Semifinal 2 is on tonight, and excitement is building up again in Oslo. Tonight Norway will vote, so out comes the mobile phones in Oslo and we will start voting around 21:00 local time. Que Sera Sera..which 10 songs will qualify to the Final?Folks in Finland, remember to tune in to YLE 2 at 22:00!
All quiet on the Oslo front on Wednesday, with the Open
Dress Rehearsals for Semifinal 2 at 15:00 and 21:00 in the Telenor Arena and
the OGAE International Party at 20:30 in the Euroclub. The party is open to all
members of all national fan clubs with the OGAE ID card. It was a night of true
Fan fun! Euroviisuklubi’s own Board member Maiken was part of the team organising
the entertainment where many contestants took to the stage, but someone will
write the full story for our Club later.
It was heartwarming to hear that some of the
contestants from Semifinal 1 who did not qualify to the Final are anyway
staying on the enjoy the rest of the ESC week (Poland is one).
Vukašin Brajić
(Bosnia-Herzegovina), responding to a question about qualifying to the Final: ”I
bet some money and now I have money..”.
Vukašin Brajić, responding to a
question about his biggest competitor: “Tom Dice.”.
Olia Tira & Sunstroke
Project (Moldova), when asked what they feel:
-Olia Tira: “We are proud to be here with our friends
Russia and Belarus..”.
-Sunstroke Project: “In one word..no, in two
words..energy.”. (Ross: I thought “energy” was just one word?)
Master of Ceremonies (MC) to
Peter Nalitch (Russia): “Wow Peter, you made it!”.
Peter Nalitch: “It seems yes..”.
Giorgos Alkaios (Greece) about
qualifying: “In Oslo 2010, to be a song in Final, in Greek, it’s great..”.
MC to Milan Stanković (Serbia):
“As usual, great performance..great Dress..”.
Tom Dice (Belgium): “Belgium
waited so long for this moment..”.
Journalist to Tom Dice: “All
Europe loves your guitar..”.
Tom Dice (pointing to his
guitar): “You want to ask him something?”.
Juliana Pasha (Albania), when
asked if she had a chance to see Oslo: “Someone told me that Oslo is a very
beautiful country..”. (Ross: A-ha..most people used to think that Oslo was just
a city..).
Hera Björk, responding to a comment
about Iceland volcanoes erupting at her success: “They’re actually calming
down..They’re happy that I am in the Final..”.
The After Party was at the Euroclub, and I only managed to arrive at 02:00 after attending the Press Conference at Telenor Arena and taking care of Blog duty..
The place was crowded and moving about was not easy, so I simply chose a safe corner from which to see what folks were up to. As the old English saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait", so from my corner at least I saw passing by Maria Haukaas Storeng (Norway 2008), Vukašin Brajić (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Marcin Mroziński (Poland).
Before I left I heard the DJ play "Bye Bye Baby" and "Eläköön Elämä", so Finland too was present at the party!
Fans had a great time, no matter whether their countries qualified tonight or not, and I guess that is what really counts.
Photos & gossips coming up later today, so check in again!
Surpises never cease in Oslo. The Oslo ESC provides a shuttle bus which does the round among the three official hotels and then on to the Telenor Arena at intervals of 20 minutes. The latest surpise is the fact that with hundreds of accredited media and fans trying to get to the Arena for Semifinal 1, only ONE shuttle bus was provided which was of course full before it reached the third official hotel so it did not even bother to stop; no information was provided about the situation which saw me running across town in my party shoes trying to catch the public buses to be on time for the show.
Fans coming to the live shows at the Arena are required to arrive before 20:15 local time, after which the gates will be closed. Gates are open from 18:30.
My advice is to take the public bus 31E from the bus stop next to the National Theatre (Nationaltheatret) and the journey takes around 20 minutes. You can buy tickets from the driver but the price is cheaper if you buy the tickets in advance from the Trafikanten office outside the Central Railway Station (Oslo S).
The public bus stop is quite far from the Arena, and the walk takes some time, so bring an umbrella just in case it rains and remember to be on time.
At the Arena be prepared for another surpise: the public toilets.. (but I will let those who are still on their way here to find that out for themselves).
The Press Conference for the 10 qualifiers from Semifinal 1 was held directly after the Event. Only two questions were allowed for each qualifier, one in the native language (presumably from the qualifier's national media) and one in any language. Following the question & answer session each qualifier would choose one black ball (logo of the Oslo ESC) from a bowl which contains the qualifier's place in the Final line-up on 29 May. More info from the official Eurovision Song Contest website: http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=17143&_t=Tonight%27s+winners+draw+their+position+in+the+Final
As with a few other arrangements at the Oslo ESC, the Press Conference was somewhat clumsy with too few microphones (I saw just one microphone being passed around the hall) and no simultaneous interpretation of questions & answers in languages other than English (unlike at the Moscow ESC). The Master of Ceremonies (juontaja) could also do well to remember the correct names of the qualifiers. There are two more Press Conferences coming up: after Semifinal 2 and after the Final, so perhaps there will be some improvement.
