Final rehearsals are still taking place this evening at The Forum in Copenhagen for tonight's anniversary show Congratulations, and it is to be hoped that all will be all right on the night. There were a few problems this afternoon, mainly it seems delays in the dancers changing outfits between the songs, and not being ready in time.
The opening sequence has already been reported on in some detail yesterday on esctoday.com. Today is was noticed that the British flag which had been very prominent when Katrina made her entrance on stage, was no where to be seen today. Will it appear tonight?
The 14 songs
The fourteen competing songs take up the bulk of the evenings entertainment, with each been accompanied by dancers, dressed to compliment the song. The songs will cut from the original video, to the dancers on stage, and in several songs the original singers will appear on stage to end the song.
The dancers for example have white guitars for Ein bisschen frieden, business suits for Save youir kisses for me, and the girls wear pink mini dresses for Congratulations. It is these costume changes that contributed to the delays in the rehearsals this afternoon. Among the original singers who will appear on stage to perform the part of their songs are Dana International, three members of Mocedades, Olsen Brothers, Sertab Erener, Johnny Logan, Brotherhood of Man and Helena Paprizou. The latter performs most of her song on stage, with the video as well in the background.
There has been some slick editing, as most songs last around two minutes, with usually the second verse removed. The orchestra which will also accompany the songs, help to cover the bridge and make the edits smooth.
Guest presenters
A number of guest presenters introduce the songs, Carola Haggvist, Massiel, Dana International, Anne-Marie David, Sandra Kim, Bobbysocks, Emilia from riva, Marie Myriam, Sertab Erener, Cheryl from Bucks Fizz and Lys Assia.
There are a number of video sequences of extracts from some of the memorable songs, usually with a theme attached to them, and usually with a lot of humour. The odd and eccentric songs, the cute and sexy guys…some are, and many aren't! The bizarre dance routines, and girl power. A recurring clip is that of Nicole and Hugo with Baby baby!
Interval acts
Interval entertainment is provided by Mieskuoro Huutajat – Men's Choir Shouters, from Finland, the country which has went the longest in the contest's history without victory. Riverdance of course is there, and Ronan Keating.
Medley
A medley of past songs is performed by Dana International, Carola Haggvist, Marie Myriam, Richard Herry and Fabrizio Faniello, not always with their own entries!
So, an exciting evening ahead of us, and just who will be judged the best song of the first 50 years?
