The first set of press conferences begin today and oikotimes.com is in Malmoe reporting you. We will bring you reports and videos from each country’s statements.
BELGIAN PRESS CONFERENCE: “KILLING THE SMILE”
Roberto Bellarosa is representing Belgium with the song “Love Kills”. Roberto comes from a very Italian background with both his mother and father being native Italians. It therefore seemed appropriate that he open his press conference with a rendition of “Volaire”, this was representing his Italian roots perfectly, although he was born in Belgium. Growing up, Roberto’s father wanted him to be a footballer, but Roberto was very sad by this thought and told his father that it was music only that would make him truly happy. His father laughed at this at the time, but now that Roberto is representing Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest, both his father and mother are truly proud of him.
Roberto’s biggest musical icon is Celine Dion and he was fortunate enough to meet her at a show in Paris where they were both singing solo performances. When asked how he was coping with the pressure of Eurovision, he replied that after 4 months of intense pressure in “The Voice” in Belgium, he is clear on the demands of this kind of pressure and is prepared for it. Roberto was asked why the song was selected in English and not Flemish or French? He told us that he preferred to choose English, even although he has only been speaking English as few months because it is more valuable to the song and the message is clearer. Roberto also admitted that “Love Kills” lyrics currently correspond to him and that his heart is broken right now. The press centre was sympathetic and Roberto rounded off the conference by asking the Swedish host if she liked Italian boys?
IRISH PRESS CONFERENCE: “DRUMMING THE WAY TO THE FINALS”
Ryan Dolan is representing Ireland with the song “Only Love Survives”. Ryan’s hobbies include the gym, water skiing, movies and having fun. After the second dress rehearsal, Ryan was very happy with everything on stage, he commented that not much had been changed with the arrangement, staging or lighting but that everything was just better all round. The Swedish host asked Ryan about his twitter page and showed him a print out taken from his page, which showed a picture of his naked chest .. Ryan laughed and got a little embarrassed when asked to show his 6 pack .. He responded eventually by promising to show it at the semi finals, winner conference, if he is lucky enough to make one of the 10 finalists … watch this space, I have a feeling he will have to fulfil his promise! Ryan was asked if he had been given any words of encouragement from Jedward .. He replied by saying: A good thing … The hair, it’s important to have hair to remember, A bad thing …. Jumping too high on stage, could injure his knees!
A few questions now followed from the open journalists:
What is Ryan’s main goal here in Malmo? He answered by saying “To do my best and win”
Who would be the first person he would contact if he was to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2013? He answered “My mum”
What was his favourite Irish Eurovision entry? He replied “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids” and then was asked to sing the song to the press which received a huge applause.
Finally Ryan’s press conference came to an end with a high profile note. He was heading over to Copenhagen this evening to meet One Direction who apparently are big fans of Ryan – he is looking forward to meeting them very much. Good luck to Ryan and Ireland on Tuesday.
CYPRIOT PRESS CONFERENCE: “CALM, COOL & READY”
Despina Olympiou is representing Cyprus with the song “An Me Timase”. From a young age, Despina was influenced by classical music but soon discovered that she had a liking for power ballads and jazz. Following on from her second press dress rehearsal, Despina was very happy with her preparation, the stage and performance. She told us that she is truly honoured to represent her country and hopes that she will do the Island proud. Despina has a wealth of musical background and has been blessed to work with some amazing a truly talented professional artists. Working with a variety of different artists has given Despina a wide range of styles and has moulded her musical style. Finally, Despina quoted Austria, Armenia, Ukraine and The Netherlands as being her favourites in this years contest.
SERBIAN PRESS CONFERENCE: “A LITTLE HELP FROM MARIJA”
Moje 3 are representing Serbia with the song “Ljubav Je Svuda”. Two members of Moje 3 are already known in the Eurovision circuit .. Nevena represented Serbia in the Junior Eurovision in Rotterdam in 2007, she compares her feelings here in Malmo as to be the same special feeling to represent your country and Mirna promised one day to represent Serbia in Eurovision. The song was composed by the same composer who wrote “Molitva” for Maria Serifovic in 2007. The big surprise of this press conference was that Maria Serifovic joined Moje 3 on the stage to perform “Molitva” a very strong performance which gave lots of cheers to their press conference. Maria added that she thinks Moje 3 are great singers and hopes they do well next
Tuesday. Moje 3 were asked what their biggest challenge would be? They replied with “heels”, their shoes are their biggest challenge. Everyone has come to expect traditional ballads from Serbia, but this year
they chose a modern song which was selected by only televoters, not a jury. Let’s wish Serbia well as they aim to spread their love everywhere next Tuesday.
