There was much interested in the rehearsal of Iceland this afternoon at the Palats Sportu, with Selma singing If I had your love. This was the best attended rehearsal so far, although this may be down to the fact that each day more and more journalists and fans are arriving in Kyiv. It also received the loudest applause to date in the hall. Selma is accompanied by four female backing dancers, and there is also one female vocalist who is tucked away at the back on the left of the stage, so you will need to watch carefully to spot her!
Selma is dressed in tight red leggings and matching top, trimmed with gold, her backing dancers are similarly attired, but in either white and gold or brown and gold. although this won't be the costumes on the night, that is going to be a surprise. While the backing vocalist is in dark colours. It is a highly energetic performance, with several overhead camera shots, as the dancers lie on the floor surrounding Selma.
It could also be clearly seen that there is very good team work between Selma and her dancers, as between each take, they were singing together and motivating each other on.
Press conference
It seems that at each subsequent press conference, there is more and more singing, and less answering of questions, and this was no exception, as Selma wowed the audience with several Eurovision songs. As she admits to being a fan of the contest, she sung the entry of Croatia from 1998 Neka mi ne svane, with guitar accompaniment, much to the delight of the audience – and apologised if her pronounciations were wrong, in her own words she “could be singing bullshit!” There were no complaints. She also sung her own entry from 1999 All out of luck, but with the chorus in German, which she had been rehearsing all morning. In addition to these songs she had started the proceedings with an Icelandic folk lore song.
Much of the questions and answers were based around her second place in the 1999 contest. When she was asked for example what had been the wisest move in her career so far, it was participating in the 1999 contest, as it opened so many doors for her, as a pop singer, whereas before she had been known mainly as a musical singer and artist. Her feelings about coming second? “I had to be the calmest person out of the Icelandic delegation, it was unrealistic, and it wasn't until afterwards I realised I had almost won…but that wasn't until later. I was very happy with second place”
Selma obviously loves the big events, apart from this her second contest, she is due to appear in Oslo for Gay pride, with some 10,000 people expected there. Paul Oscar who sung for Iceland in 1997 is also due to attend the event.
Her producer was asked what Selma was like to work with? She is his favourite singer, he replied, and works very hard in the studio, but she knows what she is doing. Selma jokingly added “I'm a kind person!”
The final question came from the moderator, no doubt inspired by the ending of the 1999 contest in Jerusalem. If there was one Eurovision song that she could chose for all 39 artists to perform, which would it be. After some thought she answered All kinds of everything.
The conference concluded with the photo session for the journalists and fans. Iceland will next take to the stage at the semi final dress rehearsal on 18th May from 15.00 local time.
