AVON 90|EJM (WorldVision Song Contest 90)

by **Elejamie** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:40 pm

OOC THREAD - HOST BID & STAGE DEETS - ENTRY PLAYLIST

OOC COUNTDOWNS: ~~Post entries~~ - ~~Complete entries~~ - Submit votes

INTRODUCTION

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]

OPENING ACT: The Periodic Table and Friends: WorldVision! (Welcome to Avon)

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.

FOR PARADE OF NATIONS INFO PLEASE SEE NEXT POST

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.”

by **Elejamie** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:42 pm

PARADE OF NATIONS: Mason - Winner’s Circle (AVON 90 Desfile das Nações Mix)

Tune: Miami Nights 1984 - Clutch

The cuts to the audience were also helpful because it meant the stagehands could also get things set up for the parade of nations. This meant disassembling the bleachers that the choir were using, clearing any bits of space they needed to clear and bringing out the extra screens for extra projections. Fortunately, the bleachers were easily disassembled and there wasn’t much mess to clean up anyway. The extra screens were a little bit awkward to get through but with a bit of personal space and a bit of teamwork they managed to get the job done. In fact, they had practiced and gotten everything down so flat that, by the time the cameras cut back to the stage, there was only one stagehand left on the stage itself. And he had just finished climbing the right-side stairs and was on the walkway off.

Unlike a number of contests, the Parade of Nations was also rehearsed by the contestants and the behind the scenes people as well. And this was because a) Mason needed to know how long he should make his slight remix of his instrumental song Winner’s Circle to accommodate everything (which ultimately meant the final track’s about 8-9 minutes long) but, most importantly, b) because everything was somewhat scheduled, the entrants only had about 15 seconds maximum to get on stage, say any hellos or messages they needed to and then depart to let the next batch come onto the stage. Anyone who stayed longer than they should've been would be taken off by force by a couple of security guards who will always roll the maximum for initiative, will always get a successful saving throw, will reverse all cards, you name it. On the upside, they didn’t need to wear any PPE while they were out on stage so at least they could take it off while they were lining up to be let on.

A couple of seconds after the last stagehand left the stage, the lights dimmed again except for the two triforce lights at the back back of the stage. Not only did they finally turn on but they were shining a bright light blue light. A few seconds after that, the music started to kick in with each strand of the wireframe lights being either white, light blue or dark blue, with one or two of them also being cyan. The stage was mostly empty, with the big triangle projectors at the back showing a 3D shape with dark blue edges and light blue faces rotating and distorting itself on a black background, whereas the projectors that were brought on just had black backgrounds and some blocky text on it made up of vertical lines. At the top it said “WORLDVISION SONG CONTEST 90”, at the bottom it said “(C) IBA 2021” and, just above that, were three options: “START” which had an arrow next to it, “CONTINUE” and “OPTIONS”. The person “playing” it waited around a while and even moved the cursor up and down a little bit to fill in time before selecting START about 26 seconds in. In the meanwhile, the lights started to get a bit brighter even if it remained a dark blue and the camera just slowly zoomed in on one of the projectors.

Thirty seconds after the song officially started, we figured out the reason why Mason wanted to go as far as he did with remixing his song and why the Parade of Nations had to be rehearsed, even though it was a bit of unnecessary effort. A couple of seconds after the “player” pressed START, there was a black screen before it showed a wireframe outline of a car that rotated around on the spot. The car was made up of a lighter black (if only so it’d actually be visible due to the background), yellow and sky blue wires and above it was just white text in the same font as earlier showing the name of the country. On the triangle screens at the rear, there was a 16-bit rendition of the Nekonian flag, as they were the first country up. And, indeed, there were three voices who introduced each nation: first in English, then in Spanish and finally in Iyilim so it would end up going “Nekoni” -> “Neconia” -> “Naconi”. Andrea and Yoni were able to do the Spanish and Iyilim names but, since Nick was unavailable and Mason didn’t know who would be the compère at the actual contest, he did the English name himself. Shortly afterwards, Red/Black made it onto the stage, did what they needed to do and then left so the next entrant would be able to make his presence known.

Then came the next country: Faraby. The Nekonian car was swiped to the left and was replaced by another wireframe car, this one made up of blue and white wires. The text had also changed to “Faraby”, the flags on the triangles had changed to a 16-bit rendition of their flag and the people instead announced that country’s name in their respective languages: "Faraby" -> "Farabia" -> "Ferebi". Altan Okyar headed onto the stage, did his hellos and then eventually returned up the stairs to return to the green room. And then came Adab and, well, you can get the drift so I’ll get the list of competing countries. Hang tight:

Entry - Votes

Entry - Votes - Commentary - Apologies if I’ve mistreated the takbir

Entry - Votes

Entry - Votes - Click to see what the caption would've looked like had they not withdrawn

Entry - Votes - Commentary

Entry - Votes

Entry - Votes - Commentary

Entry - Votes

Entry - Votes - Click to see previous caption before I fixed my mistake

Once the last country was over and done with, there was a fade to black as that car then appeared on what seemed like a track from the Vectrex game Hyperchase; this was more of a stylistic choice as they tried making it look like a SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis and then a NES game but none of them worked out quite well, but the Vectrex aesthetic looked best of all so they went with that despite most of it being beyond the capabilities of an actual Vectrex machine. After that, it faded in as there was an aerial shot of the car itself before it then cut to a shot of the coloured car as if it was being used in a normal game. It sped down the track for the last 25-30 seconds of the song, dodging opposing racers which were just all white wire-framed cars and just trying to avoid crashing off the track. It did a good job but, eventually, it crashed and exploded into small multi colored triangles. Unlike in the actual Hyperchase game, there was a prompt asking if the “player” wanted to RETRY or to QUIT. After a second or two of nothing, they pressed down on the D-pad and selected QUIT. This just led to a TV turning off graphic and some green text in the top right corner which read VIDEO. The camera kept on that for a couple more seconds before there were cuts to the audience, who gave a round of applause and cheered. It also helped that the camera panned to them to show some audience members, if only so it meant the stagehands could return to take the temporary screens off for when they’re needed again.

OK now we can start the contest.

by **Nekoni** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:44 pm

Entry No.01: NEKONI
City Lights
Red|Black
Based on: Summer Nights by SIAMÉS

"Have I ever told you the definition of insanity?"

Nekoni's 80s run started strongly. A default win meant they were able to host the first contest of the 80s, and what a fantastic contest it was. The city of Marina Point finally got the contest that they felt it rightly deserved since being valiantly beaten all those years ago for the 47th edition, the start of its extended hiatus. The entire contest was a hugely successful endeavour in hosting, with NTR coming out the other side smelling sweetly of roses, able to show the world that they were capable of handling the world's biggest party just as well as the other major nations. Their entry additionally was a fantastically done one, after a few runs of mid-table mediocrity, the stars aligned, and they found one hell of a song. I'm Alive, a emphatic orchestral drum and bass track absolutely tore up the scoreboard, a close favourite to win until the final votes, finishing a clear second, just out of reach of Ertzei Kishim's winning entry by Lika Dia. A phenomenal start to what NTR said was going to be their decade.

If only they knew.

The only way was down from here, but none could have predicted how far down the mountain they would fall. The televote system, introduced controversially in WorldVision 82 seemed to hit Nekoni from the very start. A potential top 10 got dashed by a poor televote score of 51, dropping them down to 14th, the very mediocrity from whence they came. WV83 came, and Nekoni were so sure of a winner with the Blue Collar Kings. Their left-field foray into R&B started well, 4th at the half-time phase of the jury vote. And then, the goodwill died, and the points just...dried up. Once again, Nekoni had hit another one of their second half slides, and coupled with a lackluster vote, they finished...well...guess where.

In frustration, Nekoni tried to recapture some of their essence that they had lost throughout the rest of the decade. Their attempts to reclaim just a single top ten again saw them send some of the kind of work that the WorldVision fanbase remembered and loved them for. Ska-punk in 85, trance in 86, they even went all-in in Polkopia on a well-staged new wave-esque rock song to rid the wave of the 1980s revival movement that had helped other nations such as Elejamie score well in the past. However, try as they might, it was never to be. And before long, the 14th that they had thought was a sign of failure would end up being one of their better scores of recent memory, as the top 20's floor opened up and swalled them whole. This was the worst period of results in Nekonian WorldVision history.

As a result, the rest of the entries for the 80s were a bust. Any attempt to enter felt like the nation would be doomed to repeat the exact same mistakes that it didn't even know that it was making, another case of pissing money up the wall with nothing to show for it other than a humiliating screenshot at the end of the night of a country on the right-hand side of the screen that frankly should never have been there. And, at every step of the way, Nekoni kept on doing exactly the same thing, expecting things to change, with exactly the same results.

"Now, again, I ask of you, have I ever told you the definition of insanity?"

