OOC Thread - Draft Thread
20:00 IZMEDUAN TIME
To have hosted one World Hit Festival was no easy feat for the country, requiring a budget that RTI couldn't have imagined working with, as well as audience beyond their wildest dreams. Now, with Anamarija's victory behind them, the prospect of hosting the 30th World Hit Festival did not seem so daunting until the moment before the show would begin. The channel was just a little bit more efficient in handling things, greeting every returning and new delegation with open arms, but the anxiety always increased when it was the fans that began to trickle in. For everyone in the channel working, no one knew better than those on-site that this show was meant for the fans in the audience and watching on TV, beyond anything else. As the producers behind the scenes began to call showtime, the Dragulj Arena's interior began to darken.
It was showtime...
OPENING SEQUENCE: A RECAP
Welcome... to the 29th World Hit Festival!
The ghostly voice of Apolonija Dukic started off as a bit of a shock in broadcast, invoking the 29th contest immediately as a glowing shot of the old stage appeared, as well as the old hostess walking down. It then cut to a brief montage of every entry that performed, before fading into results time, with each edited voice rattling off who got the 5 points in the Phase II of the WHF29 voting. However, the montage ended on the last two votes of the evening. First off was a slightly long cut of Shyna Kumbles announcing Estogium's 5 points, those to the host Izmedu. Then, we had Etela giving Izmedu's 5 points to Polkopia...
I can now confirm that we indeed do have a tie on our hands!
The montage then went through the Phase III votes, contracting the moment in which the nations who voted for the top 2 into a few seconds, before the voiceover of Apolonija shouting Izmedu's name as the victor of the World Hit Festival occurred.
The tie has been broken! The winner of the 29th World Hit Festival is... IZMEDU!!!
This then led into brief flashes of Anamarija accepting the trophy and belting out 'remedy' for a few seconds before the shot faded into yellow CGI vines that resembled a middle ground between the WHF29 and WHF30 logos, pulsing with a rather heavy sound effect that had a slow rhythm...
OPENING THEME
RTI Music Workshop – Boundless Energy
0:00-0:30
At the theme song's rousing beginning, the vines began to break off to become thinner, turning into energy lines that resonated in multiple colors that moved to the theme song's beat. As the main melody made itself known, the scene seemed to be a river of CGI streaks of the WHF30 logo that were 'created' at each beat, which undergirding the river was a flat plane that looked t have flowed up and down with the beat. Multiple, more stronger, lines began to run through and form the lines that already existed and began to 'connect,' as one could see pictures of Vodiznad, Fauligekaikobu, Telgrad, Kyvivre, and Monterra from the excess energy that was 'generated.'
0:31-1:00
The song began to soften around here as flashes of past host cities from the earlier 20s were now displayed, with the 'camera' moving forward the CGI energy world. Images generated from energy, displayed pictures of Gorgona, New Sarum, Cherbourg, Senmeri, Monterra, Frigidekasai, Picard all the way down to Rowland at the 50 second mark at a rather fast interval, which is where the music began to consistently focus mostly on beats. Now that half of WHF's history was displayed, the CGI world 'changed' perspective in a flash near the one minute mark.
1:01-1:30
At this mark, the CGI camera perspective was now moving backwards as for the next 20 seconds, the boundless energy began to show the earlier history of the contest through showing iconic images of each city and contest moment. It first started off at Ovanshire, going through each host city in a one and a half seconds before ending at the very first WHF at Nerobrachlesh, in Saintrabina. It was at the 1:20 mark, and such a presentation of the past ended with a look into the present. At the last two seconds of the song, the camera pulled back to see the energy 'coming together,' arching up and down to form the logo as the logo text began to appear, and this is where the crowd cheer could be heard as the theme song made its triumphant end.
With a yellow flash, the camera was now situated at the Dragulj Arena, the view floating above the audience and casting a rather wide view of the stage, which was pulsing with the same energy lines that appeared on the CGI presentation. These lines were streaming away from the stage, lighting up all areas of the floor and the back screens and even revealing the orchestra at the process, which was then lit up with a special backlit light in preparation for the opening act... The lights began to dim, causing a crowd frenzy to those familiar with Izmeduan show procedure, the show was about to begin proper, and it would start with the opening act... The energy lines disappeared, with one spotlight beginning to shine.
