Y’all thought the drama would begin and end in Germany? Not quite. A scandal has erupted in Iceland, with the news that María Ólafsdóttir‘s dancers who performed in the national final performance of “Unbroken” will no longer be required in Vienna. There’s now a lot of heat in Iceland.
Initially the StopWaitGo production team (the people behind “Unbroken”) said they were all one big happy family and would stick together from Reykjavík to Vienna, no matter what. But now the guys have decided to trim the family tree and leave María’s two dancers at home – devastating news for the dynamic dance duo.
StopWaitGo broke the news to the dancers at a private meeting last Thursday. According to Þórey Birgisdóttir (the blonde dancer), that decision felt like a splash of cold water, since the original plan had always been for the group to stick together and the girls would accompany María on the stage in Vienna. Þórey told Icelandic website dv.is that not only had the pair been cut out, no apparent reason was given other than the team had “rethought” the act.
Because of the planned trip to Vienna, both the dancers had turned down several other gigs and projects, and are now somewhat unemployed. To top that, their families have also been caught out after buying tickets to the show and paying for flights and accommodation in Vienna – money probably won’t be refunded.
After the victory in February, many thought that the dancers were a little too hungry for attention and thus stealing María’s thunder. This was a criticism that the dancers themselves took notice of, and have for the past month been changing the dance routine and rehearsing new moves, that would set the focus more on María herself. It turns out that they went through all that trouble for nothing.
In brief statement, that StopWaitGo made at RÚV- headquarters earlier tonight, the team said they’ll take full responsibility for the situation. After consulting with numerous professionals and experts on the matter that is Eurovision, they decided to cut the dancers from the act. Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, one of the StopWaitGo team, stated that they are truly and deeply sorry for all the pain and the disappointment their decision caused, and want to try their absolute very best to make up for it in any way possible, but when it comes down to business, the act, the staging and the singing should always be the main focus. “It doesn’t matter if its Super Bowl or Eurovision. It is extremely difficult to perform live, and we want to do everything we can, to enhance María’s performance,” said Pálmi Ragnar.
Are these dancers right to be annoyed? Or did StopWaitGo make the right decision by losing the dancers?
This may be a good news to Iceland’s performance in ESC, but I don’t think that they’ll ever stay together again. It’s too heart-broken for those dancers.
By the way I still think that Maria has to improve something, maybe her voice cuz it’s not strong enough in my opinion even if the performance was stunning (and she’s so adorable) in the selection of Iceland. In case of moving out the dancers, I do hope their team can focus on the main part – music itself.
Whatever, gogo Iceland!!!
Didn’t exactly the same time happened in 2008 with Euroband? They had dancers in the national final after which they decided not use them in Belgrade.
Weren’t actually paying too much attention to the dancers, cuz Maria’s so beautiful.
Whuuuut i really liked the dancers, i thought they made the performance amazing, though maybe Maria should’ve been involved somehow.
That sucks for them, hopefully the production team will refound at least some of their money, but it is the right decision, you need bigger and better staging at ESC to stand out.
aww thats pretty sad for them. i already saw a comment on youtube of one of the dancers relatives who was so happy and proud of her going to vienna…
This is why Eurovision Rocks!! We watch the country finals and learn the songs, watch their videos and listen to the music. Then the big show happens in May and we don’t recognize the act because each country has pulled out all of the stops and turn each song into an incredible stand alone show. I know if nowhere else where this happens. It just makes the whole journey so incredible. I’m truly sorry for the dancers and hope they be made whole and get some very nice gigs. But this isn’t about them. It’s about Iceland and if they… Read more »
I just wonder how many times that video is going to be posted, reposted, reused, inserted into compilations and news stories, and otherwise sent through the allegedly capable hands of alleged audio-video professionals, before SOMEONE notices that the audio is out of phase.
Regardless of the fallout, that was the wrong decision.
Oh what a waste…That is really unfortunate 4 them indeed..
I hope that they will offer them money to repair the damage that they have suffered..
These poor girls are *(un)broken* hearted now and who is gonna pay 4 this…??