NationStates

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:00 am**

WHF NETWORK | OOC THREAD | LIST OF ENTRIES | HOSTING INFO | PLAYLIST

[1958h CEST]

There is a hectic atmosphere at the studios in the RTVK Broadcasting Centre as final checks were being conducted on the set of the 52nd World Hit Festival. Technicians and other staff members were making sure that the stage and all of its effects were working, that the cameras were operating, and that there was a working satellite connection ensuring that the broadcast was ready to go on air.
A minute later, the countdown begins. Although there are no spectators in the venue, the LED screens behind the stage display a 60-second countdown. At this point, the production is pretty much ready to go on. It’s time.

10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

[2000h CEST]
tune: La, la, la (RTVK ident)

On TV screens across the multiverse, the ident of Radiu-Televižio Kalosia plays, identifying RTVK as the source of the broadcast as various TV stations are airing the show live. The 52nd World Hit Festival has begun.

Shine a Light — Kalosian Philharmonic Orchestra
tune: Love Shine a Light — Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

Now the screen is briefly black, before slowly squares featuring different musicians “come online”, much like a video teleconference. Then on one of the squares, a conductor appears. As he signals the others to start playing, the different musicians, who are members of the Kalosian Philharmonic Orchestra, start playing a rendition of Shine a Light, a song originally by Paola Amadin which was released in Kalosian in the 1990s, while this English version was released in March of this year as a charity single, with proceeds from sales going to fund the fight against COVID-19.

Slowly, the squares appear to shrink… oh no, the camera is just zooming out, and it turns out the members of the orchestra are being displayed on a retsepalaasi, a crystal set of crystalline device commonly found in Tödlichebujoku. The camera zooms back further, revealing that they are in front of a much larger building. That building proceeds to be lit up, revealing itself to be Taploukkun Siipien Smelauka, the venue of the last World Hit Festival in Tödlichebujoku.

Soon, the camera shows another landmark from a participating country being lit up… and then another, and another. As it turns out, we are going on a journey throughout the different participating countries tonight, each whom have lit up a landmark in the spirit of the theme of the 52nd World Hit Festival, Shine a Light.

Towards the end of the musical piece, we arrive in Kalosia, with the Amfiteatru d’Akropoli being shown as it lights up. This venue was initially rumoured to host this show as reports emerged that the arena was booked by RTVK a week after the Kalosian victory in Tödlichebujoku.

The drone recording this scene gradually flies into the arena, revealing that a stage has been set up and a man stands at the end of the stage. The closer the drone gets, the clearer it becomes that that man is in fact Domeniku Kaľari, the most recent winner of the World Hit Festival. And he is here to reprise his song.

L’Eklisu — Domeniku Kaľari
tune: Fai Rumore — Diodato (live @ Arena di Verona)

Domeniku was was wearing the same floral patterned blazer he wore when he won the contest. Although the arena’s exterior was well lit, the interior was only lit enough to allow us to see him and have an idea of his surroundings. Of course there was a spotlight on him, but the lighting was otherwise rather dim. Throughout the entry, there were camera crew dispersed throughout the arena to help with the angles, which changed periodically.

Sta kelkuno oskuro
Ma në es la notë
Sëmbla komë lë mondu sta silenžosu
Ma es la ilušio, lë silenžo

Se la vitë stesë brušandu
La foku sarebë pašio
E se le stelle stesë niu siñu
Noš giderebere a kazë

Në briľa lasu
Keste mezoñe
N’atšeka mi pju

Blue and white lights filled the interior of the arena. Although it wasn’t exactly bright, it was enough.

Vidël l’eklisu ki
U miu stanku koru flestuto
Es klaru, tu e ja saputo

Kë eklisamu ši
U kestë albë në sta lë sol
Komë un poémë senzë paroli
Es tropu
Ja e tu

Domeniku too his mic off the stand and started walking down the vast, empty platform of a stage. Although at this point there had not been drums, they would eventually gradually be introduced during this next part.

Lë ventu noš kanta unë melodië
Lë tšelu es niu pitor
Ma ov’z es kela vož?
Ov’z es kela piturë?
Kestu kanžu es un kridu

Kadë le nuve diventanu oskure
E le lakrime dëla pložë stanu kadendu
Semprë ja spetu pël’arkutšelu
Ma n’es arivatu maj, l’arkutšelu

After wandering around the stage, Domeniku turns around and walks back to the mic stand.

Në briľa kaǧu
Kestë speranzë
Në gida mi pju

With the mic in one hand, Domeniku snatches the mic stand with his other. It’s clear that his performance is one of passion.

Vidël l’eklisu ki
U miu stanku koru flestuto
Es klaru, tu e ja saputo

Kë eklisamu ši
U kestë albë në sta lë sol
Komë un poémë senzë paroli
Es tropu
Ja e tu

He spun around while the camera showed a wide shot of the arena, and we could see that the empty audience stands surrounding the stage were lit up in blue and white, making one large Kalosian flag as the beautiful instrumental break continued to play. This is the goosebumps moment.
In this next part, a camera spun around Domeniku as he sang.

Noj eklisamu ši
U kestë albë në sta lë sol
Komë un poémë senzë paroli

The lights in the arena started to dim down again as the camera angle changed to less dynamic ones.

Oľal lo, kestë romanzë es mortu ǧa
Amurë nia a finitë tantu tempu fa

As Domeniku let out one last "Oh...", there was silence. Surrounded by cameramen and technicians, this is the only time Domeniku has performed L’Eklisu in front of a Kalosian audience.

After a moment of quiet, Domeniku looks up at the camera, smiling. He says:

Hello everyone, good evening. My name is Domeniku Kaľari and you are watching the 52nd World Hit Festival.

The camera zooms out, revealing that Domeniku is being projected on the background screens of the WHF52 venue.

Now, may I present to you… the participating artists of tonight’s show. Enjoy!

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:13 am**

Parade of Nations
tune: I Follow Rivers — Lykke Li (The Magician Remix)

Domeniku’s feed cuts off as the music (an instrumental version of Kalosia's World Hit Festival 15 entry) starts playing and the stage lights kick in. A deep male voice is heard saying “Ladies and gentlemen… please welcome the 24 entrants of the 52nd World Hit Festival!”

And sure enough, one by one, the performing acts walk onto the stage one by one as their nation names are called upon by the voiceover person in the order that they will perform. Each of them are roughly given the spotlight for about 10-15 seconds before stepping off the stage and giving room to the next entrant.

Estana and Thaos | Estana e Taós
Entry • Phase I vote

Fromulya | Fromulia
Entry • Phase I vote

Lons
Entry • Phase I vote

Mister X | Señoriko
Entry • Phase I vote

Northwest Kalactin | Kalaktin dëlë Norveste
Entry • Phase I vote

Lushansk | Lušanskë
Entry • Phase I vote

Britonisea | Bretonesia
Entry • Phase I vote • Commentary

Waisnor | Waísnor
Entry • Phase I vote

Togonistan
Entry • Phase I vote

Izmedu | Izmeǧu
Entry • Phase I vote

Normandy & Picardy | Normandië & Pikardië
Entry • Phase I vote

Kalosia
Entry • Phase I vote

Beepee | Bipi
Entry • Phase I vote

Achaean Republic | Akaja
Entry • Phase I vote

Titaniumland | Titanioterë
Entry • Phase I vote

Axuva | Aksuvë
Entry • Phase I vote

Estogium | Estoǧikë
Entry • Phase I vote

Caryton, Spiritual Republic of | Kariton
Entry • Phase I vote

Besen
Entry • Phase I vote

Mercedini | Merǩedini
Entry • Phase I vote

Skanden | Skažia
Entry • Phase I vote

Ertzei Kishim | Kišraél
Entry • Phase I vote

North Alezia | Alezia dëlë Nor
Entry • Phase I vote • Commentary

Malta Comino Gozo | Maltë Kominu Gozu
Entry • Phase I vote

Opening and reprise • Parade of Nations • Green room break • Mia Promesë • Future Calls for Love • Shine a Light medley • Phase I • Phase I corrections and result • Phase II • Final results • Winner's reprise • Listenalong playlist

Finally, that voice over speaks again, “Please welcome tonight’s host: Naomi Dionnë!”

Host Intervention

Naomi walks onto the stage.

Good evening multiverse! You heard the voice — my name is Naomi Dionnë and I will be your host for this evening. This is the 52nd World Hit Festival, which means that if you watched the World Hit Festival every weekend, you would have enough shows to last a year!

Tonight, 24 countries will be competing for the title, including familiar friends and up-and-coming names. Each of them will perform their song once and you at home will have the chance to vote for who you think should be crowned winner of the 52nd World Hit Festival.

As you can see, this is not your usual World Hit Festival, as the only humans I am surrounded by are camera workers and stage technicians. We here in Kalosia really love the contest. We really do, but we knew that the best way to show our love right now was to protect all of you fans watching the contest from home from possibly getting sick, but at the same time give you the best show we can under these circumstances. It's the least we could do.

However, to stay home doesn't mean to stay lonely. Many of you watching tonight come from countries that have managed to overcome the challenges of these times. Why don't you say hello?

Just as Naomi turns back, feeds from various live watch parties across the participating countries pop up, and immediately a rush of cheers from a very very international audience can be heard, filling the studio with the warm reception that a World Hit Festival deserves.

Turning forward but now having the audience visible behind her, Naomi continues.

This, my friends, is the power of unity. This is the audience that will support tonight's songs and shine a light for all the countries competing in 52nd World Hit Festival.

And now came time for the magic words:

Without further ado...

LET THE WORLD HIT FESTIVAL BEGIN!

Pyrotechnics briefly shot from around the stage as cheering from the live feeds from across the multiverse could be heard. And indeed, it was time for the first country to perform.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:17 am**

Hard Time — Seinabo Sey

In light of recent events, and the inspiration of Dina's own struggle as a black woman on the island of Estana, "Rise Up" is the story of the reconstruction of society, leaving in the past the despicable treatment of black lives. It encourages the people of today to fight against the conduct of oppression that has been wielded against innocent lives for generations.
It's an important message for a group of people who don't understand the sacrifice and struggle of their ancestors in the battle for freedom and equality, no matter who they are or where they come from.

Dina stands dead centre in the middle of the stage, wearing a huge jet black gown, which hugs the stage all the way around, engulfing everything in view. Across the LED screen, a bright shining white - emptiness but displaying a sense of hope almost, throughout the dispair. It provides the only source of light upon Dina.

Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?
Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?

As the beat breaks in, two men dressed in similarly black attire, in a trenchcoat look, with slicked back hair, prance onto the stage. As Dina begins to sing the first verse, they slightly pull the gown on either side, to reveal a smaller, tightly fitted, latex dress. As she sings of the misery that she has experiences, she directs her passion into the camera, as it nauseatingly spins to follow her around the stage.

Buildings are burning, but
We had to tell them that
We’ve had enough of this
I can’t breathe in it

Brothers dying on
The streets that we built
How does that make sense?
Tears falling again

The back screen flashes in red repeatedly - as Dina croutches lower, in a triangle formation and they slowly make their way across the walkway to the end and stand strongly up on the second part of the stage.

Boss won’t take the blame
It goes to you and me
Call us animals but
We just want some peace

Blood is wearing thin
We can smell their fear
Lord, won’t you please save me
I can’t breathe out here

She spins around in an almost tribal dance routine, directing her focus to the camera which has found it's balance and is stably projecting her from a 90 degree angle across the walkway. The dancers stand firmly, and as the camera moves to display them, there is fury on their faces.

Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?
Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?
(Will we stand for it?)
(Will we stand for it?)

All three walk the same way back down the walkway and the floor of the stage transitions into the same white block as the beginning LED. Dina comes to lay down over it, swishing her arms about, to portray a struggle.

Wars we fought, what for?
Was it to open the door
Just to be spat on twice
By men who aren’t that nice

Laws are just a fake,
Way of saying they hate
That people are tired of,
Being torn apart

Dina is dragged to her feet by the two men, and they hold her microphone for her, as she poses in an uncomfortable position, while they hold her in place. She then pushes then back and the camera flashes to a closeup of Dina swirling around the stage in a circle.

Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?
Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?
(Will we stand for it?)
(Will we stand for it?)

As the men are gone, it is just Dina on stage and the white colour has evaporated out of sight and is now transformed into a blood red. It comes across as shocking but it stands to convey a message. Splashes of red bounce on the LED, as Dina smacks the floor, with every second beat of the bridge. As she sings, a single tear falls down from her face, and the camera zooms in to capture this moment.

Today we show them
Something stronger than words
Fight fire with fire
Oh, when will they learn?

All our pain will soon
Be made worthy
Because our ancestors
They’re watching us now

An explosion of white breaks out, quickly introduced by the frantic flashes, following the swift and powerful drum at the end of the bridge and into the final chorus. The two men return and do acrobatic movements along the walkway, as Dina begins to embark down the same path. Her movements mimic the rhythm of the beat, and as the song begins to close, everything falls into place with her and the dancers looking concerned down at the camera as they fall to the floor in synchrony.

Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?
Rise up children
Times are changing
Who do they work for?
Will we stand for it?
(Will we stand for it?)
(Will we stand for it?)
(Will we stand for it?)
(Will we stand for it?)

Silence, and then the cheers from Siano Square erupt.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:18 am**

I Love You 3000 — Stephanie Poetri

Natalia Ikarahayu Candrakusumawati is a Fromulyan singer-songwriter. Now in her twenties, she used to sing for a band called Hati-Hati Dijalan, or TTDJ for short.*

This ballad she composed reflects the modern Fromulyan music scene. The Fromulyans are rather simple in their music taste, they like songs that are mellow and sentimental, unless they don't, which then many of them listen to rock music or rely on traditional sounds. Maybe sometimes they'll like something more upbeat, but action-packed is rare. Perhaps this is something you've noticed if you've frequently encountered the island nation in their participations at the World Hit Festival.

This song, Hari Istimewa, tells the tale of a Fromulyan birthday. Fromulyan birthdays are just like any birthday on earth, to be curt. Often, especially among the younger generation, a friend's birthday is celebrated by straight out ignoring them (or even ruining their day) before later throwing them a big surprise party. Lyrically, Natalia seems to be in the position of distracting her lover away from home, where his friends may have been planning a surprise party for him. Sometimes Fromulyan birthdays end in egging the birthday victim and throwing flour at them too, though Natalia wisely steers clear of mentioning that, which would likely be confusing or inaccessible to a foreign audience.

Hari Istimewa is performed in Fromulyan Indonesian, the local dialect that is different from standard Indonesian. Although the two have equal status in the country, a disproportionately large number of Fromulyan entries have been in standard Indonesian, so this is a fresh departure from that.

* The joke is that the singer of the original tune is the daughter of an Indonesian celebrity named Titi DJ — pronounced the same way.

For the big night, Natalia is wearing a floral dress. Suiting the pace of the song, she will sitting on a stool the whole time, in the center of the stage.

As the song begins, that is exactly the case. A spotlight shines on her, and the stage is illuminated in white and gold colours, adding a somewhat cozy feel to the song. Camera uses a close up shot of her.

Sayang, gué ingin
Membuat lo bahagia
Pada hari ini
Hari yang istiméwa

Sayang, gué ingin
Memberikan kasih sayang
Karena gué mencintai lo

The camera switches to a medium shot. You can see that the LED screens have close up imagery of burning birthday candles. In a satellite stage farther away towards the background from the camera, there is a guitar player.

Pada pagi ini
Gué mengajak pergi
Jalan keliling
Biar enggak pusing

Lalu kita berdua
Ngobrol dan bercerita
Semua kejadian
Demi pikiran tenang

The camera switches to another close up shot of Natalia, creating space for some intimacy between her and the audience. She is simply doing her thing, singing out her feelings and creating a cosy space that allows those watching at home to chill.

Dan gué tau lo beranjak
Ke usia berikutnya
Gué peduli pada lo
Dan péngén gué bikin kejutan

Camera crew come on stage with a steadicam, which slowly circles Natalia during this next part. She's really in the zone right now, focusing on the message that her song brings, reflecting a willingness of her as a lover to make her partner happy as he deserves to be.

Sayang, gué ingin
Membuat lo bahagia
Pada hari ini
Hari yang istiméwa

The steadicam has now reached the guitarist, providing for us closeups as he does his thing as well.

Sayang, gué ingin
Memberikan kasih sayang
Karena gué mencintai lo

As we come back to the verse, Natalia continues her story. This is her world now, we're just in it.

Pada soré hari
Kita capék berlari
Matahari redup
Kita nikmatin hidup

Ketika kita pulang
Air mata berlinang
Karena gue belom
Ngucapin ulang tahun

So the next lines of this song talk about being worried, and indeed Natalia's facial expressions as she sings this next part reflect that.

Dan gué tau lo khawatir
Pada kata di ujung bibir
Gué peduli pada lo
Dan péngén gué bikin kejutan

Yet, there is something about her soothing voice that's reassuring, and as we come back to the chorus, Natalia sings once again about how she wishes to make her partner happy.

Sayang, gué ingin
Membuat lo bahagia
Pada hari ini
Hari yang istiméwa

Sayang, gué ingin
Memberikan kasih sayang
Karena gué mencintai lo

During this bridge (if that's what you can call it, Natalia's voice is softer than ever, reflecting the sincere emotion she has in her song. Up until this point the stage lights have remained mostly the same. There's not much movement that is required of such a chill, intimate song, and to be honest the birthday candles in the background screens aren't too distracting either. There's just something therapeutic about watching those flames flicker...

Da da dadada dam
Jangan pergi
Da da dadada dam
Jangan pergi

As the music slows down a bit, the camera switches to a close up angle of Natalia at the song's most intimate moments.

Sayang, gué ingin
Membuat lo bahagia
Pada hari ini
Hari yang istiméwa

As the momentum builds up again, she loosens up and let's her voice flow, no longer sticking rigidly to the studio notes but rather leaving a little room for improvisation.

Sayang, gué ingin
Memberikan kasih sayang
Karena gué mencintai lo, sayang

As the song begins to come to an end, Natalia is feeling more laid back than ever. It's the final stretch, she reminds herself, and she has been doing well so far.

Jangan pergi
Da da dadada dam
Jangan pergi

As she delivers the final lines, a grin comes upon her face, wider than ever.

Da da dadada dam
Jangan pergi
Da da dadada dam
Aku mencintaimu

The song ends, and Natalia adorably cups her face with her hands. In the absence of a Fromulyan watching party, cheering can be heard from the live feed of different countries. The cheering of the North Alezian feed is particularly prominent given the cultural similarities between the two countries. "Terima kasih, thank you" she manages to slip into the camera as the audience continues to cheer.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:20 am**

Love is Mystical — Cold War Kids

Dunu pêdrirânâ
I have not sung a song

Tlink dên pêd emîstlenâ
I did not celebrate you leaving

Kâs vror pêd krîtsenâ
I did not write these words

Dâpê liziê âtires
So you would be jealous

Kêv pretim stêt pôr mêl sôs
This melody's only for me

Pê lisîâ kiês mun plusâ
I want to see how much I'll grow

(Lisusâ kiês mun plusâ)
I will see how much I'll grow

Landan ûnzl mên dudûm
Autumn in my heart

Vîzîn selilîusâ
I will skip Winter

Pêdtmerâ ôb gês dedûs êsôs
I don't know if there is a point

Ôsôb zo egêl us mâldeusâ
Or if I'll return as the same man

Mêm-âv beîl prîsksos
My mistakes are great

Ustengês us sâ
I'm a failed man

Lâst uniplû rûmâv hûlm gês tûndîl pô ûnrusîos
Even the rainiest skies can hold a rainbow

Dêî al êspê gês pâsa pô tîâ
From the ashes, you can gain a spirit

Plul pâsa wogês mês pô ustiâ
With a spirit I can build a new me

Kbuâs rês pêdzû dienâ
I shouldn't have said some things

Kbuâs rês pêdzû kerîâ
There's things I shouldn't do

Âv mên gnivân vârtenôs
My intents have been lost

Ôb rên kêl mâltes lisâ
I see you're upset about this

Pêdtmerâ ôb ûnguvê mês rilies
I don't know if you'll ever believe me

Âmêz zo wogêl us mâldeusâ
When I come back as a new man

Mêm-âs beîl ânades?
Will you forgive my mistakes?

Êl dên dudûm mês bimves?
Will you let me in your heart?

Înk pêdkeres, kêguv wogsusâ
If you don't, I will still be new

Mêm-âv beîl prîsksos
My mistakes are great

Ustengês us sâ
I'm a failed man

Lâst uniplû rûmâv hûlm gês tûndîl pô ûnrusîos
Even the rainiest skies can hold a rainbow

Dêî al êspê gês pâsa pô tîâ
From the ashes, you can gain a spirit

Plul pâsa wogês mês pô ustiâ
With a spirit I can build a new me

Zo mâlnatâêl fîinîks hûspâsâ
I rise like a reborn phoenix

Dêî al êspê
From the ashes

Het âs mên mân êt mên unt peâ
Now I empty my hands and my brain

Sâ zo mâlkârtgêl us
I'm like a rebuilt man

Zo Sîunên wogêl kerdâ
Like God's new creation

Êl saî êtskeâ
I exit the arc

Fumên dê mêl pruzenâ
I've blown the dust off myself

Sâ zo wogêl us, îa
I'm like a new man, yeah

Sâ zo wogêl us, îa
I'm like a new man, yeah

Sâ zo wogêl us
I'm like a new man

Mêm-âv beîl prîsksos
My mistakes are great

Ustengês us sâ
I'm a failed man

Lâst uniplû rûmâv hûlm gês tûndîl pô ûnrusîos
Even the rainiest skies can hold a rainbow

Dêî al êspê gês pâsa pô tîâ
From the ashes, you can gain a spirit

Plul pâsa wogês mês pô ustiâ
With a spirit I can build a new me

Plu gêl pâsa zo wogêl us susâ
With a spirit I will be like a man

Plu gêl pâsa zo wogêl us susâ
With a spirit I will be like a man

Plu gêl pâsa zo wogêl us susâ
With a spirit I will be like a man

Plu gêl pâsa zo wogêl us susâ
With a spirit I will be like a man

Sâ zo wogêl us
I'm like a new man

Sâ zo wogêl us
I'm like a new man

The song ended and cheers from audiences across the multiverse could be heard.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:22 am**

No Time to Die — Billie Eilish

MRX doesn't usually enter World Hit Festival. Or, to be more precise, MRX has neverentered WHF. When MRX was listed amongst the delegations taking part in the 52nd World Hit Festival, many people thought it was a misprint. When the head of delegation was announced as performer and commentator Sam Smith, there was a collective groan amongst the World Hit Festival Reference Group. Smith's commentaries have become infamous in WorldVision alongside Robert Baxter, and his softness rating is a staple of MRX commentaries. MRX could not think of a better Xian to name as Head of Delegation for WHF. Smith stated that what you're going to see from MRX is different to what you normally get from us at WorldVision, because whilst we'd like to do well, of course, we're not overly concerned with winning, but rather trying out new ideas and thoughts and experiments and seeing how well such things do. Tracy Manson has entered the WorldVision Song Contest on several occasions. One of Mister X's leading female singers, her songs are designed to be a far reach from the "dumb blonde" image that sexist versions of the multiverse mainstream media like to project.

Tracy Manson's music career is not quite as successful as some others in Mister X have achieved, and indeed, her WorldVision record is nothing short of awful. With four solo participations in WorldVision, she has recorded 12th, 15th, 16th, and 21st. She came 4th as a duet with Robert Anderson, but this was something that was perhaps picked up upon by the feminist lobby as being an example of sexism in the multiverse, that she needs a man to do well at WorldVision. At the first press conference, Manson sat at the desk whilst journalists (once they could get the technology to work) asked her several variations on a theme:

Q1) Why are you entering WHF, given your poor WV record?
- "Well, the thing is that when we do it it's not all about the result, it's about having lots of fun along the way."
Q2) Given the fact that you only did well with a man as a duet, does that indicate there is a sexism problem in the multiverse?
- "No, but I do think there is a lot of political voting going on and I do think people tend not to vote for us because of who we are as a country, the fact I'm a woman hasn't really got anything to do with it, the men have been struggling to get their polls up recently too."
Q3) Tell us about "Hide Away and Cry" - what was the thinking behind this song, given it's far removed from any of your previous hits?
- ""Hide Away and Cry" is actually a very deep and personal song, it's designed to open up a discussion about mental health, which, of course, has been affected so very much by this multiverse situation. I know a lot of people are really struggling with this whole thing because it has taken away stuff that people hold dear to themselves. But remember, the more you stick to guidelines in your nation state, the quicker this should all be over. Remember, stay alert, control the virus, and save lives."
Q4) How are you going to cope without an audience?
- "Well, we've asked Mister Xians to be there in spirit, by sending in photographs of themselves which will feature in the staging of the song. This is a song that encourages you to let your feelings really hang out and we're trying to capture the spirit of Xians who are stuck in their own mansions doing the right thing, not able to afford more than one ski holiday this year, you know, that kinda thing."
Q5) What's the situation like in Mister X?
- "We've been really lucky, in many ways. The strain is much more mild here and as a result we've been actively trying to get people to catch it, stay at home during the incubation period, and then once they've developed the necessary immunities, return to normal. Our death toll of only 585, but case numbers being more than 500 million, indicates this is working for us. That's 500 million people immune from it now."
Q6) Following on from the previous question, did you abide by the Kalosian quarantine regulations?
- "Yes." [her response to this caused some shock for its abrasiveness, almost as though Tracy was offended that such a question would be asked of her. Of course she respected guidelines. Don't be silly.]

