Tina Carol took part in her first rehearsal for this year's Ukrainian entry Show me your love this morning, with five dancers and a dynamic routine involving a chain skipping rope, flying skirts and tambourines.
Tina and the dancers arrived on stage dressed in red vests bearing the name Tina Karol in white letters around a heart. Tina herself was in daringly short demin hotpants and multicoloured glitter boots, and her dancers – two male and three female – wore white breeches above black leather thigh boots.
The Ti-zirka winner proved that her voice was in top form by performing a series of vocal acrobatics as a warm-up and sound check. She was very much in charge of proceedings as she gave instructions to the production teamboth in English and in Ukrainian through a translator. It took quite some time to get the levels right in her earpiece, with Tina shouting music up, voice down, music down, voice up! several times before she was happy.
That long note…
After the checks were complete, Tina seemed to be really getting into it and enjoying the rehearsal. Her voice is strong, and the long acapella note towards the end of the song was spot on every time. There were three full run-throughs in all, although time ran over slightly towards the end of the rehearsal slot.
The lighting is overwhelmingly red at this stage, with Tina singing in front of a turning sunflower for part of the song. The dance routine is energetic, with the five very gymnastic performers first picking up a long chain rope and skipping through one by one, then, in the bridge, revealing patterned folk skirts and spinning round as they billow out. These are tossed away and the dancers leave Tina alone in the middle of the stage for that very long note, before they dance back on holding tambourines in the air for the finale. A hi-hat four-beat tap has been added after Tina's solo note to lead back into the final part of the song.
High energy attitude
At the beginning of one of the most energetic press conferences so far, Tina stood on top of the press table and sang along to Show me your love with her dancers as the collected press (with many Ukrainian representatives!) clapped along. Bubbly and excited, she then explained that the lyric of the song is her motto for Athens: show me your love; that's why I came.Her chief goal isto bringa message of good will to Europe and earn the love she sings of in her song.
On the subject of her infectious energy,she explained that being that way makes her happy, and that people should follow her example to be happy themselves.
Winning advice
Tina admitted that Ruslana, Ukrainian winner of the 2004 contest, had not been able to meet up with her before Athens due to her political commitments and Tina's rehearsal and tour schedule. However, they have been communicating via the newspapers in Ukraine, and Ruslana's main piece of advice is: don't listen to anyone; be confident in yourself. As for following Ruslana's example and going into politics, Tina has no plans to become a deputy just yet, although she confessed her love of discipline and would like to spread that ethos around the world. To this end, she is keen to become some kind of ambassadorone day.
Would Tina like to be considered a sex symbol? No, was the emphatic answer, as she believes that real women don't use sex as a commodity. She would sooner put across her message with her voice, her energy and her happiness.
Tina has already experienced the craziest fan moment of her life in Athens. The singer explained how Greek fans somehow found out where her hotel room was, and burst in unexpectedly while she was in a state of undress, screaming 'Tina, we love you!'. Although the incident was a shock, she laughed it off with the rest of the delegation, and the collected press certainly found it amusing!
Slavonic soul
About the song, the delegation point out that they want to show the depth of the Slavonic soul in the music. For Tina, it is an opportunity to show everyone that soul, and she is heartened that even people in the West of Europe can share and love it. Although she has no plans to record a Ukrainian or Russian version of Show me your love, she believes that it is not necessary as people in the Ukraine understand the English lyrics.
To show her pride for Ukraine and Ukrainian, Tina sang an excerpt from a Ukrainian ballad about motherhood; appropriate, given that Mother's Day is celebrated there on 14th May.
Could the Ukraine win again, only two years after Ruslana's dynamic Istanbul triumph? Possibly, the delegation believe; Tina believes her emotions are strong enough to touch every viewer's heart, though everything else is the will of God. All else comes down to positive attitude and Tina's parting words today: "smile, be beautiful and anything can happen".
