Raiven – whose real name is Sara Briški Cirman – has arrived in Malmö and is ready to soar. And on Thursday, she sat down with us after her second rehearsal to share more details about the staging that she and her team have put together for her “Veronika” performance.
Raiven shares the story behind her dramatic “Veronika” staging
As William reminds us, it takes a whole team of people to put together a performance like this. From costumes and choreography to makeup and more, Raiven and her team have made sure that every aspect of the show helps to tell the story of Veronika of Desenice, which is tragic, dark, and full of drama.
Raiven herself is fully committed to bringing this legendary character to life. “I feel really connected to Veronika. It might be cliché, but I feel like I kind of step into her body when I step on stage.” Raiven explained that “we wanted to have this wet effect” with her costume, which is a “black-silver see-through mesh” bodysuit.
Raiven’s backup dancers play an important part in telling Veronika’s story too. “They are my children…they’re like my little creatures that I brought from the underworld when Veronika rose up from the ground.”
There have been some challenges during rehearsals to get everything just right. Besides the makeup, which Raiven’s makeup artist switched from a lighter to a “grungier” look by the time of the second rehearsal, the fog has been the biggest issue. “It’s very hard to control the fog and to breathe in it…my dancers are basically suffocating in the fog.” But now that they have had multiple chances to work out these issues, she feels “very calm and confident, I think we all know what we’re doing.”
And how is Raiven feeling with the semi-finals about to kick off? While other artists might be feeling pre-performance jitters, she has felt weirdly calm. “I feel like it’s the right time and place for me to be here. When I stepped on stage, it felt like a relief. I couldn’t wait to start singing.”
What do you think of Raiven’s stage show? Can you feel the spirit of Veronika coming back to life? Let us know in the comments.
This is my runner-up for the year.
Amazing song, magical delivery… sucha class act. Witchcraft…paganism never looked and sounded better.
Will be rooting for you, Raiven.
I´ll vote for her at Tuesday from Germany.
Good luck, Raiven !
we appreciate your good taste in music
Slovenia must qualify <3 The subject-matter of the song is worthy of a dissertation. Intellectual and p s yc h olog y concepts galore. A voice that needs no backing tracks. Amazing <3