With the press call over, Tracy pressed on to rehearsals, which went without a single hitch. Then, without the usual hubbub of a multiversal contest, she became very bored waiting for the contest to happen, not being able to party or do anything half-decent in Monterra for obvious reasons. All she could do was repeat the Mister Xian mantra of "stay alert, control the virus, and save lives" to herself ad nauseum, although not literally ad nauseum because then she'd be sick and then people would call her a plague carrier. As a hayfever sufferer, however, she finds it very difficult not to sneeze in public, because doing so will obviously cause the notorious Monterran covigilantes to beat her up for DARING to venture outside with what they perceive to be symptoms. So she's been cooped up in her tiny hotel room, watching the very best that Kalosian television has to offer, and when the 3 minutes' worth of TV worth watching is over, she spends her time sleeping, wondering why she didn't enter a song with the lyric "I eat, eat, eat, and sleep all day / and then I watch TV".

Eventually, the day of the contest came around. She went to the studio, where she ended up having to wait hours for the broadcast to begin, not being allowed to interact with anyone else. But all of this made her even more determined to sing the song as well as she could. During the parade of nations, she waved twice and blew a kiss as she walked along. But then, as she finally got her chance once the stage had been bio-secured, she took to it wearing a flowing black dress and stands in the middle of the circular stage, in pitch blackness.

As the song starts there's a slow build-up of half-light before a solitary spotlight shines on her as she starts singing. There is nothing on the back wall and she sings directly into the camera, with a very flat direction to begin with - very slow panning shots from wide angles but very few cuts to start with, and when she starts singing there are some shots of her in medium-length, with no panning or zooming or such like, and moreover some very few cutting to begin with.

You built me up
To tear me down
You lied to me
Made me think that I could trust someone I hurt

She turns to her left and a camera is slowly zooming from a low-down angle into her face. She is almost hiding from the camera, indicating her emotions of tiredness and almost of reluctance. On the second line of this next section, she turns the other way to face the other side, where, almost like a mirror effect, a camera zooms in her face. Tracy wrote this song herself, so no one will understand the emotions behind the song in the same way that she does.

I hate you
I used to love

The camera movements become slightly complex, but still hold her in super-close-up for the time being. This song is about a painful break-up, of a lying, cheating disaster of a partner, but at one point was the closest thing to her and could do no wrong. She is backed by a small reverb effect as she sings forlornly into the microphone in super close-up.

It hurts too much
You lied to me and yet now all I think of you is pain
You made me trust you
You made me open up to you
And you tore me down from the heart

For the first chorus, some lights go up and shine slowly on the very outside of the hall. The back wall starts to show black-and-white images, as in, still images, collaged, of families crying and being sad, as per an MRX request for faces for the staging, there being thousands of people entering their faces onto the staging. On the third line of the chorus, there's a gentle crash zoom on Tracy and the lights go back down. The song is almost painful for her to sing, every syllable hanging on the edge of her lips bringing pain and anguish onto her tongue.

I will never let go
Reminds me of everything I know
I am alive, but dead inside
Rotting from the parasite
Of you and all your hurtful lies
I hide away and cry

Tracy leans back with arms open as the camera makes some wide panning shots during the instrumental section. Then, all the lights suddenly crash back down as she convulses around the microphone, almost eating it, such is her closed body structure, making a gigantic metaphor of shying away and closing her body et cetera et cetera. The camera struggles to get some adequate shots of her. On the off-beats, the lights make a gentle flash, almost as if the lighting was the drum beat.

You make me hurt
Loved me like nobody else could
But it was all just a little lie
The pain and hurt is killing me alive

The lights threaten to go up again, representing the energy levels of the backing track, but Tracy resists the temptation and hides back inside the microphone. It's almost as if she's getting over it, slowly, and becoming more defiant and willing to go back out (metaphorically, of course - "stay alert, control the virus, save lives" she would keep saying to herself whilst locked away in her hotel room) into the real world again.

I will never let go
Reminds me of everything I know
I am alive, but dead inside
Rotting from the parasite
Of you and all your hurtful lies
I hide away and cry

Ready to face the adversity of the music once again, a wind machine and golden shower of sparks kick in as Tracy extends both arms outwards and belts into the wind machine, with hair and dress being blown backwards like a hurricane. The lights go up to something more natural and hopeful, with the camera taking wide shots throughout this section, with more images on the back wall of people.

et lacrimo
mmmm
et lacrimo
ooh

All the lights suddenly turn off bar one spotlight on Tracy. There's a gentle zoom-in from a very wide angle but rather than ending on her, the camera gets to her, turns around through 180 degrees, focuses on her back, and zooms out, as if the performance is moving away from us, like a brake van seeing objects moving away from it.

I am alive, but dead inside
Rotting from the parasite
Of you and all your hurtful lies
I hide away and cry

The camera fades to black before it has a chance to crash into the wall. Simultaneously on the final little riff, the lights all turn off.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:24 am**

Dreamer — Black Violin

”Hope” By Joey Simmons
The song “Hope” became a hit song by Joey Simmons in Northwest Kalactin a few months ago. The song is a slow paced one. Simmons is a famous song writer in Northwest Kalactin however, this song was probably his most popular.

Simmons grew up in Coffs Harbour, the second largest city in Northwest Kalactin. Everyone noticed his beautiful singing voice at a young age. Throughout grade school Simmons won almost every competition for song writing that he was in. He wrote his first album when he was 16, and it had over 100,000 plays on the largest song streaming service in Northwest Kalactin. He decided to study at Akers State University. He majored in Music Studies and graduated 3rd in his class. He has created many hit albums since he wrote his first when he was 16. He is now a multi-millionaire and one of the most skilled song writers in Northwest Kalactin. He also composed songs with the Music Studies group of Akers State University. This is one of those songs that was composed with help from them.

One day I was sittin out in the porch
And I was just thinking
We need some more hope in our lives
Just some more hope baby

We all need some hope in our lives
Something to look forward too
Something to lean on
Something to anchor us

Something to Hold back the ship
Something to comfort us
Something to keep us warm at night
Something to give us hope!

We all need some hope
Just a little more
Just a little more hope baby!
That’s all we need

It’s all we need
Just a glimmer
Just a sliver
Of hope baby!

The song ended and cheers could be heard from audiences across the multiverse.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:28 am**

A Big Hunk o' Love — Elvis Presley

The background changes to the flag of West Lushansk used from 1943 to 1993:

...then after that the background shows Angola .

Robert Wilkes enters the stage and yells out REMEMBER THE 6,000 MEN WHO DIED IN LIBERATING LUSHANSKIAN GUYANA (AKA SURINAME)
The band starts to play

Hey Angola, je ne te demande pas grand-chose
Non non non non non non non non
Angola, je ne te demande pas grand-chose
Attends juste que notre jour arrive
Ne soyez pas une colonie avare
Tu vas tuer le pays
Maintenant, vous pouvez économiser du pétrole et de l'argent
Et il en reste encore beaucoup
Oh non non Angola
Je ne te demande pas grand-chose
Attends juste que notre jour arrive
C'est vrai
Tu n'es qu'une colonie
Rempli d'argent vers le haut
Mais je ne suis pas un serviteur colonial gourmand
Tout ce que je veux c'est tout ce que tu as
Oh no no
Angola, I ain't askin' much of you
Just wait until our day comes
That's right
I got a wishbone in the central bank
I got you a television station in the province
I'd have all of the things statehood could bring
If you promise me not to declare independence
Oh no no no no no no no no
Angola , I ain't askin' much of you
Just wait until our day comes
Just wait until our day comes
Just wait until our day comes

Thank you and LONG LIVE LUSHANSK

The song ends as cheers can be heard from audiences across the multiverse.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:30 am**

LEON - You & I

Our "Tongue-Tied" World Hit Festival Queen!: ELIANA was revealed as the Britonish act in the 1 hour reveal show, BVC: A Hit For The World which involved an interview and a performance of her song at the end...

After a disastrous finish which gave Britonisea its worst result 32 editions, ELIANA will represent Britonisea with her song, "Tongue-Tied" in what will be Britonisea's 16th consecutive participation...

It was shocking. For the first time since the 33rd World Hit Festival in Normandy and Picardy, Britonisea were relegated to the bottom half of the competition, and for the first time since the 19th World Hit Festival did the nation finish below 11th position. BVC was shocked, to say the least, with Shards of Diamonds - the runner-up Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2020 act doing very poorly, with some people using examples such as Mehkl Maddox Ajax in WV55 giving those who aren't Britonish a scope on how the country reacted to Shards of Diamond's World Hit Flop. Now while 12th place in a field of twenty is a mid scoreboard finish, there were a lot of hype surrounding Shards of Diamonds, especially since they came 2nd in the international vote - they were destined to do well wherever they went but a lot went wrong at the 51st World Hit Festival held in Todlichebujoku. For the first time in ages, Britonisea had not topped any nation's scores - receiving no 5 points whatsoever. This coming after Britonisea's most successful World Hit Festival, the 50th edition which saw Britonisea break the record World Hit Festival winning points total was truly a shock. A lot of nations had their eyes watching Britonisea's every move, with the intensity of this certainly growing as Britonisea gained prominence in the second half of the 40s. The 51st World Hit Festival was seen as the first edition for Britonisea to lead the way going into the new decade, and with the changing of Head of Delegation, it was hoped that the new Head of Delegation would take Britonisea on a new direction - one that would bring the nation some success. With Britonish leading newspaper, .mag, releasing an article titled, New Britonish Head of Delegation for WHF51 RESIGNS after 10.17m watch Britonisea's worst placement in 32 editions!, it outlined paragraphs and paragraphs of excuses as to why Britonisea didn't place as high as fans thought it would. Ultimately, despite the song somehow reaching top tier appeal at the Grand Final of Vha Mehlodhivestoile, it appeared that some of the nations that favoured "Full of Surprises" didn't end up participating and it left their song much to be desired on the night of the Grand Final in Todlichebujoku. Going home back to Britonisea was hard for the girls, with them receiving criticism, many fans saying that they weren't picked by Britonisea - with the nation ranking Shards of Diamonds last place in their Semi-Final for Vha Mehlodhivestoile. Taking on board these criticisms and in defence of the girls, BVC released a statement, saying that;

The result of the competition was, of course, not what we wanted for Britonisea, but we are a nation that is committed to picking itself back up and trying again.

At this moment in time, they also announced that the Head of Delegation for the 51st World Hit Festival, Geraldine Hamilton, had resigned from her post, stating that she feels as though she isn't the right candidate to become the Head of Delegation at the World Hit Festival and that there are others who would be much more suitable for the role. While it came as a shock for BVC... allegedly... she was soon replaced four days later in a .mag exclusive titled World Hit Festival winning composer, Tom Stardust to become Britonisea's 7th Head of Delegation for the World Hit Festival! which had many people excited about what Britonisea would offer going forward.

The 52nd World Hit Festival returns to Kalosia for the fifth time, with Britonisea having a lot of history worth remembering when Kalosia hosts. With half of Britonish wins taking place in the last three Kalosian hostings (26th, 37th, 42nd World Hit Festivals), Tom Stardust - the newly elected Head of Delegation - was hoping that he could keep up this record as he rose to the occasion. Tom Stardust, a young music composer and lyricist decided that he wanted to lead the Delegation. He is different from his predecessors, Guy Autriche and Fabio McAlpine, both of which are Television Producers as well as musicians on the side. Tom believes that since his day job is a musician, hopefully, this can give Britonisea yet another advantage and chance to succeed at the World Hit Festival. For a few editions, Tom is on a probationary period where he will be able to prove whether he can successfully be the Head of Delegation for Britonisea. We are sure that he will do a fantastic job.

The first thing that Tom Stardust wanted to do was have a show in Britonisea that officially announced the Britonish act for the World Hit Festival and after speaking to the broadcaster about it, especially leaning on the fact that Studio formats could provide more TV in a time where other things have been suspended, BVC accepted to have a show, with it later being called BVC: A Hit For The World, playing on the words of WHF. Usually, Britonish World Hit Festival acts are dropped either straight on streaming sites or they have their music video played in the break between two shows on BVC One but Tom felt as though more needed to be done to get more people excited for the 52nd World Hit Festival - as he expects not as many people to watch unless they get to know the Britonish act and like her. In a show which lasted approximately an hour, there was a vote on which was the favourite Britonish winner, with Britonisea's World Hit Festival 46 winner winning the Britonish televote. We heard from Shards of Diamonds as well, with Sam Pickett from the group saying this;

The voting for us was hard, you know. We thought that going into the World Hit Festival, we had a chance to make an impact on the scoreboard – there was quite a bit of hype around our entry and at the end of the day a lot of people watch VM – not just in Britonisea. So, maybe we were just too complacent at the time but we went in thinking that if we could come second at VM, there was absolutely no reason as to why we couldn’t do even better at the World Hit Festival. As the points came in, I remember the Halfway point of Phase 1 and we only had, like, a single point and it made me sad, yes. We got a couple of fours which cheered us up, a lot, but we had other members of other delegations saying things like, “Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine, Phase 2 will reward you generously” but that never happened in the end. Though it didn’t really ruin the experience, we had so much fun on the stage and I wouldn’t change anything – we didn’t do as well as we wanted to but we will try again, we will try and get back into VM and aim for that win and who knows, maybe next time we will win the World Hit Festival multiple times in a row!

They remained rather positive about each of their future plans which Tom Stardust was happy about. He thought that it was unfortunate that the first Britonish girl group to represent Britonisea since legendary The Serpentents didn't do as well as they had hoped with a good song. Right at the end of the night, it was announced that ELIANA would represent Britonisea at the upcoming World Hit Festival and after a very dramatic introduction video where she was announced as a Multi-Platinum artist, which she is! ELIANA has had lots of success as a Britonish artist outside the World Hit Festival bubble and was approached about participating in the Festival, eventually accepting the honour to do so with her song...

"… it will be called “Tongue-tied” and it’s a really nice song about a girl, me, who is younger than how I am now. This was maybe five years ago when I fell head over heels for this guy, he was perfect, he was talk, dark and handsome – what can I say? And I remember writing in my song diary, as I used to do lyrics, that I was tongue-tied for this guy as I was not able to walk into a room with him. To me, he was perfect, but I couldn’t ever tell him that I liked him, even if I heard from others that he liked me back, I was so self-conscious and insecure. In the song, I sing about the worst case scenario with me imagining something terrible happening if I were to show my weak side and tell him I love him, you know. It’s a song where I get to reminisce. I can be sad, but also happy. I’ve improved a lot since then."

She was then asked about her partnership with Tom Stardust, our new Head of Delegation. She said;

"Yeah, it was a great partnership. I had him contact me about this opportunity. I wasn’t a part of the World Hit Festival bubble so to be contacted was a nice surprise. I showed him my work, these lyrics, from ages ago and he said that along with a few composers he knew came up with a basic melody and I said yeah okay. I went and I listened to it and I loved it, but I thought it was too masculine – you know what Tom is like with his songs. So I decided to add a bit of femininity in there – I wanted to show how strong females were, but not ignore our fragile and emotional sides too. I feel like through the song, I did just that, I am in love with this song. “I’m tongue-tied” at this song."

Straight after the emission, ELIANA had to get ready to travel to Kalosia where there was a fourteen-day quarantine process, where acts had to make sure that they were coronavirus free before being able to step onto the World Hit Festival stage. ELIANA was nervous about heading to the World Hit Festival, especially during the pandemic, but she had Tom Stardust, Alice Broker and Remy Tusk and William Deans. All members of the delegation had a hand in writing the song, but due to the restrictions on how many went to the World Hit Festival in the end, they had to split the responsibilities between them such as the scheduler, costume, lighting and staging designer etc and so they were all busy during the fourteen days, preparing to get ready for the rehearsals which would be in two weeks time. Whilst on her flight to the host destination, she thought about how to make a moment on the stage, and as she closed her eyes to rest she dreamt of how it would be on the World Hit Festival stage with the inspiration of the staging coming from that one dream.

During the Opening for the 52nd World Hit Festival, there was a Nation's Parade in which Britonisea participated in. The Britonish act, ELIANA stepped out onto the stage, flowing her dress around jubilantly before waving at the camera - smiling and showing her teeth as she did so. She was happy to represent Britonisea and couldn't wait to perform her song...

She had waited for her turn and now it was finally time to perform her song once again in front of an audience. She had received praise from her performance at BVC: A Hit For The World, where over three million people watched her. She knew that triple the amount of Britons would be watching her perform this song in Kalosia and while it won't be like how she expected it to be - in some World Hit Festival arena with screaming, shouting fans, she was most certainly satisfied that she would have the opportunity to represent her country. In a way, the fact that there wasn't anyone "watching" her in the arena, she might have been able to dance and sing as though she was in her bathroom which is something she wanted to do - she wanted to come across as real as possible to the audience watching her. ELIANA was wearing a yellow flowery summer dress, giving her performance a sweet and innocent feel which is what she wanted. She walked up on the stage with a smile on her face, putting in her earpiece before getting ready to go live in front of millions. There were some limited props for the Britonish performance. Unlike last edition, BVC wanted to keep this edition rather simple, with the hope that the song could carry this performance forward alone.

As the Britonish postcard finished, we were joined live in the studio. At the start of the song, ELIANA was looking straight into the lens of the camera where it looked as though she was doing her makeup and using the reflective glass lens as a mirror. She didn't pull any faces, rather gently powdering her already powered nose in a seemingly elegant way. As the close camera moved outwards, ELIANA straightened her back from what is was before, as the audience saw that she was sitting down on a chair - a small stool as she did her make up. She relied on microphones that were dotted around the staging and on her for the first second of the song, not really moving to fiercely around so that she could be picked up by each of the microphones.

Sleeping alone, cold pillow sheets,
Nothing to warm me but memories.
Thinking of you as each hour passes,
I know deep down that I’m hurting.

I avoid walking in a room if you’re there,
Oh, I never gave myself a good chance.
I wish you could read my mind,
So that I could tell you one thing...

As we move onto the next part of the song, she pauses as she thinks about how much she is hurting, as she looks down, singing down to the ground for a second - almost holding back the tears as she reminisces at the line "I avoid walking", and looking up as she finishes the sentence. She closes her make up case gently as she sings the next lyric, with the molten golden themed backing on the LEDs become more fierce. ELIANA had her hair up in a bun, held together by a single pin and as she started to sing the next line, ELIANA reached for the pin, taking it out before shaking her head from left to right before her beautiful long lochs ran down past her shoulders. When singing the last line of the chorus, "So that I could tell you one thing", ELIANA smiled slightly, combing her hand through her hair and moving to centre stage, ready for the chorus of the song.

In the centre of the stage was a microphone and mic stand which she stood behind. She grabbed the microphone, singing the lyrics you could find in the name of the song, "I'm tongue-tied". At this point, the camera slowly moved away from her, at an angle which would seem as though it was flying her above her. ELIANA let loose during this section, dancing freely with the microphone that appeared. She hadn't planned the dancing and swaying that she was going to do - she was swaying her hips, smiling and enjoying the music, moving in any direction her body took her. Similarly to LEON in the Official Clip of the song. As the song moved on, the lights were reacting to the drumbeat that you could hear in the back, with strobe lights moving from the sides of the stage to the centre above her, hitting the centre like a drumstick to a drum.

I’m tongue-tied,
Looking at you makes me breathless,
There’s a simple reason why.
I’m tongue-tied,
I’ll shout it loud from the treetops.
Tell me the feeling is mutual,
Boy, please don’t hurt me.
I cannot cope with a broken heart.
I am tongue-tied,
I’m tongue-tied.

As we move to "I cannot cope with a broken heart" the lights in the studio space from a molten golden colour to a dark hue of purple, which filled up the LED screens and the floor beneath her - her dress contrasting with the dark colour around her. In order to further create the themes of the performance, the cameras had a bokeh effect on, with colours and shapes appearing behind ELIANA as she sang the end of the chorus. As she sang "heart", she placed the microphone back onto the mic stand, placing both her hands on top of the microphone and closing her eyes and she repeated the phrase that she was tongue-tied. During this moment, it looked as though ELIANA was rather broken, she still has a lot of emotion deep within her after trying to hide that in the first section of the song.

As we move to the next part of the song, "Lost in your smile", ELIANA - still with her eyes shut - smiled, reacting to the lyrics that she was singing as deep down she thought about the boy in question and how she felt butterflies whenever he smiled at her. The lights around the stage were dimmed down, with there being a moving close up of ELIANA singing into the microphone. As she finished singing the lyrics "own universe", she slowly opened her eyes before the camera started to circle around her. She continued singing the verse, again running her hand through her hair as she sang...

Lost in your smile, it’s you and I,
Just us two in our own universe.
Your voice, so heavenly like
A gentle breeze on a hot summer’s day.

When I’m with you, I’m flying high on cloud nine,
You lift me up, and then I’m hit with reality.
D’you like me like I like you?
I wonder if you notice me,
Do you notice me?

Major technological advancements such as the use of holograms were requested by the Britonish broadcaster, with the first of them to be used now. As she started to sing the line, "I'm flying high on cloud nine", the purple hue that we saw earlier came back in a slightly lighter shade with clouds appearing on the LEDs around her. To give the effect that ELIANA was on the stage with these clouds, there was the use of haze on the stage while also having holograms of semi-opaque clouds from above and below her. There was a shot directly in front of her as she pivoted around the circular stage, taking off the microphone from the mic stand as she does. Before we reached the end of the chorus, she made a hand gesture which "pushed" the clouds down to the ground, with the LED also reacting, with it looking as though we were falling from the space into the Earth's core, with the stage returning to the molten gold colour that it was before.

I’m tongue-tied,
Looking at you makes me breathless,
There’s a simple reason why.
I’m tongue-tied,
I’ll shout it loud from the treetops.
Tell me the feeling is mutual,
Boy, please don’t hurt me.
I cannot cope with a broken heart.
I am tongue-tied,
I’m tongue-tied.

Similarly to the end of the chorus the first time around, the colours of the gold slightly went from gold to purple as a single spotlight started to focus on ELIANA as she pleaded to the camera, saying that she couldn't cope with a broken heart. ELIANA lightly tapped on the right side of her chest as she sang about her heart, before rolling her head back as she sang "I am tongue-tied". She looked a bit embarrassed as she rolled her head back up into normal position, moving her shoulders up as she moved onto the next part of the song...

It was now time for the bridge of the song. Using the example of Molly Sanden - Youniverse at 02:08, the cameras twinkled and went blurry as ELIANA took a seat on the stool that she sat on before. Unlike Molly Saden's performance, however, the lights in the studio went dark, with a very strong spotlight. The cameras caught what was happening from far away, using Gjorns Tears in an acoustic version of his song. After the long shot of ELIANA, and using the cues from 02:45, circling around ELIANA as she went deeper and deeper into her emotions while singing the bridge...

There’s questions I want answering,
You’re in the spotlight.
Tell me you don’t love me,
As tears drown my eyes.
A dagger to the heart,
But I will recover.
I’ll hold in all the emotions,
Maybe you should never know...

At the end of the verse, colour filled the stage once again as ELIANA grabbed stood up strongly and walked to the middle of the stage, placing the microphone onto the mic stand, flinging her hands and sides across the stage as she did. There was a zoom-in shot of her as she moved towards the microphone. Pyros shot into the air as we moved to the final chorus of the song.

I’m tongue-tied,
Looking at you makes me breathless,
There’s a simple reason why.
I’m tongue-tied,
I’ll shout it loud from the treetops.
Tell me the feeling is mutual,
Boy, please don’t hurt me.
I cannot cope with a broken heart.
I am tongue-tied,
I’m tongue-tied.

In what was the second time that the holograms were used, the stage LEDs got dark around her. Over her shoulder, there was a male figure that was made up by a culmination of stars and as she started to sing the lyrics "I am tongue-tied", the figure walked behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. This bit was inspired by her dream that she had before the start of the Festival. ELIANA then danced with this hologram, moving from side to side. This could only be compared to a dance in a beautiful, traditional Disney film. There was a camera poised on ELIANA and this hologrpahic figure as she stopped singing, dancing along to the feel-good, though sad and thought-provoking track behind her. Her eyes looked as though it was watering up as the hologram made of stars pulled her out before letting her go...

