In May, Daði Freyr and his group Gagnamagnið will represent Iceland at Eurovision 2021. But he wants his fans to be part of the performance as well. Daði is looking for fans to record vocals that will be used to create an a capella choir as part of his Eurovision 2021 song.
Daði opened the call for his choir through posts on social media. He told fans, “I’m almost finished with the song but I need your help. I want there to be like a huge a capella choir part in the song but I don’t have access to a choir right now. So I need you to be in the choir.”
I need your voice!
I'm putting together a choir for the @Eurovision 2021 song.
Here are the voices I will need:https://t.co/3kPNXWH8M8
Please send your audio files to [email protected]
Deadline is January 11th
Thank you <3 pic.twitter.com/gvcNWE7xFz— Daði Freyr ? (@dadimakesmusic) January 4, 2021
The “Think About Things” hitmaker linked to a Google Drive folder with seven audio files demonstrating the different vocal parts needed. The parts come together to create an 18-second piece based around the line “Finds a new way to grow”.
Some of the parts just include tuneful “ooohs” while other parts include the lyric. The parts cover a variety of vocal ranges, meaning you don’t need to be able to sing as low as Daði to be part of the choir.
The use of an a capella choir section and the uplifting lyric suggests that Daði’s new song for Eurovision 2021 may be taking a different direction to his 2020 funk-pop entry “Think About Things”.
Taking full advantage of the new rules
Daði is able to incorporate a pre-recorded fan choir into his Eurovision performance due to a change to the rules for the 2021 song contest.
In June, the EBU confirmed that for 2021 it would trial allowing acts to Eurovision use pre-recorded backing vocals as part of their performance.
This means delegations are able to reduce the number of artists who need to travel to Rotterdam for the performance — a helpful option in the age of the pandemic.
But the new rule also opens up more creative options for artists. As many modern pop songs now use vocal sampling, the rule change means that acts can keep up with the latest artistic innovations. Norway’s Eurovision 2017 entry JOWST was given special permission to use a vocal sampling during his performance of “Grab The Moment” in Kyiv.
The EBU also confirmed that there’s no limit to the number of singers that can be used on a prerecorded backing track. But while Daði Freyr could use the sound of a choir of thousands as part of his performance, on stage there is still the strict limit of six performers.
Daði’s plans for his fan choir suggest he’s taking inspiration from the new rule change and will be doing more than just having a standard backing track.
Daði Freyr feels the love on new single
While Daði is hard at work on his Eurovision 2021 song, he’s also released a new single. “Feel The Love” is a collaboration between Daði Freyr and fellow Icelandic singer ÁSDÍS. She may be familiar to fans of Söngvakeppnin — as Ásdís María Viðarsdóttir, she made it to the Icelandic grand final in 2014 with “Amor”.
New release “Feel The Love” is a fun piece of synth-pop with an uplifting message. ÁSDÍS addresses those who are “Left on read / But no-one’s reading you”. Like a supportive fairy godmother, she sings “Tell me why you ain’t shining / When you’re covered in diamonds”.
The music video features Daði as ÁSDÍS in a quirky control room, watching over a forlorn janitor who slowly gets his groove back.
It’s an enjoyable single that shows off the further talents of Daði Freyr.
What do you think? Will you submit a recording for Daði’s choir? Should more Eurovision artists get creative with pre-recorded backing vocals? Tell us your thoughts below!
I think its fun getting fans involved in the song
I have a strong feeling that Switzerland will win. Favorites of 2020 (Lithuania, Iceland, Israel) are making mistakes in 2021 nf.
I’ve probably become biased towards Italy in the last few years, but the Sanremo 2021 lineup really looks promising. It’s far too early to make any predictions, but don’t count them out. I agree with you regarding Switzerland, if they find a song as good or even better as his 2020 entry, we have a strong contender for the win.
I agree. For me Italy is the ultimate superpower, but jury just don’t want them to win. This is why I said Switzerland.
Every year there is a new jury and i’m pretty certain they don’t explicitly hate italy. They can do well with the juries like in 2011.
switzerland created high expectations once again and it’s prob the entry i’m most excited for. i trust the broadcaster personally and as it seems, the entry will be equally great as 2020.
since when was israel a favorite tho??
Eden had only positive comments. Maybe I exaggerated. A positive wave is for Bulgaria too. Hope for underdogs to overcome like in 2017.
See, this is a cool way to take advantage of the new rules
I dont like the idea tbh. I hate the backing vocal recording rule and this to me makes a mockery of the general rules of the contest
This is a really nice idea, but I still hate the new backing vocals rule.