NTR came to their senses, and held off the contest for two years. It would not be worth entering, they believed, if it gave the country an image of mediocrity. If they were to enter, it would have to strike immediately, and strike hard. Absolution wasn't working, so this time, they would have to do things by their own hands, and it would be on them and them alone to blame if this failed. They scoured every music label in the country they could find, with the earnest belief that there was a potential winner hiding in there, just like Les Dahlias Noires were 20 contests ago. After weeks of searching, they found an answer. Red|Black. A couple from the capital, Varea, both 24. Three years in the business, with a couple of minor hits in the indie charts, but nothing to grace the major Top 50 as of yet. They needed some connections to break into the big leagues, and NTR had them. NTR needed someone with talent, and Red|Black had it. Perfect.

The journey to Avon was, arguably, one of the most important ones that NTR would have ever made as a WVSC competitor. It had been a long, long time since Nekoni did something on their travels they would be proud of. Their last good result was on home soil, which led some to believe that the entry coasted to 2nd on the back of a strongly-hosted contest. The last proper contest that they could feel proud of? Probably 73? They were leading at half-time. The win at 70? Whatever it was, the message was clear, WorldVision 90 was a make-or-break moment for Nekoni.

As with virtually all Red|Black songs, writing duties for this synth-wave inspired number are split between the pair, with Nick writing music, and Christie providing the lyrics. When asked about the theme of the song, Christie replied: "It's about the dark path of self-hatred when depression kicks in. When you lose some of yourself, you wear a mask of loathing, one that drills into your head the idea that you don't deserve to be happy. I've tried to come across it from two viewpoints: the person experiencing it, and the one on the outside looking in, that knows they want to do something to help, but has no idea how to do it."

RED|BLACK
Nick Benoît|Christie Montagu

Not content with having to single-handedly restart the reversal of Nekoni's fortunes, they also have the unenviable task of starting off the entire contest in the first position. This wasn't Nekoni's first time doing this (they were the curtain-jerkers in 73, which led to them holding a surprise lead by the halfway point before the inevitable second-half decline), but now it felt...different. The bright neon lights of the parade of nations had been and gone, and as the stage bathed itself in black to accomodate the postcard's thirty seconds of calm before the storm, Nick and Christie gave a calming hug to each other, downed a single shot of rakia (a strong liqueur made of grapes and other vine fruits, used in Nekoni as an aperitif and a common drink used as a greeting) to steady the nerves, and stepped out onto the stage, into the void, in front of the thousands of waiting fans, and the millions watching through a screen.

As the opening synths kick in, the stage remains bathed in black, save for the smallest spotlight. Through that, we can see that Nick is in the center of the main stage. With his black guitar slung low, and his head looking down, he hits the opening wailing notes, as the drums kick in. With it, the lights flare up...kind of. The stage is still dark, but we have now brief lines of white and bright neon flicker around it, slightly faded, as if driving through a city with the focus massively reduced. With all of the lines of light combining to give the stage an almost-threatening darker red glow, we can see a few session musicians in the far back of the stage; a drummer at the back, two synth players to either side, a bass guitarist at the far left. The synths are of the expansive 1980s arena rock type, with an impressive amount of rigging that does its best to obscure the players behind a mass of racks and wire switchboards.

We can now see Nick in full. He is dressed fairly subtly, with an all-black ensemble of dress shirt loosely done up, black slacks, hi-tops and a fully-opened leather jacket. He has a thin smattering of face paint over his eyes, appearing to be a red smear, loosely done with a hand.

I've tried to stop the pain
I can't do it
She lets me try again
Sees straight through it

As he continues the first verse, Nick slowly walks down the front catwalk of the stage to the centre of the front circular section. There's a little wind applied as he walks, his hair buffeting against the fans on his way to the front. As he does, a dim red neon light tube on either side of the catwalk leads the way.

Through the tears
And despite her fears
I still love her
I let her know that
I try to be her flame in the dark

The chorus hits, and the camera pans round the stage as the lights increase a little in intensity. The background is the same as before, with a light neon mesh appearing overlaid slightly over the top of it. The lighting is warmer, but less in the inviting way, more of a 'back alley of a red light district' way. The chorus naturally feels more open, yet there still feels like they're trying to hide something.

Just for tonight
Could you take me somewhere warm
Somewhere safer than here
Somewhere that feels like back home

The darkness returns to the arena, as we finally see Christie appear, at the right side of the main stage. She is dressed in the same shirt as we see in the band pic, and with long leggings in black, slightly ripped around the knee area. She has the same black paint applied as Nick has, but it seems that she used her other hand, as it slightly slants down towards her left cheek. With microphone in hand, she walks along the right-most catwalk, with the lights minimal to give it the impression of a street. Additionally, we notice that through stage magic, her breath can be seen extruding from her mouth as she sings, as if outdoors in midwinter.

This broken mirror
I'm trapped inside here
And I can't find the way
There are flames but I can't see the light
There's darkness all in here

She eventually reaches the front of the stage with Nick. The surrounding of the stage displays more red neon bars, but on this right one, they're a lot brighter, and they've got certain parts of each bar covered in black industrial tape. This gives the impression of her as if she is passing multiple show windows out in the night in a city, with the red glow reflecting off her face.

Somehow I've still got a smile
You can see that too
But do you know that inside I'm scared we're drifting apart?

The lights she passes fade as she crosses them, and at the center circle, we can see the lights around it on the floor shine up at them in a dull orange. During the chorus, she reaches out her arm and holds it on his shoulder. As they both look into each other's eyes, singing, with him continuing to play guitar, the camera pans gradually around the pair at the front in a full 360-degree circle. Nick looks to Christie whilst he sings with a calm, look of attempted reassurance. Christie looks at Nick with almost a fight-or-flight response, an urge to leave the city streets and be back home in the sanctuary of her home.

So just for tonight
Could you take me somewhere warm
Somewhere safer than here
Somewhere that feels like back home

The chorus extends out for its second and final time. By the end of this part, she's moved behind him, and they are back-to-back, with Nick facing the main audience, and Christie looking back towards the main stage area.

These city lights
Don't work for me any more
I really hope we're done here
So can we run away tonight
From the city lights?

The instrumental has another two full rotations around the couple, still with their backs to each other. As Nick continues playing guitar, Christie's microphone is down, and she tilts her head up in anguish, resting the back of her head on his shoulder.

As the final chorus rolls in, through a combination of thick facepaint and the heat of the studio lights making her sweat (at odds with still being able to see her breath), the make-up has fully ran down her face at this point, with individual rivulets of paint running down her cheeks to give the impression of crying. Nick has slung the guitar around his back, and Christie, appearing to be emotionally exhausted, places her head to Nick's chest. They both slump down, onto their knees, almost in an embrace, as the final words are sung, and the stage fades to black.

These city lights
Don't work for me any more
I really hope we're done here
So can we run away tonight?

The lights don't come back up until the next postcard displays, and they reckon that doing the normal "thank you, world, we love you schtick" would be against the grain of the song. And so, Nekoni's comeback vanishes into the night air almost as subtly as it came. They're back, but they've said they've been back before, and look where it got them. For now, though, Nekoni would have no idea if their faith in the comeback would be well-placed. All they knew was that Red|Black showed the world watching at home exactly the performance that they wanted to give. Good luck, rest of you.

Last.fm · by **Faraby** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:57 pm

2. FARABY
Altan Okyar – "The Mercy Chair”
Tune: Linkin Park – What I’ve Done
Language: English

Altan Okyar

Background
Faraby’s WorldVision 89 entry, “Under the Bridge” by Bea Altun, performed well enough to place 19th out of 37 contestants. While it was not a very remarkable final placement, it was still enough to put Faraby on the left-hand side of the scoreboard for two editions in a row. Attention now turned towards WorldVision 90, and with Prince Samir and Grand Vizier Sania Russo increasingly withdrawing from the FBC’s affairs, FBC Director-General Sabiha Vali and Head of Delegation Kara Abbas found themselves with full reins of the island’s next WorldVision effort. The internal selection process by way of video had worked well last edition, and with details of the plan for a selection process involving the public still being worked out, the FBC decided that it would once again turn to internal selection to find Faraby’s entrant for WorldVision 90. As with the previous edition, applicants were asked to submit a video of themselves singing for a maximum duration of five minutes, with bonus points given if the song were an original composition. Vali openly hoped for an upbeat, energetic song, but stated that she was willing to go along with whatever the best submission turned out to be. The winning entry did turn out to be energetic. Whether it was upbeat was another matter.

