Back again in Minsk with 2 songs in the final!

So happy to be back in Minsk and Belarus and very proud to take part with 2 SONGS in the final of only 10 songs with the great artists Janet and Tasha and the songs Supernova and Giving up your love!
The plane left the same day as Christmas Eve in Sweden so this year we had to chose between family or Eurovision which was not an easy decision.
It was a rush being backing vocals to two songs on stage and to manage all the rehearsals and having time to eat and sleep in between in only 3 days. We were lucky to get a drive from both artists from the hotel so we could manage the tight schedule. The live performances in the studio was an awesome experience as well as meeting new and exciting people in the lovely town Minsk. We did not get the same position as last year unfortunately, but for us it was a big achievement to be able to do backing vocals on two songs in the same final.

Janet - Жанет - Supernova - Eurovision Belarus 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY-Pqw2_Vn8

Tasha Odi - Giving up your love - Eurovision Belarus 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCbibP3TjNc

 

On stage at the live TV performance.
Watch the performance here:

 

The great and patient sound technician helped us on and off the stage (don't know how many times!!) with in ear on rehearsals and the live show. It was the first time we tried in ear to be able to get a better experience on stage and quality of the backing vocals and we were very happy with the result.

Alot of preparations had to be made in Sweden with Visas that was a bit tricky and expensive as Sweden did not have a Belarusian ambassy due to conflicts between the countries. Here we are at the first rehearsals where we went directly from the airport and tried the sound and different led backgrounds. The Xmas background was very suitable for that day as we celebrated Christmas Eve in Sweden! It's always good to try on the real costumes and shoes to know how it works on stage!

The food in Minsk is excellent and our favourite was the restaurant Vasiliki. This year we went here all the time as there was not time to explore other places, just go by car from the studio to the restaurant and to and from the hotel. Joining us was also Andreas, Ylvas partner and it wouldn't have gone without him! He was there to support us with all the practical things, taking photos, filming, checking costumes and that everything was working on stage! So even though we are always our own managers, the Eurovision trips require us to have some assistance!

We were actually going to wear white jumpsuits at Janet's song, but at the last minute the manager of her team thought we should have black instead, so we ended up wearing black on both songs, but don't you think white would have been better?

The ever patient and supporting team Janet. Here with the Janet's husband and brother backstage! Such great people! It takes alot of work to actually take part in this contest and in Belarus you are responsible of taking care of everything yourself regarding the act. Also finanically, so it will require you have a good and loyal team and most of the time this is probably your own family and friends.

Janet decided that the theme of Supernova on stage would be the elements of water and fire and her plastic dress was a symbol of this together with a nude dress underneath. Quite a challenge to lift this creation up and down on stage with only a few seconds in between the songs. After the final show it was actually broken because of this! She is very famous of having her own creative ideas and in Eurovision this is not always very easy to perform as the TV team must be able to show this correctly in TV with whatever equipment they have available. You need to have your own budget if you want to do something extraordinary.

The super team of dancers, assistants, choreographer, friends and family behind the song Supernova in the TV studio at the offical back drop in green room. Small dressing rooms were offered to the artists and most of us had to share rooms where they also did make up and had food during the many hours of waiting in between rehearsals and the show.

The dancers made a magical water and fire show to the song Supernova.

Janet and her two "angels" happy in green room after the show.

The great team with Tasha and super talented dancers of the song Giving up your love in green room after the show. Watch the live performance here:

We really enjoyed doing this song on stage, having a nice spot, some simple moves and it was also the last song of the final, so we got to get rid of a bit of nervousness on stage having two songs. But it was not only positive, as this is a competition and the artists were actually rivals we competed against ourselves which is an odd situation. One of the artists were actually a bit upset with the fact that we had two songs/artists which unfortunately made the experience on that song less positive.

Tasha and the dancers did a great and energic show on stage. The song was written a long time ago when we were younger in another version called "I don't want your love" with a more childish theme. We worked on several ideas and lyrics before it ended up in this final version and also released our own version afterwards but with the old title.

Look who we met in Belarus? Rybak also had a song in the final! So nice to get a chat and talk Swedish with him!

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