OOC COUNTDOWNS:
Tune: Yung Bae - Welcome to the Disco (ft. Macross 82-99)
After the IBA logo played, we faded into a black screen. Less than a second later, some plain white text which read “ELEJAMIAN BROADCASTING PROUDLY PRESENTS” faded onto the screen in complete silence before fading out shortly after. Some more white text then faded onto the screen shortly after that some more white text faded onto the screen, this time reading “IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING ALLIANCE”. That too faded out after a few seconds before some more text faded in, which read “THE 90TH WORLDVISION SONG CONTEST”. The only difference between that bit of text and the two before it was that there was a bit of muffled music playing underneath it.
We then smash cut to a cartoon of an aeroplane flying in the sky before we then cut to a few of the passengers inside. They were participants of the 90th WorldVision Song Contest, much like everyone else on the flight, and they all looked like they had either escaped from Miku Miku Dance or from the first few volumes of RWBY. A couple of them were sitting patiently, a few were reading newspapers or magazines, even Manoy (who was on board the flight despite the contest was being held in his home nation) was watching something on a screen on the seat in front of him, as evidenced by his earphones and the wires connecting the two. The plane started its descent as the music started to pick up and as the plane got closer to its destination, we then cut to a shot of the intercom.
Once we got to the intercom, we can not only see that it’s turned on by the sound lines and the standard cartoony slight distortion every time someone’s speaking through it in a cartoon. And that’s because someone was actually speaking into it. It was the captain, who then started to speak. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for WorldVision 90.”
When the music started to kick in, we then cut to the plane that has now already landed taxiing its way down the runway. When it came to a complete stop, the door immediately opened and all the contestants poured their way out in a neat and orderly fashion. Since they were a cartoon and because the animators wanted the audience to not worry about the dangerous world out there, none of the characters were wearing masks and they didn’t have to worry about standing too close to one another or anything that in the real world would risk them contracting something nasty. It also meant that, unlike their real world counterparts, they wouldn't have to hole themselves up somewhere for a week or two before being allowed out.
[will be completed during the voting bit]
Tune: KLF - 3AM Eternal
Red - Amili Jamuri
Green - MC 23
White/Black - Choir
Blue - Female Voice #2
Purple - Shireen
The shot of the Riverside Arena faded from its cartoon version to its live-action one, as the waves of the Garpu River around it gently went up and down. After a couple more seconds of silence, a droning sound that was occasionally spliced with other broadcasts started to play as we slowly zoomed into the picture of the Arena. There was a sudden jump as the camera then started to move quicker. It immediately flew to one of the Arena doors and merged its way in. The camera then carried on its way to the main stage, making its way past the various staff members who barely reacted to it and even one or two people who looked into the camera wondering what was going on, despite the fact that it was all camera trickery and multiple shots over a period of time; presumably they wanted to make it a bit more realistic. After making its way through the halls it headed towards an overhead camera that was normally displaying a shot of the stage and went through it, changing to a detailed animation showing the inner workings of a camera. As it exited through the lens in a seamless edit it then sailed down towards the crowd, just keeping above their heads, and made its way towards the stage. All of this in roughly a minute.
When it reached the front of the stage, the droning just stopped while the camera itself just waved around in a small circle that was barely noticeable. Off-screen, a pre-recorded voice that was playing over some bangs said “This is Avon 90.” This was then followed by a wide shot of the stage showing everyone on it and their positions, a couple of temporary screens that can be wheeled on and off the stage and a series of pyrotechnics shooting out from the front of the rear stage. The two in the middle went off in a puff of smoke, followed by the two next to them, followed by the two next to THEM and so on until they reached the end of the row. At that point the two in the middle went off again before the sequence went off again.
The camera tilted up and a light turned on to reveal Amili Jamuri, the widow of WV37 entrant Sataeveni Jamuri and a singer in her own right, with her head down as if she was looking at the ground. She was wearing a red and black dress that resembled a Samoan puletasi, the Iyilim version of which is called a pilitesi, and no shoes; she was also wearing a bit of makeup and had her hair long and free-flowing. When it was her cue to sing, she lifted her head up, pointed right at the audience with an outstretched arm and sang in the microphone in her other hand. Afterwards, we then cut over to Brian Carlson, best known as MC 23. He was wearing a black unzipped cotton jacket with an Avon FC jersey underneath (cue the inevitable roasts), a pair of blue jeans and a pair of peach coloured work boots. He pressed a few keys on a keyboard that didn't seem to be turned on before he lifted the microphone off the stand and started to rap into it. When the synthesized guitars kicked in, all of the lights immediately turned on, the backing triangles behind them started to show a black of white outline of the city that also functioned as a soundwave of the song itself, and the audience were greeted with a choir made up of various people dressed in a plethora of outfits. Some were dressed in traditional Iyilim outfits, some were dressed in green and white suits or dressed with a black cloak to round things off. Mason, who had not only previously represented the country at WV80 but also composed the Parade of Nations tune, was even there drumming along on an electronic drum kit; he was dressed in a green and white letterman jacket with a giant E on it, a pair of green, white and black track pants and a pair of black and white trainers, along with a pair of black aviators and windswept hair to complete the look. For this bit, there was much to comment on, just cuts to the choir raising their left fist into the air as they sang their bit, the occasional cut to one of the choir singers doing her own verse and cuts to MC 23 when it was time for his bit.