By his own admission, Altan Okyar never had much of a normal life. Coming from a lower-class family in the northern city of Suleyman, his early years were clouded by the terror of the Dark Time, in which his father – who was loyal to then-pretender Prince Samir – was killed by militants loyal to the ruling Prince Mustafa. His mother had died of cancer a few years before, and with his other relatives having fled the city and scattered across the island amid the terror, Altan found himself alone in the city. Dropping out of high school, losing his home, and forced into poverty, he fell in with the wrong crowd, getting involved in several gang fights in the dark alleys of Suleyman and escaping murder more than a few times. Later on a friend in the gang got him a job as a bouncer in a nearby bar, The Establishment. The bar was notable for its musical acts, some of which would go on to attain island-wide fame. Altan had always enjoyed music, and seeing those acts in action ignited a desire in him to perform onstage, to sing and play instruments himself. He was already equipped with a powerful voice, and he got the bar’s resident guitarist to teach him to play that instrument. His friends in the gang “convinced” the bar to set up a band with Altan as the singer and guitarist and have the band perform on weeknights.

Altan soon found that performing onstage came naturally to him. He had always wanted to “live a better life”, and began considering a career in music as a way to get out of the bar and away from his gang friends. When he heard that the FBC was accepting applications for the state’s WorldVision spot, Altan submitted a video of himself singing his original song “The Mercy Chair”, about a remorseless criminal who is facing the electric chair, and performing it on electric guitar in a long-shot bid to get the FBC to consider him. He was naturally surprised when told that his submission had become the FBC’s first choice and that he would represent Faraby on the WorldVision stage. The high school dropout who became a gang member and a bouncer would now perform before untold millions across the multiverse.

The Performance
The stage was bathed in complete darkness following Nekoni's performance. As the crowd waited and waited, they began to whisper among themselves, wondering just when exactly the next act would perform. Those closest to the stage began hearing movements on the stage, shoes clashing against the floor, dark, shadowy figures - who seemed to be stagehands - making their way back and forth across the stage and setting up equipment. This lasted for the next few minutes, after which those figures disappeared and all was quiet once again.

Not for long, though, as suddenly the stage and all its associated structures – triangles, wireframes, and all – burst into life in blood red. The audience watched in amazement – and a little bit of horror – as the red washed down the triangles and spread across the wireframes down to the stage, enveloping the entire floor from rear to front in red. The red of the stage floor was even darker and thicker. Across the ceiling the spotlights shot down to the floor, all of them in (just slightly brighter) red, going around the edges of the rear part of the stage.

In the middle of the catwalk an electric chair had been set up along with a helmet-shaped electrode. As the backing track began and its piano opening traveled across the venue, Altan Okyar solemnly made his way onto the stage and into the eyes of the multiverse, wearing a pitch-black leather jacket over a black shirt and dark jeans, with an earset mic over his mouth. Flanking him were two burly men dressed as prison guards, each carrying a baton in their hand and hiding a taser in the pocket of their trousers. The OLED screens turned on to notify the audience that “All weapons and lethal appliances in this performance will not be used to cause actual harm.”

And as Altan marched, slowly and inexorably, towards the chair – followed closely by the guards – he began singing. Arriving on the catwalk, he assumed his seat as he sang “So I’ll lie back now.”

From this day on
No turning, there’ll be no saving
And there’ll be no blood, no suffering
On the mercy chair

So I’ll lie back now
And wait, and wait

Altan seemed to lie back comfortably on the chair as the guards worked to strap his wrists to the arms of the chair, even closing his eyes, but as he launched onto the chorus, he suddenly seemed to have a burst of energy, opening his eyes wide and shouting and barking every word. The pyros went into overdrive, shooting flames of fire high to the sky, almost touching the ceiling, and the spotlights started running wildly around the stage, sometimes over Altan and the guards, apparently having no particular destination. He launched his body forward, his mouth agape as he sang the chorus, and the guards stood watch with a worried look, wondering if he was trying to break free from the straps.

’Til darkness falls
And I’ll be here
Let your judgement run its course
And I’ll be here
‘Til the lights go out on me

Having gone through the chorus, the pyros thinned and Altan’s voice adopted a more relaxed tone, and he faced his guards, who were standing on either side of the chair, as if addressing the next verse directly to them, admitting that there was something wrong with him, but insisting that, even in the hour of execution, he felt no remorse whatsoever for his crimes.

My senses gone
And my mind in a thousand parts
And I feel no shame and no guilt
Nothing’s changed ‘bout me

So let the light come
And I’ll wait here

Altan launched right back into the chorus, adopting a sneering look towards the guards. Even though he was strapped, he still tried to reach out to grab one of the guards’ taser, resulting in a struggle as Altan, who was still singing, tried to pull the taser away and the guard put his hand over Altan’s to prevent this. Meanwhile, the other guard went behind the chair and threw his arms around Altan, one hand still holding the baton, as if trying to choke him, but clearly not actually doing it. In the process Altan nearly fell over along with the chair.

’Til darkness falls
And I’ll be here
Let your judgement run its course
And I’ll be here
‘Til the lights go out on me

As Altan held the last note of the chorus (“me”) for what felt like an exceedingly long ten seconds, he ceased trying to grab the taser and the guard withdrew his hand from Altan’s. Meanwhile, the other guard suddenly released his arms from Altan and rushed towards the back of the stage and then out of the stage altogether.

’Til the lights go out

A few moments later, the guard returning, bringing with him two other guards carrying a bucket of saline and a sponge. They proceeded to tie belts around Altan’s chest, arms, and legs, further strapping him to the chair. Altan, meanwhile, continued singing in a more resigned tone, though his face still delivered a sneering and mocking look at his guards. Towards the end of the final chorus, a “o-o-oh-wo-o-oh” chant broke through the backing track and over the venue’s sound system, echoing loudly across the Riverside Arena.

I feel nothing
What I did, I have done
But I should feel something
I wish I could but I could not

And I’ll be here
Let your judgement run its course
And I’ll be here
‘Til the lights go out on me (o-o-oh-wo-o-o-oh)

In what looked like a symbolic last act of resistance, Altan spit at the guard closest to him. Though this had been rehearsed before, it still seemed to catch the guard somewhat off-guard, which was understandable considering that it’s not every day your job explicitly called for you to be spit at. Meanwhile, another guard moistened Altan’s head with the saline-drenched sponge before putting the electrode over his forehead.

’Til the lights go out (o-o-oh-wo-o-o-oh)

As the backing track played on, Altan, in one final prayer, tried to raise his hands from the arms of the chair as far as the straps on his wrists allowed him to. The guards watched on warily, unsure if he was going to act out and cause a commotion again.

I’ll be here ’til lights out (o-o-oh-wo-o-o-oh-o-o-oh-wo-o-o)

At this point, as Altan stopped singing and the backing track receded into the thin air, the entire venue was once again plunged into darkness, with the screens and all the lighting on the stage being turned off at the same time. As the audience applauded, they could see the dark figures of the guards releasing the belts, straps, and electrode from Altan, as stagehands entered and carried the chair away. Altan rose to his feet, waving to the audience. “Thank you Avon!” he said, his voice piercing through the darkness as the audience continued applauding. “Thank you very much! Good night!” He then turned his back and, followed by the guards, walked to the rear walkway and out of the stage.

by **Adab** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:58 pm

3. ADAB
Alina Shawqi – "Speeding Car”
Tune: Sigrid – Sucker Punch
Language: English

Alina Shawqi

Background
Adab’s stunning second-place finish in WorldVision 89 – the country’s first outing in the contest in seventeen years – confounded expectations across the country, with most fans and observers expecting Ninki Jalil’s “Running Through the Grass” to at best barely make it into the top ten in an edition awash with strong entries from many nations. Indeed, Adab actually won the jury votes, and was leading in the televotes until the very last batch of votes put Malta Comino Gozo over the top. There were no hard feelings, as everyone in the country agreed that MCG’s song deserved the win (and we had given them quite a few points ourselves).

WorldVision 89 was not just a success for Ninki, it was also a triumph for the ABC and its director-general Benji Akiya. It buoyed his position within the corporation and confirmed to observers that he was there to stay and lead the institution which once had so unceremoniously banished him and his late uncle to years of career wilderness. The success also made Benji confident that there was still a place for Adab in today’s music industry, after all. As he emphasized time and time again, Adab did not enter into WorldVision – and the World Hit Festival – with an intention to win, but to showcase the country’s best talents which the ABC believed deserved international exposure, but it was always nice to place highly in the final results. “Look, life becomes meaningless quickly when all you’re chasing is a win, win, and a win,” he explained. “We want WorldVision and the WHF to be an opportunity for the best singers in our country to showcase their talents, to show the rest of the multiverse, ‘Hey, we’ve got a good thing going here in Adab.’”

