Every day between now and the grand final in May, the team from wiwibloggs will be rounding up the latest titbits from the world of Eurovision 2019. We’ve trawled through Instagram, Twitter and elsewhere so that y’all don’t have to. This is the Daily Digest for Wednesday 27 March.
Olá Telavive! Conan Osíris reacts to Roger Waters
From Lisbon to Tel Aviv via TAP Portugal honey! Conan Osíris landed in Israel to record his postcard for Eurovision. KAN didn’t miss the opportunity to interview the Portuguese star and touch on the news that made headlines last week: Roger Waters’ request for a boycott. Yikes! Tiago was visibly uncomfortable — “Well, it’s what you see… Everybody has their content, right?”. They also asked HoD Carla Bugalho if they got instructions in case the bomb sirens rang. It’s all about the music. (Bernardo)
Conan has also been practising the dance for his postcard with seven back-up dancers. In the news bulletin, we see arms and limbs flying everywhere as the group do a wild set of moves that almost seem animalistic in nature. We don’t really know what’s going on, but we sure are intrigued to see the final product in May. (Jonathan)
Mahmood and Italian Deputy PM make peace
Love love, peace, peace ya’ll. Mahmood and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini have made peace on the Maurizio Costanzo Show. Drama arose following Mahmood’s Sanremo victory. Salvini sent out some tweets where he called “Soldi” a “meh” song and claimed that 90% of Italian viewers are “perplexed”. One of his fellow ministers later added that “it shows the distance between the elite and the audience”. But the two men now seem to be on better terms. The episode will air tomorrow on Italy’s Channel 5. (Jacintha)
Giovedì 28 marzo, in seconda serata su Canale 5, torna il #mauriziocostanzoshow. Sul palco: @matteosalvinimi, @Mahmood_Music, #MaraVenier, @GiulioMogol, #FrancescoMonte e @GiuliaSalemi93 pic.twitter.com/YqOZaNriWy
— Musica e Tv 2.0 (@MusicTvOfficial) March 26, 2019
Stream the truth
Another day, another Eurovision 2019 track arrives on streaming platforms. The latest addition is Azerbaijan’s Chingiz Mustafayev. His entry “Truth” was released across streaming platforms yesterday. You can stream all of the songs on wiwibloggs’ dedicated playlist on Spotify. (Angus)
Chingiz works on his vocals
Chingiz has also shared a couple of videos to his Instagram story, showing him working on the vocals for his Eurovision entry “Truth”. The Azerbaijani singer is working with famed vocal coach — and two-time Cypriot Eurovision star — Alex Panayi. It’s the first taste of Chingiz’ live vocals — and it sounds like he’ll have no trouble delivering in Tel Aviv. Alex Panayi has also been working with the Russian team, so both Chingiz and Sergey Lazarev will benefit from the maestro’s talent. (Robyn)
#chingiz #truth #chingizmustafayev #azerbaijan #aze pic.twitter.com/uJesOwLqzJ
— DewA (@Dew_A__) March 26, 2019
Waffle shop owner tries falafel for the first time
Michael Rice’s trip to Tel Aviv has turned into one of many new experiences. The team at KAN gave the British singer his first taste of falafel (a deep-fried ball made from ground chickpeas or fava beans). “I like it, I think”, he notes before comparing it to the stuffing he has back in the UK. A score out of ten? Michael initially gives it a seven, though that later rises to an eight. Watch to the end of the video to see how he handles the hot sauce (spoiler: it gets a zero!). If you’d like another mukbang from Michael, he’s also tried his first ever baklava while visiting a local market. Check the video out on Twitter here. (Jonathan)
Fish and chips – OUT! ?
