carpet - it was obvious how experienced this trio are when listening to them dealing with press questions. It was also obvious that they had a package for television when we watched the dress rehearsals:
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I loved the Sami symbolism on the backdrop that links in so well with the animal artwork associated with KEiiNO - the staging overall, with Tom and Fred up front to start with allowed me to take some decent close-up pictures of them. It was just a pity that Alexandra was always right at the back of shot! One of the success stories of Eurovision 2019.
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Nice shirt - expensive shirt, in the region of 700 euros! Mahmood wasn't the strongest with his English but he got by on the Orange Carpet and the use of the "world's second language" on the backdrop, together with the young child figure from the official 'Soldi' video, helped get the message across to jurors and viewers across all nations to provide a runner-up spot for the rapper. Onto the next pictures and two more distinctive images at the venue, where blue really ingrained the moments into my head:
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Slovenia's multiple spotlights and Georgia's numerous figures on the backdrop looked so effective and yet neither visual ended up being that important in the final scheme of things - Slovenia qualified partly due to the very tight camerawork that was focused on Zala and Gašper throughout, whereas the superb film behind Oto, including mountains and barbed wire across the screen, was barely seen onscreen. I was pleased to get those images though within Pavilion 2, as I was when I took this one of Spain's 'coloured explosion':
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I felt that this was the only aspect of "La Venda" that actually worked visually - I am still at a loss as to the reason for the 'house' and for the giant figure. It was as if somebody had seen that there was a budget for staging and they felt that they had to use it all - the NF simplicity of Miki plus five 'pretend' musicians coming out of the crowd onto the stage was so, so much more effective. Russia did get it right, however:
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I just wanted to show how effective the lightning was behind the boxes that showed off 'Sergey +7' to their fullest. Probably still OTT and more than was needed but it is an image that is likely to stay with me for a long time to come. Will Sergey try to make it third time lucky? I don't think we have seen the last of him at Eurovision. Blue was the colour yet again with his staging - we did have several acts that relied on pink:
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Two Israeli acts went for the lighter, softer colour, as did Katerine Duska. The Shalva Band got their moment of fame, having had to pull out of "Rising Star" due to religious reasons but then being probably the most acclaimed interval act of the SFs with their performance in the arena. I have to say that I was privileged to be there and the Israeli fans in the crowd raised the volume inside to the highest I heard all week for the eight musicians and singers and deservedly so. Kobi Marimi got much the same response for the partisan crowd, his staging focusing on him with those six lit shapes behind, and he seemed always so humble after every single performance he gave. Greece's visual as a picture was stunning but very confused when viewed in real time - the decision to almost copy the official video was probably not the right one with hindsight.
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I had to include a picture of the winner this year, although Duncan Laurence's staging was not conducive to a decent mobile phone picture and none of us in the Australian section at the Orange Carpet got a good shot of him as he stormed off from the left of us, due to (allegedly) a reporter asking him an intrusive question. Good luck to them getting accreditation next year! As for the picture of Victor Crone and a stagehand, it was just to show that 'television magic' is sometimes a very simple process - guitar in his hands and then it disappeared! It's like a magician revealing how he does a trick...
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We were indeed all 'dreamers' as far as Tel Aviv was concerned - the entrance for the Pavilion 2 Arena plus a bird that I had only ever seen in books and never thought I'd ever see for real. A Hoopoe - the occasional one has made it into the extreme edges of South-West England but there were loads flitting around the Expo Tel Aviv grounds, taking advantage of the beetles around. A nice interlude before the last four artists that I wanted to focus on from my experience with my Google Pixel 2 XL in Tel Aviv:
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The most enjoyable show I saw at EuroClub was provided by this lady, Ruth Lorenzo. Looking absolutely amazing in a risque sort of way, she demanded attention by the crowd and we gave it to her! She covered that stage completely during her set and if she ever performs again in the UK, I'll be looking out for the venue and buying some tickets!
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I wanted to include this pair in this 'picture review' article as they have always been smiling, laughing and really enjoying the whole Eurovision experience - the scores S!sters got on Final night were totally immaterial to them and they did me a huge favour of performing right at the point of the 'V' of the walkway, guaranteeing superb pictures! I did try not to focus too much on Carlotta's trousers, honest!
Two ladies finish off this post - one from this year and one that I met in London in January, before that in Manchester in October 2016. Those who religious read my blog might know who I am talking about with the second artist but the first should be obvious, given who I had a Press badge for and who I have written the most articles about this season:
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Yes, it's Kate Miller-Heidke (together with an unintentional copy of her on the Orange Carpet) with the best pictures of her from the Opening Ceremony and the dress rehearsals. She looked stunning on the OC with her black sparkly dress (and mini crown) but SBS were the press people (rightly so) to get time with her there, so the pictures are a bit unclear. What is totally clear are those of Kate, Strange Fruit and those poles that produced that win in SF1 and 9th place overall. In a way, I was happier with my view of how the poles worked, how the three performers were literally wheeled onto the stage and how they were viewed against the backdrop, than just watching it on a tv screen.