With WorldVision 90 rapidly approaching, Benji and the ABC Board, as well as Head of Delegation Mehmet Bahri, hunkered down to decide what kind of song or performer they wanted to represent the country on that stage, what sort of approach they would take. The ABC had adopted an internal selection process for Adab’s latest WHF entry, inspired by the one used by the associated state of Faraby, asking applicants to submit a video of themselves singing, with the composition preferably their own. Everyone quickly agreed to adopt this process for WorldVision, but they took a lot longer to decide if there should be restrictions on the contestants’ age or the genre and duration of their composition. Some in the board openly wanted a young performer like Ninki, believing that older singers were out of touch and did not represent what was currently popular in Adabian music. Benji personally was partial towards having a younger performer, but felt that putting such restrictions would be unfair to older performers who he felt were “more mature” and more than capable of duking it out with their younger peers as well as bringing their own spin on music. He was absolutely opposed to genre and duration restrictions. “We will put out a 20-minute song if that’s the best one available,” he instructed the board. If there was any opposition to Benji within the board, then it did not show, perhaps because the board members knew Benji had gained favor with the Imperial Palace and that any attempt to remove him could result in their own removal. In the end, Benji won: there would be no restrictions whatsoever. Any citizen of Adab, from little tots to living corpses, could apply to represent the Empire on the WorldVision stage.

And in the end, they would get a younger performer after all.

At twenty, Alina Shawqi was a part-time actress who, when not attending college, had secured for herself a series of cameos and small roles. Her biggest role so far was as one of the supporting characters in the comedic television miniseries We’re Clear about a small religious farming community. It was on set that her fellow cast noticed her singing ability; in her spare time, she would often sing to herself – to relieve the stress, she said – and sometimes she would even pick up a guitar that her fellow actor had brought to the set. She admitted that she had written a few songs herself, though she believed that none of them were any good. Nevertheless, when she played two of them to the cast and crew on the set, they were very impressed and urged her to apply for WorldVision. “They’ll choose literally anyone who is good enough,” one of her fellow actors told Alina. “You’ve got a chance there.”

Having wrapped up filming, and with nothing else to do for the time being but go to college, Alina decided to submit a video to the ABC “just for fun”, featuring her singing her own original song “Speeding Car” and also playing it on the piano. She did not think much of the submission and did not expect it to even be considered by the ABC. Thus, it was very much to her surprise when, a few short weeks later, she was told that her submission had won, that she was going to represent Adab at WorldVision 90, and that she should come to the ABC as soon as possible to work out the best arrangement to perform the song on the WV stage. “I literally freaked out,” she would later recall, “and my family freaked out when I told them. I think we spent a whole hour just crying and laughing and wondering, ‘Holy shit, Alina’s actually going to WorldVision.”

The preparations went smoothly; Alina’s background as an actress meant that she was quite familiar with dancing and choreography, things that would serve her well on the WorldVision stage. Meanwhile, the Adabian government caused a minor uproar when it announced that no Adabian fans would be allowed to fly to Elejamie to attend the show. The severity by which the Great Pestilence hit the country, as well as the resulting stringent health and safety precautions, led the Adabian government to decide that it would be too much of a hassle to allow any fans to go there. Thus Alina would have to perform without anyone from her country in the crowd. (Elejamie wasn’t even hit particularly hard by the disease, but for the government of a country which had hitherto been entirely unaffected by it, 472 deaths out of 9,581 total cases must have seemed terrifying.)

Alina touched down in Avon in a private plane with only a very small entourage which made up Adab’s WorldVision delegation, headed, obviously, by Mehmet Bahri. Following the required seven-day quarantine, Alina and her entourage set off on a tour around the city, visiting among others the National Museum Art and the nearby Avon Museum of Modern Art, the East Orchards Shopping Centre, the Avon Operahaus, the StarLand Cinema, and the Riverside Arena to watch the Avon Stars hockey team in action.

A few days later she would return to the Riverside Arena, but this time people would be watching her.

The Performance
The crowd waited in the darkness after Faraby’s entrant exited the stage. Unlike in all of Adab’s previous WorldVision appearances, this time no one from the country would be present in the venue to support their contestant, except for the paltry few that made up the country’s delegation under Head of Delegation Mehmet Bahri. Thus Alina would have to stand on that stage without the benefit of home support, but – with the encouragement of her friends and the ABC – she was determined to perform as best as she could.

After what felt like a long few minutes, the darkness was finally broken as, towering over the central part of the stage, the isosceles triangles – each of them broken into three as they were – revealed themselves, each triangle bathed in the colors of the Adabian flag: red on the top, white in the middle, and finally black, with the green takbir (Allahu Akbar – God is the greatest) running across the white. The Triforce triangles at the rear then followed in featuring the flag. The light gradually spread sideways by way of the wireframes, with the wires to the left (from the audience’s perspective) of the triangles turning red, those in the middle and in between the triangles becoming white, and the wires to the right turning black. Across the ceiling the spotlights revealed themselves, shining down in a combination of purple and green and blue. Finally, the stage itself was uncovered in all its glory, bathed in light blue like a shallow sea from the rear to the catwalk.

And the figure everyone had been waiting for finally emerged from one of the rear walkways. For such an important occasion, she dressed rather casually, wearing only a plain white T-shirt and jeans, with an earset mic hanging down from her ear and just over her mouth. She had not tied her hair, instead letting it run down her head and shoulders. The camera gradually zoomed in on her as she made her stand at the center of the stage, jiggling and swaying along the way.

Following her about three steps behind were two women, dressed somewhat more luxuriously in an elegant white dress, and between those women were a young man wearing a leather jacket over his white shirt and dark trousers. The women stayed three steps behind Alina at the center of the stage, but the man advanced a little bit towards her, moving just slightly to the left so that the audience’s view of him would not be blocked by Alina.

Say you wanna see me
And I’ll be right there right now
Morning or at midnight
I’ll meet you under the street lights

You and I both know
I’m all for you

As Alina proceeded to the next verse, the young man sashayed right next to Alina, who promptly extended her arm around his shoulders and pulled him towards her. He then laid his head on Alina’s shoulder, giving off a sultry look towards the audience, and as she sang “Wearing my favorite jacket”, she gave the boy’s jacket a hard yank. The camera zoomed in towards them, and the OLED screens on the sides of the stage were now turned on, the sight of Alina and the boy filling up the screens for the audience’s viewing pleasure.

With the chorus rapidly approaching, Alina began marching down the catwalk to the very front of the stage, pulling the boy with her. The two women followed them, like soldiers following their commander, staying some three steps behind.

Yeah it’s our habit
I just can’t get enough of you
Wearing my favorite jacket
I think I’m addicted to you

Can’t get enough of you
I think I like you

As Alina and the others made their way down the catwalk, the OLED screens, along with the triangles, suddenly ceased displaying the Adabian flag and footage of the performers, shifting to scenes – played at double and even triple speed – of cars streaming up and down city streets, highways, and race circuits. Finally, came the moment of the chorus, and clearly the Adabian delegation wasted nothing in emphasizing it. The arrival of the chorus was marked by a burst of pyrotechnics, bright-red fire erupting across the stage, big enough to make an impression, but not so big so as to endanger the audience. The sound came pouring in all along the venue through the sound system, giving the audience the impression that they, too, were in the middle of the action.

To those in the venue, as Alina and the boy arrived at the circular plinth at the very front, followed by the women, they appeared as if they had emerged from the fire. Alina released the boy from her hold and he retreated to the back, giving space for the two girls as they came rushing towards Alina. Alina got between the two women, and each woman faced her and gripped her by the stomach, lifting her to the air as she sang the chorus. Behind them the pyros continued burning brightly, rising towards almost the level of the triforce triangle at the top. The camera gradually zoomed out to enable those watching at home to fully appreciate the extent of the pyros.

I feel like a speeding car
You’re the driver, take me for a ride
We’re going too fast but I don’t ever wanna stop
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car
You’re the driver, take me for a ride
We’re going too fast but I don’t ever wanna stop
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car

The girls dropped Alina back to the floor, and the pyros began to recede, though they would continue to burn. As the pyros receded, the spotlights took over, a thick golden spotlight focusing on Alina and following her wherever she went, while at the same time there were other, thinner purple, green, and blue spotlights positioned towards the back of the stage and moving, at a slower place, around that area. The screens once again changed to focus on Alina and the boy, who were now side by side, as the two women stepped backwards. As Alina moved and jerked her head to the left, the boy did the same but to the right, and vice versa, and they began to circle around each other, still facing each other the whole time.

Made a list of everything
That drive me so crazy for you
I can’t read it ‘cause it’s so-o-o long
Why’d you have to be so cool?

I’m so crazy for you
And I like you

As the second chorus arrived, the pyros flared up once again. Alina turned her gaze away from the boy and ran back to the other women. She put her arms around them, and as she began to sing the chorus they started to walk backwards from the front plinth and back to the catwalk. The boy followed them, facing them, zigzagging along the way and jerking his head to the left and to the right. Then, as Alina entered the second stanza of the chorus, she suddenly released her hold on the girls and ran back to the boy, now standing in the middle of the four-way junction just behind the plinth, frantically putting her hands on his shoulders and pulling him close to her. The screens again changed to show cars running down the streets, highways, and circuits.