I’m tongue-tied.

As she sang "tongue tied" she holds her hands, and as the two let go of one another, the stars that once made up the man, started disappearing up into the air, with another shot (aerial) showed the stars moving passed it - with ELIANA looking up. As we moved back down to ELIANA's level, ELIANA was surrounded by the stars that made the hologram of the man up. She turns to the camera, taking a seat on the stool she started on, as the lights slowly fade out with a sad expression. The song dies out as the camera moves further and further away from ELIANA as she looks down.

It was the end of the performance. ELIANA was relieved, but she needed to take a moment to think about what she had just done - represent her country. "Thank you" she said solemnly into the microphone, "Thank you all".

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:33 am**

Ту-лу-ла — Chicherina

The group consists of three people - guitarist Valery Apatsky, also the author of the text, and two drummers - Maxim Starkov and Stas Ivanov. The group has already gained popularity in Waisnor and neighboring countries - which is why was decided to send them to to World Hit Festival.

At the competition, all members of the group were dressed alike - black leather jackets on gray t-shirts and the same black jeans.

Now we turn to the performance:
The performance began with a quick knock on the drums by Ivanov and Starkov, and then Apatsky began to play the guitar. He played like that without saying anything for a few seconds. Against the background was a cloudy sky, looking like it was about to rain with a thunderstorm. Starkov and Ivanov were seated one at a time on small stages (

), and Apatsky was standing right on the center of the stage. And during the performance from both sides powerful condionaires blew on the group, which made it difficult to perform, but the guys managed this.

Я иду, но стою, задыхаюсь, но дышу
I walk, but stand, suffocate, but breathe

Я и ем, и голодаю, я и гений, и дурак
I eat and starve, I am both a genius and a fool

Моя жизнь - сплошной бедлам, судьбу я прошу
My life is solid bedlam, I ask fate

Сделать так, чтобы вдруг мне
Make me suddenly

Разобрать бардак
Disassemble the mess

Я почти на краю, мне осталось только ждать,
I'm almost on the edge, I just have to wait

Может, мой кошмар уйдет, может, будет дальше мрак
Maybe my nightmare will go away, maybe there will be more darkness

Разрываюсь я на части, не могу молчать
I'm torn to pieces, I can’t be silent

Это может длиться вечно,
It can last forever

Не сбежать никак
No escape

Valery sang with anguish. His mouth was almost invisible while singing - the microphone, clasped by his hands, covered it. Drummers also played with passion. Before the chorus, Valery took the microphone and jumped with it, and already during the chorus Apatsky was spinning at full speed, demonstrating the chaos, about which, in fact, the song. The drummers have remained in place for now.

Ту-лу-ла, ту-лу-ла, ту-ту-ту-лу-ла,
Tu-lu-la, tu-lu-la, tu-tu-tu-lu-la,

Ещё есть кусочек света, ла-а
There is still a piece of light, la

Ту-лу-ла, ту-лу-ла, ту-ту-ту-лу-ла,
Tu-lu-la, tu-lu-la, tu-tu-tu-lu-la,

Песенка ещё не спета, ла-ла-ла-а
The song is not yet sung, la la la la

By the way, the fact that the T-shirt on the members of the group is gray, and the rest of the clothes are black, just symbolizes that "there is still a piece of light". Before the execution of the second verse, the background changed - it went down a little and opened a view of the seemingly bottomless abyss, whicn walked exactly where Valery stood. Also, in the depths of the background, 2-3 beams of light were visible, which, however, quickly faded.

Вижу я вдалеке вдруг рассеялся туман
I see in the distance, the fog suddenly dissipated

Но до счастья далеко, не окончена борьба
But happiness is far away, the struggle is not over

Меня тянет прямо в бездну, прямо в капкан
I'm drawn right into the abyss, right into the trap

Продолжается судьбе моя
My silent plea

Безмолвная мольба
To fate continues

Я стою на краю, смерть хочет меня взять
I'm standing on the edge, death wants to take me

Но уверен я, что нет, не настигнет меня тьма
But I'm sure that no, darkness will not overtake me

Всё ж надежда ещё есть, её не отнять
There is still hope, it cannot be taken away

А пока в моей башке
In the meantime, in my head

Идёт странная война
There is a strange war

Valery sang these verses a little calmer, but still felt the feelings with which the song sang. By the way, Starkov and Ivanov suddenly got up and began to play standing. Well, the background during the second performance of the chorus began to spin, as did Valery. Von and Apatsky were spinning in unison, and the camera at that moment was aimed at Valery, so that the background for the most part seemed motionless.

Ту-лу-ла, ту-лу-ла, ту-ту-ту-лу-ла,
Tu-lu-la, tu-lu-la, tu-tu-tu-lu-la,

Ещё есть кусочек света, ла-а
There is still a piece of light, la

Ту-лу-ла, ту-лу-ла, ту-ту-ту-лу-ла,
Tu-lu-la, tu-lu-la, tu-tu-tu-lu-la,

Песенка ещё не спета, ла-ла-ла-а
The song is not yet sung, la la la la

After the song was sung, Apatsky played the guitar for some time. Well, after everything calmed down and Valery stopped playing, the band members stood shoulder to shoulder and bowed to the spectators who watched World Hit Festival on TV.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:36 am**

Get 'Em — Ace Hood

Mac Lewis is representing Togonistan in the 52nd World Hit Festival with his single ''Blockchain''

Mac ''Sharpshoota'' Lewis is a Togonistani rapper and TV host. He is representing Togonistan in WHF 52 with his song ''Blockchain''

Stage theme is dark. Mac is wearing black T-shirt accompanied by a bunch of gold chains, black jeans and red sneakers. He is standing on the stage, accompanied by two backing dancers. The dancers are dressed in futuristic-looking robocop-like outfits. Camera focuses on Mac as he starts his performance. Throughout the whole performance, he is very active and constantly moving around from one spot to another.

The life is a big cryptography
Amongst the whole demography
We all need to find our place
Everyone wears their poker face
Make it difficult to read
Ridin' on others shoulders, carried by greed
Ones will rise, others demise
Every one of us is part of this...

Mac bends his knees as the dancers start doing some robotic dance moves. Background LEDs display graphics of a blockchain

Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a

Mac walks around on the stage, throwing up some hand signs every once in a while.

Hold up, come here
Do your part for the lair
Working from nine to five
Earn lil' something to get by
Big chiefs sitting at their office
Counting them banknotes taking most of the profits
Little people are doing their dirty work
Get a pat on the back and cup of coffee as a perk
But then behing their back
Big sharks smirk and laugh
Lil' fish fooled by big fish
Saw them as a friend, was a case of catfish
But when one dares to cross their line
It's gonna change the whole blockchain
Former mouse becomes a cat
Gets replaced by another mouse

Camera takes a few shots at the dancers who are bending their body, before focusing on Mac again.

The life is a big cryptography
Amongst the whole demography
We all need to find our place
Everyone wears their poker face
Make it difficult to read
Ridin' on others shoulders, carried by greed
Ones will rise, others demise
Every one of us is part of this...

Again, dancers do their robotic moves.

Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a

Camera starts rotating around Mac, who is keeping a constant eye contact with it as he is rapping his lyrics.

When you think you have made it
Climbed to the top of the chain
Another fish will come
Throw a roundhouse kick into your face
Fall high, land hard
For a split second you let down your guard
Tough life, now you need to pay
Back at the bottom of the blockchain
Grinding all day for your own sake
Even all night, can't get no break
(Whaaaaaat)
Yee ain't you yet done
(Huuuuhhhh)
Yee back to square one
(Nahhhhhhhhh)
You really grind
Running in this race with all the other little ants
Still playing this havily rigged game of chance
Tryna win in this b-b-blockchain

Mac starts walking towards one of the small stages.

The life is a big cryptography
Amongst the whole demography
We all need to find our place
Everyone wears their poker face
Make it difficult to read
Ridin' on others shoulders, carried by greed
Ones will rise, others demise
Every one of us is part of this...

Mac makes his way to one of the satellite stages and stands there.

Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a

Mac lies down and camera takes a top-down shot on him. There is a LED screen beneath him, which displays some white graphical mess on a black background. Mac synchronizes his moves with the graphics.

Two equals one equals two
Rounds up to twenty two, yet the answer is fourty two
Big games of cryptography
Used to write our biography
Big cats treating their minions
Feeling like video game heroes
Acting like a villain, victim, diva primadonna
This game will never be over
Everyone wears their poker face
Make it difficult to read
When all cards have been played
Got one up in sleeve
Sad face on, you slip give one your hand
Yet one takes your arm
Climbs out of hole then leaves you hanging

Led screen beneath him starts displaying a tunnel effect, with the camera slowly rotating, making it look as if mac is speeding through some sort of space.

The life is a big cryptography
Amongst the whole demography
We all need to find our place
Everyone wears their poker face
Make it difficult to read
Ridin' on others shoulders, carried by greed
Ones will rise, others demise
Every one of us is part of this...

Suddenly, lights flash very brightly for a brief moment and Mac is seen standing up again. Stage is well lit up as the final chorus is being performed.

Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
We're part of a
Blockchain
Blockchain blockchain blockchain blockchain
We're part of a

Mac starts walking to leave the stage. Camera follows him until he makes his way to the exit. Before leaving though, he looks over his shoulder and at that very moment, music stops and the room goes pitch black.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:39 am**

Show Yourself — Idina Menzel, Evan Rachel Wood

"Come, my darling, homeward bound. When all is lost, then all is found." - Queen Iduna, Frozen II

Deviating away from Izmeduan protocol, a brief pre-performance snippet will be played live as a cold open to the entry. Instead of starting with the entry itself, the track that directly preceded “Tko sam ka” in the musical would play first. Ana Petric, as Queen Izabela, would be situated on one of the satellite stages. Ana took a deep breath as she began to get into the mind of her character… She was about to face one of her biggest threats, an earthly titan that prevented her from getting to her main goal: to reach the summit of Mount Varaj. Ena Malenica & Valentina Malenica's The Summit would play as the initial track, starting the proceedings...

Queen Izabela: Alright, here we go…

[These were the first words uttered by Queen Izabela for the performance, the camera taking on a cinematic dynamic as it was situated first upon her face. The orchestral track started off with a soft rumbling as her eyes looked up with a determination toward her goal. A projection of Mount Varaj would appear on the stage, its lofty perch reaching the ceiling of the Black Box Studio. The camera was strategically placed to maintain the illusion that Izabela was about to scale a large mountain. However, what stopped her path was the appearance of a titan that blocked her path. Both would stare at each other, waiting for the other to make their move. The Earth Spirit would refuse to let Izabela go any further. Through sheer force, Izabela would shoot bolts of ice from her hands, all directly hitting the Earth Spirit.

As the music continued to intensify, she would run towards the Earth Spirit. The spirit growls in anger and belligerence, displeased at its habitat being interrupted by a seeming outside. A tense action sequence followed, a carefully choreographed series of rolls and shots that gave off the impression that the spirit was smacking the ground. The world looked to have been shaken to its very core, with Izabela being kept at her wits despite harboring powers of ice. She would freeze one of the giant’s hands, attempting to placate and defeat the spirit.

Even so, the Earth Spirit was not to be defeated so easily. The middle section of this fight between both saw Izabela and the Earth Spirit locked in a virtual deadlock. The spirit was about to crush her, but it was through Izabela concentrating her powers into a singular beam was what prevented Izabela from certain defeat. This struggle would continue on, the Earth Spirit’s might struggling against Izabela’s powers of ice. As the music began to climax to its most triumphant point, Izabela seemed to be winning… Her eyes narrowed as she intensified the power she had inside of her. The ice beam increased in glorious, until the point where Izabela was powerful enough to overpower the earthly beast. As the music climaxed to its most glorious point, her ice magic was enough to force the earth giant’s hand to another section of the arena. The beast had yielded to her. The earth spirit kneeled before her, its hologram slowly fading as the camera returned to a closer view of Izabela. Her eyes were entranced as the studio shifted ‘locals.’ As the spirit faded, it seemed to be taking her right to the heart of the mountain she so longed to reach. She was now within Varaj itself.

The Black Box Studio’s surroundings and stage reflected that change in scenery. She was entering the mountain’s chasm from a summit, the stage reflecting earthly ground coated in ice. Izabela gazed around in wonder, the leit-motif of ‘ahs’ playing as her eyes expressed an almost innocent wonderment.]

Queen Izabela: Of course!… The heart of magic lies in the core of a mountain! Varaj truly was the answer… Varaj was home all along, Varaj is magic.

The music quieted to its calmest point, marking the turning point towards the very entry that Izmedu was sending to the 52nd World Hit Festival. As Izabela walked towards the center of the stage, a sigh of relief could visibly be heard from her as the entry began in earnest. A calm orchestra gave way to a soft piano, heralding a sign of things to come. This was the moment of rest after a tough battle, with Izabela ascertaining and appraising her surroundings closely for the first time, seeing the world with fresh eyes. The music continued on like this as the LED screens around her began to shift once more to fit the new locale she was in. They were coated in a darkened light blue, moving alongside her as if she was walking. Izabela’s movements gave the illusion that she was indeed walking in a mountain’s chasm, descending to its core. As she kept walking, the stage itself remained darkened, with only a faint spotlight fixated on Izabela to cover the planned holographic effects meant for the later parts of the song. The piano’s soft melody gave off an air of an anticipatory hope. It was brief, with the camera slowly zooming in on Izabela as it was time for her to sing. With a soft smile, she looked around the stage, the ‘chasm,’ slowly hugging herself as her expression was pursed in deep thought. From here, Tko sam ja would truly begin…

Sam piarđena divojka
Nalaz nazin put
U okrutnom svitu
Godinama maja hladna cre
Stajao mirno
Tako sam se sakrio
Od mržnje
Želim biti slobodan

Izabela’s voice was tentative, almost husky for these first lines. Her eyes were looking down away from the camera, fading into a slightly more distant view. She was framed as a lost girl still trying to find herself, walking alone in the darkness attempting to find a way in this lost chasm. In terms of stage blocking, she was quite literally walking circles around the studio, but the camera kept fading into angles that ensured that Izabela appeared to be walking forward. Her steps were slow and tentative, akin to the softer tone of voice she used. The way she enunciated each word was done with care and clarity, as a way to compensate for the fact that she was remaining almost quiet in comparison to later parts of the song. Her body language indicated that she was still hiding, hugging herself with both arms. However, her eyes indicated the latent desire associated with the song’s larger narrative. She wanted to open up, she wanted to be free from a murky and dark past that kept haunting her. Halfway through this first verse, Izabela would cease her walking. She would reach out both of her hands towards the darkness, visibly trembling much as her voice was slightly shaking from the emotion brimming in each word. Her eyes were closed as she closed off the first verse, once more walking the stage as the song quickly transitioned to its pre-chorus.

Bojim se maj usamljenost
Zaključavam jamnu
Mui vrime je?...
Kao što sam i ja?

This pre-chorus may have been relatively brief, but it also marked the song’s first turning point as its first moment of opening up for Izabela herself. Though her body language remained closed off, her expressions indicated that she began to question whether or not sequestering herself from the world was a wise, long-term choice. The desire to reach out and accept herself as she was continued to grow, but there was still an apprehension that was laced in her voice. She was still tentative, taking baby steps towards but taking more chances with her vocals. Bit by bit, Izabela’s strength in her notes and belts would increase in each line. She started off softer, before letting out a bit more power at the last line of the pre-chorus. At that ending, she would directly stare into the camera, asking the question that was written in the lyrics directly towards audiences at home. Was she ready to take the step to self-acceptance? Was she ready to be as she was?

Tko sam ja?
Molim ne skrivaj se
Tko sam ja?
Doma sam
Jednom u zivotu kažem
Ne bojim se
Tko sam ja
Posegnem el cil

If the verse and the pre-chorus were her reflections upon the wisdom of trying to let go of the past, this chorus represented her first attempt in doing so. Much like the introduction to the song, the focus was squarely kept on Izabela and her softer vocals. The lights and the stage effects remained sparse as Izabela kept walking deeper into the chasm that she was in, walking slowly towards what she was being drawn towards. The camera remained close, only faintly revealing the background to audiences watching at home. Her delivery of the song’s title exuded a profound fragility and vulnerability, as if she was willing herself to no longer hide from who she really was. There was an uncertainty that rang through her expressions and eyes, heavy with an apprehension that showed that Izabela was going through the process of trying and even singing these words for the first time in her life. The camera caught this emotional metamorphosis in action, with Izabela slowly realizing that she did indeed have what it took to embrace what she had inside of her. This was shown especially at the chorus’ latter half, where Izabela began to let out more of her voice. Her notes got more powerful, her expressions more open, and a ghost of a grin appearing on her face. She was ready to soar and she was more than happy to take up the task.

The chorus ended with a leitmotif, a series of four melodic ahs that would reoccur during the song. Those ‘ahs’ were first sung by Izabela, before being repeated by a background singer who delivered those notes with an ethereal whimsy. Those notes represented the brief interval between this chorus and the second verse, and from here, the Black Box Stage truly began to come alive. As Izabela and her background singer vocalized the song’s melodic hook, the studio’s LED screens began to light up in a sparkling array of blue lights. These blue lights would quickly sparkle, lasting for the duration for this brief interval. The camera would catch a wide view of these sparkles and Izabela gazing at them with a greater wonderment, her body language turning freer as her eyes shone with the excitement of a new discovery. These lights beckoned her to keep going, to keep chasing after the voice that responded back to her. With a smile, she began to quickly move…

Vas pasaračim naprid
Siansa žaljenja
Nisam piarđen zauvik
Mogu li pronaći maj rasaun?
Bio sam damna i slomljen
Tako amaro na svit
Jamo stojim
Siansa straha
Spreman sam za mjasca

The second verse saw the song move at a faster pace, with Izabela slowly becoming more and more comfortable singing in her own skin. She would gaze at the studio’s surroundings with a newfound confidence, looking at the world with fresh and renewed eyes, born again and spreading her wings for the first time. The first half of the verse was a mixture of close and wide shots of Izabela herself, seeing her quickly move around the stage without compromising vocal quality and breath. These views again reinforced the illusion that she was moving through the chasm, chasing after a light that kept on moving. During the first few lines of this verse, there were a series of sparkles that she kept moving towards, and she was transfixed towards them. As she did so, the camera would catch how she was far more apt to use her powers and not hide them. Her hands were perpetually being shown glowing a light blue, with beams of ice being occasionally shot from them that affected what the LED screens were being shown. She walked onwards as if she was marching, her footsteps timed to the song’s rhythm. Her arms were outstretched, contorting the walls presented on the LED screens to ‘open’ to another section and creating a pathway for herself. On the floor, the cameras would also catch Izabela creating an ice path for herself. The latter half of this verse saw Izabela begin to encounter another barrier as the sparkles stopped, a series of ice blocks on a section of the LED screen that she was directly facing. Despite the obstacle, it didn’t stop Izabela from grinning or her vocals from growing more powerful. As the verse approached its end, determination only began to fuel Izabela’s actions and voice. At the final line, she would cup both of her hands together as the camera focused on a view of her face, a firm resolve evident in her expression as she belted out the last line.

Tko sam ja?
Neustrašiv i snažart
Nađen sam
Kao tko sam
Jamo mogu reći s hrabrošću
Ne bojim se
Od tko sam ja
Nema više straha

The chorus began with a glorious bang. With a concentrated force of power, Izabela had no problem clearing the barrier in front of her, entering another section of the chasm and going even deeper. She was closer to the voice that was calling out to her, and it was clear that Izabela was quickly getting even more engrossed in the pure joy she felt being in a place where she felt like she belonged. She had no qualms about restraining her power when she forced that barrier open. On the LED screens, the chasm would transform from its lighter blue background to a light purple one, signaling to the audience that she was getting ever so closer. Izabela’s vocals were more powerful, letting her voice fly and belting out the most triumphant version of the chorus thus far. For the first half of the chorus, she would make a slight show of her powers, her free hands creating intricate columns of blue and purple ice that would manifest as holograms. These holograms quickly faded from view, suggesting that Izabela was still quickly moving her towards her goal. At the chorus’ latter half (starting at the fourth line onwards), she continued to create more intricate pathways and pushed out even more boundaries away from her as the LED screens continued the illusion that she was moving forward at a fast pace. At the sixth line of the chorus, she would eventually encounter what seemed to be the ‘end’ of the chasm. A bright entrance that was sparkling much like the way the studio did when progressing from the first chorus to the second verse. That sense of discover was only intensifying, with the end to this chorus seeing Izabela’s face turn pensive as she began to ‘enter’ to her what seemed to be the great beyond. She broke that entrance with her powers, taking tentative steps forward. Who was the voice that kept calling out to her? Why was she led here? And why did she feel so fulfilled and quite literally in her element?

Čuj me jamo
Majim baudam
Jedva čekam
Sam slobodan
Čuj me jamo
Majim baudam
Jedva čekam
Sam slobodan

For this bridge, she would once more see the sparkles from earlier. This time, they appeared as holograms that would fly around her, beckoning her to move forward. The first half of the bridge saw her chase the sparkles without abandon, nearly running as they led her around the stage. Izabela’s voice returned to an earlier tentativeness, singing the lyrics as if she were attempting to directly communicate with the voice that kept beckoning to her. She kept reaching out to those same sparkles, always within reach but her hands never being able to grasp at her. Almost to the point where it briefly looked as if she was beginning to lose hope of ever finding out who or what this mysterious force even was. However, she was not going to let their difficulty and evasiveness get to her. At the second half of this bridge, Izabela’s voice was more forceful, a power laced in her voice that she was not going to turn back. As Izabela walked forward, she would close her eyes and reach outwards with both of her hands. Those hands emanated power, compelling the sparkles that she would follow begin to instead surround her. As those sparkles began to surround her hands, the music similarly just as intensified to a climactic point. A soft instrumental would begin to give way to a building crescendo of an orchestra. The music would continue to intensify as Izabela belted out the last line of the bridge, leading straight to what Izabela would ‘find.’ Her walking forward with her eyes closed, letting the ‘sparkles’ guide her made her inadvertently stand at the very center of the stage in the Black Box Studio. A ice blue pattern was now on the stage, resembling the rough shape that crossed between a glacier and a heart. She stood and nearly stomped on the pattern, timed to the music’s continued intensification and swelling. Her eyes opened as the power surrounding her became almost too overwhelming. However, this didn’t stop her from reaching downwards to the floor. She would pull from the power that was now literally surrounding her, holograms of icy energy emanating from the floor to her hands…

[U planina leži cre
Rođen od led
Odgoji s ljubaur]
Jamna je uvik doma
Doma sam

The build-up from the bridge found its payoff here. A chorus would sing the first line, with ‘u planina’ specifically marking the point where the song would diverge from its original melody towards a triumphant continuation. At those specific words, the camera would first linger at a somewhat close view of Izabela as she would begin to reach one hand upward. With one flick of the hand upward, timed to the change in music, Izabela would fling a light towards the ceiling that would dramatically change the LED screen background of the entire studio stage. Instead of a black background that signified a great beyond type of area, Izabela seemed to be staring around at an area built from a blue-purple ice, one that didn’t quite look any sort of chasm. Instead, it was an ornate chamber-like area, one where she could only look in amazement at how the area seemed to pulse to the melody of the song, emanating in an energy that she wanted more of. Her breathless expressions coincided with the music’s continuing crescendo. Glorious horns were timed to the choir’s control of this continued bridge, singing the lyrics with both joy and solemnity. For the first two lines that the choir sang, the ‘ah’ melody returned to be sung by a background singer with that same ethereal tone. However, the voice rang out with more clarity and power, causing the studio to light up in an array of bright purple and blue light. These music cues also caused the camera to take slow yet wide sweeping views of the stage. It cemented the power and the awe that Izabela was faced with, making her look somewhat small in comparison to what the camera was showing. The full extent of the studio was displayed, cleverly angled to not betray a single trick or illusion. At the choir’s third and final line, the camera would fade to a closer view of Izabela, both hands held to her chest as she tried to reign her emotions in, moved from what she was feeling and seeing.

