Also today, we will carefully follow the press conferences. New today is that, at the end of every press conference, the participant has to draw whether he or she will perform in the first or the second half of the final show.
14:37tBlas Cantó explains that he does not like to sing in the morning and is therefore happy that the Eurovision song contest takes place in the evening. Blas thinks being present at the Eurovision song contest is fantastic. He loves the people he has met. During the day he sleeps a lot, because he has to be ready to take the stage. He will also go to sleep after this press conference. Cantó indicates that he does not have too high expectations because he wants to be surprised. It is difficult for him to control the emotions in the song. Sometimes he feels he must be a machine, when he thinks about the words he sings he gets too emotional. About the 6 meter high moon on stage, the delegation leader says it is there because everything in the performance revolves around Blas. There is a conversation between Blas and someone he has lost. The moon symbolizes the course of life. When asked, Blas Cantó says he would have no idea what to do instead of sing; he has always sung, that is his life. Spain performs in the 1st half of the final.
14.10 British contestant James Newman sat in an ice bath in the hotel, as did Wim Hof in the clip of James’ last year. James’ brother John is a huge fan of his. He is afraid that James is the better singer. James will collaborate with Spanish participant Blas Cantó in the near future. Newman wants to party to his song. At the moment James is recording a new single, in his hotel room! An album will also be released at the end of the year. The United Kingdom will play in the 1st half of the final.
13.46 Barbara Pravi, the French singer, is feeling great. The little things that still needed to be changed were now going well. When asked by a Serbian journalist (Barbara has a Serbian grandfather), she answers that she wants to go to Serbia with her grandfather and wants to make the trip he used to make. Barbara Pravi, the No. 1 bookmaker, doesn’t feel like pressure. All she will have to do is sing and perform. For the rest, it is in the hands of the public. Barbara is proud because she is young, the words she sings are the words of a 28-year-old woman. The music may be geared more towards older listeners, but the song is aimed at everyone. She hopes that winning the Eurovision song contest will not change her. France performs in the second half of the final.
13.26 Jeangu Macrooy indicates that he was now a bit more used to the stage. Jeangu explains that the small change in clothes has to do with the proverb, “I’m half a cent, so you can’t break me.” He has a chain with a silver half penny around his neck. It’s nice to see our dreams come true. So it is very inspiring to be there with my brother. He wants to say about himself as a queer that he hopes that one day he can convey that there is such a thing as acceptance and emancipation of who you are. What you see is inspired by the Chinese culture, and that of the Creole culture. Jeangu reveals that all the voices on the band are also sung by his two backing vocals. Jeangu is looking forward to a performance with an audience. Performing with restrictions is no problem for him, because everyone is used to that now.
12:56 Today Jendrik is not very happy with himself. He thought he didn’t seem very natural today. He was too focused on camera exposure sites. Alexandra Wolfslast, delegation leader, was however satisfied. Jendrik reacted somewhat angrily when asked to play the ukulele because he was not prepared for it. Yet he sang a sweet tribute to presenter Samya. Jendrik had the idea of a clip and therefore got 18 broken washing machines. He didn’t buy them but managed to get them for free via ebay. Jendrik is not very careful with his ukulele, but it has never fallen. He does have a spare one. There is only one way of preparation for his energetic performance: practice, practice, practice. Germany performs in the second half of the final.
12.33 The Italian band Måneskin says that they are happy that the Dutch director exactly fulfills the wishes of the Italian team. The message of the song is “Be yourself, express yourself despite negative reactions”. The band wanted to go to San Remo with this song because it is atypical for the festival. At first they didn’t think of Eurovision, but once they entered they hoped they would win. Having many followers on social media will not help because they are mainly Italians. However, they feel very supported by the followers. The choice for the act is not to use graphics. The band is the message.
Italy performs in the 2nd half of the final.