I feel like a speeding car
You’re the driver, take me for a ride
We’re going too fast but I don’t ever wanna stop
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car
You’re the driver, take me for a ride
We’re going too fast but I don’t ever wanna stop
With you by my side

Alina stayed close to the boy throughout the post-chorus, and soon they found themselves locked in a waltz around the junction. Their faces were dangerously close to each other, as if threatening to kiss, although that did not happen. Meanwhile, fans of motorsports in the audience soon recognized the scenes that were now being played on repeat in the screens: Ayrton Senna qualifying for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, Tom Kristensen achieving his maiden 24 Hours of Le Mans victory in 1997, and Dale Earnhardt winning the Daytona 500 for the first time after 20 tries in 1998, among others.

I’m a speeding car
Speeding car
Speeding car
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car
Speeding car
Speeding car
With you by my side

As the song slowed, the pyros began to recede once again. Alina and the boy maintained their waltz, although the eagle-eyed in the audience noticed that it, too, was growing slower. Meanwhile the two women stood watch over them. The camera zoomed in at her and the boy, and the screens again changed to show them as Alina’s voice dropped low for this part.

Speeding car
You’re the driver, take me for a ride
We’re going too fast but I don’t ever wanna stop
With you by my side

Alina’s voice suddenly rose once again, along with the pyros, as she launched back into the chorus. The golden spotlight followed her still, while the spotlights were now crisscrossing the stage at a higher speed, adding to the fast-paced feel of the performance. The waltz came to an end as she released the boy, but rather than going back to the girls she did semi circles around the boy, who largely stood still at his position, looking at Alina as she pointed at him several times during her movements, emphasizing that he was the driver of her speeding car.

I’m a speeding car
You’re the driver, take me for a ride
We’re going too fast but I don’t ever wanna stop
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car
You’re the driver, take me for a ride
We’re going too fast but I don’t ever wanna stop
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car

With the performance now drawing to its end, Alina began to retreat further back along the catwalk, followed by the girls and the boy, but not quite approaching the larger part of the stage at the back. The camera zoomed out somewhat so the audience could clearly see everyone onstage. Alina was facing the girls and the boy. The girls stood still, whereas the boy stepped forward somewhat to get closer to Alina, who pointed at him whenever she sang “you”.

I’m a speeding car
Speeding car
Speeding car
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car
Speeding car
Speeding car
With you by my side

I’m a speeding car

As Alina finished singing the last line, the pyros died down, the spotlights disappeared, and the screens were turned off. She stopped moving, along with everyone else onstage, and took a deep breath as the realization dawned on her that her performance had come to an end. She looked at the crowd, none of them from her country except for the five people or so that made up the Adabian delegation, and the others turned to see the crowd. They stood still as the crowd erupted in a chorus of cheers and applauses. Her fingers grasped the mic, adjusting it, as she addressed the crowd and waved at them. “Thank you Avon! Thank you very much!” she said, smiling and beaming, waving at the crowd and blowing kisses as she turned around and, followed by the others, made her way to the rear walkway and out of the stage.

by **Norrp** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:59 pm

4. Norrp

Tune

Amy and Jess

Tropical'd Chocolate is made up of DJ, Amy and Singer, Jess who are both 26 and are from Carkt in Norrp. Amy Meyer ,is an enigmatic electronic music act and is best known for collaborating with Jess Wolf. Amy has been DJ-ing for 5 years and Jess has been a professional singer for 3 years.

The stage is full of bright colours, neon blue , yellow and green. The camera starts off far from the stage and then makes it way in towards Jess. Amy is on a DJ booth behind Jess. The background is palm trees. Despite the lyrics its a upbeat track.

I’m under pressure, expectations
But I’ll feel the same,
If I'm fat or if I’m thin
Makes the difference, as to if I win

Her vocals have an echo. The camera zooms into her. She smiles at the camera.

I am me, whatever I wanna be...
I won’t change
Not today, not any way
Because I am me

Amy is DJIng and the camera watches her.

If you're not happy
Go and leave

Steam vents and Fireworks shoot out of the stage! The lights shine bright and zoom around the Arena. Jess dances around the stage and the camera then watches Amy DJ, she DJ's away playfully. She is having a excellent time.

I deserve to be happy (ah ah)
I deserve to be happy (ah ah)

The Lights subdue a bit for the next part of the song. The camera is off Jess singing excitedly.

I hate this world, it can be so cruel
Picks you out, as if I’m the fool
Picks me out, right of the pool
Bullies me,
Into thinking its funny
This is stuffed, bad luck

The song builds as Jess sings. Jess dances about and makes her way down the catwalk. Steam vents and Fireworks shoot out of the stage as the beat drops again! The lights shine bright and zoom around the Arena. Jess dances around the stage and the camera then watches Amy DJ.

I deserve to be happy (happy ah)
I deserve to be happy (ah happy)
I deserve, I deserve
I deserve to be happy (ah ah)

We have lots of bright colours still around the stage. The fireworks stop.

I deserve to be happy (ah ah)
I deserve to be happy (ah ah)

The Arena cheers for the song and Jess and Amy thank the crowd!! "Thank you so much!!

by **Axuva** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:59 pm

Before the song started and preparation for the act, D-IAMOND and the dance crew walked out to the stage setting their positions and D-IAMOND would prop herself on the shoulders of two of the male dancers and all of the dancers were male at the moment, and they all stood infront of her and she would be in a pushed back view at the back of the line. She adjusted her head microphone and was ready to perform. As the song instantly started she started to sing.

As she continued to dance and do choreography hitting the end of the first verse, she let the dancers pick her up as the dancers formed a hall for D-IAMOND to walk through on the stage, and as she reached the front they crossed into a singular line behind her, doing a thousand arms movement and then swinging their arms around in a trancing formation, then going behind her.

As they approached the end of the pre chorus the dancers rushed to make a formation and two dancers held D-IAMOND as they all dipped to the ground, dancing on the visuals that were provided on the LED. They moved their legs and arms to the beat.

She sat up, and so did the dancers as the chorus ended and entered the next verse, the male dancers exited the stage and female dancers entered the stage, doing dramatic choreography.

The dancers circled around her as she began the next verse, and touched her body and then got in a line as the next set of the song started, then the dancers swung their arms all around, as D-IAMOND continued to sing and they got lower to the ground and then got up.

They continued to touch her body and get in places for the chorus choreograph. As they approached the chorus, they moved their bodies and then the male dancers crept back in, and the female dancers stayed on the stage.

The female dancers were pulled off the stage and the male dancers were behind D-IAMOND and as the pre chorus started, they picked D-IAMIND up lifting her to the air, spinning her and making a circle around her then lifting her down.

The female dancers would creek back in stage as the male dancers laid on the ground in the sides, then creeping back in slowly and they all surrounded D-IAMOND. They all danced as the song was preparing to end.

They were all together dancing in unison, doing the same choreography together and the lights flashed through the space that they were in, and smoke would blast in the air from the stage and as the song stopped, they all posed together, holding D-IAMOND.

by **Scotatrova** » Mon May 03, 2021 2:59 pm

6. Scotatrova
Analina
Thocas
Tune: LMK - Magique

As was usual, Scotatrova continued on with the holding of its National Final to select their WorldVision entrant. From the very moment she was announced and her song revealed, Analina was a favorite to win. While going up against fierce competition, that didn't stifle her. An up and comer on the Scotatrovian pop scene, she notably stood out in a rather competitive, crowded field. Her mix of hip hop beats with pop sound blew her up on the Scotatrovian charts, during a time when nothing but saturated pop sounds dominated. During the competition, Analina became a finalist, although to little surprise, except to her. She never expected to make it onto ll'Acteade Scotatrofina eu Cançis, let alone make it to the final. Once the final results revealed that she was the winner, she visibly broke down due to being so overjoyed. Now she makes her way to Avon in Elejamie for the 90th edition of the WorldVision Song Contest, hoping to replicate the success she achieved in the national final and give Scotatrova another good placement.

As the postcard ends, Analina is shown onstage on top of a platform. She's wearing a white, oversized jacket that goes a little ways past her waist. A black skirt and some black, knee high boots accompany the look. Her lips are a bright, neon shade of pink, along with her eyeliner. Looking onstage, she is leaning on her leftside while looking out in that same direction. The stage is filled with smoke from the smoke machines, most of it keeping low to the ground however. An array of blue and purple lights cascade down from above, giving the stage a rather light atmosphere. On either side of her, two men are standing with their backs to the audience. Their arms are crossed behind the both of them as the song starts up.