WorldVision! Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
It’s time for WorldVision 90
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
(We sure can) Welcome to Avon!
It’s time for WorldVision 90
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
Everyone, it’s time for WorldVision 90
WorldVision!
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
Avon Ni~nety
When it was time for his verse to start, MC 23 carried on holding the microphone as he marched up and down the stage, even walking along the catwalks. Like a few popular rappers nowadays, he's obviously a bit lacking in the rhyming department but he's at least able to stick on topic as opposed to going off on a tangent about plowing your narcotics, selling money, collecting girlfriends and generally about how awesome he supposedly is. Nothing much to say really other than the camera was mostly centred around him, with close-ups and medium shots galore as he moved his hand about while he kept rapping. Occasionally there were cuts to the audience jamming along to the song or to the choir either dancing along as well or playing their instruments.
Welcome home to the A-town, come on get down
We’re here to bring you the best show around
We’re gonna rock ya, we’re gonna shock ya now
We hope you’re ready
It’ll be a party and it’ll be hearty
As we show you how we do it, smartly
And you see we’ll present it finely
As we welcome you all to Avon 90
After that, we then cut back to the choir. The camera, meanwhile, was concentrating on an individual member of the choir. A member that turned out to be Shireen Douglas, more commonly known by her first name, who was another WorldVision alumnus. She represented the country at the 79th edition in Talvezout, where she was able to get a respectable 7th place with 76 points despite having a broken foot that meant a series of last-minute changes to the performance. Anyway, the camera faded over to a close-up shot of her waving her body and even her arm from side to side as she sang her lines. All of which were in time with the song. After that bit, we then cut over to a hunched over MC 23, who had an arm stretched out and a finger pointing down to the ground as he rapped his line.
Welcome home, welcome home
Welcome home to Avon Ni~nety…
We hope you’re in for a good time.
It was time for the chorus again. Or, rather, a shortened version of it. As we return to the choir playing their instruments, making it somewhat clear that they could’ve put a bit more into the whole budget or, at the very least, given more to make a more captivating opening act, we see some more camera angles and movement. When it was Amili’s turn to sing her line, she appeared as a faded picture-in-picture in the top right of the screen, taking up about 25% of it. When she finished singing it, she disappeared but could still be heard singing her “Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.” bit underneath the fourth line while the choir kept playing and singing their lines when necessary.
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
(We sure can) Welcome to Avon!
WorldVision!
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
As Shireen began to faintly sing the lead into the second verse, we then slowly pan over to MC 23 moving about as he carried on with his rap. It was also kind of obvious that he was making it up as he was going along but, in all fairness, he was a bit of a last-minute addition for reasons unknown and, as such, he didn’t have much to work with and he didn’t really know what the last guy had written. On the upside, at least he kind of made it work. While the cameras kept a medium to ¾ shot on him as he moved about the stage and made his hand gestures, for the fourth line it cut to a close-up from a Dutch angle. It was also the only time in the entire performance he actually looked into the camera. Once he was done with that, he looked up at the audience again and we returned to the same angles as before. For the last couple of words of the last line, he bobbed his head back and forth before moving his hands down for when it was time to cut to Shireen.
(A-nine-oh~)
Music to help with ascending
Non-stop, we pop neverending
Rend, bend, move all your bodies
And who the hell’s gonna tell you to stop these
Sweet moves, they’re just so amazing
And we won’t stop dancing for days when
You’ll all see how we’ll present it finely
As we welcome you all to Avon 90
Once again, we return to Shireen, swaying her body from side to side as she sang her bit. There were a few differences between this time and the last time she did this. For a start, there was no MC 23 line after she sang it. The second was that there was only one shot of her, a slow overhead zoom that concentrated on her. And the third was that she slowly raised one of her hands as she kept singing her bit. Not much else to say, really.
Welcome home, welcome home
Welcome home to Avon Ni~nety...
Shortly after Shireen's second solo bit, we then cut to a pipe solo from one of the gentlemen, who was simply standing off to one side while he played along on his instrument. The pipe being used wasn't a native instrument but rather an electric version of a duduk or a shehnai or any other instrument along those lines. As this verse was going on, the camera panned to the left to show the choir either dancing along or playing their instruments while singing the bit they needed to sing. And also MC 23 was dancing along again busting the same moves he did earlier. During the instrumental break towards the end of the verse, there were a few close-ups of the dancing choir members, with one shot even being Shireen doing the Melbourne Shuffle; you couldn't see her legs because they were people standing in front of her but for those who knew what dance it was, they knew what dance it was.
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
(We sure can) Welcome to Avon!