Falafel – IN! ?What did @MichaelRiceOff think about his first ever Falafel? And how did he handle the hot sauce? Watch now ???#KANpostcards #Eurovision @bbceurovision pic.twitter.com/o0sufLisPD
— KAN Eurovision Israel (@kaneurovision) March 26, 2019
KEiiNO head to the desert
Their song for Eurovision 2019 channels the icy realness of life beneath the Northern Lights, but KEiiNO are turning up the heat for their postcard. The trio were joined by the Misgav Dance Group in the Israeli desert. They tell fans that they got a little sun burnt, but “it was totally worth it”. (Padraig)
John Lundvik returns to the studio
After the exhausting Melodifestivalen circuit, John Lundvik is off to Malmö to write and record new music. But despite the intensity, “the longing and joy” is growing as he gets closer to Tel Aviv. (Jacintha)
Michela touches down in Tel Aviv
Malta’s Michela may have recently cancelled a couple of pre-party appearances, but she is still busy with preparations for Eurovision. The “Chameleon” singer is in Tel Aviv to shoot her Eurovision postcard. She shared the moment with fans, including a pic showing Michela gazing at a golden Tel Aviv sunset. (Robyn)
Oto Nemsadze reveals his musical theatre side
While Georgia’s Oto Nemsadze will sing the serious rock ballad “Keep on Going” at Eurovision, he showed a different side on Ranini, the show that doubles as Georgia’s artist selection for Junior Eurovision 2019. Oto joined 13-year-old contestant Nika Petriashvili, duetting on the jaunty “Reviewing the Situation”, from the classic musical Oliver! Oto and Nika were an entertaining pair, and if there was ever to be a Georgian production of Oliver!, they need look no further for casting Fagin and the Artful Dodger. (Robyn)
Joci Pápai launches a photography contest
Broadcaster MTVA has launched an open call for pictures featuring Hungarian fathers. This ties in with Joci’s lyrics, which describe his deep and personal relationship with his father. The team wants to showcase this as part of his Eurovision stage show in May. It is advised to have only the dads appearing in these pictures that need to be submitted to [email protected] before midnight 31 March. Find all the details here. (Barnabas)
Miki gives a laid back performance of “La venda”
Spain’s entry “La venda” is a frenzy of beats and dancing. However, on Tuesday, Miki gave a more laid back performance than what we’re used to. He performed with all the dancers in Fama A Bailar — think a dancing version of Operación Triunfo. On Twitter, Miki said he didn’t even give 0.5% of the energy he will have in Tel Aviv. Still, his vocals were pretty on point: the vocal lessons are paying off! (Luis)
? Aquí tenéis la actuación completa de Miki en Fama. Nunca faltan las ganas de bailar cada vez que escuchamos esta canción. Ha sido increíble, y seguro que no es ni un 1% de lo que hará en Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/6vqz9n8lzy
— Miki Núñez España (@MikiNunezES) March 26, 2019
Tamta has a posse
The Cypriot team has revealed that Tamta won’t be alone on stage. She’ll be joined by four male dancers: Lamin, Kenny, Niklas and Benjamin. Keen-eyed viewers may recognise Lamin (second from left) as being part of Robin Bengtsson’s treadmill-hopping menswear quartet from Kyiv. The lads plus Tamta make five, which suggests there may also be a sixth performer, possibly an off-stage backing singer. (Robyn)
Pleased to welcome Lamin, Kenny, Niklas and Benjamin to #TeamReplay. These fantastic four dancers are Tamta 's boys on stage #TeamCy
Posted by CYBC: Eurovision Cyprus on Tuesday, March 26, 2019
One month ’til coronation
He gave us two new songs on Friday, and we won’t have to wait long for more. Writing on Twitter, Bilal Hassani confirmed that his debut album Kingdom will drop in one month’s time — Friday 26 April. His excitement was palpable:
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
MON PREMIER ALBUM SORT DANS 1 MOIS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
— Bilal Hassani (@iambilalhassani) March 26, 2019
Has Slovenia’s Gasper misplaced his shirt?
Slovenia is teaching us a lesson one Insta post at a time: Find a man who looks at you like Gasper looks at Zala. Their on-stage love-in at EMA is very much alive in real life. The pair are currently sunning in Lisbon, where they’ve flaunted their romance in a series of photos where Gasper goes shirtless. Apparently aware of his charms, he was recently seen in an Insta Story shirtless in bed and seductively eating a McFlurry (I know that spoon). We hope it was yummy. (William)
Additional contributions from Jacintha, Robyn, Angus, William, Luis and Jonanthan.
Are you excited for Tamta’s stage show? Will you pre-order Bilal’s LP? Let us know in the comments.
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Wow Oto the voice I like that way and so disapointed of Miki , hope the live will be better , let’s hope.
And now there are more than 40 portuguese artists hasking for Conan Osiris to give up from from Eurovision 2019 as a way to be against Israel… but Conan don’t even care!
Last night he gives a huge concert and he was a King! Here is an article with videos from the show:
https://observador.pt/2019/03/30/conan-osiris-levou-telemoveis-ao-musicbox-e-ainda-pos-fas-em-cima-do-palco/
Apart being super creative, Conan seems to be a super nice guy…can´t wait to see him perform in TLV!
Halva is not available in many countries. So don’t be such a snob. Do you know every cuisine in the world?…
Radio edit?
Michael is definitely the personality of ESC 2019. I really want him to do well as the song is good and deserves a top 10 finish. I just wish the bookies agreed with me.