Tell me now, now babe
You think we’ll last forever?
I can stay here with you
Let’s make this eternal
Tell me now, tell me now
Or you don’t have to
If you don’t, then its alright

Can’t you feel it now, its just like smoke
Filling up the air, all of it
Its getting hard to breathe, I can’t deal
Really hard to see, its just like smoke
I can’t even think, too cloudy
When I’m with you though, its easy
You bring me out of it all

Analina stays positioned on her side as she sings the first verse. As the second one begins, she quickly turns her head towards the audience and begins to sit upright. She holds her hand out in front of her, and one of the dancers comes up to her. He grabs her hand to help her down, while the other dancer comes from behind to help lift her down, as her other arm is occupied with the microphone. After she's now standing on stage, one of the dancers goes to remove the platform out of line of sight from the camera. Analina stands and dances along with her other dancer while she continues through the verse, moving in a chill, swiveling motion. The purple and blue lights begin to strobe in a timed beat with the tempo.

Bruxarós fuoges, fuoges, fuoges
Sond eu fire thocas, thocas, thocas
Brillarós comon luixos, luixos
Athór danxan gom toth lí thocas
And then we can go oh, la, la, la
Avam, brux fuo-fuoges, fuoges
And then we can go, oh, la, la, la
Agmentan gom toth lí thocas, o la, la
We’ll burn fires, fires, fires
Time to make fumes, fumes, fumes
We’ll shine like lights, lights
Now we dance with all the fumes

Let’s go, we burn fi-fires, fires

We rise with all the fumes, oh la, la

You think I always like being this way?
Not when its just something that happens all the time
Now its time they find out, find out, ay, ay
That we are more than we seem, ay, ay, yeah
Time to make some noise
Shake these very foundations, yeah
And to recognize, that we are more than beautiful, yeah

Once the chorus starts up, white lights strobe from both the left and right. The above purple/blue lights then begin to move in circular motions, dancing all around the stage. The two dancers take their place in front of Analina as all of them begin dancing to the same choreo. They each lift up their legs on at a time, mimicking a big step. They all slowly start spinning in place. Then Analina makes a twirling motion with her hand, which in turn brings up some of the fog from the floor in a small flurry. She then quickly whips her hand upward, and some of the fog trails upward before slowly dispersing all around her. Her dancers do the same, and now a good portion of them all was blanketed in a thin layer of fog.

Can’t you feel it now, its just like smoke
I can’t even think, too cloudy
When I’m with you though, its easy
You bring me out of it all

Bruxarós fuoges, fuoges, fuoges
Sond eu fire thocas, thocas, thocas
Brillarós comon luixos, luixos
Athór danxan gom toth lí thocas
And then we can go oh, la, la, la
Avam, brux fuo-fuoges, fuoges
And then we can go, oh, la, la, la
Agmentan gom toth lí thocas, o la, la
We’ll burn fires, fires, fires
Time to make fumes, fumes, fumes
We’ll shine like lights, lights
Now we dance with all the fumes

Let’s go, we burn fi-fires, fires

We rise with all the fumes, oh la, la

Continuing on, the white strobe lights cease and the colored lights stay still as the camera gets a closer look at Analina. The stage gets mostly dark, save for a very deep shade of navy blue, which helps accentuate the phosphorescence makeup she has on. By this point it becomes clear that she has on glow in the dark makeup. The camera angle adjusts and we get just an angle of Analina's head and upper torso. Most of her features are hidden in the dark by the lighting on stage, but her mouth and eyes really standout. Slowly the lights start coming back on, and the camera moves back away from her as she continues on with the choreo with her dancers.

Ca-ca-can’t you feel it, like smoke
Filling up the air, all of it
Its getting hard to breathe
If I knew then, I would have still chosen you
Really hard to see, open your eyes
I can’t even think, all is cloudy
Breathtaking, breathtaking, breathtaking, breathtaking, yea
Breathtaking, breathtaking
That’s what our love is (is, is, is)

By this point, more smoke has started to cover the stage to the point where it looks like there's a thick mist all around. Analina stands a bit further in than her dancers too, preferring to stick to the outer edges. For the second, breakdown portion of the verse, the dancers start a choreo that is more tight and rigid, compared to their free form style they were incorporating earlier. Analina herself sings while slightly moving her hips side to side, with her arms close together but slowly branching out every now and then. She moves her knees inward and outward slowly before bending down.

Bruxarós fuoges, fuoges, fuoges
Sond eu fire thocas, thocas, thocas
Brillarós comon luixos, luixos
Athór danxan gom toth lí thocas
And then we can go oh, la, la, la
Avam, brux fuo-fuoges, fuoges
And then we can go, oh, la, la, la
Agmentan gom toth lí thocas, o la, la
Agmentan gom toth lí thocas, o la, la
A-a-avam, brux fuo-fuoges, fuoges
We’ll burn fires, fires, fires
Time to make fumes, fumes, fumes
We’ll shine like lights, lights
Now we dance with all the fumes

Let’s go, we burn fi-fires, fires

We rise with all the fumes, oh la, la
We rise with all the fumes, oh la, la
Let’s go, we burn fi-fires, fires

For most of the final verse, Analina continued to stay bent on her knees. She did a little bounce every now and then whenever her dancers came up to dance with her. As she finishes up the song, she stands up and sings her final line while looking over her right shoulder. She smiles as the audience starts to applaud. She brings the mic up to her mouth as she laughs "Thank you Avon!" and begins to walk off stage with her dancers.

by **Eljida** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:01 pm

7. Eljida
Hatima Nazerova
Көксaл oт
Tune: Manizha - Russian Woman

If there was one thing Hatima never imagined, it would be representing Eljida at the WorldVision Song Contest. Eljida wasn't known as being an active participant, only participating twice in the contest's long run time. However, EPT wanted to keep it that way. They saw Eljida's continued participation not as a must, but something that should be enjoyed every so often. This was that time, and the search to pick the next representative was underway. As such, Hatima was the one who received the call. Almost immediately, she began on working on what would be Eljida's entry for WV90. Hatima stated "the song itself is all based in Eljidian folklore. Many of us have heard of the story of the 'көксaл oт' and are familiar with it. Therefore, I wanted to bring something that's traditional to Eljidians and display our culture to the multiverse. Now I know everyone might not understand it, but that's what I'm here for. To help expose and teach them." A couple weeks before the contest was set to begin, the song was released on several streaming platforms and had become well received from the Eljidian public. Hatima hoped that this success would continue at WorldVision.

As the song begins, Hatima and two other backup singers can be seen onstage. The stage is littered with brush and several, fake trees, though not enough to the point where its crowded. Hatima and the singers stand in the middle of it all, with all the brush and trees surrounding them, a good feet away from the pyrotechnics located towards the front of the stage to avoid any incidents. The stage is lit dimly in a blue hue, and Hatima is wearing a burly, dark red cloak that doesn't quite give her much of a silhouette. Running along the arms are several symbols, all of which originate from Eljidian mythology and folklore. The middle part of the cloak around her chest contains three symbols, circles with swirls of flame emanating from them. The singers are also wearing cloaks, however the color of theirs are black. The stage becomes a little brighter as the song begins.

Go on, go on, go on, go that way
Go on, go on, go on, through the bush
Head through there and you will find it
Head through there and you will find what you need

Time for you to find what needs to be found
If you see them, whatever you do, don’t run
Don’t be afraid of their flame
Alright, alright, it’ll be ok, it’ll be ok
I promise that they will not hurt you, it’ll be ok, it’ll be ok
Are you ready? Great, now go on

The camera angles itself just in front of Hatima as she starts the first verse, slowly backing away as she continues. Once she finishes the verse, bursts of flames from all around the front portions of the stage, nowhere near where Hatima and the array of trees and brush is located. The singers lift their arms up as Hatima continues, becoming more active in her movements as she makes gestures with her hands as she sings. While she sings the final line, she uses her free hand to motion to the crowd as if she was actually asking them the question.

All you need to do is let it go (Ha, ha)
That way you can find your way in the dark (Aye, aye)
All you need to do is let it go (Ha, ha)
That way you can find your way in the dark (Aye, aye)

Once the traditional beat kicks in, Hatima and her singers start dancing in place onstage, with Hatima smiling at both of them as they do so. She starts walking up to the camera and it slowly starts doing a 360 motion, in which she follows. She walks around one of the trees, leans on it and looks around, looking as if she was lost. Then she steps back out into the mostly clear area of the stage. As she sings the line "All you need to do is let it go", she taps the side of her head as she does so, trying to display that once you let go of the things in your head, then you're able to do what needs to be done. Once again she flashes the camera a quick smile as she ends up facing the audience before she began the 360 turn. The camera stays at an angle behind her, and Hatima continues singing out to the audience.