Once the choir completed their part, another singer’s voice could be heard. It was just as powerful, but also contained a motherly tone to it that took Izabela by surprise. The camera caught this surprise, Izabela’s face quickly trying to find the source of the new voice. She would turn around to find a ghostly apparition of her late mother, Lucija (played by Marija Bralic). Lucija manifested via a hazy hologram, her visage faintly visible as an array of blue energy akin to the sparkles that Izabela once saw earlier. Izabela was overcome with emotion at seeing her mother right there with her. Her face nearly contorted into one about to sob in happiness, but Izabela held it together for the line that would define this moment. In response to what her mother would sing, she belted out ‘Doma sam’ (I am home). She held that line and note with as much power as she could, Izabela stretching her vocal capabilities and reaching out towards her mother. The camera would angle itself to show the expressions of both characters, Izabela’s sudden surprise juxtaposed with Lucija’s pride. The music would crescendo once more, almost into a silence. The final moments of the song were now upon us…

Tko sam ja
Sjajem u trimfu
Tko sam ja
Opet sam rođen
Možeš reći s tako ponosom
Ne bojim se [Ne bojte se]
Od, tko sam ja

The song hit its highest and most glorious peaks at the final chorus. For a brief moment, the song would become a duet between daughter and mother, the camera keeping a slight distance away from Izabela and Lucija. She was reaching towards her mother while at the same time overwhelmed with the power that the area was giving her, sparks of energy being absorbed into her white, flowing dress. For the first four lines, both Izabela and Lucija gave it their absolute all vocally and emotionally, especially Izabela. The music hit yet another crescendo, not letting itself calm for even one moment as the orchestra played host to the dramatic, joyous, and yet emotional climax. Wisps of snow congealing into fabric began to emanate from the tails of Izabela’s dress, from the hems on her arms to her dress’ tail. She would gracefully step toward her mother’s apparition; whom, the entire time, looked at her with pure joy. At the fifth line of this chorus, Lucija would sing that line on her lonesome, representing her parting message to her daughter. The camera would briefly cut to her for that specific line, before it would then linger onto a closer view of Izabela herself. Izabela was at her most emotional, pushing her vocals and truly believing in the words she was singing with. Beyond just embracing her powers, the way she delivered ‘ne bojim se’ had a conviction that she would not have been able to achieve earlier in the song. Any traces of fear were no longer there in her eyes, which especially made the final line of the song even more impactful. She was no longer questioning herself, she was now not afraid of who she was. The end of that final line was certainly not the end of the song. She once more continued the leitmotif of those ‘ahs,’ taking that melodic line for herself and taking pride in who she is. Though her mother’s apparition had now disappeared, she would step forward with a light in one hand. She held that light to her chest at the second time she would repeat that leitmotif. At the final time she sang it, she would that light-filled hand up to the ceiling. She sang those last four notes with as much energy, power, and triumph in her voice. She pushed her voice to its highest extent, bringing the light down to the floor right at the final moment of the song. For viewers at home, the light would coat the studio in total white light, with them only seeing nothing but a white screen for a couple of seconds.

Though the performance may have been over and character now allowed to be broken, Ana Petric felt the intense emotions course through her as she slowly stood up, knowing she needed to leave the persona of Queen Izabela behind for now. However, this didn’t stop the overwhelming feeling she acutely sensed in her when she saw the simulcasts of Izmeduan viewing parties on the LED screens. From Vodiznad to Mousiki and beyond, she would see her home cheering for her. However, she knew she couldn’t linger for long.

“Gražia, thank you so much!” She said through shaky yet excited breaths, moved even if there was no physical crowd to cheer for the entry.

The fact that it was performed and still brought to life was more than enough. It was that thought that she took as she walked backstage, knowing that no matter how the results spun out, it was the experience of being here that mattered in the end.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:42 am**

Жива — The Hardkiss

A promotional image for Hélène Pêcheur's 2017 album, Le Déluge. Hélène will be representing Normandy and Picardy at the 52nd Worldvision.

They had kept believing until the very end of voting, but it was not to be. In any case, people across the two republics, and in the offices at SRNP, were more than happy with 4th place. One person in particular was very happy, namely the new head of delegation, Simone Derrida, who had come to the rescue following the previous HoD's "resignation". She certainly wouldn't need to be tendering her resignation given how well the country had done, especially on a very low budget, thanks to Derrida's connections in the music industry due to her job as a radio host and director of SRNP's cultural programming. Her experiments in the recruitment of an act to represent the country at the country had paid dividends. The febrile situation the previous contest, when there were rumours the country was about to pull out of the contest, had firmly been dealt with, and indeed Derrida herself answered such questions at a press conference held a few days after the contest, saying:

We are very happy to have done so well and to have gained the support of so many people, whilst of course we must also congratulate the Kalosian act, which I understand is quite firmly on the SRNP Radio 1, 2 and 3 playlists, and was put their in my absence whilst I was in Todlichebujoku, which is great to hear. We look forward to the next contest, which we will be attending, let me dispel those rumours now. You have nothing to fear, we will be on our way hopefully to Kalosia, but we understand the situation there is currently rather complex. We are currently working with the Kalosian broadcaster, RTVK, on a joint project related to Worldvision, and we will be in dialogue with them regarding the situation in their country, if they decide they are able to host, and will support them in any way that we can.

The "complex situation" referenced about is, big surprise, the Covid-19 outbreak. The disease has not made its presence felt in Normandy and Picardy as of yet, and for the most part the country has dodged a bullet, and all the good things in life have been able to remain open. In many ways, the Normands did not understand what was going on in Kalosia and other countries around the multiverse, only having a partial knowledge of the disease due to the fact it has not been present in the country nor any nearby nations, but they realised they would have to learn to deal with the disease, and how it would affect their competing in the contest. This meant liaising heavily both with RTVK and the Federal Ministry of Health, an unusual situation for the broadcaster. It would also be an unusual situation for the delegation, normally pretty sizeable, which would have to be dramatically scaled back, and indeed this had to be held in mind in looking for an artist to represent the country. Simone Derrida had a lot of work to do for only her 2nd contest in charge of the delegation, facing such an unusual situation. Whilst having to deal with all of this, Derrida of course continued her work on the radio and curating a new series on Picard music, past and present, but still took time out to do her usual touring of various studios, going to gigs, and meeting with the stars. One particular artist, however, stuck out for Derrida, and she was absolutely dead set on signing her up as the next Normand Worldvision entrant.

She's a talented artist who has certainly made her mark in the Normand music scene in recent years, especially amongst the country's alternative scene but even gaining wider chart success with her own unique brand of rock. Hélène Pêcheur was chosen to fly the flag for Normandy and Picardy at the World Hit Festival with her song, "La Silence". The track, and the fact Hélène will be representing the country, was revealed simultaneously on SRNP 1, Radio Caen, PicRadio and on the Derrida Show on SRNP 3, hosted by Normand Head of Delegation Simone Derrida, who helped to handpick Hélène. Such an introduction was unprecedented for a Normand act, and reflective of the clout that Derrida is able to command due to her long and successful career. The song topped the viral charts on virtually all platforms within Normandy and Picardy within hours of the song being released, and looked set to conquer the hit parade - an unusually rapidly positive reaction to a WHF song - so it would certainly seem she won over the home audience. During the interview, Hélène joked, "You're like a bloodhound, you know, Simone; you have this incredible ability to know what people are up to, where the next hit is coming from. Let's hope they keep coming from me!". That should be no problem for an artist who has already won 3 Cherbourg College of Music Awards including Best Female Singer and Album of the Year for her 2017 album, "Le Déluge", although if she is not careful she might not make it too much longer; Hélène is well known for her stunts both on and off stage, a fact which has drawn the scorn of some, who even as her role as entrant was being confirmed took to social media platforms to protest the choice, saying that "We have chosen spectacle over music". Thankfully, many more people, as aforementioned, have welcomed Hélène and her song.

Whether she would be able to do anything up to her usual level on stage in Kalosia was, however, very much up to debate, and was a question that Hélène was grappling with from her quarantine in Monterra, an experience she found frustrating and yet useful in equal measure, allowing extra time for practicing her vocals (much to the annoyance to those near the building she was in quarantine in, and especially the members of the Normand delegation who had gone to Kalosia, which numbered 5 people in total, a much reduced number to usual). She was able to fine tune her staging plans, even if she kept being blocked in certain aspects by the physical limitations of the staging, the venue, or plain and simple health and safety requirements meaning she had to seriously tame her original vision. It also meant they were able to make sure the hourglass prop they brought with them - yes, a large hourglass, large enough to fit a person inside - would be safely disinfected, and wouldn't break or do anything silly on stage. Just a few days before she was let out of quarantine, and would be more properly be able to prepare for the big night itself, Hélène was interviewed by Simone Derrida, who had elected to stay back at home due to a pre-existing health condition; much to her own annoyance, she had been convinced it would not be wise to join the rest of the delegation. Having been asked about her experiences in Monterra, Hélène told Simone:

Well, you know, I've been stuck here for what feels like forever now. It's an unusual experience I must say, I'm glad we've not had to do it back home to say the least. However, I've been working well with the small team that we do have here... It's gonna be odd performing without an audience in the arena I guess, in a way it's almost worse than performing to an entire stadium full of people, but I suppose I do have millions of people watching me via their screens, and it is my hope to be able to put on as good a show as possible for them... The Kalosians have been great hosts, even in these unusual times, and whilst I have been stuck in the same room for a long time, they have been accomodating of us. I'm just looking forward to stepping foot on the stage, however, and being part of this big old show...

...

Time seemed to fly by quickly after a while. She had almost got used to her confinement - it's funny how quickly people adapt to these things - but was still relieved to be able to finally get working on her act, even if she still had a follow a litany of health and other restrictions, which was understandable enough. Even if she wasn't getting to have the full WHF experience, things had still gone almost like a hurricane. Before she knew it, it was the night of the show itself. Her heart was pounding just for the Parade of Nations, let alone the actual thing itself. Yes, she had technically done bigger shows to packed stadia across Normandy and Picardy, although anything is bigger than an audience of 0. She knew, however, many eyes would be watching her every move once she stepped up on that stage. Normandy and Picardy were announced. Walking. Waving. "Bonsoir!". It was over in a flash, as she walked up the ramp onto the centre of the stage, stood proud, hiding a million nerves in a broad smile, her waves, and waving a small Normand flag, before walking then towards the camera and out on the other ramp. Now all she had to do was wait to perform. That time felt like eternity, but quicker than you can say "Normandy and Picardy" she was on stage once more, performing for the multiverse and her country...

Hélène stood in the darkness of the studio, at the end of one of the main ramps leading in/out of the stage area, as the postcard finally came to an almost torturous end. The time had come. A faint, white, spotlight shone down at a slight angle, faintly highlighting her amongst the almost cavenous dark of the stage, with the camera held close to her. She was wearing a black, flowing dress, almost a quite formal looking affair, like this (she has the same hair as in this image as well), and her face was made to look almost a ghostly white. She stood behind a microphone stand, her hands delicately hovering above the microphone stand, as she looked straight into the camera to deliver the opening lines of the song, asking, perhaps, the entire multiverse (although of course whether they could understand it is a different matter. SRNP will insist in using French in WHF, even if few other nations are home to French speakers.)

Vaut-il la peine juste pour une seconde?
Vaut-il la peine de te laisser souffrir?

Suddenly the studio broke into life, or into as much life as possible, with a series of searchlight type beams moving quickly around the arena, almost as if showing something, while the backing LED screens also provided a little light, although not much given the screens were still a very dark blue. The lights showed the layer of smoke moving around the central stage, which was finally shown, the camera shot having suddenly cut to show the hourglass (as aforementioned) in the central circular part of the stage, and inside it a dancer all in white. When the camera first moved to show the centre of the stage, the dancer was pressed against the glass, and was shown up close such that the sudden cut showed her face, and she suddenly opened her eyes. The camera view then cut to various views around the central stage, showing the dancer moving about in the hourglass, having just enough room to almost writhe around and contort to the beat and noise of the music, almost as if the soundwaves were going through her. Whilst this happened, black 'sand' began to fall from the top of the hourglass onto the dancer. As this opening instrumental came to an end, the camera faded away and then back in to show Hélène once more, still stood on the ramp but now looking inwards towards the stage. The lights stopped their searching, and instead a general ambient glow filled the studio. Again, the camera view began close up to her, showing the top half of her torso and her face. She had now switched to a headset mic (a Normand technician, part of the delegation, having briefly popped onto stage to remove it). The camera view zoomed out and pulled back as she began to walk up the ramp, covered by smoke (the ramp, not her), slowly approaching the centre as she sang.

Vaut-il la peine juste pour une seconde?
Vaut-il la peine de te laisser souffrir?
C'est trop facil de s'écarter
Et parmi les cris ne rien écouter
Mais ton heure se dirige vers la fin
Et il n'y avait personne jouer témoin

Hélène had just reached the hourglass on the main stage when the next chorus. The camera shot was situated to show the LED screen at the back, not that they were showing much, and they were really there more for setting the general, dark tone of the entry more than anything. This was such that the hourglass was in the centre of the stage and Hélène was situated at the right-hand side. She held up her hand to the hourglass, and through the glass the dancer held out her hand to touch it. The camera quickly zoomed in to show this and with that the chorus began. A sudden cut out to show the stage more panoramically again and circled around the hourglass as the dancer twisted and turned, contorting as black sand continued to fall on her and began to fill up, moving past her ankles and moving ever further up. Again, lights moved quickly around, as they had in the opening instrumental, with this, alongside with the occasional general on and off flashes, and the camera movement helping provide most of the motion for this chorus.

J'peux pas endurer la silence
Elle ne jouera pas la montre
J'ai rendu compte trop tard
Maintenant, je rugirai

As things died down following the chorus, a general pulsing light, provided by the LED floor hidden beneath the smoke, helped add a further ambient glow beneath, and added a slight red tinge. Hélène was stood up against one of the sides of the hourglass, with the dancing figure laid up on the other side. The camera feed started showing the two of them, back to back, from the side, the white figure stood breathing rather heavily, before turning around to show Hélène from the front. She reached out towards the camera, towards people around the multiverse, as a single red tear seemed to move down across her face like a droplet. In the "oooooh" section, she seemed to slide down until she was sat on the ground, the camera following her down and then looking up to show the dancer curling up almost into a ball.

Captifs dans nos têtes, on se cache
On a peur de soi-meme ou le monde entier?
Ooooooh

With a sudden flash of light, the chorus announced itself once more. Once again, in the first half of the chorus we received a series of different viewpoints, showing at various different points Hélène singing, channelling her passion and trying to control her nerves simultaneously; the dancer, who exploded into movement once more, seemingly trying to break out of the hourglass, trying to burst through towards the camera, as the black sand continued to build up further and further, slowly beginning to visibly slow down her movement; and various wider shots of the stage looking inwards. With the second half of the chorus, however, the view changed to look outwards from the centre (due to a camera perched on the hourglass) so as to show the LED screens which surround the stage. These finally began to show things on them, namely general images of devastation and destruction, overlaid with moving newspaper banners and the like, to help add an extra element to the staging. The usual "let's be relevant" shit.

J'peux pas endurer la silence
Elle ne jouera pas la montre
J'ai rendu compte trop tard
Maintenant, je rugirai
Je n'endure pas la silence
Je ne resterai plus dans l'ombre
Cette lumière brûlera
Jusqu'à c'que mon âme disjoncte

With the end of the chorus, the camera turned and zoomed in to show Hélène once more, slightly towards one of the ramps with the hourglass and the dancer, now struggling to move as the sand kept raining down. This seemed to be reflected in the looks almost of anguish on Hélène's face.

Aaaaaaah

Then, the song kicked up into gear once more and things seemed to turn almost into chaos. Whilst there had been a red hint provided by the LED floor before, in general the lighting now switched to red in general with white highlights. The camera rapidly jumped between the dancer and Hélène's faces, to a point where the two almost seemed to blend into one, and for the first time, there were bursts of pyro, going around burst by burst around the central axis of the stage in rings, before all burning as one as Hélène sang again, letting go of all her inhibitions and letting rip, almost throwing herself around.

Pas de témoins?
Mais tout le monde l'a vu

Then came her pièce de résistance. Her dress was covered in a very thin flammable layer, with another thin layer between to stop her actual dress from setting alight; immolating on stage had been the least of her plans, as much as she like to tempt fate. But this was the point where she executed her stunt, something that had been planned all the way back from the first meeting in Caen with Simone Derrida, discussing the potential to go to Kalosia, which had been hinted in several interviews, and which had been at the back of Hélène's mind for the whole show, as this section had to work. Sneakily reaching into a compartment in her dress, she managed to reach for the lighting material and there it was. As she sang "Je flamberai", she literally burst into flame, which was accompanied by a burst not of pyro but of smoke instead ~~to mix things up of course.~~ This burning would last as long as this section of singing, the camera cutting between various shots of her.

Je flamberai jusqu'à c'que j'sois consommé
Et je crierai jusqu'à c'que mes poumons éclate

As the final chorus began, Hélène herself, or rather the layer on the outside of her dress, stopped burning, but again this was compensated for by interspersed bursts of pyro and smoke to the beat of the song. The camera returned to show the dancer in the hourglass, desperately trying to move but the sand continuing to rise higher and higher, the passage of time making her position worse and worse. Meanwhile, Hélène continued singing, throwing all of whatever energy she had left into the performance, every sinew working hard. A mixture of camera shots, from tight shots of Hélène to wide panoramic shots of everything going on, were used. As the song came to an end, Hélène walked up to the hourglass, where the dancer appeared to be sinking into the sand, desperately trying to reach out to Hélène on the outside. The final moment of the song was a close-up camera shot of their hands coming together once more.

J'peux pas endurer la silence
Je ne resterai plus dans l'ombre
J'ai rendu compte trop tard
Maintenant, je lutterai

Of course, there was no audience in the studio to cheer on and applaud a very exhausted Hélène, nor the dancer. However, across the multiverse in Caen, Normandy and Picardy, a crowded audience had just watched their champion battle for the trophy at the annual FITLive event (FIT is the Normand acronym for WHF, Festival International de Tubes). The event this year was being hosted by veteran Normand TV presenter, and spokesperson (having provided the points in WHFs 44, 46, 47 and 49) Marie de l'Abre, and both she and the crowd in the Place Guillaume le Conquérant could be seen, as below. Unsurprisingly, the crowd went mad, shouting "Normandie, Normandie" ("et Picardie") and in general making lots of noise. Of course, Hélène, exhausted and unaware of this, simply gave a meek "merci" and walked off the stage for a well-earned rest and to wait and see what would happen. Her fate was out of her hands...

Marie de l'Abre and the crowd at FITLive. ~~Ignore the obvious German elements if you would be so kind.~~

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:43 am**

Passe-Partout — Bárbara Tinoco

Evanǧelinë des Kartas is a cabaret singer and songwriter based in Kafalon, Kalosia. Performing under the stage name Eva Kartas, the 25 year old lady was briefly involved with the Neo Deco musicians collective during her years as a student at the Luiž Pedru University of Kafalon where she became acquainted with the Cafalonesque jazz and cabaret scene and made friends with several artists and musicians, many of whom she keeps in touch with to this day.

It was in Neo Deco that she met Mario Rinaudi, a 33 year old singer-songwriter from the town of Loreto. In May of last year, Mario reached out to Eva about the possibility of writing and releasing music, possibly an album. Since then, they had been in and out of the studio working on and perfecting their compositions. After almost a year of work, the album was due to be released in April and the two of them had planned to tour Kalosia and possibly perform at music festivals in other countries alongside other artists from Neo Deco. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their plans to tour had to be scrapped and the fate of the album was in jeopardy.

The two hadn't been particularly interested in shows like WorldVision or the World Hit Festival where many of its participants were commercially-driven and the entries dominated by sounds more manufactured and refined than what they were used to. Perhaps the national Festival dëla Kanžu was a possibility for them at some point, but not any sort of big show where fireworks was favoured over feeling.

Though, that changed when Domeniku Kaľari won the 51st World Hit Festival in Sinnlichšukai, Tödlichebujoku. They had known Domeniku after a fellow Neo Deco alum won Festival dëla Kanžu in 2017 with La Promesë, which quickly became one of the biggest hits in Kalosia that year. Although Domeniku himself was never a member of the collective, it occurred to them that perhaps there was a space for those who are not as commercially-oriented. If there was a place in the competition for Domeniku to win, there was a place for Mario and Eva to exist.

Knowing that they would be unable to perform their new music over the summer, there was uncertainty over what to do with the fresh set of tracks. One idea was to wait until after the pandemic was over to release it. But another, that seemed more favourable, was to perhaps enter a song into Festival dëla Kanžu 2020 and see what happens. Except, the deadline for submissions to the annual festival had passed by the time they decided upon this.

But shortly after Domeniku came home with the title, this was when Eva raised the idea of competing in the World Hit Festival. The idea was to take one of their tracks and to have it compete, to compensate with publicity they may have lost due to the pandemic. One of their tracks called Soñu Miu was the obvious choice as it appeared to have the best mass appeal. Hoping for the best, they submitted the song for consideration for the World Hit Festival.

Normally, Kalosia's representative to the event would be selected through the public Festival dele Melodie Kalosiane, though it had been cancelled due to the pandemic and Radiu-Televižio Kalosia opting for an internal selection. Mario would have probably opposed having to go through such a preliminary round. "If they know what they are gambling by risking our song to lose in the semifinal [sic], they will choose us and not have the semifinal in the first place" Eva can imagine Mario saying. Luckily he never had to say that — they got a call from RTVK representatives expressing interest at internally selecting the song to compete at the 52nd World Hit Festival.

Quickly and rapidly, the two were invited by RTVK from their Kafalon dwellings over to Monterra. Domeniku had the honour of introducing his successor on La Melodië Kalosianë, a new show designed to introduce the Kalosian entrant to the World Hit Festival, effectively replacing Festival dële Melodie Kalosiane for at least the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was much public anticipation regarding who would defend the title on home soil — it is no easy feat to succeed a champion. Mario did not appear on the show; he wished to keep a low profile although he did confirm his place in the Kalosian WHF delegation. Eva, meanwhile, was introduced to the Kalosian populace and, ahead of her big show, got a chance to debut her song, Soñu miu (My Dream) for the first time to a national audience. It was received relatively well, perhaps not another winner (and to RTVK, therefore not another possibility of going through the headache of hosting an international event during a global pandemic), but also not something to embarrass us on home turf.

It was also interesting to note that this is the first Kalosian entry since the nation's debut 45 editions ago that the song contained lines in English. Normally, Kalosian entries to the World Hit Festival are expected to be entirely in Kalosian (or in the case of WHF42, in a language spoken in the country). It is WorldVision where Kalosian representatives have more freedom. The song's lyrical content had been untampered since it was submitted to RTVK, meaning the English lines were there as originally intended. It wasn't seen as such a huge deal given the rest of the song is entirely in Kalosian.

Knowing that there wasn't going to be a live audience eased Eva's stage fright... somewhat. Yes, she was used to performing for small audiences and was not yet sure how to bear with being watched physically by thousands of judging eyes like American artists do when they go on tours, visiting cities they otherwise would never hear of. But at the same time she also knew that her every move was still going to be blasted on satellite to over 30 countries. She was aware that, if her voice cracked, it would be heard loud and clear by hundreds of millions of people for the years to come. "But you have a way with your songs", her friends reassured her. "Your voice flows smooth as silk and you're almost a different girl on stage who can take it easy and get the whole audience to fall for you." To stage the entry, Eva invited a couple of her more visually-talented friends to ensure that the song would get the support it needs, aesthetically. The World Hit Festival is a television show after all and, even though a song should only be rewarded for their musical quality, this isn't just another gig. The multiverse has its eyes on her, and the least she could do is leave a good impression. Sure, Mario would be less approving of songs whose visuals do nothing but to distract the masses from what he sees to be their mediocre noise, but Eva reassured her that nothing done onstage would do less than improve the performance.

For the big night, Eva was wearing a chic, yellow summer dress. She was alone on stage. As the song began, the camera zoomed in from what is essentially a wide shot to a medium shot. Although the background screens were all dark, the stage was well-illuminated by mostly golden light.

Kadë tu ridi
Amiru tiu sorisu e tiu barbë, miu amurë
Kadë tu parli
Adoru toje parole e tia vož

This camera began to rotate around Eva, although she remained in the center of the stage and only turned slowly so that she would face the camera as she sang.

U mia mentë
Kanta un koru di anǧeli di tiu nom
Miu koru salta feližëmentë
Kadë ombraši mi, veramentë

The camera slowly came to a halt, at the same time closing up to Eva. She maintained a coquettish attitude towards the camera, almost flirting with it and engaging with the audience back home.

E kadë noj gardamu ši
Pensu kë n’es aše
Ma pošamu amarë… kosi!

During the last word of the last part, the camera quickly backed away as it switched to another angle. On the background screen that could be seen behind Eva, imagery of a lavender field at night (with stars visible in the sky) was displayed as she sang the first line of the next part, however afterwards she quickly turned around as it switched to a camera angle on the opposite side of the stage, with the background screen now behind Eva showing the lit streets of Monterra's old town. In the third line the camera switched to a close up angle of Eva, all enthusiastic throughout the course of the chorus.

Let’s go to the countryside and dance under the stars
Let’s go see the city lights and dine on rooftop bars
Kadë sto kon ti, mi faj voľerë di soñarë

That raised tone Eva playfully gave the last syllable of that last line kept the home audience curious as to what comes next, almost demanding more. Eva turned and quickly walked towards the edge of the stage, where the angle switches to a camera waiting in front of her. As she sings the first line of the next part, she quickly takes a few steps back as if about to run again (impressive if she did — she's wearing heels!), inviting the viewer to come with her, and then extended one of her hands (the other one was holding the mic) as she sang the next part, although quickly then directing it towards the camera (as she sang "just the way you are"). After this point, the music slowed down and the camera switched to a close up where she delivered the last line of this next part, at the end of which the lights suddenly went out.