Was it necessary to asked Conan about Roger? He was uncomfortable. The journalist just wants to make a hype and I can only imagine what will happen when Hatari arrives.
Of course it was necessary! When you have an antisemitic buffoon like Roger Waters asking all the Eurovision contestants to boycott the contest this year, it is a very legitimate question to ask them how they feel about it! Nothing wrong with that, and they all answer brilliantly well. I’m sure Hatari won’t mind this question as well.
Kan playing a Jamala stunt, not right in my opinion. Conan didn’t boicott or even said anything about Israel so it’s basically gossiping.
What are you on about??? Did you even read the article? Nobody blamed Conan for anything!!! They just asked him a very legitimate question because Roger Waters did try to contact him and ask him to boycott the contest, it’s not a gossip, it’s true! All they wanted to know is how he felt about it, that’s all.
Rogers waters played in tel aviv last year…hypocrite much?
So Salvini suddenly stop being homophobe and racist ? what a pagliaccio!
Let’s see what’s going to happen lol
Chingiz sounds really good. I’m very surprised. I don’t get why they used so much autotune in the studio version(??).
Spain, please return to the original version…
Have you heard the original studio version?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !
Lol, Chingiz probably released this video as a response to those thinking the song is over autotuned. Good job btw. With a very good staging (which is apparently promised by the Azerbaijani team), Baku 2020 is possible.
Lamin Holmén is back! This is by far the most exciting piece of news for me as someone who watches the choreography as much as anything in Eurovision. He was by far the stand-out dancer in 2017 and I can’t wait to see what he and Sacha Jean-Baptiste bring to it this time.
Chingiz : I suspect his song might or might not work, depending on how they would fill the stage. Chingiz’s vocals, although undoubtedly amazing, wasn’t capable of filling the chorus.
And also a heel work to music. I discovered couple years ago at Cruft and it’s beautiful
It’s actually quite suspicious to see Miki so energy self-controlled… I wonder what they in mind for the final. Miki said it will be very colourful and energetic…
Each and every year Spain commits suicide doing revamp. I guess “revamp” is the Spanish word for “suicide”
i love the spanish revamp!!! before it was my dead last – now it’s my winner! madrid 2020
Said the guy full of hate
Jeez, the Spanish song is so bland right now. It sounds like a song for children.
From a town fair song to a song for children? Talk about improvement…
It sounds like a typical FIFA World Cup anthem now…
Conan speaks better English than he speaks Portuguese! Haha!
Funny, but not true. Conan speaks Portuguese urban slang and masters it beautifully… His English, in turn is ok, but not great.
OMG the spanish revamp literally killed that song even in live.
Look, the same happens to Amaia and Alfred last year.
See: https://youtu.be/khEiq5buvb8
Joci Papai is singing about father too? Is the second year in a row when Hungary sends a song about father, after AWS, and with these pictures Joci takes inspiration from Michael Schulte. But the pictures must be only with fathers, or the children can be in picture too?
Michael Rice has the most infectious smile, and his song is very British. I don’t know why people expect something else from UK. This genre is the most successful in UK.
Can we not talk about Eurovision and politics again? It’s stressful. Loving Joci’s initiative, by the way! <3
That Italian PM is a piece of ..work!
One classy dude!
I understand you are being ironic, here. And if so, for the first time you saying something sensible and non-discriminatory. If not, you are even worst than I thought…
Nice. I like these peeks that show the culture sharing and friendships that happen with Eurovision. These little details are what it’s all about.
Go Oto, being also busy at georgia’s junior eurovision national final 🙂
One month to wait for Bilal’s album? Mddrrrrr 😀 😀 Excited!
I hope Mahmood washed his hand after that handshake. He is half egyptian, gay and sings Morocco pop, basically everything Salveenee is against.
But oh, he ‘made peace’ with him.
Lol sure. Coward and hypocrite.
Mind that what he’s doing is political. He’s making a u turn, as always, again and again…
Salvini is still a pos…. i dont believe he is sincere, he did it to prop himself, he knows how Mahmood is adored by most Italians so he made a move…ugh! Alessandro is too kind …
it’s called being polite and being the bigger person
Melody, you clearly have no idea who he is. That’s it. He’s like the least polite individual in the world.
No offense to Zala and Gasper but it was quite weird to watch the hand-holding they were doing back during EMA. PDA’ing is fine I guess as long as they are genuinely in love.
salvini is a complete eejit. only 14.5% of italians voted for him, yet he complained when 14.5% of italians voted for mahmood.
“Complete eejit” is such an Irish expression:D thank you
i toured ireland last summer so my cultural appropriation is justified
I discovered something new, thanks darling 🙂