They say that all of its fake, oy, don’t believe them
They say that it’s a myth, oy, don’t believe them
Those that have seen it say that its all wonderful
You won’t believe your eyes once you’ve seen them
You can feel their warmth, it calls out for us
It lingers in the air all around us (around us)
They light up around us (around us, you feel it?)
It’s such a wonderful sight to behold
Come with me, I can show you the way

Many will try to convince you otherwise
But its up to you to decide what you do and don’t believe

While Hatima keeps singing, the backing singers will occasionally lend their voices to help accentuate hers. While the performance is happening, on each of the LED screens behind Hatima, three white dots start swirling around eachother. They start off slow at first but slowly start picking up speed. Once they've reached a steady pace, they keep that same pace while Hatima keeps singing. Hatima starts taking off her cloak, starting by slowly untying the knot that held it around her waist. Then she lets an arm free, letting that part of the cloak fall and making a movement with her arm as if she wanted it off. Purple fabric can we seen on her arm, indicating that there's another outfit on underneath the cloak. She puts her microphone from her hand into its stand, and sings the last two lines of the verse as she takes the rest of the cloak off. Underneath, Hatima is wearing this elegant, traditional Eljidian dress usually reserved for important religious ceremonies.

Көксaл oт, көксaл oт
Köksal ot, köksal ot

Илaйacи көксaл oт, aфтep aлйeнин
Ilayasi köksal ot, after alyenin

Кeлмep вa йoк, кeлмep вa йoк
Kelmer va yok, kelmer va yok

Paкcepиз aбaди aлйeндe oлaнил
Rakseriz abadi alyende olanil

Heavenly fire, heavenly fire
Goddess of heavenly fire, spare us your flame
Come and burn, come and burn
We dance in the eternal flame with her

Find your way, find your way through the dark (Rrr)
All you need to do is let it go (Ha, ha)
That way you can find your way in the dark (Aye, aye)
All you need to do is let it go (Ha, ha)
That way you can find your way in the dark (Aye, aye)

Hatima begins singing the Eljidian verse with such a prowess that she didn't quite have before. It was clear that she was much more comfortable in her native language, and it came through in her singing. As she and the singers continued, pyros shot up from all parts of the stages, turning the dimly lit blue stage into a fury of flame. On the LED screens behind her, the three swirling dots began to pulse sporadically, in tune with the beat of the song and adding to the pyro elements on stage. Hatima and her singers held their hands up in the air while they sang, and Hatima herself even went to her knees. The stage was now a flurry of orange and white as stage lights from above help cement the atmosphere that had been created. As the English verse began, Hatima got back on her feet and walked up to the camera. She sang to it, a good distance away but still close enough. She smiled, clearly enjoying herself, as the camera slowly moved off to the side.

All you need to do
Is follow their light
You can do it
You can do it
Follow their light (x5)

Көксaл oт, көксaл oт
Köksal ot, köksal ot

Илaйacи көксaл oт, aфтep aлйeнин
Ilayasi köksal ot, after alyenin

Кeлмep вa йoк, кeлмep вa йoк
Kelmer va yok, kelmer va yok

Paкcepиз aбaди aлйeндe oлaнил
Rakseriz abadi alyende olanil

Heavenly fire, heavenly fire
Goddess of heavenly fire, spare us your flame
Come and burn, come and burn
We dance in the eternal flame with her

While Hatima and her singers sang "follow their light", she would walk up to each of them, repeating the phrase back to them and they seemed to nod in agreement. Once again the final Eljidian verse commenced and this time the stage was drowned in this elegant gold color. Every so often a splash of orange and yellow was added, owing to the flame jets. Differing from before, Hatima sang the final verse looking out at the audience. As the song concluded, there was one final blast of flame. The burst of applause from the audience surprised Hatima as she hugged her singers and they began walking off stage. "Thank you!"

by **Malta Comino Gozo** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:01 pm

Song Title:Don't Come Close
Artist: Brooke Galea
Lyrics and Music: Lewis Sarucino, Victoria Muscat, Olly Borg
Language: English
Destiny - Je Me Casse

The band sat nervously as the points came in! Celebrations came as they received 2 sets of 12 points and four sets of 10 points putting them in the lead at half time and third as the jury voting finished. The camera panned by the green room as the televotes rolled in. Malta Comino Gozo was not in the bottom sets of countries. Things were getting more and close at the top now as the top 5 nations started rolling in next with Polkopia then hosts Todlichebujoku taking the top spot. It was then between Adab and Malta Comino Gozo. Could they receive enough points to overtake the leaders? They needed 125 points to win... The tension was profound. The cameras switched between MCG and Adab. The band and their dancers and the HoD sat there holding hands. They looked incredibly worried. Then suddenly they were called, "And ...235 points go to Malta Comino Gozo!! This means we have a new winner with 235 points the winner is MALTA COMINO GOZO!!" The delegation lept into the air, hugging each other, tears streaming down their faces. The crowd roared with delight with flags being waved in all directions. The band were lead to the stage to collect their amazingly crafted Obsidian trophy from the winner of the last contest, WWM from Izmedu. Confetti poured all around them. "Thank you all so much! We are honoured! We can't believe it!" Kieran shouts! Cheers and shouts echoed throughout the arena.

Thousands back home took to the streets to party. Scenes of victory and celebration were seen up and down the country as people of all ages took to the streets to light fireworks and parties. People stuck in their cars honked their horns proudly as horns and firework blasts could be heard across the country. Church bells were ringing in a lovely display of joy. It was safe to say this would go on for many days. The win dominated local headlines for days after.
The team flew home the next day and greeted by tens of thousands of fans at the MCG International Airport. After they were mobbed by fans, attention soon turned to TV/Radio Interviews. They were swamped with new gigs across the islands and multiverse. They even had a meeting with the Prime Minister who congratulated them. Summer Nights stayed at Number One in the charts for 6 more weeks. Little Malta Comino Gozo had done it again.

Half Malta Comino Gozoan Half Hispano Elejamian, Brooke Galea is the first artist to represent the islands with cultural ties to another country, more importantly though, the host nation for Worldvision 90! Her Dad heralds from Crown Manor the smallest tractal capital in Elejamie. He left Elejamie in 1995 and moved to a Valletta apartment where he started his new career as a chauffeur for the then Mayor of Valletta in Malta Comino Gozo. The '90s saw many Hispano-Elejamians settle in Malta Comino Gozo most noticeably in Valletta (perhaps due to Valletta having one of only two professional rugby unions teams in the country or the fact Valletta was the capital and largest city and hosted the most jobs) after a bit of economic decline in the 1980s in Elejamie. Malta Comino Gozoans are an accepting and hospitable people and welcomed the young man in with open arms. Despite the country being 90% ethnic Malta Comino Gozoan, there are sizable minorities of Polkopians and Elejamians, all have moved and settled to MCG and integrated into Malta Comino Gozoan society. MCG posed an opportunity for the young man ready to work and settle down with and make a family. The country was teeming with job opportunities and his pay was good, to say the least. He certainly did not leave Elejamie a poor man. He in fact was doing quite well but saw opportunity abroad. In 1996 he met Sophia who would then become his wife in 1998. They met at the Valletta Town Hall where they worked. In 1998 they welcomed a baby girl, Brooke.

Brooke is one of two children. She has a younger brother, Charlie. Her father now works for a Petrol company, and her mother works at the local hospital as a paediatrician nurse.

She began her career by posting videos of herself singing on the video-sharing site YouTube and went on to star in commercials and music videos. Brooke signed a recording contract with Interscoper Records in 2013, subsequently releasing her debut extended play, "The Gift", and a series of singles, including "Do It Again" and "All this love". In 2016, she was featured on 5ive's single "Boys & Girls" which reached the top 40 in the Malta Comino Gozoan Singles Chart. In 2017, Brooke independently released an EP entitled "The Gift 2." She later left Interscope Records and became an independent artist in late 2017, creating her own label Lemon Pie Records.

Despite her background, Brooke had never been to Elejamie before! But now not only was she going to see her Father's home she was representing her country at the Worldvision Song Contest. She had some shoes to fill being the entrant right after a winning entrant. Could she bring Malta Comino Gozo ANOTHER victory?
Brooke and her large team of backing singers, dancers, and delegation set off from MCG International on the private flight to Avon, Elejamie. The flight would last around 7 hours. She was extremely excited from the off. Malta Comino Gozo and Elejamie had very strong relations in and out of the contest. The two countries voted for each other very often and had very similar tastes, and MCG was home to an Elejamian diaspora, the second-largest minority on the islands. The two countries had also strong diplomatic relations and Elejamie had worked with the MCG government after the storm surge, sending aid and playing charity rugby matches to help the aid efforts.