We don’t need to run away, there’s no need to go far
Cause what makes life special is just the way you are
Kestë es nia vitë, kiz voľi trovarë?

The lights faded back on, illuminating the otherwise dark stage in gold. Eva was now walking on one edge of the main stage, the LED screen next to her faded from black to show a field of flowers, definitely more colourful than the lavender showed at the beginning.

Venel kon mi
Viderë li flori uli ǧardini di Kasin
Prendel mia manu
Mentrë kaminamu a l’estat

She now was on an edge of the stage where, from the camera's perspective, an LED screen wasn't seen behind her. Eva came to a stop, faced the camera, and sang sincerely from the bottom of her heart. In the last line of the next part, she took a few steps foward towards the camera, which quickly backs away.

Benkë noj ši amamu
Pensu kë pošamu farë pju
Au unë idja, venël kon me per un vjažu

Eva quickly ran towards the center of the stage, turns, and the camera switched to an angle where behind her was the LED screen showing the lavender fields from earlier. Now this was a spidercam (which if you didn't know is a common instalment at these kinds of productions and has been used at Eurovision for the past 15 or so years, so nothing new), and it had the pleasure of doing laps around the stage. It went in a circle around the stage, facing Eva the whole time. This meant she had to constantly turn around, but the camera moved slow and steady enough that it didn't cause her any dizziness.

Let’s go to the countryside and dance under the stars
Let’s go see the city lights and dine on rooftop bars
Kadë sto kon ti, mi faj voľerë di soñarë

We don’t need to run away, there’s no need to go far
Cause what makes life special is just the way you are
Kestë es nia vitë, kiz voľi trovarë?

Kadë stamu insemë
Kestu es soñu miu

The background screens switched to imagery of the flower gardens from earlier, and Eva turned again once and could finally stop as she was now making eye contact with a new camera angle, closing up on her.

Kadë stamu insemë
Kestu es soñu miu

She turned back again and took a few steps rapidly, stopping in front of another camera with a semi-middle shot on her just in time to sing the final line of the song.

Kadë stamu insemë
Kestu es soñu miu

Now this camera backed up away from her so you could get a better view of the flowers in the background screen behind her, but as the song ended it quickly changed, displaying footage of various viewing parties across the nations of the multiverse, including the Achaean Republic, Beepee, Malta Comino Gozo, North Alezia, and Skanden. Of course, simultaneously, this came with the cheering of the audiences across all those nations. Eva turned around, saw the overwhelming reaction she received from those audiences. In perhaps the only host entry in WHF history to not be received by a home crowd, Eva, overwhelmed with the reaction, took a bow and waved. "Gražia", she quickly snuck into the mic, before she cleared the stage.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:45 am**

Shortly after the Kalosian entry ended, a commercial break started in some countries, and in others we now got to see a glimpse of the green room. A man in a tux is there, greeting the camera.

Silvio Nantes, green room host

Silvio: Hello everybody! My name is Silvio Nantes and I'll be your green room host for tonight. My job is to make sure that our lovely artists performing tonight have a chance to stay engaged with you guys, our lovely fans, throughout the show.

Silvio: Now, come here... let's turn to an entrant who was on the stage not too long ago, we have Izmedu’s Ana Petric over here! We have just a couple of questions we’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind.

Ana: Absolutely, ask away.

Silvio: First, how did you feel after that performance? There was so much that went into it, I can only imagine how you as a contestant felt.

Ana: Oh my… I was overwhelmed after performing it. Marija, the head of delegation, told me I looked completely zoned out during Normandy and Picardy’s entry. Even now I feel the jitters. I can say that it felt incredible… It’s like that rush that I feel any time I either perform as my character or if I close a show for a small concert. Rehearsals really don’t capture that. After having done it… I’m happy and relieved.

Silvio: That’s fantastic to hear, Ana. I can tell you’re in a bit of a rush, your excitement and energy are so palpable. Now, I have a couple of question of the entry itself. It’s a big question, but… how did it come about? Like, what led you to the World Hit Festival?

Ana: Oh those are some big questions, cause there’s a lot of history just based from the first one you asked. Okay, so the short version of the first one is that the song came from a legendary musical that’s really famous back home, La Kraljica leda or as translated, The Queen of Ice. The entry itself was conceived… I think right around when my country was preparing for the 50th World Hit Festival? The reason why is because at the time, that musical I mentioned was actually going to be adapted as an animated film, and I was the lead voice actress playing the main character, Queen Izabela. RTI reached out to the people that were making the film, and they really loved “Tko sam ja,” but what RTI had in mind was… quite intricate, which is why they reached out so early on. They wanted to do something that wasn’t like any Izmeduan entry done before.

Silvio: That’s interesting! I know there’s a lot more you want to tell, I can see it in your eyes, but we do have to move on soon. So I do have one more question, what made you take on the role playing Queen Izabela?

Ana: Ah, that’s a fantastic question. Hmmm… I was also one of the people that grew up with the musical. When I say La Kraljida leda is big in Izmedu, it is legendary. I remember seeing it with my parents in one of its last shows in Mousiki, and I was inspired by Queen Izabela’s story of trying to find herself in a world that’s shunned her way. I felt that, and I loved the way she had that determination in her character. And… she inspired me to sing and get into musical theatre, and now… here I am, playing as one of my childhood heroes.

Silvio: And how stunning you were as the queen! Even now, you look fittingly regal. Thank you so much for having this interview, Ana. Good luck for tonight, any last things you want to say?

Ana: Oh, thank you! That’s incredibly flattering. I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s supported the entry and all of the fans out there watching, especially In the viewing parties. I’m so happy to be here, thank you again.

Silvio: Of course! But now, we have to move on... the next country to perform tonight is Beepee!

The commercial breaks have returned, and now the postcard for Beepee starts playing as their entrant Mike Oxlong prepares on the stage.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:00 am**

Шёпотом — Сергей Лазарев

Pre-amble

In announcing the participant and entry for this cycles World Hit Festival, Head of Light Entertainment and Social Happiness at BONC, Ms Fanny Golightly, faced the gathered media at a socially distanced press event held in the Pinewoods Botanical Garden.

As is customary, the press announcement is met with great deal of public interest.

"The Beepeean Occasional News Corporation together with the Beepeean Government is delighted to announce this cycle's participant in the 52nd World Hit Festival.

The World Hit Festival is an opportunity for all nations within the multiverse to join together in an evening of song, love and togetherness, which is so needed in these difficult and challenging times.

This cycle will represent the third time Beepee has competed in this competition, improving from a disappointing last place in the first semi final in WHF50 to 5th place in WHF51.

Last cycles entrant Betty Wont stunned and delighted the Beepeean televisual viewers with her intense and vivid interpretation of "Love Me", and we here at BONC are, as always, eager to improve and impress the multiverse with our deep irreverent humor and our sensitive and thoughtful lyrics, and heartfelt love for all the competing participants. We are going for the win this year, boys!

This year.... BONC is delighted to present this years Beepeean entrant.... Mike Oxlong".

Artist

Mike Oxlong, is a former boyband member turned solo artist, actor and model, who has garnered a small, but loyal, following in Beepee.

Born Michael Oxenburgh-Floxenmorg-Oberlong, on 25 December 1998 in Trinket Creek, Beepee. From an early age, Mike was interested in singing, joining the Auphelian Boys Choir at age 9. By the age of 12, Mike was performing in children's singing contests and touring around Beepee.

At the age of 17, Oxlong's music career blossomed when he became part of pop duo The Sexy MOFOs with his brother Martin. The Sexy MOFOs were signed to Shoddy Music Group, and released their first video clip for the song "I'm Happy Now You're Gone", which reached number 16 in the Beepeean Charts. This was followed by two more singles in 2016, "Not Even With Yours" and "There Isn't Enough Beer In The World", which both became minor hits.

In February 2017 the duo released their debut album, "We are Sexy MOFOs". Over 300 copies were sold in and the pair toured throughout 2017.

A second album, 2018s "I Guess We're Back", failed to garner good sales or press coverage and the pair decided they would focus on their solo careers.

Oxlong was next seen on Beepeean television soap opera "The Young and the Listless", in 2019 as "Brad". Originally cast as a one episode special, portraying a gardener-turned-lust interest for series regular "Janet" (played by Amina Pickle), the part grew into a recurring character. Before finally being killed off after 26 episodes in a freak lawnmower accident.

Going by his shortened stage name, Mike Oxlong released his first, eponymous, solo album in early 2020, and it made number 74 in the Beepeean charts.

From that album, the first single, "Little Bird", has been choosen to represent Beepee at WHF52 and has made available on a variety of formats.

Song

Written by Al Batross, "Little Bird" speaks of the loss of a loved one and the longing which comes with such loss.

The author has been reluctant to provide more details as to his inspiration behind the songs emotional lyrics. However, rumours abound that the author had a torrid love affair with an Elejaminette superstar.

Pre-Show

Four weeks prior to the WHF finals, BONC and BBC Entertainment staged a live television show, hosted by Beepeean WHF and Worldvision commentator Hugh Jakeman.

The show began with Betty Wont signing her popular song from last years WHF, "Love Me".

This was followed by a sit down interview with Ms Fanny Golightly. She explained, in line with the regulations set out by the Kalosian Government and RTVK, the Beepeean delegation will consist of only Ms Fanny Golightly (HoD) and Mike Oxlong (performer).

Ms Golightly confirmed that due to the worldwide pandemic of the virus which causes CoVID, travel restrictions were in place to and from Kalosia, and whilst Beepee had been generally successful in limiting the spread of CoVID it was sensible to take precautionary approach.

Hugh Jakeman then quizzed Ms Golightly on rumours of a potential "A Song for Beepee Contest" to choose the next entrants for WorldVision and WHF. Ms Golightly confirmed the rumours that plans are afoot within BONC for such an event and further details would be provided at a later date.

Next, Hugh Jakeman sat with Mike Oxlong for a discussion about what his hopes for the contest are.

"My hope is to perform well and represent Beepee and all the nations of the multiverse with my song.

The song is very emotional and I want to convey the heartache and loss in an honest and vulnerable manner to really connect with the audiences at home."

When asked about whether he thought he would win the contest, Mike replied

"Of course I would love to win, but I cannot expect anything and I must work hard to win over the audiences. There will be a number of strong competitors in the Festival".

When asked if he was disappointed that there would be no Tour of Nations this year before the Festival, Mike answered:

Oh yes, naturally, but we must do everything we can to limit the spread of CoVID and travelling nation to nation, even to those which have no cases would increase the risk of infection and spread. We must stay at home, practice good personal hygiene and observe spatial distancing".

The hour long spectacular culminated in the first release of the song to the Beepeean televisual audience. Mike performed the song solo on stage without fancy LED backgrounds or gimmicks.

Following the performance, Hugh Jakeman confirmed the delegation would be leaving the next day to travel to Kalosia, to ensure the quarantine deadlines were adhered to, and that a public lottery would be held for those wishing to attend a BONC Viewing Party.

Quarantine in Kalosia

The Beepeean Delegation arrived in Monterra a full 3 weeks before the first rehearsal.

Spending the first two weeks within their hotel rooms as required by the Kalosian Government and Radiu-Televižio Kalosia.

Viewing the glorious Kalosian capital city from their windows, Mike and Fanny both longed to walk the streets and visit the delights of the throbbing metropolis.

The rehearsal week was a whirlwind of rehearsals, interviews and preparation and Mike had a small pang that he would one day like to return to this wonderous place when life had returned to a sense of normality to explore the streets and people of Monterra and Kalosia.

No expense had been spared by BONC for the trip to Kalosia. Given the limitations placed by RTVK and the Kalosian Government. The Beepeean delegation were able to afford more comfortable accommodation with their budget. Indeed, both Fanny and Mike were able to secure suites in their preferred hotel.

Fanny Golightly, had specifically requested to be located in the hotel room adjacent to Mike. Since she first saw Mike's music videos she had been enamored by his surf blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Knowing that the current CoVID crisis would require them to be alone in close proximity for a few weeks, she had deliberately limited the delegation to just herself and Mike.

Now as the first week of quarantine drew to a close she knew it was her time to strike. She slipped on her most sheer négligée and headed to his room.

Mike had only recently got himself comfortable in the over large bed, and he huffed as he got up to answer the door, in only his tight fitting underwear.

As he opened the door, Fanny threw herself into his arms, and lunged for a passionate kiss. Mike was clearly taken aback by the forcefulness of the lunge, but he gripped Fanny as tightly as she held him.

The pair, embraced and spent an evening of intense and unfettered desire. Mike was a diligent and earnest love maker, however Fanny didnt care, and was lustful and desperate. Finally, after several rounds of passionate entanglement, the pair drifted of to sweet, sweet slumber.

The pair were awoken, by the sun blazing in through the windows to the hotel room. Fanny gathered her négligée and took a robe from the door.

'Wait!', Mike called out after her, as Fanny left his room. But Fanny did not wait, as she is a strong and independent woman who demands nothing but her own pleasure.

The pair continued their tender and tumultuous affair throughout the week leading up to rehearsals. Mike falling deeper in love with each rendezvous. Fanny falling deeper in lust.

The rehearsal week was relatively routine. The first rehearsal went well, although slowly, as the cameras required some programming to achieve the perfect angles for the intricate special effects to be overlaid through the live telecast.

The dress rehearsal went smoothly, with only a couple of minor timing issues with Mike. However he was confident that his preparations were suitable and he could perform well on the night.

The pair grew closer, the evening before the event began, Mike's nerves began to grew. The anticipation of being in front of a global audience weighed heavily on his mind. Fanny could feel his tension raise throughout the day.

As nighttime fellon the eve of the event, Fanny made her nightly trip next door to Mike's room. He answered the door, but truthfully was not interested in passionate love making. He simply wanted to rest and relax before the next day's event. But once again, Fanny took charge and relieved his tension.

After the passion subsided, the pair lay together in Mike's king size bed. He turned to Fanny and without hesitation or care he gently told her "I love you".

Fanny instantly felt a pang of regret, she had never meant to lead Mike on, she was in lust. There was no doubt Mike was a handsome man, and a giving lover. But Fanny did not want anything more than this passionate holiday romance.

Fanny determined that she should not spend this night with Mike. She quickly dressed and left for her own room, despite protestations from Mike.

In her room, she sat thinking about what Mike had said before drifting into an uncomfortable slumber. Mike in the meantime cried himself to sleep.

Parade of Nations

Mike walks into the centre stage lights, as the disembodied booming voice informs "Beepee".

Mike, dressed in his performance clothes, pulls two small flags from his rear pocket, one a Beepeean flag and one Kalosian flag, both flags on small plastic sticks.

He stands with both in his left hand waving them gently back and forward and looks into the camera to show that he's loveable smiling to the camera. He gives a litle wave to the television audience before blowing a kiss down the camera.

And with that his time is over and Mike steps of stage.

Participation

For televisual viewers back in Beepee, the night was upon them and Hugh Jakeman again provides a warm and cozy hug to all audiences with his pithy commentary.

"You can't put a price on this kind of entertainment you know," Hugh ponders to the viewing audience, "and like you tonight I'm watching this on my television. The present Mrs Jakeman was rather upset she didnt get her sunny holiday this year.... but I digress.

It's our turn! Mike Oxlong's our man this year, the first time we've sent a male singer, and you know and love his song "Little Bird". The lyrics, written by Al Batross, go "I think of you. little bird, little bird. I sing for you. little bird, little bird."

Speaking of birds, I ordered a chicken supper which hasn't arrived yet. You cant get he staff, I say.

Now, because of Corona, Mike's on his own tonight.. But we'll be sure to cheer him on in word and gesture as, I'm sure, will all of you having WHF parties up and down the land. Let's give it some welly...."

---O---

Mike Oxlong waits, nervous, pensive, centre stage, in the darkness, alone.

The music begins and Mike lifts his microphone in anticipation. Dressed simply in tight black denim jeans and a light grey t-shirt. A smoke machine billows a faint mist around Mike's ankles. A wind machine causes a gentle breeze sticking Mike's t-shirt to his toned body, rifling his coiffed and tousled hair.

A single light illuminates him, as he begins...

Hurt no more, little bird, little bird,
Cry no more, little bird, little bird,
Peaceful, little bird, little bird,
Fly so high, to heaven now,
Don't look back at me, little bird, little bird

The camera set at a wide angle shows the 360° stage.

Mike's voice waivers at the first sentence, with a slight crack. Although experts will not this minor flaw, general viewers simply take it as an emotional beginning to the song.

As he sings "to heaven now", the camera cuts to a closer view of mike, who raises his free (non-microphone holding) hand to the sky as he gazes to the heavens, before turning back to looking directly down the camera.

I think of you, little bird, little bird,
I sing for you, little bird, little bird,
I'm missing you, every day,
Nothing can stop me.

As he sings "I think of you", Mike's free hand runs through his hair at the side of his head. An anguish and pain streaming across his face. Through the rest of the verse, the camera shot slowly pulls away from Mike. As the line "nothing can stop me", Mike throws his free hand palm up, to the camera ain't front of him as if to reach out to the lost love and the audience watching.... with that a flash of light appears to leave his hand, and (thanks to the wonders of modern televisual trickery) a small white bird (akin to a large hummingbird) appears to fly in front of Mike.

Ah-oh-oooh, Ah-oh-oooh, Ah-oh-oooh, Ah-oh-oooh
Ah-oh-oooh, Ah-oh-oooh, Ah-oh-oooh, Ah-oh-oooh

As he wails the 'ah-oh-ohs', Mike gets a little lost in his emotions, closing his eyes, feeling the emotion.

As the first verse begins the lighting changes, to a cool blue. The virtual bird flutters around Mike, who's hand appears to follow the birds movement.

I recall that look in your amber eyes,
Cold like a midnight frost,
Nothing can melt my heart like you,
Nothing can replace the hole you left.

As the line "melt my heart like you" is sung, the virtual bird swoops upwards, away from the following hand of Mike, who clutches at his top around his heart... Mike's eyes close and he leans forward as he sings the line "nothing can replace the hole you left".

The camera, moving in to focus on Mike's face so the audience at home will see the expressive angst and fear in the face of Mike, beautifully expressed longing and hurt.

The lighting subtly and gradually changes from cool blue to a more mellow almond.

Mike's blue eyes open and he stares into the camera as the next verse continues...

I recall the warm days of June,
We would fly so high, touch the moon,
No one could come between us,
Now the winter's taken you from me,

As he anguishes "no one could come between us", Mike's hand reaches towards the camera towards the audience, grasping for them as if desperate to pull the audience back to his comfort. As he finishes the verse, Mike wraps his free hand around his waist to comfort himself, knowing the audience (and his love) cannot.

The virtual bird returns to by him, as he begins the chorus...

Hurt no more, little bird, little bird,
Cry no more, little bird, little bird,
Peaceful, little bird, little bird,
Fly so high, to heaven now,
Don't look back at me, little bird, little bird

I think of you, little bird, little bird,
I sing for you, little bird, little bird,
I'm missing you, every day,
Nothing can stop me.

The bird flits and flutters around Mike as he sings to the bird. As he sings "I'm missing you every day", the camera cuts to a close up of his face and televisual audiences will see Mike's eyes well up. As he finishes the chorus the camera cuts to a full body shot and the virtual bird flies off screen.

As the next verses begin, Mike returns to looking down the camera.

Most days without you drag on and on,
Thinking of the way that we once were, happy
The warmth of your breath on me,
Your heart beating fast on a summer breeze.

There is a haunting beauty in the lyrics and in the ashen face of Mike, whose lyrics connect so poignantly and powerfully. Mike himself, appears to be shaken with the sudden realisation of his lyrics as he continues.

Without you the cold fills my days,
No one's welcome in this empty nest,
There's no air that can lift me up,
The leaves have fallen from the trees.

The camera is now fixed to clearly see Mike's face. A single tear drops heavily from Mike's eye onto his cheek. Mike's voice cracks slightly again, as he sings "the leaves have fallen from the trees" as the emotion begins to over take him. He steadies himself as the chorus, visually planting his feet slightly apart as he tries to regain his composure...

The virtual bird returns to join Mike...

Hurt no more, little bird, little bird,
Cry no more, little bird, little bird,
Peaceful, little bird, little bird,
Fly so high, to heaven now,
Don't look back at me, little bird, little bird

I think of you, little bird, little bird,
I sing for you, little bird, little bird,
I'm missing you, every day,
Nothing can stop me.

As Mike sings "Fly so high", he holds his hand out to the side and televisual viewers will see the bird fly over and sit on Mike's outstretched hand. As the second part of the chorus is sung, mike moves his hand towards to the front an dthe border retains it's position on his hand. As he sings "I'm missing you, every day" the bird flutters and again and flies off, Mike's eyes and hand follows after the bird longingly.

The lighting goes darker once again, as the bridge begins..

Oooh-ah-heyy
I miss you near
Miss you near
Miss you near me
Oooh-ah-heyy
I miss you.

As he sings the bridge, Mike drops to his knees, anguished and tormented, as he sings the final line of the bridge, the floods of tears begin to flow from Mike's eyes.

The lighting darkens further so only his face was lit, as the final chorus is sung.

Hurt no more, little bird, little bird,
Cry no more, little bird, little bird,
Peaceful, little bird, little bird,
Fly so high, to heaven now,
Don't look back at me.

Tears continue to fall, as Mike finishes the song. As the song finishes, the lights dim to dark.

Mike puts his face in his hands and let's out a little sob, he contains himself and gets to his feet before the lights raise again.

He bows politely and says thank you before leaving the stage.

---O---

For Beepeean viewers, commentator Hugh Jakeman returns to pleasure the orifaces... there's a slight sniff and pause as Hugh centres himself.

"Well, there's not a dry eye in the house after that performance. He performed that very well... I'm sure I can say we're all very proud of that...
Careful now, we dont want the rest of the world might think we take this kind of thing seriously. They think we're just here for the free biscuits.

In more positive news, my chicken supper has arrived and I'll be washing it down with a crisp sav blanc. Cheers.... now what's next?"

BONC Viewing Party

In an first for Beepee, and taking advantage of the idea from the Kalosian hosts, the Beepeean Occasional News Corporation is hosting a Viewing Party in the Waratah Theater, Norfolk Pinewoods.

The theatre itself has three main halls, and the main hall, with 2,700 seats, is the chosen venue. Anita Margarita, who rose to multiverse prominence after a star turn providing the Beepeean results at last cycles WHF, will compere the event.

2,700 lucky Beepeeps were chosen to attend from over 100,000 notices of interest.

On the night of the contest, fans arrived with great anticipation. Many dressed as their favourite WHF entrants.... including Beepeean entrants Eileen Dover and Betty Wont, but also from the wider multiverse. Many fans dressed as their favourites including Britonsea's WHF 48 winner, Gigi Vadeboncoeur, but widely and particularly popular was Indo States WHF 41 entrants Lassier Dans Fatimana. Many brought flags and handmade banners to cheer on their favourite entrants.

During the contest the crowd cheered loudly each and every act, a Beepeean tradition of applauding excellence regardless of statehood.

Throughout the broadcast Beepeean televisual viewers would be able to hit the 'interactive red button' on their remotes or log in on the BONC website and view the audience watching the show.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:08 am**

Chuva — Jaloo

According to the most recent census conducted in the Achaean Republic, only 1% of the total population—about 260,000 residents—consider themselves to be indigenous (indígenas), where such a broad classification ranges from Caribs and Arawaks to Taínos, Ciboney, Yaraco and the Tauí of western Achaea. Because this number is only self-reported by census takers, many consider this portrayal to be woefully inaccurate of the Achaean indigenous reality—while some argue that there are no more pure-blooded indigenous Achaeans in existence today, others say that arguably every Achaean by blood must have some indigenous ancestry in their DNA, alongside the Spanish and African heritage concentrated in most of our culture. However, the indigenous Achaeans have been subject to a unique set of challenges and circumstances that have forged a fight for common ground through dual isolation and retreat into their own communities and cautious interaction with the outside world.

However, while everyone in the country honors, celebrates and recognizes the Taíno culture as supreme, pre-Columbian trailblazers that fostered the nation’s very first steps towards its identity, not many remember the Tauí, a very small and insular indigenous group that only came to the Achaean mainland in the 16th and 17th centuries after being forcibly taken as slaves from scattered Tupi-Guaraní tribes from the Amazon by the Spanish and Portuguese. Dumped into a different land and forced to work in the encomiendas of the west, many of them were compelled to slavery even after African slave trade was up and running. For the few Tauí survivors of these perilous colonial times, they retreated with some African cimarrones into the jungles and forest of the country’s vast interior and settled into a long period of enforced isolation. Many accused the Tauí of missing out on various events in Achaean history: the struggle for independence; the military juntas from the antebellum period; the Civil War; the instability of post-war Achaea; the dictatorships; and modernity. Others note that their restrictive isolation is only but a cover of their restive politics as they struggle to interact with the outside world. 1 out of 3 Tauí live in poverty. 28% of their citizens has not completed their high school education. 1 out of 3 Tauí teenagers become mothers by the time they are 15. And those that dare marry from the outside were—until now—disfellowshipped by Tauí society.

