In their song “The Colour of Hope”, Bulgaria’s Gabriela Yordanova & Ivan Stoyanov say they want “to mix in all of the colors and then paint the dusty towns.” They lived up to their word during their first rehearsal bringing a splash of colour — and a massive LED rainbow.
The song opens with Gabriella standing halfway down a runway while a cascade of lights fall down her LED. The screen moves from red to green to blue, all beneath said rainbow. As Gabriella belts it out, a series of rhythmic gymnasts work the ribbons and their rubber balls, bending and snapping with ease. We’re talking London 2012 flexibility gold medal realness. Things really come alive when Ivan emerges from out of nowhere. Gabriela seems even more comfortable on stage when he’s there and they bring it home with some epic harmonies that, despite needing a little work, hint at potential magic.
At times the stage seems a little crowded and very busy — stars falling, ribbons twirling, ballerinas extending legs above head. It all makes it a little difficult to concentrate on Gabriela’s voice. Hopefully the delegation will strip things back and, failing that, producers can tweak their camera angles to bring Gabriela into sharper focus.
Junior Eurovision 2015: Bulgaria’s first rehearsal
Read all of our rehearsal reviews here
Read our JESC 2015 song reviews here
Follow all of our Junior Eurovision coverage here
Photo: EBU (Credit: Elena Volotova/Vladimir Dudakliev)
I watched the official video and loved it. I did not get the same impression from the wiwi’s video and I think that the camera angles and work make all the difference in the staging. Vocally, this was one of the best today, if not the best. Good job, Bulgaria!
I really like the staging. It makes the song seem more modern, and more optimistic. Very well done!
Gabriela’s voice doesn’t sound good in this video. I hope she will do better on Saturday because I’ve started to really like this song.