Russia
Well well well… Many songs are a disappointment when they transfer to the Eurovision stage but I was pleasantly surprised by this watching in the arena. The twins are joined together by their hair and clutching a pair of plastic batons astride the giant seesaw. A few ups and downs on the seesaw for dramatic effect before a bit of dramatic pouting and strutting in front of it before a giant fanny is unfurled by backing singer Rui to form the golden sun they’re singing about. I rather like this though many are saying it’s too much. It’d be nice if the plastic batons lit up like light sabres… Or maybe that would be overcooking it just a tad…. This is qualifying and I like it more than I did at the video stage.
Azerbaijan
Ooh it’s my favourite song this year from the lovely Dilara. Oh I wanted this to be amazing on stage and it almost is but not quite. I like the church window backdrop and the fire in the sky you see at the end through them. Clever. A fire theme would have been just too obvious. I’m less keen on the skyline images though they work though the overall staging is a little on the dark side. The trapeze artist is a nice addition but is featured a little too heavily and perhaps distracting. Dilara is sounding great and looking stunning in a two tone red number. Slightly quirky diction in parts but it doesn’t spoil it for me. This song is simply stunning and I would hope another top five for the land of fire come next Saturday.