Augusto Yací Rodríguez was born between these two worlds: the open, sensual, and enticing world of Achaea, and the remote and isolated Tauí culture. His father was a morotí (“white”) social worker employed by the Indigenous Achaean Welfare Service (Servicio de Bienestar del Acayano Indígena, SEBAI) who fell in love with his secretary, a hembreka (“woman”) that was also the daughter of her town’s cacique. At the time, Tauí culture was strictly endogamous to the point that even women could not be in the same room with a morotí without another Tauí being present. Their love was mutual, but their passion was unbridled and, to hide away the pregnancy, she started sewing her own clothes. But there was definitely talk in the Tauí Natural Reserve, a 47,000-acre (190 sq. km.) forested enclave for the Tauí that also served as a national park, about an extremely friendly relationship with the cacique’s daughter and the morotí. It got to the point where the Tauí council in Santa Ana almost had to intervene and threaten to strip the cacique of his power because stories of sexual abuse and torture within the reserve were being leaked to the press. So they forced the cacique to make a choice: either he forced her daughter to terminate the pregnancy and break off the relationship with the morotí, or be forced to resign and be replaced by one of the many willing candidates that would gladly yank him off his position.

He decided to commit suicide one night after a ritual celebration and nominate his daughter as cacica, something that has never happened in over 400 years of Achaean presence. And the council could not say anything because, according to Tauí custom, the eldest son takes over the cacicazgo and, barring that, the eldest daughter—she was the only daughter.

Months after Augusto’s mother became cacica, she began a series of reforms aimed at modernizing Tauí culture and improving the relationship between the tribes and the Achaean government, in particular the SEBAI. She allowed marriage between Tauís and morotí. She reformed musical academies that would preserve the Tauí heritage. After her son’s birth, a huguikoí (“mestizo”), it was declared that Achaeans with at least 50% Tauí heritage would automatically apply and receive the SEBAI benefits. And, in a bold move that not even Achaeans considered at this point, they would honor same-sex relationships in the Tauí community (same-sex marriage was not recognized in the Achaean Republic until 2016).

Years later, when Augusto became Y-Jacie as a stage name and studied Music Theory in the University of Santa Ana on a full-ride scholarship sponsored by the Tauí Reserve, he attempts to transform his tribe’s sounds and mix them with modern pop, rock, and jazz music. He is also part of the Tauí Collective, an online repository of histories from Tauí tribesmen and tribeswomen that is also sponsored by the University of Santa Ana with the grant of SEBAI. In addition, Y-Jacie has worked on his newest CD, Huguikoí, which is a translation of the author’s personal life and half-white, half-Tauí and how the intersectionality of these identities affect his life. His lead single, Lluvia (“Rain") was chosen by AS1 upon a personal nod by Tamar de Andrade, the newest Head of Delegation and Dalila Poncio, the newest hired vocal coach. A few talks and glasses of wine later, and the delegation was off to Kalosia with masks and gloves and hand sanitizer in hand.

When the Achaean Republic’s name was called out during the Parade of Nations, Y-Jacie appeared on the stage and walked around while lightly bowing. He was walking barefoot with an indigenous outfit and raising his fist in the air while saying hi. Unlike what people believed, this was not a veiled reference to the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping throughout the world, or at least not directly; instead, is a common Tauí posture of reference to the Creator God, asking Him to bless his performance in a sign of faith and victory. He was also wearing a N-95 mask covered with a cloth mask that has the Achaean flag embedded on it. Even if he doesn’t speak, his eyes are clearly brimming with so much pride at this moment. He wants to do his country proud.

The roaring sound of thunder can be heard from all sides of the stage. Lightning strikes dot the LED skyline surrounding Y-Jacie, and also stepping down his bare feet. The clouds surrounding him turn to explode in rain, with sharp, glassy drops falling from the sky, more so with the LED screen below him. The stage lights turn a dark, complex hue of dark blues and whites and grays, complicating matters further with a mist that flows upon the dampness of the stage and surrounds the studio with mist. No worries about water damage, though—the Achaean delegation had been assured by the Kalosian hosts that any electronics would be covered with impermeable water. Or at the very least, they would have mops and towels on hand to quickly mop up before the next performance.

Achaeans are normally associated with fire—they are intense, passionate, impulsive, garish and brash. They are bold, fearless, domineering yet also protective of one another. Fire tends to make up most of their core values, as well as ones that dominate the nation’s social imaginary. But rain, the one element they love to hate, but cannot live without, is also an important reminder of Achaean identity. More so for the Tauí, whose mythos whilst being strangers in a strange land is to cling to the rain as passengers of time. This is why Y-Jacie is draped in blue and white fabrics almost in a shawl-like form around his body, and is also dressed with a sleeveless blue tunic embroidered with gold and white trimmings. He has a taparrabo made of seeds, vegetable fibers, peacock feathers and tied with a bit of gum from the gumtree. It’s enough to cover his privates, but not enough to cover his bare legs, designed with storm motifs and painted raindrops coming from his thighs all the way to his ankles. His hands also show markings made of achiote that have symbols such as the sun, the moon, and the wind.

Vuelan las aves que
semillas cargarán
espíritus del mar
Se vantan con el pie

Las nubes rozan
el tenso calcañar
busca donde refugiar
para nunca perecer así

Y-Jacie moves his arms as if he were to bend the air below it. His hands are covered with the dew that glistened from the mist as his clothes are slowly growing damp. An extended camera circling around the studio shows how both LED screens surrounding him still show the rain falling from the grey skies, thunder and lightning bursting through the water in a spectacle of electric beauty. The LED screen below his bare feet transform into the misty ground and the damp dirt. Y-Jacie stomps the ground lightly, as if he were wiping out the dirt on his feet. A smell of dirt mixed with water permeates the arena. A slight whooshing sound brings more dampness and humidity to Y-Jacie’s body.

Cuando Dios creó la Tierra
y llamó la atmósfera
de espíritus que rebelan
Ángeles se desesperan

Los pecados del mundo
Rompen su nariz fecundo
hizo dardos para esconder la lluvia
hizo dardos para esconder la lluvia

He moves his arms as if he were bending the air and transforming it into water. The mist in the studio makes the setting much more mystical and magical, as if the spirit of God Himself were walking over the water and terraforming the empty earth to His pleasure. To the camera’s left, he beckons the moon. To the camera’s right, he beckons the stars. His gaze to the studio cameras is both forceful yet mystical, turning his words to action. The LED screens behind him and in front of him actually show the moon and the stars slowly showing themselves and allowing their glow to illuminate the bare feet below him. (According to Tauí legend, God created the earth overnight, when the moon was highest so the Moon could protect the monsters of the sea and the sun could take over the monsters of the land.)

Lluvia, lluvia, hacia el mar
Lluvia cae como el cristal
Lluvia limpia mi ser
Lluvia, lluvia

Lluvia, lluvia, hacia el mar
Lluvia cae como el cristal
Lluvia limpia mi ser
Lluvia, lluvia

The song returns again to the beginning, with Y-Jacie beckoning the nascent earth to heed his call. A camera above him shows him standing stoically on the stage with his shawl and golden trimmings, a lone figure above the mist. This time, the holographic images placed by RTVK show glowing birds and flowers and trees, all slowly growing from the air and the moonlight so as the Creator wanted to in Tauí mythology.

Vuelan las aves que
semillas cargarán
espíritus del mar
Se vantan con el pie

Las nubes rozan
el tenso calcañar
busca donde refugiar
para nunca perecer así

As he sang, Y-Jacie thoroughly remembered the call-and-response songs (hanóy-bojeví) he learned at the Tauí reserve by his elder cacique: Songs that would invoke the Creator God to bless creation with His gifts and ward off the evil guasú that haunt the earth and fail to perish. But it was also important to remember that, as he performs, he is also embodying the essence of God Himself, so it is worthy to infuse it with the proper measure of respect—even if he is competing for a trophy.

Below him, the top camera encircling the studio shows holographic snakes hissing below his feet; rabbits hopping along the road; the chirps of the cricket mixed with the coquí; the bees flying and the mosquitoes buzzing. On the LED screens around him, the LED screens show the whale fins crashing the nightly waves; the seagulls freely flying and hiding below the moon; the fishes breaking the crests and decorating the ocean like raindrops. The beasts of the air. The beasts of the earth. The beasts of the sea. For the Tauí, these beasts were not just animals, pets, or mindless guasú (the Tauí do not have a separate word for demons and animals; rather, they believe animals are rebellious monsters tamed by God and had their souls taken out so they could be of service to humans).

Cuando Dios creó la Tierra
y llamó la atmósfera
de espíritus que rebelan
Ángeles se desesperan

Los pecados del mundo
Rompen su nariz fecundo
hizo dardos para esconder la lluvia
hizo dardos para esconder la lluvia

Once again, he moves his arms as if he were bending the air and transforming it into water. The mist becomes thicker, denser, and bolder, almost completely covering the feet and making it look as if he was wearing a robe made of air, crafted by the Spirit of God. To the camera’s left, he beckons the moon. To the camera’s right, he beckons the stars. His gaze to the studio cameras is both forceful yet mystical, turning his words to action. In one verse, he moves his hands to the left. In another, he moves them to the right, as if he keeps bending the air at will, breathing spirit into the set—and viewers at home.

Lluvia, lluvia, hacia el mar
Lluvia cae como el cristal
Lluvia limpia mi ser
Lluvia, lluvia

Lluvia, lluvia, hacia el mar
Lluvia cae como el cristal
Lluvia limpia mi ser
Lluvia, lluvia

Como el vidrio, lava mi alma en pena
Como el vidrio, lava mi alma en pena

At that moment, Y-Jacie extends his arms and begins spinning rapidly around the center of the stage. The camera tries to keep up with the pace of his spinning. The LED screen below his feet begins to spin clockwise as Y-Jacie does as the holographic images around the stage start to flutter into a small, yet powerful twister reflected in the studio. The mist surrounding the stage starts to thicken as soon as the stage grows even more humid. Beside him, the LED screens reflect the increasingly choppy and windy waters where the moon once was, now hidden by a torrential beam of wind It is a nymbitará-yguasú, a waterspout floating on the sea. According to Tauí mythology, the Creator God descended as a waterspout and sent seven spirits in the form of tornadoes to protect the treasures of His creation: One for the celestial bodies guarding the day and the night; one for the beasts of the sea; one for the beasts of the land; one for the flora that covers the earth; one for the wind that refreshes the world; one for the soil; and one to guard the secrets of man. These secrets, however, were hidden in the form of rain—which is why is important, at least for the Tauí, to guard the rain and treat it as a brother.

The last parts of the song are in Tauí, a language Y-Jacie could barely speak properly in a religious setting, let alone dazed and confused from all the tripping and spinning (at least he was spinning convincingly enough that nobody noticed all the times he tripped on his bulky robes). While Tauí is the language of his mother, there is no practical use for him to speak with in his life—no longer living on the reserve, no one besides the very distant Tupi speak the language of his people, and even the youth is slowly passing it on for Spanish and even English. Yet, despite all the grief his people put him through, he was determined to prove that he still cares about his culture, his tribe, his future. It was unfair, but he tried his hardest to carry the weight of the Tauí in his words while he embodies the Creator God they worship. He needs to show the world, intrigue them, seduce them, make them fond of his identity.

Heshâmba la 'reseva
Heshâmba la ‘reseva

Heshâmba la ‘reseva, ere jay pea y ‘ama
Heshâmba la ‘reseva, ere jay pea y ‘ama
Heshâmba la ‘reseva, ere jay pea y ‘ama
Heshâmba la ‘reseva, ere jay pea y ‘ama

Heshâmba la 'reseva
Heshâmba la ‘reseva

The song ends and he can imagine the cheers of his people back home in Achaea. Those in Corola shouting from their balconies. Those in the Federal District honking their cars. Those in Rosario praying to the orishas for his success. But he mostly worried about those in the Tauí National Reserve, his other homeland, his home, who would have all congregated at the cacique's house and cheered him on, with the elders giving a wry, approving smirk and a slightly concealed nod in the head. He hoped to maked them proud. "¡Gracias!," he shouted in Spanish. "¡Aguyjé! ¡Aguyjé!," he repeated in Spanish. Before he left, the microphone could only hear Y-Jacie shouting "¡Aguyjé!" faintly as it echoed through the studio.

Unlike many countries who had large, public viewing parties, there wasn’t one large gathering sponsored by cities, communities or even AS1. Instead, virtual parties were held across social media and video conferencing sites such as Zoom and Ring. In the Tauí Natural Reserve, however, some youngsters congregated in the cacique’s backyard and decided to host a small get-together. Over one hundred people showed up and, for at least fifteen seconds, were waving the Achaean, Zacatecas and Tauí flags, some wearing masks and others not, cheering on their brother’s performance.

On the other side of the state of Zacatecas, near Santa Ana, a Kalosian restaurant called Mammello’s was packed with socially distanced patrons eating food, having their glass of Kalosian wine, and also cheering on the performance. Some in the crowd were Kalosian expats who could be picked out by their blue-and-white crescent flags, as well as the loud and boisterous Achaeans screaming ”¡Fueguero, carajo!” and carrying their fire born flags with unbridled joy. At least they have something to cheer about during these times.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:12 am**

Dynasty — Rina Sawayama

Placing fifth at the first edition of Titan Rising didn't stop pop star NARA to represent the Titans in an international song contest. Appointed as the Titan's returning act at the World Hit Festival after a ten-edition break by TNT-Two, the singer was preparing her ammo to shoot her shot at the contest. She was helped by the Titan Rising winner, Joelle, and frequent collaborator, Miyano Toyama, to compose the entry. About how the entry was crafted, she was interviewed by television personality, Kamilah Tobela during Tobela's late-night talk show, Tonight Show Starring Kamilah Tobela.

The idea of the song has been written on my phone notes for quite some time. It's about how I was abused when I was younger. I've been traumatized my whole life. It kinda defines me and the way I act. But now I have overcome it and now I have the courage to tell my story and hopefully I can help other people struggling the same issues. And the most important thing, is to speak up and don't hesitate to visit the professionals. Our mental healthcare in this country are accessible for all, thankfully. The process of the production started when, so me and other Titan Rising participants, we bond and hang out a lot and we have this group chat. When TNT-Two approached me, I freaked out and immediately shared the news with the group chat. Joelle kinda came to the studio and helped me a lot with lyrics and music.

For the performance in Monterra, NARA would be on stage alone. She was wearing this black dress.

In addition to promoting her entry, NARA appeared on live performances during the home segments of the television late-night talk show, Tonight Show Starring Kamilah Tobela and morning show, Good Morning Titans. NARA also was interviewed about the story of the song in a segment with website Einstein, which we could see the lyrics breakdown on every part of the performance below. (OOC: Similar to Genius' Lyrics Breakdown videos)

Only one stage light spotted on her. The stage was dim. Rina was kneeling on the center stage, while the cameras panned her from her left and right side also from the front then zoomed-out slowly. The screen showed different angles each line. The LED screen was dark.

Punishing myself
I'm hitting an all-time low
Can't escape guilt I've felt
Rewarding myself
And it's all that I must do
Leaving me with no other choice

Singing the first line of the chorus, she started to get up and stand on the stage. The camera panned in circular motion. The LED screen showed shadows as they were behind, on the right and side of NARA.

No mercy
Started from home and it ruins me
No mercy
Long time ago but it cuts deep, cuts deep
No mercy
Tough love coated into abuses
Help me to take it off of me

The camera panned from above. NARA wandering around the stage. The backing vocalists sang the post-chorus lines. On the side stage, there was seen a throne. NARA approached it then sat on it. The camera panned her wearing a crown from the front.

With no, with no (uh!), with no, with no (uh!)
With no, with no (uh!), with no, with no (uh!, ooh)
With no, with no (uh!), with no, with no (uh!)
With no, with no (uh!)

The camera went in a circular motion when NARA sat on the throne. She was sitting on it throughout the part while the LED screen showed montages of music videos, about a child taken away from their childhood.

I'm gonna take the throne this time
Leaving all the scars behind
Never thought I'd recover
From the damage that you caused
I'm afraid of being loved
Afraid getting it all wrong
Everything came out of your mouths
They all sound just like lies

NARA stood on the throne. The camera panned from below and began doing the circular motion. The stage was filled with smoke.

I'm begging for no mercy
Started from home and it ruins me
No mercy
Long time ago but it cuts deep, cuts deep
No mercy
Tough love coated into abuses
Help me to take it off of me

The LED screen showed the footage of NARA's childhood. NARA was still standing on the throne while the camera was changing its direction from her right, left, and front side.

Mother and father, you put me through hell
I wonder whether this is how a life supposed to be like
Scared to speak up, this is my time
Hear me out 'cause I'm ending my silence
Mother and father, I wish you kept me in rubber
Looking back, how could've you done it to your flesh and blood?
Nine months inside you, I no longer want to
Letting go of showing no mercy

NARA jumped from the throne. She then vocalized to electric guitar solo, performed by the producer Miyano Toyama live in their home in Rowland. (OOC: Yes, it's Rina's vocals.)

Instrumental break

NARA was now standing on center stage. The camera panned her while it was seen that the throne behind her was set on fire.

No mercy
Started from home and it ruins me
No mercy
Long time ago but it cuts deep, cuts deep
No mercy
Tough love coated into abuses
Help me to take it off of me

NARA bowed to the camera, then shouted "End violence now starting from our home!"

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:17 am**

The Game of Love — Santana ft Michelle Branch

The band would play the beginning of the song as Michaela was turned around and she clapped to the beat and as the beat came in, she turned around and began to sing, strumming on her guitar and Messiah would be on the electric guitar, behind her to the side and the LED screens would show a sunrise and light beams onstage would be yellow, several lights would be hanging on stage with additional trusses and a rug would be on stage, and old 90s box style tv’s would be on stage as well in front of the band stand.

Show me
How you will care for me
Come here
And prove that we were meant to be

Michaela would continue strumming the guitar as she sang.

Baby you are mine
I cant get enough of your love
And you take me high
Just give me what I want, baby i’m all yours

Michaela had swiftly took off her guitar, handing it to a person offscreen, and snatching the microphone off the stand, walking to the other side of the stage, and as she approached the chorus a flash of orange lights would appear shortly and on the LED screens there would moving images of multiple different worldwide cities at sunrise and it would show different couples of all types.

Just come and give me a kiss
Your love is so right
Baby true love exists
I’m telling you that
Givin up the past
And living for today
And i’m letting you now that
You’re what I’ve been looking for

Michaela walks over to Messiah, stepping to the beat as they stood close to each other and Michaela would wrap her arm around Messiah near the end of the verse, then walking away from him to another part of the stage.

And i’ve been searching endlessly
Be mine, I think you are the one for me
You give me life
And you let me be in yours
And you take me high
Lets be together forevermore, baby i’m all yours

Michaela would walk and continue to sing as she eagerly moved across the stage, then moving into one spot two stepping to the beat.

Just come and give me a kiss
Your love is so right
Baby true love exists
I’m telling you that
Givin up the past
And living for today
And i’m letting you now that
You’re what I’ve been looking for
You’re what I’ve been looking for

Michaela would go to the ground and as she approached the end of the bridge, she would come up and walk over to Messiah and she would start to move her body to the song as Messiah did his guitar solo. Messiah was clearly in tune to the song and he would play with his eyes closed, showing strong emotions. As Michaela moved it was apparent that the song was speaking to her as well.

You’re loving, comforting, you’re lovely
I need you only
I like you, And you like me
Soooooo

As Messiah’s guitar solo ended, Michaela would stand next to Messiah and she would continue to sing.

Baby you are mine
I cant get enough of your love
And you take me high
Just give me what I want, baby i’m all yours

As the last chorus approached, Messiah would stop playing the guitar and would start clapping and so would Michaela and the rest of the band except for one guitar player, and his strumming would be heard in the back and the LED screen would show many people at home watching live who opted to be in clapping to the beat of the song and white confetti would come down onto the stage.

Just come and give me a kiss
Your love is so right
Baby true love exists
I’m telling you that
Givin up the past
And living for today
And i’m letting you now that
You’re what I’ve been looking for

The LED screen would show many different families from many different parts of the world at their homes and one of the recognizable faces would be Jakob Fletcher who represented Estogium in Worldvision 67 along with his and Michaela’s child, Xavier and other World Hit Festival representatives.

You’re loving, comforting, you’re lovely
(Give me a kiss, your love is so right)

[Messiah]
All I need is you, yeah

(Giving up the past, living for today)
Just give me what I want, baby i’m all yours

(Give me a kiss, your love is so right)
(Giving up the past, living for today)

As they continued to sing, the backing track would continue to play of Michaelas vocals and Michaela would blow a kiss to the camera and bow, and the song would end and Messiah bowed as well, and Michaela would walk over to Messiah and they would embrace in a hug and grab hands and everyone on stage, cheered.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:19 am**

Lordly — Alex Aiono

Estogium's 25th participation: Anton Eitan has been confirmed to represent Estogium at the 52nd World Hit Festival which takes place in Kalosia. He will be sending his pop banger, "Shot"!

As the World Hit Festival enters the sixth decade, Estogians have started to become a lot more hopeful at the prospect that their nation could win the World Hit Festival. Harking back to the results of the 48th World Hit Festival, where (for the first time ever), Estogium managed to place 2nd only to be beaten by next door neighbour, Britonisea. More and more Estogians kept up with the contest, especially after hosting the 49th World Hit Festival in the city of Alashkan. While Estogium didn't live up to expectation as their neighbours did, the result hurt much less than it would have done at any other contest. Moving into the 50th World Hit Festival, it was announced that there would be World Hit Festival Semi-Finals, something that we had seen since the 40th edition. While people in Estogium were initially sceptical about the idea of Semi-Finals - believing that RVC wouldn't be able to successfully take the nation to the Grand Final, RVC reminded Estogian fans that last time there was a Semi-Finals, Estogium made it to the final - easily. With this being said, fans started to calm down, expecting that Estogium had something up their sleeves. Similarly to the 40th World Hit Festival, for the Semi-Finals edition, Estogium opted for an act that had already represented the country before - Elias Nordin. With the nation qualifying and then ending the night back on the left-hand side of the scoreboard, fans were relieved that Estogium was back in the came once again. It was later revealed, and heavily publicised that Estogium finished second, yet again behind Britonisea, in the 1st Semi-Final. The Estogian populace was amazed by this result, with Elias gaining even more popularity than he had before. He went on to represent Estogium at the WorldVision Song Contest in Ertzei Kishim.

Coming into the World Hit Festival at the 51st World Hit Festival, RVC felt as though they needed to keep up the good results. More people decided to watch the World Hit Festival than the editions before, but while most were expecting that neighbours Britonisea were going to host again, some were surprised when the emission started and we were in Todlichebujoku. The contest started, with Estogium performing in 14th position - sandwiched between Izmedu and Petroslovania. It was Aakash who was representing Estogium at the World Hit Festival and his song, mellow and simplistic, was hoped to give Estogium some good results. As the points came in, it was no surprise to see that Estogium managed to appeal to some nations as they stayed on the left-hand-side without issue, much to the pain of the Britonish who stayed on the right. While finishing two places below Izmedu, Estogium received the same amount of points - 21 - in an epic fivesome with Togonistan, Waisnor and Achaean Republic. Estogian fans weren't far away from placing much higher. Had Estogium received three more points, Estogium would've been third place and this was seen as a positive in the eyes of RVC...they were on the right path.

Long time Head of Delegation, Kevin Dean-Upperton - after finding out that Kalosia would be the host - said that it was necessary for Estogium to return to the Festival, with Estogium first participating at the 19th World Hit Festival also in Kalosia. Kevin didn't know what he wanted Estogium to send to the upcoming Festival, but he thought that the Estogian team should send something modern and contemporary. After opening applications for Estogium's song selection once again, Kevin invited many people to perform live in front of a panel of a demo version of their song, with Kevin noting that for him, Anton Eitan was one of the people that stood out to him. With Kevin's aim to make the World Hit Festival even more appealing to the younger market with 20-year old from Sedderton, Anton, fitting the bill. While his looks, personality and stage presence being second to none, the Head of Delegation thought that the demo version of "Shot" was something great to work on and had a lot of promise. Thus, behind the scenes, Anton was Kevin's preferred act to represent Estogium; with the panel eventually agreeing.