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
There was a slight drum beat as the lights around Amili started to dim, leaving only one relatively bright light to shine down on her. She was off-screen as she sang the first line, as the camera was concentrating more on everyone behind her going into some level of darkness before a smash cut to MC 23 playing a few notes on his keyboard. When it was time for her to sing the seconds line, the camera did a diagonal pan to the top right a bit and even a little bit of a zoom in, with Amili shaking her head a little bit as she sang her lines.
WorldVision! Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
WorldVision! Oh yeah, oh yeah
After Amili's solo bit, MC 23 picked up his microphone off the stand and started to rap into it as the lights went bright again. After that, we cut over to the choir as they played their instruments if they had one and sang their bit when they needed to. Smash cuts, pans and tilts galore as they carried on with the whole party atmosphere to carry on welcoming people to the contest. It may have seemed a bit cheap and cheesy and also a bit low-effort but, fortunately, they did have something much special planned later. Anyway, when it got to the second bit the lights dimmed a bit but still remained on, simply because it was the tail-end of the song. Still the same effects as earlier but, when it got to MC 23's rap at the end the camera was a medium shot of him moving about the stage as he rapped.
It’s time for WorldVision 90
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
(We sure can) Welcome to Avon!
It’s time for WorldVision 90
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
Everyone, it’s time for WorldVision 90
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
(We sure can) Welcome to Avon!
WorldVision!
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
(We sure can)
(Can you feel it?) Welcome to Avon!
(We sure can, we sure can) Welcome to Avon!
(Can you feel it? Can you feel it?) And you’ll see how we’ll present it finely
(Welcome to Avon!) As we welcome to you WorldVision 90 (We sure can)
At the end of the song there was a drum beat and all of the lights turned off, except for any ambient lighting from any emergency exits or wherever there needed to be some way to guide people. The crowd started cheering at this point as a couple of seconds later, Amili began to sing again. "WorldVision!". Shortly after that, the lights started to turn back on and another voice came from off-screen that simply said. "Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to WorldVision 90." The crowd kept cheering as everyone in The Periodic Table did their bows and said their thank yous before they headed off-screen. Some carried their instruments, others helped others carry theirs. Either way, this was all happening off-screen as we got overhead shots of the cheering 12,750-strong crowd. There were some obvious gaps but, due to everyone being sane along with some strong preventative measures, it wasn't as abandoned as it could've been.
Once the Parade of Nations came to an end, the crowd carried on cheering when a voice from off-screen, the same one who spoke that bit at the announced something. “Ladies, gentlemen and everyone else, please put your hands together for your hosts: Nick J. Holland, Andrea Perez and Yoni Maenilon!”
At that point, there was a brass sting as the three hosts walked out from behind the stage, down the steps and to the front of the rear stage. They were also standing 2m away from each other, not just to conform to government guidelines even though it wasn’t necessary here but also so that they could do a bit. The camera then cut to a medium shot of Nick, who was simply wearing a black tuxedo with a white shirt and a black bow tie. He was also wearing black dress shoes, although they weren’t visible in the short. “Hello,” He said as he introduced himself. “I’m Nick J. Holland.”
The camera then immediately panned over to Andrea. She was wearing a red and yellow long-sleeved dress that went down to her knees, along with a pair of red pumps that too were not visible. She also had her hair tied up in a neat bun along with some red lipstick. She then began to introduce herself as well. “Hola, yo soy Andrea Perez.”
The camera then panned again, this time over to Yoni. He was wearing a blue unbuttoned suit with a buttoned-up yellow shirt, along with a red handkerchief in his suit pocket. He too was wearing black dress shoes that weren’t visible due to them not being in the shot and his hair was also spiked up. He too introduced himself as well. “Halo.” After a short pause, where he just smiled at the camera and nodded, he carried on speaking. “Yoni Maenilon.”
The camera then cut to a wide shot of the stage as the three of them said “And welcome to the 90th WorldVision Song Contest!”
We then cut back to Nick, who spoke again. "And trust us, you're in for one hell of a show tonight. We've got returnees, we've got newcomers, we've got a very special returning guest coming much, much later. We've got a whole array of music genres, like pop, dance, rock, nose flute metal? Is that a thing people like? Anyway, we have at least one thing for everyone. So hopefully we won't be leaving anyone disappointed."
The camera then cut over to Yoni, who then began to explain the contest’s official subtitle. “We also hope that you’re able to make some dreams come true tonight, whether it be by helping them win, helping them give their country a new best or by giving them a few twelves. They might need them.”
Not much happened over the next five or so minutes, just standard hosting fluff. Jokes, banter and other such stuff happened. The audience laughed a few times and overall the atmosphere was a calm, friendly one. Eventually, it was time to get things underway. At which point Yoni just cleared his throat and began to speak:
“Well, once again, we can say you’re in for a treat of a show tonight. We’ll kick things off with the caeli, the traditional dance of my people, the Iyilim. It can be for war, it can be for celebration. And trust me, this will be a celebration caeli! But from me, Nick and Andrea, we'll see you in a bit. Now please give it up for Royal Maerinatin and, after him, we’ll bring you our first entry of the night. Take care and have a pleasant evening.”