At 16:45 local time, it was the turn of Monaco to have their first rehearsal on stage in Athens. Despite a strong choreography, the rehearsal was not without its difficulties.
Séverine starts La coco-danse atop the shoulders of two male dancers, who lower the petite singer to the floor to begin her song. Three female dancers / backing singers join the group to perform a cheeky and well-choreographed routine, which ends with Séverine lifted back into the air at the final bar.
Strong routine, weak vocals
Despite theslick routine, however, it would appear that the Monégasque delegation have some hard work to do to get the vocal performance in good shape for the night of the semifinal. Throughout what seemed like quite a difficult rehearsal, the vocals sounded slightly flat against the backing track, particularly in the chorus.The routine seemed to exhaust several of the performers involved, although it was Séverine's lead vocal that appeared to be quite weak at today's rehearsal.
At several points, mic boxes flew off the girating dancers, causing loud pop noises over the sound system, and causing further disturbance as they were fixed back on. Hopefully these problems, plus the vocal difficulties will be sorted in time for the live performance.
- Check out the photo gallery of the rehearsal here!
- … and check out the press conference photos as well!
Special guest – Séverine No. 1!
A point was made at the press conference about Séverine sharing the name of Monaco's only winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, who won in 1971 with Un banc, un arbre, une rue. This was the perfect opportunity for the delegation to announce that the 1971 Séverine herself will be joining the Monegasque team on 16th May. Could it be a good omen for the country, perhaps? Monaco's 2006 Séverine confessed to being a great fan of the same-named singer, and shared with everyone the fact that herown nameis due to her parents' love of the original singer.
On the selection of this year's entry for Monaco, Séverine mentioned that despite the 2005 entry's great merits, it was not the kind of song that would suit her. This choice for 2006, La coco-danse, is about sun, sea, sand… Perfect for her, given her sunshine island background.
Séverine's karaoke favourites
On the subject of singing at home on La Réunion,our attention was turnedto the karaoke bars which are so hugely popular on the island. To give us an idea of the kinds of songs she likes to sing in there, Séverine mentioned Vanessa Paradis and the Coco Girls as two of her favourite artists to choose from the karaoke list!
Eurovision Song Conteststill relevant
The young singer tells that the Eurovision Song Contest is a programme she watches without fail every year with friends, despite the lacking popularity of the show amongst younger people in France. She is a firm believer in the power of the contest to show the audience at home a glimpse of the rest of Europe, and it is not the rather old-fashioned, kitschy show that many French youngsters believe it to be. During her upbringing on the isle of La Réunion, she never missed an edition of the contest, which remains very popular there to this day. Hopefully, she will captivate the attention of young and old alike at the seminfinal on 18th May.