Anton was from the town of Seddington in the centre of Estogium where most of the population actually spoke Britonish or Rwhitten. Learning English through school and of course through channels such as RVC which was broadcast mainly in English, he felt as though when he went to the major cities in Estogium such as Darlington and The Estograd, he never felt like he properly fit in with the rest of the country. Eventually, he went to study in Estogium City at their large university campus where many famous Estogians go - including Jakob Fletcher known for his moments with Axuva's Michaela at the 67th WorldVision Song Contest. There, Anton was able to further learn and understand other people's stem of Estogian culture, but thanks to his musical talent, he felt as though he could easily do this through the medium of music. Anton was, and is, a multi-faceted musician; a star especially considering his age. The once shy, timid and embarrassed (due to his rougher Britonish-language accent when speaking English) started to grow in a young, confident adolescent which made his parents prouder than they were before he left for university (but of course, he still had the shy look on his face). While he played an array of instruments and had friends that could fill in the gaps, people loved him singing. They thought he had the looks, they thought he had the sound...to Estogians, his place was supposed to be centre stage, interacting with the audiences he sang to. That is the reason why he's doing the World Hit Festival after all - he felt the need, especially spurred by his friends, to make sure his voice is heard and Kalosia would be the place where he would start.

For the Parade of Nations, Anton walked on a ramp to the stage with two other gentlemen who were also going to be on the stage with him. The tree walked on in a triangle formation, with Anton in the middle. Shyly, he raised his eyes from the floor, slightly smiling and he waved into the camera. There wasn't the sound of a usual audience, but he knew people were watching from home. The other gentlemen were standing apart from Anton, but interacted by waving their hands too. Eventually, their fifteen seconds were up and they swiftly left the stage. The next time they'd be on, they will be entertaining the millions of televoters watching.

It was now time for the Estogian performers to embrace the stage as it was now time to give the audience a reason to hand Estogium their first-ever World Hit Festival title. The Estogian trio (Anton and the two singers/dancers) were all wearing similar things, with Anton wearing the full costume which consisted of a nylon utility vest, white t-shirt and trackies [similar to those on the link]. The others were wearing a black t-shirt instead of white with the hoping of keeping the attention on Anton throughout the performance. They all wore the whitest shoes one could find to finish off the contemporary look. The stage runners, at arm's length, alerted the Estogium team that they needed to get ready to go onto the stage after the previous performer. Anton smiled and stood up, looking back at his two dancers behind him, with the pair behind him, following him out of the door. The three walked out and to the stage as the last performance finished. Anton, as he stepped on the stage thought to himself, "This is it, this is my moment". He continued walking into the middle of the stage as the dancers stood on the side just behind the larger sections of the LEDs. RVC and BVC were in talks with one another, discussing how they would decipher what would be the front of the stage and what would be the back with it being 360 degrees. Eventually, the two ABEN broadcasters came to a consensus that if they needed to refer to something like the front, they'd use the lowest point where the LED's "meet", with the side closest to the main exit and entrance to the studio space being "the front". While unofficial, for the Estogian, it simplified things for Anton and his team to figure out how to play this entry out and also, where to stand when they first hit the stage. No major props and distractions other than the usual lighting and pyrotechnics etc were being used in this performance.

As we were ready to move to the performance of Anton, the studio lights were turned off, with it turning pitch black. It was a dark scene to start off, with him standing alone on the stage in the centre, facing the supposed front by Estogian definition. Fog machines were turned on and started to fill the stage floor as a soft spotlight was shone on him. He knew now that it was time for his performance and boy, he couldn't wait to start it. As you could hear the high pitched strings come in, a camera was poised on Anton, slowly zooming in to his face, covered with shadows. The ominous setting made people wondering what was happening for the first 15 seconds. With one of the dancers, who were yet to join him on the stage, singing the "Aah" in the back, suddenly there was some more audience were getting from the Estogian performance, with Anton raising his microphone to his face. He started singing the chorus which he will reprise later, singing it in a murky, grottier and lower register than how he would sing it later. The camera started to become canted as he moved closer and closer to Anton.

I’m here, fire your shot
Come on, lock and load
Put a bullet through my heart,
Leave me for dead

I’m here, fire your shot
Come on, lock and load
Put a bullet through my heart,
Leave me for dead (Ah-Ah)

As he sang the first chorus, this face was still hidden by the shadows. When With the camera now at an upside-down position by the time he sang the same four lines once again, he decided to do something a tad different. Anton tried to not sway, or tap his foot to the song, but he knew that as soon as the beat came in, he would have to let go. After singing the lyrics "lock and load", he quickly did a lock and load action with the microphone in his hand before pointing his free hand towards the beckoning camera. Suddenly, his face started to become a bit more seen as lights slowly started to fill up the stage. He put his hand (in a gun shape) towards his heart before returning it to face the audience and as he sang "leave me for dead" he made a little motion, slightly tilting his hand up to simulate the gun going off. As he did this, the camera quickly spun the other way round, moving back to the furthest point it could as though it was a coil, as two dancers sprung up onto the stage to join Anton in the same formation they were in earlier when they first appeared at the Nation's Parade.

The beat came in as Anton and the three dancers that were all spaced out from him, two metres, started to do a sequence of movements together, all movements which had to do with what seemed to be militaristic movements - rather rigid, with Anton doing a watered-down version of what the dancers behind him were going for. (Similarly to the music video of this song), the dancers were moving their bodies along to the pulsating beat which would become a huge feature of the song. As they did the movements, there were cameras which watched them dance with one another, but it was short-lived as we swiftly moved onto the first verse of the song. The dancers moved out of the way as Anton took a step forward to greet one of the cameras. He now had his back to one of the larger sections of the LED, with the backing showing a blown-up version of a sniper target with a laser running up and down his body and he went into the verse...

(shot, shot, shot)
(Ah Ah Ah)
Read you like a book (shot!) front to back.
What you’re thinking, guess what
I’m two steps ahead.
You got me planning 24/7,
‘cuz I like to be in control

As the laser moved up and down his body, Anton did a series of dance movements, slightly facing sideways from the camera's position - though still making eye contact with the audience who were watching his performance from the luxury of their sofas. The cameras were unsteady and jittery, constantly moving forwards and backwards, giving those watching Vibdir vibes. Anton, throughout the verse, ran his free hand through his hair if he found that it was slowly moving over his face, smiling each time that he would do it. At the point where he was singing "I'm two steps ahead", he did exactly that, with the cameras focusing on his feet as he did this. White lights flashed furiously along with the red we could see on the target board which was behind him. As Anton sang "I like to be in control", almost subconsciously, bit his lips (not obviously), and smirked...

As one of the members in the back sang the "Ahh" sound in the background once again, the dancers jumped onto the stage once again, with the three of them now swaying strongly from side to side, with the cameras almost swaying in the opposite side to them - if they swayed right, the camera went left, making their sway look much more aggressive that it actually was. The camera zig-zagged its way up their bodies, and by the time the other backing singer/dancer sang, loudly, the word "Shot!" the red laser was pointed at one of the dancers at their heads, with them jumping to the ground backwards. This was also the case the second time when the word "Shot!" was heard again. When it was heard for the third time, Anton held his hand up in a gun formation, shooting the camera instead, with a TV static VHS error look appearing on the screen for a split second as Anton continued to sing...

(Ah Ah Ah)
I’m here, fire your shot (shot!)
Come on, lock and load (shot!)
Put a bullet through my heart,
And leave me for dead (shot!)

(Ah Ah)
But let me tell you this (shot!)
No, you can’t do it (shot!)
So let me shoot my shot,
Before it is too late

(Ah Ah Ah)
(Ah Ah Ah)
(Shot, Shot, Shot)
(Ah Ah Ah)

As he reached the end of him singing the chorus, yet another dance break came here - but this time, thanks to the backing track now being at full texture, Anton felt a bit more comfortable dancing with the same intensity that the other two dancers were dancing - with them doing the sequence of movements along with the beat of the music. As he did this, in the back on the screens which wrapped around the stage, there were intense but blurry images of a man (Anton with his face covered and in similar costume). running from one side of the LED to the other side, jumping from one of the LEDs to the other LED where the two "met". In order to capture this moment, there was a Steadicam which circled around the dancers, with the camera focused on what was going on with the screens behind Anton, but also had him in the shot. The stage had white lights flickering, with red plastered on the walls around him.

As we moved on to the next verse of the song, the Steadicam pointed itself at the LED completely, where (on the screen), Anton pointed the barrel of the gun towards the screen. As he shot it, it looked as though something was coming towards the camera in a 3D effect. The stage went dark before another camera captured Anton alone on the stage in a cage made from lasers which boxed him. The lasers, which were green, gave off a futuristic dystopian feel, only aided by the pulsating flickers of green-tinted volts which we could see on the screen behind him. As he sang the verse, he tried to reach out for the camera through the lasers. He eyed the audience at home, watching them with his shy eyes - making those feel sorry for him, but really he's deadly and he's coming for you...

(Ah Ah Ah)
Tell me your sweet lies, whisper them
Tell me you hate me, you want me gone
Convince yourself, but
I, I know the truth
That’s enough to keep me alive

Once again, the two dancers jumped up on the stage as the lasers lowered, with the triangle formation was formed once again. At the start of the chorus leading up to the last and most explosive dance break, the three men leant all the way forwards before slowly making their way up, moving their hips in circular motions, moving from side to side and they bumped themselves up each time they swayed from one side to the other. As Anton got back to standing posititon, we had reached the "put a bullet" part, as he pointed his hand to the camera screen once again before "shooting" as he reached the word "dead" at the end.

(Ah Ah)
I’m here, fire your shot
Come on, lock and load
Put a bullet through my heart,
And leave me for dead

(Ah Ah)
But let me tell you this (shot!)
No, you can’t do it (shot!)
So let me shoot my shot,
Before it is too late

(Ah Ah Ah)
(Ah Ah Ah)
(Shot, Shot, Shot)
(Ah Ah Ah)

As we reached the final chorus of the song, Anton's backing dancers were now joining in, raising their microphones to their mouths as they shouted "Shot!" louder than they did before, cutting between Anton in a midshot (when he was singing) before going to a long shot (when the backing personnel were getting involved) and cutting back. There then was one more dance break at the end of the song in which all three of them danced in unison with each other, with it slowly becoming messier but still in time with the tune, as it turned out they were fighting one another. The cameras were frantic, moving from side to side, up and down, showing the carnage that was happening on the stage.

As the outro began to play, there was a single shot, a spotlight, with the camera moving outwards in the same way that it moved inwards at the start of the performance, with the two men on the ground; Anton standing tall in between them, looking like some sort of rogue-hero. Anton breathed heavily in a tableau for a few seconds until the lights dramatically switched off, rendering the studio into complete darkness.

That was the end of the performance. While he was expecting huge cheers as though he was in an arena, he remembered that this is a different World Hit Festival. He simply said "Remercio teis" into the microphone before walking off the stage along with the other two he was onstage with...

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:23 am**

Redeemer of Israel — Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra

The sixty-strong choir stood at equal intervals in an arc facing the conductor. Aside from a line of 10 having ancient brass trumpets resembling those of an angel, the music was pre-recorded to comply with guidelines. The normal choir held 200, and despite Caryton being one of the few countries to curb the virus, they downsized the delegation to 50 of the most elite to prevent that much backlash. It was a nightmare getting them, and their religious symbol, past without fallout but here they were. The choir was dressed in white robes with golden halos and red sashes, a dead copy of the idealist image of angels, as if they were bringing a message of faithful solidarity to WHF.

The music began as soon as the pre-recorded orchestra flipped on. The line of 10 brass at the back provided actual accompaniment while the vocalists began.

""Redeemer of Caryton, your good works shine bright!
We can't fathom the blessings you call!
Our companion by day and our prophet by night-
Our dog, our truest friend, our all!"

Cameras zoomed in on the white-clad performers as a depiction of Jesus' miracles were shown behind them. The choir stood with smiling faces, not really doing anything extraordinary but pure joy radiated from their eyes, as if nothing were truly wrong in the world and the listener would soon be saved, as per the message of the song. They did an excellent job at getting the message across.

"We see the life she's living and her example is meek!
She liberated this promised land, so enthralled!
For at the ashes of Alta, the new dawn o'er the mountains peek-
This gospel shall forever never be stalled!"

The scene behind them changes into one of Jesus' works in Jerusalem as well as the last supper, torture, and crucifixion. The choir does not seem pained, and neither does the actor portraying Jesus, knowing it was all pre-determined.

"For how long has she barked to ward off poisons of old?
And lied down her knowledge unto thee!
Her works turn sin red as wine into her shiny coat of gold-
Then how should we go against truth that makes us free?"

A panoramic view of Georgine is shown to shake violently in a stunning CGI animation until a pillar of light shines on the city. The goodly, god-fearing men and women in suits and dresses, hats and bonnets paused at the light with trembling hands and wide eyes. Jesus descends on the capital of Caryton and greets the Leading Reverend and the nation's clergy. The light shines through the nail marks in his hands. The citizens transform into angels as he gives them a message. The angels look exactly like the choir members who are now teary-eyed. The world is shown to be cast in darkness, but the light is taking over, starting in Caryton. The instrumental built up.

"As children of Cary, a new life's been fetched for us! (Fear not!)
Jesus' works have always been here! (Fear not!)
Fear not, and have trust! God's work is what we must-
The completed restoration has appeared!"

Jesus is shown to disappear and the camera turns to a sky of white. A spotlight shines directly down on the backstage. Through some impressive platform action, the living Cary, the prophet of Caryton is made to look like she is ascending to the sky. The vibrant light bounces off the golden retriever's coat, making it glisten. The choir spread their arms to the sky as the brass-holding angels raise up with Cary, performing the final fanfare as the highest sopranos bounce up an octave. The entire studio was overtaken by light and fog to seem like heaven, and the cameras were blinded for multiple seconds after the glorious and emotional picture was conveyed. By the time the lights turned off, the choir-- and Cary-- were gone.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:25 am**

Let It Be — The Mamas

Sana | Trini | Amelie

The making of three childhood friends, each with soulful voices, turning into a pop group wasn't mean to go as well as it did. When FAITH was introduced to the nation after winning the first ever X Factor Besenia in 2013 - they were launched into stardom.

Trini had been desperately trying to get the girls to audition - she saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a career that they would genuinely enjoy. It would turn out to be a risk though, Amelie - the youngest of the group - had to quit her job as a waitress in order to make the audition. In the end, it was the right decision. With four yeses from the judges, they were launched into the next round. Onto bootcamp and then at judge’s houses and then booming onto the stage at the live shows. Every week, they were constantly topping the vote, and time sped by until all of a sudden the three girls were standing on the stage at ISO Arena at the finals. It was clear that they were about to easily win - and have a career of longevity and success. They did exactly that, beginning in 2014.

On a break for all of early 2014, FAITH stole headlines for their extravagant new lifestyles. Many had doubted that they could finish a project quick enough to release later in the year. The shocking revelation of Sana’s alcohol addiction haunted the group all throughout their early years as a group. Somehow, it seemed as though it was all falling apart - as though the money had gone to their heads. That wasn’t the case though. Much of their beginnings in their career were plagued by personal battles, such as the death of Sana’s father, which affected her in ways that are hardly explainable. But it came out in the music. That first album was incredible - deep and soulful. The fact that it still did seriously well commercially was the clap-back FAITH needed to bounce back into favourability with the public. The tabloid press quickly turned around onto their side, and joined in the collective praise as “Battlegrounds” picked up awards, became the number one album for three weeks, and sold upwards of 500,000 in a year. Things were getting better in their personal lives too, as both Sana and Trini got married the following year.

There was a period of peace for Trini, Sana and Amelie during 2015, a lot of time to rest and think about the future. Especially for Sana, who had had a really tough time in the previous few years. The three of them separated from each other for a short time so that when they would be better able to be creative and artistic for their second project, which was highly expected to be very soon after the first one - due to the rapid success of their first record, and the mainstream exposure that followed from it. This separation plan worked really well for FAITH, and indeed, when they began to have daily contact with each other again they started to write - and then “Faith” was born.

The release of the album in 2016 went incredibly well for the group, becoming the best selling album by a female group of all time in Besen by the end of the year and achieving them their first Album of the Year award at the BMA’s. It was a new direction for them, and a brand new peak to which it seemed would not be so quick to end any time soon. The success of the era enabled them to sell out arenas, something that they had specifically set for themselves as a goal in terms of their commercial lifestyles.

Although they wouldn’t release another album until 2020, with “Sugar”, their droplet singles fared well across the board during the time that they spent touring the sophomore work, and starting to build up the inspiration and the stories to successfully return at the beginning of the new decade. This would have to be paused for a few years though, with the marriages of Trini and Amelie and the birth of babies from all of the members of FAITH. They felt that they now needed to take the time to be mothers and designate the space to grow the relationships of them with their other halves. It was a period of pure happiness and prosperity emotionally - and the arrival of new opportunities would only make this dream feel even more crazy.

BAEN had known that they wanted to taken over from BSB in terms of rights for both Worldvision and World Hit Festival, for a long time, and this was exemplified when BSB oversaw the unfortunate result of Mimi Lamire at the 82nd contest in Ertzei Kishim, which is now the nation’s worst ever result at the contest, a mere 15th place. They planned a long way ahead for their debut of control for WHF. On their hotlist, they had many popular artists on their radar, and had considered a variety of upcoming talents to project their vision for Besen at the contest. In terms of FAITH, they hadn’t expected for them to accept their initial offer to even enter negotiations to talk about whether it would be possible. They didn’t expect the humble-ness of the group to shine through in the moment, and it was fairly instant that Trini, Amelie and Sana were into talks with BAEN about how they wanted to progress from this spot. They explained that there were several tracks from their brand new album, which they were just finishing up at the time, that might be a smart move to do something with at World Hit. “Love For Me” was the immediate choice for the broadcaster. In fact, it was actually FAITH that pushed back slightly at the idea, and thought that something more R&B based would be a new direction to go in. The song was heavily appealing to the officials though, and they insisted that that be the one that would be progressing onto Kalosia.

The song is written by Trini and a few other female-only songwriters, and produced the same way with the mastermind behind the majority of Besen’s WHF entries, Madame V - having a helping hand from the pop mastermind Diana Ericlatis. It’s a pure pop and soul infused love song about infatuation and happiness in a relationship with someone. The lyrics felt incredibly relatable for FAITH, as they were indeed deep in love and continue to be even after the album is done. It has been very successful as the lead single from “Sugar”, peaking at #1 on BMC, and going on to have viral success online, being featured in thousands of TikToks. Although the broadcaster is relying on the song to do well at the contest, it doesn’t matter to Trini, Sana and Amelie otherwise they wouldn’t have accepted the offer to compete. It’s in all of their personalities to have that drive and have that hunger to be the best at everything they do. In terms of staging, Giorgio Sareina takes the reins, as he has done for many of FAITH’s live shows in the past. Hopes are that he will bring his experience to the contest, and adapt the fact that there is no audience into something that is appealing on camera at the studio. The entire nation are behind these girls, holding their breath in excitement and hope.

As the Besenian postcard ended and the soft instrumentation of the song began to play, the camera steered around from the ceiling slowly, revealing a lowly lit scenery. All three girls were there, each in different styled clothing - but all still in a glistening golden colour though. Around them to the back of the stage, there are three light poles which stand equally as tall as the women and begin with a soft white glow around them. Across the floor, a pool of mist barely gracing the high heels of Amelie, Sana and Trini. The light reveals them slowly, with increasing intensity - so that when Trini starts to sing the first lines, the phenomenally simple but stunning makeup looks can be seen on everybody. Their light pink eyeshadow compliments their attire perfectly, especially when combined with the growing light coverage above them.

Trini thinks about what it means to her to be standing on this stage, although there is no audience, she feels the intensity of the moment. She feels a strong adrenaline in her heart - it gets her excited but she's still nervous - suddenly thinking about just how many people are watching her on TV right now. Trini thinks about her family, and how she just wants to make them proud, especially her baby son, who she hopes will look back at her performance on this day and be proud of his mother. And then she sings, a gorgeous soft tone, giving very little of her full capability. She knows she will need to save it, and she wants to. All throughout her verse, the lights flash in pink and then alternate back to the same white shade that was there to begin with. It gives the impression of a beating heart almost, as it pulses across the stage, slowly. Trini stands fairly close to her bandmates Sana and Amelie, and during their joint parts, they join hands for a brief time. They really don't need to communicate through words the pure emotion that each and every one of them is feeling at this moment.

Ever since I have brought you into my life,
My smiles have been so often now

My king and my saviour,
I’ll stay here forever
So let me adore ya
Give me some of that love

Trini elevates her projection, giving off a smooth vocal quality. She receives some silky backup in the form of harmonies from the two other girls. And the camera swings around to the left to highlight this companionship between them. It captures the warming smile of Amelie, who sings directly into the camera, with a beckoning motion. As Trini sings, the poles light up in a pink colour, contrasting to when the girls sing, as it glows in a brighter white, probably leaning more into yellow. The mist has cleared by now, but the background takes up most of the attention, in a blinding pink beam all across the LED.

Just keep me close,
When I love you most
I’ll give you trust

Give me some of that love

Baby I, I know what’s up
You give me trust

Give me some of that love

The girls all hold up their mics close to their face, the big chorus they love so much. The energy they can feel runs through their veins like a drug, and they sing with determination - completely letting go of any stress that might be haunting them at that moment. The poles swirl across many different colour schemes, not quite as random as a rainbow alternation but still enough to light up the floor and the scenery just like a club. The back LED displays a heart, picking up pace to the point where it explodes into mini hearts at the eruption of the second chorus.

Singing with intent, the vocal stampede of the three women combined makes for a glorious show, as they belt out their individual harmonies in the second part. Like an earthquake, it comes across on the cameras that the room is bursting with energy, which Sana takes advantage of, keeping eyesight with the camera as it spins around her, following her as she just briefly dances around it, but snapping back into position as she finishes the chorus, with grace.

You could be my truth and be my company
Ready and I’m waiting, I’m gonna take the leap
So save your, so save your love for me
So save your, so save your love for me

You could be my truth and be my company
Ready and I’m waiting, I’m gonna take the leap
So save your, so save your love for me
So save your, so save your love for me

Sana struts into the centre of the stage, hyped up by Amelie next to her. She comes closer to the middle light pole, and caresses it, with every touch, it lights up with a riveting ocean blue. As she stands next to it, it exposes her stunning cheek bones, her eyes, full of intent to make her family proud too. Her mind goes back to her saying goodbye to her husband before she travelled to Monterra. Before a tear can escape her eye, she smiles, embracing the moment, and knowing that her man is sitting at home being so proud of her. All her life, her struggles have brought her to sing on this stage.

All of my life I’ve been waiting in shadows,
Now finally I feel it
Give me some of that love

Back into a trio formation, they go back into the building adrenaline stage of the performance and the increasingly vibrant lighting shoots all around them like the equivalent of how a siren circles around someone sonically. They are completely covered in the brightness of the scenery all around them this makes them look lit up with elation.

Each of them are just thinking about what is happening right now. Millions and millions are watching these women display their talent - their endless talent, to which has been given to them by something higher than them. And what could happen after this? The explosion onstage doesn't distract from the building instrumentation of the song. If a colour could be given to match the emotions and the atmosphere in the building, it would be golden. No matter what happens tonight, these girls are winners in their hearts and they gave their all- they are giving their entire life onto the floor that they are standing on, the microphone that they are pouring their souls into.

Just keep me close,
When I love you most
I’ll give you trust

Give me some of that love

Baby I, I know what’s up
You give me trust

Give me some of that love

They clap along with the instrumentation softly, as to not knock the microphones out of their single hand whilst doing so. The camerawork towards the end of the performances shifts into a more close-up, intimate vibe. It helps to substitute from the lack of an audience outside of the stage. All that is there to take advantage of is the absolute charisma that is coming out of the firestorm that is happening on the stage in this moment. The colours look really smooth at a close up distance too. Each of the girls, in the little moments that they share between each other, share a distinct and familiar understanding of the spectacular craziness of what is going on right now. They think back to their childhoods together and imagine how the choices they've made could have been something completely different - and then would they be here on the World Hit stage right now? It's unlikely, their hardships almost dragged them down, especially Sana. The miracle of this opportunity shines like the falling beams of magenta.

You could be my truth and be my company
Ready and I’m waiting, I’m gonna take the leap
So save your, so save your love for me
So save your, so save your love for me

You could be my truth and be my company
Ready and I’m waiting, I’m gonna take the leap
So save your, so save your love for me
So save your, so save your love for me

Woah-woah-woah, love for me
Woah-woah-woah, love for me

At the end of their heavenly arrangement of harmonies, Trini and Amelie take it home with a soulful, stable rendition of the hook, in a lower, laid back instrumental backing. The lights dim and the camera slowly drifts back in contrast with the previous long shots that had been displayed. It's drastically dark in the room so that once the drums crash back into sonic focus and the colours explode all around the stage again, it's very powerful and means something in terms of the narrative of the performance. It works with the natural expression of the women, they just have fun with the moment, dancing and not holding anything back. It's because they all realise that this feeling might never return to them again and savouring the final seconds of the song. "Love for me!" They harmonise beautifully in that last ten seconds - and at then it ends. Almost in absolute shock, they halt for a short time, and then explode into a sprawling hug between each other. The lights neutralise into a familiar white glow and the camera stabilises into the centre of the stage, and they thank their audience - blowing a kiss into the camera. Laughing madly, and they did all they could to embrace those three minutes.

