Every weekday, between now and the contest in May, the team from wiwibloggs will round up the latest titbits from the world of Eurovision 2021. We trawl through Instagram, Twitter and elsewhere so that y’all don’t have to. In today’s Daily Digest Daði og Gagnamagnið go silver in the UK, Montaigne shows us reality versus Instagram and Jendrik talks body positivity. But first…
Eurovision news: 27 April
Go_A mark 35th anniversary of Chornobyl disaster with visit to region
26 April was the 35th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster and Go_A paid a visit to the region. The band toured the sites of the exclusion zone, with visits to the Duga radar tower and the haunting ruins of the abandoned town of Pripyat. They also met with a local folk music group and sang traditional songs of the region — similar to the folk tunes that inspired “SHUM”. (Robyn)
Barbara shares cello version of “Voilà”
France’s Barbara Pravi has supplied us with plenty of live performances throughout the preview season. The latest came on Saturday at the Spanish pre-party. The chanteuse treated fans to a new spin on “Voilà”. This version comes with piano and double cello. She writes: “We had a lot of fun doing this version, as a family, in this studio that I love and where I have the chance to record all my records. Welcome home”.
View this post on Instagram
Jendrik talks body positivity with America’s Got Talent star
All week, Jendrik is taking the opportunity to tackle some of the issues raised in his music video for “I Don’t Feel Hate”. He started off with body positivity on Monday. He discussed the topic with Amanda Lacount, a hip hop dancer who rose to fame on America’s Got Talent. You can watch the first part of their chat here, and part two on Jendrik’s Instagram TV.
View this post on Instagram
Uku Suviste arises from his slumber
Fans have noted that Estonia’s Uku Suviste has been noticeably quiet since winning Eesti Laul back in March. However, for the first time since International Women’s Day on 8 March, Uku has given fans some new content. It comes in the form of a semi-acoustic performance of “The Lucky One”, recorded for the Spanish preparty.
Gjon’s Tears breaks his social media silence
Given all the buzz surrounding his Eurovision entry, you’d be forgiven for not noticing that Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears had gone rather silent on social media in recent weeks. However, with the contest fast approaching, he’s taken the time to share a message with fans. “I am not posting a lot of things those times but I hope you are safe and healthy !”, he starts. “Today I just wanted to say one thing: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN BELIEVE IN YOU MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE”. Along with his recent performance in Spain, he goes on to share some motivational words with his followers. You can read them below.
View this post on Instagram
Montaigne shows us the reality behind an Instagram shoot
Montaigne is currently working with bras N things. And last week she shared a gorgeous shot for the lingerie brand’s Mother’s Day campaign. However, this week she decided to let fans in on the reality behind the picture-perfect Instagram post. The reel captures her “being a freak for 15 seconds”. Victoria’s Secret have nothing on Montaigne and her skateboard!
View this post on Instagram
Anxhela Peristeri for the Wiwi Jam at Home
With her big voice and enchanting song, she’s earning only good “Karma” in 2021. And now Albania’s Anxhela Peristeri is set to bring those positive vibes to the Wiwi Jam at Home concert! On May 19 the FiK and Kenga Magjike winner will delight our YouTube audience, showing us precisely why she’s a national treasure in Albania.
View this post on Instagram
The Roop perform new version of “Discoteque”
Lithuania’s The Roop took fans into the studio for a new version of “Discoteque”. The trio give the song a new flavour by adding guitars, as well as some additional vocal freestyling from Vaidotas.
Daði goes silver in the UK
They’ve yet to set foot on the Eurovision stage, but Iceland’s Daði og Gagnamagnið are already celebrating chart success in the United Kingdom, albeit for their 2020 effort “Think About Things”. The track has just been certified silver by the Official Chart Company. The honour is awarded to songs which have shifted 200,000 or equivalent units. As you’ll recall, “Think About Things” went viral last year, with celebrities such as Russel Crowe jumping aboard the hype train. It also featured on both Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing On Ice. Could “10 Years” achieve similar highs this year?
View this post on Instagram
Additional contributions from Robyn
What do you think of The Roop’s studio performance? Did you contribute towards Dadi’s silver certification? Let us know in the comments.
Barbara’s versions of Voila are all stunning. She deserves the best!!
Great news about Dadi’s Silver cert. in UK (big feat considering we don’t see any Eurovision songs getting attention here, last one was Euphoria and recently Arcade thanks to TikTok). However, this certification was publicly released in January.
Could you guys at Wiwi make a post about Duncan’s Silver certification for Arcade? It’s on the BPI website.
The versions from Uku and Barbara Pravi are absolutely beautiful !
Gjon discovering that life is not easy and that you need to work to be good at something … so inspirational… Next week he will share that when you are outside when it rains your hair gets wet except if you have an umbrella with you….
Iceland has not been doing well in the OGAE poll. However in the Eurojury , it’s currently on 2nd place.
It was about time Daði became known globally. Amazing!
Also, why do I feel like every version of Voilà is better than the previous one? They are all the same song yet so unique!
The Roop’s studio version was so fresh and entertaining to watch! Love these guys so much
They are fantastic!
So amazing, all the versions sounds so good