OPENING ACT
Antonio Vranjic – Never Give Up
A single spotlight appeared on the runway that wrapped around the lit up Orchestra Pit, revealing a male (Antonio) standing alone on the stage wearing casual clothing. The Dragulj Arena began to light in yellow colors similar to the template provided by the theme, as the first strains of the opening act could be heard, which was drowned by the cheers of the crowd. The camera did an initial rotation through the crowd at the guitar-like instrumental that seemed to have resonated from the orchestra pit, with each pluck of the string causing the lights to flash one before illuminating the entire stage as a soft rumbling came through, the camera dynamically fading to reveal Antonio in full, a microphone in hand.
With the camera now on him, Antonio began to sing the first verse to the opening act...
Life's beaten you down to self-doubt, you once told me
I could see that pain in your eyes, that sadness
That carefree and confident self you used to have
Vanished before me, vanished before me
You receded back into your cold shell again
But I know that deep inside, you were hurting and giving up
These walls around you, I fear I'm losing you
I wanna see you smile again
So just listen to me...
Antonio remained stationary for much of the verse, though small energy lines radiated from his position on the floor screens, creating a ribbon of energy that kept growing larger as he sang more lines. His voice, introspective and soft, wrapped around each line carefully, and his body language, clasping the microphone with bot hands and shoulders slightly hunched, made him gesture towards the camera as he sang, reaching one hand forward. The first half of the verse, up to 'vanished before me,' had the camera focus exclusively on him as the instrumentation was soft, the ribbon of energy on the floor screen emanating a bright light that melded onto the light of the orchestra pit.
At the second half of the verse, the camera began to flash from the screen, playing moments from past World Hit Festival contests, playing scenes of victory to VT packages from past WHFs, showing familiar and foreign sites to the audience, interspersed with close up shots of Antonio singing to the camera. At the end of the verse, he closed his eyes to a smile, offering a hand to the viewer as one could hear the live orchestra beginning to play its subtle parts to the song.
You're much stronger than you know
Capable of things I could only dream about
My words may sound unbelievable now, but just take my hand
I'll say only a few words, and I'll whisper
'Please, never give up...'
The camera began to take wider views of the stage at the advent of the soft chorus, moving slowly throughout the stage and fading to sideways views of Antonio. However, for this part, the camera focused mostly on the orchestra pit, which provided a soft, orchestral backdrop to the music. Shots of violinists slowly playing their bows were seen, as well as a brief view of the composer's hands directing the orchestra with slow movements. At the last line, we were back to Antonio, with the lights off as he sung it a capella...
At the drop, the arena shone a bright gold as Antonio held his hands out and motioned them up, directing the lights to shine brighter as the camera screens behind showed a flash mob of people performing choreography to the song, with many of the shots being sourced from Vodiznad. The drop itself heralded a triumphant instrumental, with the orchestra playing to the melody of the song. The camera made fast movements around the arena, opportune shots showing flags waving around. The screens, as the drop continued, cut to further scenes of the dance being performed internationally, before fading off into energy lines.
Never give up hope
This line, similar to the darkening effect from the end of the first verse, saw the camera close up on Antonio. He turned around to walk towards the stage as he sang this line.
Life's worn you down to the point where you want to cry
I saw you become colder, harsher than I knew before
I know why, but it hurts still
Seeing this pain
I want to see that warmth back
So just listen to me...
The camera followed him as Antonio walked to the main stage, with the instrumentation becoming softer and focused on a beat as he stepped onto the main stage at the third line. With the lyrics becoming a bit more personal, Antonio's smile from earlier had transformed into a latent sadness, with him looking downwards despite the golden light configuration. Once he reached the center, Antonio remained stationary.