Even picking up on how the microphone was passed to Kate by a stagehand (can't imagine that device will ever be used again) and also spotting her thank the small audience as she was wheeled for their cheers and applause, something that no other act got as they took the stage bar the Israeli acts. The silhouette picture is also a favourite of mine, the three of them ready to start the show as the music starts. Also notice there was no crown with these - she kept that for the live shows and she got the same response there too. I was humbled to be associated with such an act during my time in Tel Aviv - if I get to be Press again, I hope that my experience is at least comparable but whoever it is I am linked with will have to go some to match the creativity, vocals and performance skills of Kate Miller-Heidke and Strange Fruit.
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And that lady that I'd met twice before? Of course it is Krista Siegfrids - her on stage at EuroClub on Nordic Party night, at EuroClub when she wasn't performing and also on the Orange Carpet! I really hadn't expected to see her face to face but I spotted her with a documentary film maker from Finland (Pia), who I have been liaising with on her latest project, "12 Points", at the Orange Carpet event. I was chatting to Pia and Krista came over, wondering who she was talking to but then recognised me from earlier this year at Eurofest. Tom O'Donoghue took that one (thank you to him) and it is very popular on Insta - I took the selfie at EuroClub, always helps to have someone more photogenic than me there! Krista must have ended up sick of the sight of me by the time we both left Tel Aviv - she was about six passengers behind me in the Check-In winding queue, so our paths crossed at least three times. I decided that I had enough pictures of us both by that stage!
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The last picture I took before leaving Israel - a departure board at Ben Gurion Airport, telling me of a delay that ended up being an hour. Apart from my radio shows throughout the season and the articles that focused mainly on Australia's and the UK entries, my pictures were my major output and given they were all taken on a mobile phone, rather than a really expensive DLR camera, I am really proud (yep, that word again) of the results. As I pointed out at the start of the article, everything I deemed worthy of sharing is mainly on my Instagram account - I hope you have enjoyed looking at the ones here and why I included them. That is the last loose end of my trip to Tel Aviv...
What I saw on the screen of my Google Pixel 2XL
As you will remember from my other articles from Tel Aviv, I was there with ESC Fan TV and a P accreditation for Australia. I was therefore lucky enough to be present at the Opening Ceremony and Orange Carpet, go to Euroclub, attend the Press Dress Rehearsals for each show and be at 5 out of 6 of the live shows. I ended up taking a lot of pictures, most of which I look at now and realise that what looked great on a phone screen did not necessarily translate to a picture on a blog! There are far too many to post here but I have become quite proficient in posting my Eurovision pictures onto:
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/lmbto_eurovision/
Facebook : Facebook Photos (9th-26th May)
Whole series of pictures of artists are there - I am going to post the most memorable ones for me personally here and Tamara taking her pause during "Proud", with the pictures of 'mothers and daughters' on the backdrop behind her, was one of those that stuck in my head and I am 'proud' of. It was also interesting that I caught a figure to the left of the stage as I looked at it, dressed exactly like Tamara - I wish that I had gotten the chance to have an interview with her to double check if that was one of Tamara's backing singers. Other pictures of her and the joyful North Macedonian delegation?
I may still rate "Say Na Na Na" as my number 41 for 2019 but there is no denying that Serhat is a true professional, a witty and measured interviewee and all the fans love him. I knew that he'd defy me and get San Marino to the Final but I have a lot of respect for this guy - getting this nation's best result of 19th was a fitting way for him to leave as a Eurovision performer. Having said that, I bet if Turkey ever return and want an internal selection for their first year back, it would be hard for this guy to say no to that...
Two ladies finish off this post - one from this year and one that I met in London in January, before that in Manchester in October 2016. Those who religious read my blog might know who I am talking about with the second artist but the first should be obvious, given who I had a Press badge for and who I have written the most articles about this season:
The magic for me was definitely in the venue
and I hope that the above pictures give you a taste of that.
Even picking up on how the microphone was passed to Kate by a stagehand (can't imagine that device will ever be used again) and also spotting her thank the small audience as she was wheeled for their cheers and applause, something that no other act got as they took the stage bar the Israeli acts. The silhouette picture is also a favourite of mine, the three of them ready to start the show as the music starts. Also notice there was no crown with these - she kept that for the live shows and she got the same response there too. I was humbled to be associated with such an act during my time in Tel Aviv - if I get to be Press again, I hope that my experience is at least comparable but whoever it is I am linked with will have to go some to match the creativity, vocals and performance skills of Kate Miller-Heidke and Strange Fruit.
Bringing together all my highlights of 2019 will be my next post!