You could be my truth and be my company

Ready and I’m waiting, I’m gonna take the leap
So save your, so save your love for me

So save your, so save your love for me (Love for me!)
Woah-woah-woah, love for me (Love for me)
Woah-woah-woah, love for me (So save your...)

Back home, in the capital of Lipa, a gathering in the city square with crowds of socially distanced individuals watch FAITH finish their performance, and explode into cheers as Trini, Sana and Amelie wrap up their performance. The pride in the air as the wind rushes past.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:27 am**

Gone — Blake Rose

Mercedini are back at the World Hit Festival under TeleDini, after their debut fell flat in Todlichebujoku, they hope to bounce back in Monterra, Kalosia as Andersi flies the flag. Andersi is no stranger to the World Hit Festival circuit, after they were the beaten finalist of SongSearch: Duel, the contest which decided who represented Mercedini at the 5th Junior World Hit Festival. Since then, he has been applying his trade to his music and has quickly risen to fame within Mercedini. After presenting the votes twice for Mercedini, the 19-year old now heads to the 52nd edition as the representative, with his song "Cuore D'Oro". Written by the artist themselves with former WHF winners Rachel Nollov and Daniel Alishkaerni, it's a star-studded line-up in a song which could give Mercedini their third contest victory.

With the success of young singer IO in the most recent Junior World Hit Festival, there could be a changing of the guard in Mercedinian music if Andersi can pull out a good result in Monterra. With many former participants now taking to songwriting and production, a new breed of singers and participants are working their way into the limelight to put their own name up in lights and to give hope to the new, undiscovered artists out there across the multiverse. From the small indie stages of Zoloroni and Langtree, to the international stadiums and arenas which house contests like these. Millions will be watching, millions will be expecting, so no pressure.

Several clips of footage from Mercedinian homes cut through the end of the postcard, before the transition is made to the arena where the Andersi stands as a lone figure inside a dark and quiet arena, with only the faint applause of his delegation being picked up by the in-stadium microphones. Without the crowd there to back him up, there will be plenty of pressure and little reassurance on the shoulders of the Mercedinians, a situation likely felt by all performing artists tonight. The aspect immediately adjusts following the transition, with thin black bars rolling down from the top and bottom of the screen for the viewers at home, giving the whole performance a more theatrical appearance.

The song begins with the camera just to the side as Andersi stares into the dark abyss of the arena ahead of him, with deep blue lights giving the stage a faint blue hue around the performer. Behind Andersi stands a wide LED screen, with a starlit night transposed as a backdrop to the performance, little action from around the stage means attention is solely placed on the performer. He has his eyes closed during the opening three lines, as the camera slowly sweeps around and away from the Mercedinian.

Sai come finiscesa
Un'amarezza reciproca
Il porta’perta è stata chiusa de ti
You know how this ends
A mutual bitterness
An open door was closed by you

The lights flicker in line with the song, a faint shooting star is seen as Andersi opens his eyes and holds his hand out to the star as is flies above him, almost has if to catch it. He then puts his hand back to his side before looking into the main central camera to sing the final line as he holds his hand on his chest. Situated just off centre against the LED screen, he makes a quick adjustment as an aerial view flies around the back of the arena, showing the sheer scale of the stage and the setup that the Kalosians have put out given the circumstances.

Le mai lacrime brillano al
chiaro di luna, sai
Ma spero di guarire di nuovati
My tears glisten in the / moonlight, you know
But I have hope that I will heal again

A mini supernova is seen in the starry night, which fills the screen with light and colour as the impact and the debris spreads across the screen, turning what was a tranquil starry night into a background of chaos. It triggers a chain reaction on screen as more of the stars across the screen are triggered to implode like the first one. It is symbolic of how one issue can cause so many others, until the situation in unsalvagable, a theme common throughout the song. The long and building chorus builds before suspending the audience before the second verse. The camera focuses out from Andersi before fading to black to mark the end of the first chorus of the song.

Prigioniero a te rete di bugio. La causa del mio deliria
Il nostr’ardente fuoco, e fu presto estinto
E difficile per me avanste, avere il ricordo di noi
Sapendo che avevamo tutto insieme
Ho ingha felicemente il tuo veleno
Mi hai corrotto il cuore d'oro
Prisoner to your web of lies, the cause of my delirium
Our burning fire, was soon extinguished
It’s hard for me to exist, having the memory of us
Knowing we had everything together
I happily swallowed you poison
You corrupted my heart of gold

Andersi walks to the side of the elevated platform where a camera on the stage floor is filming him. He crouches down and sings into the camera below him, almost as if he's singing o someone only he knows about. After singing the first half of the second verse, the Mercedini stands tall and returns to the centre of the stage, with planets and other small rocks slowly drift past as if the audience are flying through space, away from all the chaos of the first chorus. As the second verse comes to and end, an eagle's view rotating around the stage can be seen briefly before the second chrous.

Sempre, porta il mio amore con te
Non porterò nulla del tuo
Sperando che la tua memoria svani

Oh cosa cambiee, cerca giorni più luminose
Il tuo odio mi squarcia
Ma ho trovato la mia immunitàe
Always carry my love with you
I’ll carry nothing of you
Hoping your memory fades

Oh things change, looking for brighter days
Your hate rips through me
But I have found my immunity (to you)

Andersi walks down the steps from the elevated platform and onto the actual stage floor, with his steps in time with the beat of the song as it once again build to a crescoendo. He walks to the front of the stage as two planets appear on the LED screen, getting dangerously close to each other as they orbit around the same spot. Lights begin to flicker as the song continues to build. The young Mercedinian looks into the central camera as it pans upwards and towards what the LED is showing. The footage gets shakier as the impact nears, before impact is made and the planets collide just in time for the song to reach it's climax.

Intrappolato nella tua retiera. La causa del mio deliria
Il nostr’ardente fuoco, e fu presto estinto
E difficile per me avanste, avere il ricordo di noi
Sapendo che avevamo tutto insieme
Ho ingha felicemente il tuo veleno
Mi hai corrotto il cuore d'oro
Trapped in your webs. The cause of my delirium
Our burning fire, was soon extinguished
It’s hard for me to exist, having the memory of us
Knowing we had everything together
I happily swallowed you poison
You corrupted my heart of gold

An aerial camera flies backwards from the centre of the stage, taking in the entire setup which the delegation has put together using the design features that the stage designers have given them. Light faintly flicker around the outside, but the action is concentrated in the centre of the circular stage as Andersi gives it his all as the only constant in a stage of chaos. The camera cuts between close shots of him singing and wide shots of the staging. He turns his back of the 'front' of the stage to climb back to the LED platform where the song began.

Tuo veleno corotto il cuore d’oro (ooo-ooo)
Your poison corrupted my heart of gold

A camera quickly sweeps around Andersi as the light flickering turns into intense stobing from across the arena. Andersi's face is only briefly seen when it's lit up by the lights around the arena. He strains to hit the more powerful notes of the song as a subtle wind machine messes up his hair somewhat. The planets in the background begin to form into one as pieces of debris fly past the camera to form one solid mass which sands alone in the empty void of space.

Footage from the central camera returns once again to the performance, as the song begins to calm as abruptly as the storm came. The solid mass begins to shine brighter in the background as the light around the stadium subside, into a golden ball which flickers much like The Sun does in the night sky. Andersi stands a lonely figure on the platform as he stands in front of the shining spherical planet. He adjusts his hair as the intensity fades to complete the song, marking Mercedini's entry in Kalosia.

Prigioniero a te rete di bugio. La causa del mio deliria
Il nostr’ardente fuoco, e fu presto estinto
E difficile per me avanste, avere il ricordo di noi
Sapendo che avevamo tutto insieme
Ho ingha felicemente il tuo veleno
Mi hai corrotto il cuore d'oro
Prisoner to your web of lies
The cause of my delirium
Our burning fire, was soon extinguished
It’s hard for me to exist, having the memory of us
Knowing we had everything together
I happily swallowed you poison
You corrupted my heart of gold

A faint smile appears on Andersi's face as he sings the final line of the song, he seems proud of the performance, as he left it all on the stage for those three minutes or so. He offers his hand out to the audience in one final offer of hope to the viewers in these turbulent times. The llights which were flashing moments ago return in a much more subtle form, as the point down in a brilliant golden colour to light up the Mercedinian performer in gold and yellow hues.

Si, sto guarendo il mio cuore d'oro
Yeah, I’m healing my heart of gold

Andersi seems partially out of breath as a wide smils appears on his face, as his time comes to an end. He takes a quick bow as faint applause rings out from his delegation and those present in the arena. "Grazij, Thank You Kalosia', he gives a sheepish wave to the small crowd of stage operators before a transition is made for the next performing nation.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:29 am**

above the time — IU

For the first time, Skanden is represented at the World Hit Festival through it's Irish-language service, SKT Gaeilge. The regional broadcaster serves Éire (also known as Västbretland), the Irish-speaking region of Skanden. As you may have noticed, Skanden has been represented in the World Hit Festival under a variety of languages. This is because, while the 27 regions of the Skandish Union are free to enter as independent states, Skandens Television holds the right to represent the entire country at the World Hit Festival. Thus, the Skandish delegations that have come to the World Hit Festival have been entirely different on the occasions that the country sings in a different language. For Sean Connemara, the Skandish head of delegation for the 52nd World Hit Festival, this is also his first time at the contest.

SKT Gaeilge has internally selected singer Ciara Ó Riagáin to represent the Union at the contest this edition. Indeed, she comes from a region of Skanden that speaks mainly Irish, although English is used as a lingua franca between Ciara's homeland and the neighbouring regions, which speak languages such as Scots Gaelic, Welsh, and Cornish. English is otherwise a minority language in these regions but its status across Skanden has been somewhat elevated due to the popularity of English as an international language.

As a result of the intertwined role of English in these regions of Skanden, the 22-year old has mistakenly been listed in some English language publications under the name Ciara Reagan. Similarly, these publications have mistakenly credited the songwriters as Clodagh Fanning, Finn Dawley, Craig Sweeney, Enya Murray, and Oscar Butler. This caused minor debates among Irish cultural heritage communities on the Anglicization of Irish names and the erasure of Irish identities by English media.

Despite this sense of cultural pride, the team thought it was best to pander to an international audience. As a result, the song is mainly in English, with a few lines in Irish Gaelic. It is titled "Home", and although one may think of a warm, welcoming place, the story that the song tells is a rather tragic one.

While the host nation Kalosia has been struck by the COVID-19 pandemic, the part of Skanden where Ciara lives was virtually unscathed by the pandemic, having taken steps to prevent international travel into the area. Still, the delegation led by Sean Connemara was very small, bringing only the necessary personnel.

For the big night, Ciara was wearing a traditional Irish-style dance outfit. She is joined on stage by a backing singer wearing a simple black dress and a male dancer also wearing traditional Irish dance gear. This dancer doesn't appear until later, and the backing singer has doubled as Ciara's make up artist.

As the song begin, the stage is all dark, save for a spotlight on Ciara. She stands in the middle of the main stage, as the background LED shows a depiction of a glistening forest, with darker green colours dominating and bits of glimmering gold adding contrast to the scene. The camera, from above, slowly zooms in on Ciara as she sings.

Glimmering sun in a fairytale land
Your eyes meet mine in these banks of sand
Just like a sign, the song thrushes come
While they hum, hmm~mm~mm

Thoughts are alight as they race down the creek
And your caress is what I’m seeking
You take me into your arms
The wind hums, hmm~mm~mm

In this next part, Ciara sings in Irish, making Skanden's first use of the language at the World Hit Festival, a light shines on the backing singer who stands on the satellite stage further away from the camera, introducing her however in a way that does not take the spotlight away from the lead.

Is tú mo ghrá, mo chuisle (Tá mo chroí istigh ionat)
Promise me please, that you’ll never leave my side

translation: I love you, my dear (Your heart is very dear to mine)

Green and gold lights slowly begin to fully illuminate the stage, as the forest landscape too begins to brighten up. During this next part, the dancer is introduced, standing on the satellite stage closer to the camera. However, he here takes the form of a hologram. He stands there, looking towards Ciara, with a very sorrowful face. He puts his right hand over his heart, and then extends it towards Ciara. She too seems to be singing while facing him.

Please don’t go
With me you’re safe and sound
Take it slow
You are here, you are found
This is your home

What of the vows we made when love began?
Promise me our hearts will beat again

As the strings play, the hologram is shown to slowly fade away, before the camera goes back to Ciara. Her mic stand is now gone, and her mic is in hand. As she sings the next part, she starts walking around the stage and the stage lights slightly flash to the beat.

Up until this point, this song may have seemed like a regular star-crossed love song. However pay attention to the next part:

So much to say when the sun gives a chance
Before it fades, let’s have a dance
Party at nine, an evening to spend
Wish tonight went on, never ending

But then tears fall, the heavens cry
It engulfs the flame and doesn’t dry
But I hope the angels will come
Tá dóchas agam

translation: I have hope

From the lyrics of that part, it seems unclear what the circumstances have been. Did they really see coming their parting of ways? It seems as if it was more sudden and unplanned, and perhaps that can bring the song into a new light. Perhaps then this song becomes more than just sadness, but being about coping with grief.

Indeed, Ciara begins to look rather sorrowful, reflecting the lyrics as she sings again in Irish.

Agus is tú mo ghrá, mo chuisle (Tá mo chroí istigh ionat)
Let me embrace your heart one more time

translation: And I love you, my dear (Your heart is very dear to mine)

The lights no longer flash to the beat, but the stage is indeed fully illuminated. Ciara stops walking around the stage, standing on an edge of it (i.e. "in front").

Please don’t go
With me you’re safe and sound
Take it slow
You are here, you are found
This is your home

What of the vows we made when love began?
Promise me our hearts will beat again

Now the camera reveals that the dancer is entering the stage, walking towards Ciara. She too walks towards the centre of the stage, where they meet. Her mic seems to have vanished.

Suddenly, as the traditional Celtic instrumental break kicks in, the two start dancing, choreography inspired by traditional Irish tap dancing. The two of them seem to be having the time of their life, with their smiles wide as ever. This perhaps is that last dance that she referred to earlier in the song, which in retrospect makes it more meaningful if the two of them were suddenly torn apart against each others' will.

As the instrumental break appears to be coming to an end, their dancing gradually brings them towards different ends of the stage. Ciara then faces the camera, mic in hand again, as she sings the next part. As the camera focuses on her, the backing dancer is not seen as he leave the stage. In the next part, Ciara walks back towards the center of the stage.

Please don’t go
With me you’re safe and sound
Take it slow
You are here, you are found
Please come home

What of the vows we made when love began?
Promise me our hearts will beat again

The camera switches to a medium shot, showing Ciara as the only person left on stage, standing in the middle.

Please don’t go
With me you’re safe and sound
Please take it slow
You are here, you are found
This is your home

What of the vows we made when love began?
Promise me our hearts will beat again

Ciara looks longingly at the camera as it zooms in.

Heaven, please give me a sign
I am his and he is mine
Such a shame we’re out of time

The lights dim and the background screens go black, and Ciara is seen looking towards the satellite stage where the backing dancer's hologram was shown. The camera switches to an angle from floor level right in front of that satellite stage, where a Celtic cross could be seen, along with a bouquet of roses wrapped in black paper.

This reveals what has happened: death. The song becomes clear now, Ciara is singing about her lover who had suddenly passed away. She appears to be in some form of denial over it, singing as if he had any power to possibly come back to life. But then what is the symbolism behind that dance? Could she be delusional? Has her desire for closure manifested in the form of her dreams? It is left open to interpretation to the viewer.

Slowly, Ciara walks towards the satellite stage, her face expressing sorrow much more clearly now.

Glimmering sun in a fairytale land
Your eyes watch mine in these banks of sand
So much to say when they give us a chance
Before you fade, let’s have a last dance

As the song ends, Ciara kneels and endearingly brushes her hand upon the Celtic cross. By now, that satellite stage is the only thing illuminated, by a spotlight that is.

Once the song is over, the audience cheers. They aren't in Kalosia however. The LED screens show footage of a watch party in the city of Dubh Linn where she's from, where thousands of viewers have descended upon the streets in support of her. Footage is also shown of a watch party in Ny Stockholm, the capital of the Skandish Union, where a larger amount of viewers have gathered. These warm receptions both from her hometown and from the heart of her country has truly touched her. Ciara gets up, tearfully smiling, and says "Thank you!" before the cameras cut to the postcard of the next country.

Posted: **Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:31 am**

Sweet Temptation — Hanna Ferm

Kishraeli participation had been at best... sketchy. The country did not have a consistent record of showing up, yet when they did they usually received decent results, most notably SambuCCA and Tatyana Shapsugh both achieving top 5 placings. The nature of Kishraeli participation was purely sporadic - when HARESHET directors felt they wanted some extra programming, they would send an act to the World Hit Festival. Of course the WHF would often get fewer views than WorldVision due to its more niche market, but it had been a ratings success when Ertzei Kishim competed, primarily after-the-fact however, when it was revealed that the Kishraeli act had done well, then the general public would take notice before interested died down again. The average viewing figures for the contest ranged from highs of 200,000 in the earlier days, to something of a more expected 75,000 in more recent times. HARESHET did however see the contest as an opportunity to centre more programming around the event, especially given the restrictions on filming because of the COVID-19 crisis lead to the network looking for new material. Packaged with a 5-part reality TV series which documented how the song, stage and journey came to fruition, public interest was high, and the WHF had been given a prime-time slot on the network.

As part of the series, HARESHET held open auditions for the opportunity to represent Ertzei Kishim, with the docuseries following many various people as they went through the process. In the end it was Lucia Shevchenko, a Ukrainian-Jewish daughter of Olim who won the right to represent Ertzei Kishim. She was not the traditional pop-star type, she didn't dress particularly outrageously, she was more plain looking, and she in fact was studying Engineering in Tiferet State. But a part of the documentary process was her transformation into a star, finding herself, her stage presence and her power! Her song was a mid-tempo pop song with some disco influences - it was very on trend, even if it wasn't particularly Kishraeli. Indeed, because this wasn't held as a public vote, HARESHET could pivot away from the typical Kishraeli entry.

As the contest was to be held on an empty indoor stage without an audience, the team had to be creative in order to create an equal sense of ambience. To this effect, the HARESHET team aimed to use many on-screen effects to create an intergalactic wonderland on stage. Lucia was wearing a statement purple jumpsuit with a strong jewelled design on the front. Her hair was slicked back, and she had a glittery purple eye on. The stage was covered in mist, with it illuminated from below in bluey-purple lights, thus giving the mist the same quality. On the LEDs, purple-blue night sky motifs swirl on the stage, with twinkling stars. The first shot of Lucia was simply of her eyes, which were slightly translucent overlayed on the galactic background. It then switches to a full body shot which moves along as she moves around the circular perimeter of the stage.

Af paam, lo kashur aleykha
אף פעם, לא קשור אליך

Lo alaiy ela shneynu ka'zug
לא אליי אלא שנינו כזוג

Az baby, tagid li mashehu
אז בייבי, תגיד לי משהו

Kamah zman khikita larega zeh?
?כמה זמן חיכית לרגע זה

Using her hand as a guide, she points to one end of the stage and begins to slowly and deliberately take slow, but large steps to the side to reach her next point. Then when she reaches it, a camera shot from behind is shown, where she then swipped her head around and looked at it with a side eye, winking before turning back around to start the chorus.

Skhum khalakeyynu hahazakim b'yoter
סכום חלקיינו החזקים ביותר

M'lhiot levad, rak anu
מלהיות לבד, רק אנו

Looking out into the far distance, she reaches out with one of her arms. The camera zooms out with her, at some point the screen effects take over as the camera continues to zoom out, out of the arena, Kalosia, the world and then into the dark space. With a screen transition, Lucia is shown back on stage, with each of her movements leaving a faint shimmery glow.

Ad ha'yareakh
עד הירח

Ani ohevet otkha
אני אוהבת אותך

(Beyn Galakti)
(בין-גלקטי)

Ad ha'yareakh
עד הירח

Nesa b'mahirut hakol
נסע במהירות הקול

(Al-koli)
(על-קולי)

Ani yoda'at she'takhzor alaiy
אני יודעת שתחזור אליי

A'amin bekha, v'atah bi
אאמין בך ואתה בי

Ad ha'yareah
עד הירח

Ani ohevet otkha
אני אוהבת אותך

(Beyn Galakti)
(בין-גלקטי)

With the return of the chorus, the same setup as the first verse returned - Lucia walked to the centre of the stage which was once again filling with purpley-blue smoke. As she sings "Hakhoskeh" the stage goes dark and a single spotlight illuminates her, which allows the camera to focus on the glittery particles around her which have been applied to the screen.

Hamerkhak, lifamim magzim
המרחק, לפעמים מגזים

Mitraseket al mitah karah
מתרסקת על מיטה קרה

Hakhoshekh, mishtolel kan
החושך, משתולל כאן

Akh btokh libi shoma'at otkha
אך בתוך ליבי שומעת אותך

As she sings the prechorus, blue and purple laser lights form a "cage" around her in the centre of the stage (Sweden 2014 style). She uses her faces to emote a 'trapped' feeling and her movements suggest the same sort of feeling.

Skhum khalakeyynu hahazakim b'yoter
סכום חלקיינו החזקים ביותר

M'lhiot levad, rak anu
מלהיות לבד, רק אנו

As the chorus starts again the camera pans out, but rather than zooming into space it is a simpler zoom out to the level of the roof of the arena, and then a transition back to the stage, where the lasers of the cage have began to spin all around the arena, and now from the back, purple lasers began to shine and move slightly. With Lucia's dancing through these lasers, it created an impressive and piercing stage show, the lasers creating depth and texture as they moved to the curves of her body.

Ad ha'yareakh
עד הירח

Ani ohevet otkha
אני אוהבת אותך

(Beyn Galakti)
(בין-גלקטי)

Ad ha'yareakh
עד הירח

Nesa b'mahirut hakol
נסע במהירות הקול

(Al-koli)
(על-קולי)

Ani yoda'at she'takhzor alaiy
אני יודעת שתחזור אליי

A'amin bekha, v'atah bi
אאמין בך ואתה בי

Ad ha'yareah
עד הירח

Ani ohevet otkha
אני אוהבת אותך

(Beyn Galakti)
(בין-גלקטי)

As the instrumental break began, she started to spin around on the stage, her crystal bodysuit refracting the lasers around the stage. The effect was exciting as the different coloured lights bounced around the stage. As the singing part of the final verse began, everything became darker. The camera zoomed right in on Lucia's lips as she sung the two lines of the verse.

Oooooh
Ad hayareakh byakhad
עד הירח ביחד

Ad hayareakh uvekhazarah
עד הירח ובחזרה

The final chorus began, and the galactic background appeared around the stage. The idea was to incorporate all of the elements of the staging into one here, so the lasers of blue and purple returned, refracting off of Lucia's body, alongside the shimmer effects added onto the screen by the post-production crew. The mist around Lucia's feet grew as she danced through it, throwing it up and around. She was smiling by the end of the performance at the joyful lyrics she was singing.

Ad ha'yareakh
עד הירח

Ani ohevet otkha
אני אוהבת אותך

(Beyn Galakti)
(בין-גלקטי)

Ad ha'yareakh
עד הירח

Nesa b'mahirut hakol
נסע במהירות הקול

(Al-koli)
(על-קולי)

Ani yoda'at she'takhzor alaiy
אני יודעת שתחזור אליי

A'amin bekha, v'atah bi
אאמין בך ואתה בי

Ad ha'yareah
עד הירח

Ani ohevet otkha
אני אוהבת אותך

(Beyn Galakti)
(בין-גלקטי)

The song ended and cheers were heard from audience members across the multiverse.

NationStates

52nd World Hit Festival | Monterra, Kalosia (IC)

52nd World Hit Festival | Monterra, Kalosia (IC)

01 Estana e Taós

02 Fromulia

03 Lons

04 Señoriko

05 Kalaktin dëlë Norveste

06 Lušanskë

07 Bretonesia

08 Waísnor

09 Togonistan

10 Izmeǧu

11 Normandië & Pikardië

12 Kalosia

13 Bipi

14 Akaja

15 Titanioterë

16 Aksuvë

17 Estoǧikë

18 Kariton

19 Besen

20 Merǩedini

21 Skažia

22 Kišraél