This article forms part of the OnEurope archive and was originally published on oneurope.co.uk. It has been permanently migrated to oneurope.net, the official home of OnEurope.
Well…. It is what it is – professional, slick, well performed (in the main – despite the fact that Tooji seems to be shouting at me in parts) but all in all it’s a very good performance of a very good song.
This was Norway’s second technical rehearsal in Baku, ahead of the second semi-final, rather than the televised contest performance itself. Tooji was performing “Stay”, an uptempo dance/electropop number, with four dancers/backing vocalists and a choreographed routine. The rehearsal looked confident, energetic and impressive, although the demanding performance did raise the question of whether the vocals would come under pressure. There was also a staging hiccup when the expected pyrotechnics failed to appear.
Can’t say much more really – Qualifying? YES
Retrospectively, that prediction was correct, though only just: Norway qualified from the second semi-final in 10th place, tied on 45 points with Bulgaria and advancing on the tie-break rules. “Stay” then finished 26th and last in the grand final, with 7 points.