You're much stronger than you know
Capable of things I could only dream about
My words may sound unbelievable now, but just take my hand
I'll say only a few words, and I'll whisper
'Please, never give up hope'
At this chorus, scenes from later World Hit Festivals began to play after post-WHF15 on the large background screen, after the host country debuted; with the scenes looking far more familiar. Shots of Kasin's hosting began to appear on the screen, as well as Senmeri WHF20 up to Monterra WHF26. It was a trip through the recent WHF past. At the third line, the camera cut back to a close up of Antonio, singing it directly to the viewer, offering a hand... At the end of the chorus, the lights turned off, with the scene on the back screen ending on Rigas Jengiz winning WHF26, timed to the music drop.
The Dragulj Arena lit up in an even greater gold as the camera focused on the audience, with a dynamic view positioned from the stage as the music began its triumphant paces. Scenes after WHF26 began to play, focusing closely on World Hit Festival 27 during the instrumentation. Antonio stepped back, soaking the music in. At the instrumentation's softening, the scenes began to bleed over from Arioslavia's win over to the contest in Telgrad itself.
Please never give up hope
Never give up hope
These walls around you, I fear I'm losing you
I wanna see you smile again
So just listen to me...
At the bridge, the lights flashed before softening to a gold, with a ray reflecting back onto the camera as the camera focused more on a close up on Antonio, with him clasping the microphone again. The lights continued to brighten, peaking and then darkening at the last line...
You're much stronger than you know
Capable of things I could only dream about
My words may sound unbelievable now, but just take my hand
I'll say only a few words, and I'll whisper
'Please, never give up hope'
At the final reprise, Antonio sang this chorus during the song's drop, moving towards the runway that wrapped around the orchestra, running through that runway with one hand to the audience as the camera made a pan that moved away from Antonio. Through this chorus, the screen began to show images of the previous World Hit Festival, with the song ending with the smiling face of Anamarija as the freeze frame of the last line. At that, Antonio was back on the main stage, smiling towards the camera as the stage darkened and the music faded out...
Following the opening act, the crowd cheered rather heavily at the introduction to the show, and the lights returned back to a white and gold configuration, and a man in a suit could be seen walking from the center towards as Antonio walked away. That man was Martin Carevic, the host of the 30th World Hit Festival and of Izmedu's most venerated and celebrated hosts in Izmedu's television industry. As Martin Carevic was illuminated, the voice announcer made the official starting point of the contest...
Welcome to the 30th World Hit Festival! Please welcome your host, Martin Carevic!
Martin waved to the crowd as a small podium was set up on the main stage behind the orchestra pit, in which that podium was made up of the same energy lines that dotted the branding of the current festival. He smiled to the still-cheering crowd.
Martin: Welcome one and all to the 30th World Hit Festival! Hosted by the same city and country that hosted last year's edition, not bad. What you have just seen is Antonio Vranjic's song he wrote for the contest, “Never Give Up.”Give him a round of applause!
Martin's delivery was a bit slower and more precise, but this is where the crowd finally began to calm down after cheering for Antonio.
Martin: As you can also see, we even brought an orchestra to play here for us. These are a supergroup of 72 orchestra members comprising philharmonic orchestras that play in Vodiznad, led by the Izmeduan conductor, Adam Katavic.
Martin: Tonight, we welcome 16 nations to the fold to compete for the title of World Hit Festival winner, which is a title that we ourselves hold at the moment, which is why we're here. Anyway, while this is indeed a competition, the World Hit Festival is not about who won at the end.
Martin took a pause here. (paragraph breaks from here on out will indicate brief pauses)
Martin: This is a night of celebrating the 16 different cultures that come here to showcase their nation tonight. We celebrate the sounds of music unfamiliar to our ears and appreciate what other cultures do. In essence, we celebrate a unity in diversity, and all acts have done well to make it here.
Martin: Also, this is the 30th edition of the World Hit Festival, a milestone celebration as the era of the last 10 editions ends and a new one begins. Tonight, we also celebrate the legacy of the World Hit Festival. We've made it to 30, let's see if we can hit 30 more!
At this, the crowd cheered, with the camera switching to a brief view of audience members waving their flags. The camera was back to Martin he smiled, there was no need to delay the songs any further.
Martin: Without further ado, let's begin! The first entry of the night is Natanya's Ich Bleibe Unversehrt by Tsetseg þellendaag. Take it away!
At that, the broadcast began to show Natanya's header...