You can still see part of the subject of last week's interviewee, Tamara Todevska, in this picture but the main focus this time is her backing singer in Tel Aviv, now upgraded to North Macedonian representative in Rotterdam:
Vasil Garvanliev
Sometimes those pictures you take of the delegation and those supporting the main act spring out at you later on, especially as you all now have an early idea of what this guy is like! Vasil stood out for me there in front of the Australian section of the Orange Carpet press section, what with his crown and the sign held out and, yes, proud! He was up second on this week's show, after arguably one of the most handsome men ever to participate on a Eurovision stage...
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Multi-talented too, being an actor and comedian alongside his singing talents - as The Persuaders/Robert Palmer/Rod Stewart might say:
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The French delegation this year have dispensed with Destination Eurovision as a selection method, immensely popular with Eurovision fans but not with the television watching audience in France. Given that Madame Monsieur and Bilal Hassani (13th and 16th) both came lower than the previous two years that were internal selections (Amir 6th and Alma 12th), it is not surprising that saving time and money was a priority, especially as the HoD responsible for the drive to have a NF had left his position. Apparently this year's song has already been chosen and Tom was found to have the best voice for it. His album "Recollection" proves that he has a great guitar sound, albeit that he has only sung commercially to date in English - will we have a totally 'non-French, non-minority French language' song going to Eurovision for the first time ever? It would be a bold move, even though seven French entries in the 21st Century have had some English in it - we will have to wait and see. Tom should be able to slam dunk the performing side of things, given his theatre academic background and having seen some of his comedic skits on YouTube. Perhaps his vocals and stage presence might give fans something else to hang their hats on, in addition to his chiseled features...
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As for Vasil, what we are going to get from him in Rotterdam? A singer of many and varied styles and talents, he has sung Sondheim, Macedonian pop and even performed as a baritone in Canadian opera circles. What we ARE going to get from him, I feel, is an incredible level of professionalism that all North Macedonian singers project and it wouldn't surprise me if the 'Eurovision Final qualification' bug will stick with this nation for a long time to come. Under their new name, they are 1 for 1 - it would not surprise me, from what I have seen in interviews in Tel Aviv and live footage online, if Vasil easily made it 2 out of 2, with another top ten safely in the bag! We will only know for certain when we hear his song.
Talking of songs for Rotterdam:
Anyway, you can hear Tom, Vasil and information about TEN other nations on this week's show - have a listen...
France's Tom Leeb
Talking of songs for Rotterdam:
Ten artists going - realistically we know NO songs!
("Shaj" is likely to be English, isn't it?)
Anyway, you can hear Tom, Vasil and information about TEN other nations on this week's show - have a listen...
And the playlist? You'll see that Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Norway, Czechia and Australia all provide more than one song...
"Sun" - Tom Leeb
"Patuvam" - Vasil Garvenliev
"Heart Beats" - Katrina Dimanta
"I'm Falling For You" - Miks Dukurs
"Somewhere Out There" - Alen Chicco
"On Fire" - The Roop
"Once In A Lifetime" - Ines
"Passe-Partout" - Barbara Tinoco
"Abensonhado" - Jimmy P
"Še Kar Lovim Tvoj Nasmeh" - Saška
Tom Hughes and Why I Love It!
"La Det Swinge" - Bobbysocks!
"Coming Home" - Sjonni's Friends
"One Last Time" - Rein Alexander
"Out Of Air" - Didrik & Emil Tolli-Sangen
"Vertigo" - Thomas Løseth ft. Erika Norwich
"Pink Jacket" - Alexandru
"Kjære Du" - SIE GUBBA
"Pray For Me" - Kristin Husøy
"White & Black Holes" - Barbora Mochowa
"Wanna Be Like" - Eliz Mraz ft Čis T
"At Least We've Tried" - Karelll
"Pushing Stars" - Jordan-Ravi
"Can We Make Heaven" - Diana Rouvas
"Life" - iOTA
"Proud" - Casey Donovan
"Let Me Be The One" - The Shadows
And I had to put Poland, Moldova, Finland and Ukraine on the back burner for next week! Show 77 is going to be as cram packed as this show was - there will definitely be more material from Norway as we reach SF4, the final heat of Lithuania's process will play out to set up the SF line-up and I will hopefully play the rest of the Czech line-up to let you decide who you are voting for - it was obvious who was going to be my choice:
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Australia's Mitch Tambo will definitely be on the show as I missed him off last week and there might be the odd Moldovan:
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Afraid it won't be you, Arsenium!