The ambassador had plenty of encomium. She said, “You have already won”. Marko Reikop (famous TV-host, has made live commentary for Eurovision for years in Estonia): 45 minutes until the rehearsal, artists gather here, get dressed, put their microphones on and go on stage. So this is the main backstage area where all the artists wait for their line-up in these temporary built boxes. These are supposed to be their dressing rooms as you probably already know. Stig and Elina’s box is number 13, we hope it will bring us luck, although it’s known for being an unlucky number. Allright, I hope they are dressed enough so that we could step in for a second and see what our luxurious dressing room looks like. Well, Elina is in a good mood atleast. Do you have a talisman that brings you good luck on stage? Elina: “No. Hopefully Stig will bring me some good luck. Maybe Stig is my talisman.” Marko: Stig has taken cover under this scrim and is putting on his in-ears. As you can see it isn’t that intimate, everyone can step in here while the artists are preparing for the competition. Rene Vilbre: Let’s go. Marko: This is the last point, where we can go. As you can see, here are big signs that say ‘Artists only’ and ‘No cameras’. Stig and Elina are concentrating here in a very serious way, I understand. “Why are you doing this? You are tuning the guitar. But why are you playing it? Do you really be play it on the stage as well?” Stig: Well, of course I play it along there. I’m tuning it right now, because then I could sing and practise on the way to the stage. Otherwise it would sound bad and I would tune myself wrong as well. Marko: This is the biggest TV show in the world, this is as big as it gets. 100-200 mln people (laughs) watch it, does it affect you anyhow? Do you feel the pressure? Elina: Oooh, Right now I don’t feel it that much, luckily. But you know, one shouln’t think aboult it, I think. Thankfully, I don’t see these millions of people on the stage, I mean in the arena. Marko: Overall how do the artists get along here? Elina: Well, if I’m completely honest. laughs No, actually everyone’s very nice and supportive and help in every way possible. So there’s a very good group of people gathered. (03:05) So this is the famous Eurovision stage in Vienna, where Elina and Stig are about to go on. There is 1 meter separating us from the stage. We can see stairs made of glass, which are protected with transparent and dark covers, so that it wouldn’t get worn off before the live show. Talking about this arena, it is one of the most popular places for hosting concerts, entertainment shows and sports competitions here. 300 events in a year, that means almost every day this arena is sold out. It is located in the city central, very easy to come here with the Public transport. Public transport is also very popular this year in the Eurovision, because it’s known for being the eco-Eurovision. And as you could see there are ewers full of tap water and reusable cups are put out there for everybody. To be honest, this isn’t a very big arena. Pretty much the same size as Saku Suurhall (Eurovision 2002 was hosted there in Tallinn). Saku Suurhall is actually a little bit bigger. This one holds 7000-8000 people. It may seem very wide from the camera view but it isn’t very deep. You can’t put that many seats in here. But a very special thing in here is a technical widget, that hasn’t been seen in Europe before. (04:50) You can see it right now, this is a camera that is put on the railings (?) and is downsided on the crane (?). This is the first time it’s used in Europe, usually tehy use in the USA for big boxing matches. It moves back-and-forth, but also up-and-down and swirls. We must admit everything doesn’t work on point here. They have gone 15 minutes over for some reason. (06:05) You just stepped off the stage from the second rehearsal. How did it go? Elina: I’m so full of energy. Marko: That means it went well, right? Elina: I think so, yes. Stig: Yeah, yeah. Elina: I got so much energy from there. Stig: I feel definitely more confident now. Elina: Yes, no, very good. Stig: repeats what Elina just said. Elina: Yeah Marko: How does all the screen job seem after the second rehearsal? Man: Seems like there must be something about this song that they are willing to spend more time on it than ever before for us and also more compared to the others.