The team landed quite late at night. As Brooke stepped off the plane there was a territorial feeling that almost aligns with the definition of patriotism that she became immediately aware of. She was in her Fatherland. They were all immediately tested as required by the Elejamian Authorities. MCG was COVID free and had been for quite some time, with strict policies on entering the country, mandatory quarantine for all new arrivals and severe fines for anyone seen breaking the rules and not wearing a mask had seen the country eradicate the virus. MCG had also vaccinated over half of their adult population. The team still had to take a test and all tested negative and were escorted to their hotel in Avon by private taxi where they would have to quarantine for a week. The city twinkled in the windows of the taxi as the team made their way to their hotel. Masks were to be worn at all times.

The next day was all about exploring. Brooke was like an excited child on their birthday, she could not wait to explore this city and experience the Elejamian Culture. She wanted to find out all about her Fathers homeland and she would often facetime her parents as she visited famous sights around the city. There was an explosion in her brain... the good sort... the type that carries more possibilities than she could be conscious of... but there were hundreds of questions there in that buzz of electricity... she could feel it. It was the calling card of adventure, of paths awaiting her feet. Whatever was ahead could be a great challenge, but it was her adventure to take and so she smiled.

Avon was a city of culture and was the first Elejamian City of Culture back in 2013. There was plenty of things for them all to go and see. The Goldenderry district in the heart of downtown is unofficially referred to as the “Museum District'' and for a good reason, as it’s home to the National Museum of Art, the Avon Museum of Modern Art (or AMMA for short) that’s just a stone’s throw away and the National Transport Museum. There’s also the Avon Botanical Gardens located on the outskirts of the city. Brooke and her team would venture to the Bristol district which hosted several performing arts centres such as the Broadenchurch Theatre, the Bristolian Centre and the Cochrane. Being from a performing arts background, Brooke thoroughly enjoyed this.

The city had a heart, a rhythm and a beat. It lives in music, it plays in the sports arenas, it is there in each act of kindness. From the trees in the avenues to the penthouse suite, the city was alive. Centuries of grand design and sculpture came together in the avenues to form an eclectic yet harmonious cityscape. It was neither hot nor cold, in the bluster of the late spring and the cities beautiful cathedral spire brought their eyes heavenward. It was an art that stayed in every season, yet in the bright sunshine of the day, the stones were every hue from dark gold to desert sand dunes. The church spire was a compliment to the modern buildings of the rest of the city. Avon was a fast-paced city. Like Manhattan or Tokyo, you feel its energy the moment you land. Located in the CBD at 183 meters high, the Saturnalia Building was the cities tallest building and the most prominent landmark on the Avon skyline. Whilst the tower itself is definitely one of the top things to see in Avon, the view from its observation deck is even better. Brooke would spend a lot of time diving into the culture to learn more about herself. She familiarised herself with the different cultures which came together to form Elejamie, the sports which bind them all together and the generosity of the people from there.

Brooke felt very much at home in this unique blend of cultures which was Elejamie. The next day was a little less hectic and Brooke and her team spent most of the day at Boardway, which was home to many high-end stores, most notably Blair’s Department Store. A large amount of cash was spent on souvenirs, items of clothing and designer handbags, all of which Brooke's team had to carry after! All this shopping made them ravenous and what better time to explore the Elejamian cuisine. Brooke was no stranger to Elejamian food as her father would often cook these amazing meals for them back home. The team headed to the popular Iyil Fud restaurant which served many traditional delicacies such as coriri (smoked fish wrapped in seaweed), caputimi (a fish stew, often served with sweet potatoes, mushrooms and cabbage), raerine (sweet potato bread, often used as a side dish) and its own take on caelu (a traditional pit oven) which sees a blend of traditional methods and modern barbecue coming together to make a unique experience. Coming from MCG where fish was very popular Brooke would sample the exquisite coriri and caputimi all washed down with refreshing cocktails.

The next few days would be dedicated to rehearsals in the massive Riverside Arena. All COVID precautions were carried out with social distancing and masks being worn whilst they were not on the stage. On the topic of the stage, Brooke was taken aback at the astonishing stage. It glittered beautifully in the light as was incredibly modern and fancy! This gave her a burst of adrenaline she could not wait to perform on this delightful stage. She smiled proudly, picturing herself singing to millions across the universe! Brooke wanted to do her country proud! The was a pleased look in her eye as if some element of internal peace had alighted within her. Her visit to her fatherland had enlightened her, and she felt a deep personal connection.

In a recent interview with MCG1 Brooke explained the meaning behind her song and her performance.

"Don't Come Close is your classic woman who has been ditched on a date situation. The woman is at the end of her tether as this isn't the first time this has happened. She is furious at her date for standing her up again! She is so furious to the point she is done with him. Despite the fact she loves him she has to leave as this relationship is not working. She warns the man 'Don't Come Close' if he knows what's good for him as she is moving on. I love him... kinda. Um, I guess what my brain is trying to say is... I would love him still if he were kinder. It's just that when it came to our emotional bank account, he took far more than he gave. And, well, I'm okay with giving a lot, but he became so entitled to it that the most I can do are the minimum he'd accept... and even then he would then look down on everything I'm good at."

Brooke made her way out onto the impressive stage to huge cheers. Red grey and white lights lit up the stage as she strutted out. The fact MCG had won the last contest helped as the stadium roared as Brooke appeared in her elegant dress. The cheers rise around the stadium as if their hearts have learned how to fly together. She was looking pleased, a soft sense of happiness had made itself at home. She waved excitedly to the crowds before exiting the stage.

Please use this video for reference to different visuals happening below

A retro introduction with jazzy music is played on screen for the viewers at home, whilst the viewers in the Riverside Arena had the same opening display and jazzy music on the LED's. The opening was like the opening to a silent film. The words "Brooke Galea Presents" and "Don't Come Close were portrayed to all the viewers on a snazzy gold and black background. Brook would be accompanied on stage by"The Jazz House Swing" A 16 strong professional Jazz Swing Dance group from MCG. The words fade for the viewers at home onto a gramophone playing centre stage on an old fashioned wooden dining table as the song intro starts. The camera effect is black and white and gritty. The dining table which is situated right at the back of the stage on the top right which is elevated above the main part of the stage. is adorned with melted candles and cold plates of food to signify Brooke has been waiting some time for her "lover" to get back home. The camera zooms out slightly as a well-dressed man walks over and stops the Gramophone abruptly and places a big speaker in front of it before turning it on. As he turns it on the beginning bars of the song begin to play and he walks off stage. The camera then zooms out from the gramophone before it fades into colour with no effects as Brooke sings. The camera turns to an angled close up from Brooke's right of Brooke who is sitting at the head of the table behind the Gramophone. She is wearing a headpiece microphone. Her skin is the hue of English oak in spring rains, and she was this beautiful from the first rays of dawn to the serenade of every starlit night. She is wearing a sparkly black sequin dress that covers one arm adorned with pink shapes. Her hair is in a ponytail and two beautiful gold earrings hang down from her ears. Brooke wanted some glamorous earrings as they speak to her of feminine energy, of grace and beauty, the kind that brings real strength to the soul. She is drumming her fingers on the table and her face is slumped down, her right hand's supporting her head up, by her elbow resting on the table. She is looking exasperated and genuinely annoyed at her "lover" being late home once again. As she sings "For you to get back home" she looks down at her phone on the table to check the time and rolls her eyes. After she sings "Now I am feeling blurred" she sighs and slumps her shoulder down again. As the first verse finishes, and the backing singers sing "You better choose your battles right" she suddenly stands up, kicking her chair background so it slides backwards from the dining table, as she comes to her senses. The crowd cheers loudly. A renewed sense of freedom is on her face, and she smirks slightly. We hear the 4 female backing singers who are off-stage sing "You better choose your battles right"

All alone waiting
So finished
With hanging fire
For you to get back home
Been waiting, frustrating for such a long time
Now I am feeling blurred
(You better choose your battles right)

Brooke makes her way around the table to stand in front of it. The spotlight follows her. She wiggles her finger at the camera as she sings "Is it safe to say that you weren't the person.. " as if she is telling her "Lover" off.

Is it safe to say that you weren't the person
Who was intended to save me?
When all that I had was turning out badly
You'll never be the one..

As Brooke sings "Not in this life", the camera whooshes off to the left in fine transition tothe group of dancers, 0:58 centre stage. The dancers are all lit up in glowing spotlights, though the background remains black. The crowd cheers. At the front is her "Lover" wearing a black hat white shirt and black waistcoat and tie. He has been out all night partying and he and his 15 string dance troupe show off their moves to the camera.

To transform me
Not in this life
Proceeding onward
I'm changing my ways
I should be so strong
Despite the fact that we get along
So baby
Don't come close!

The dancers move like water transformed by music, flowing in graceful arcs, limbs in constant motion, painting a picture sound alone can never achieve. They bring a wordless interpretation of the beats, of the soft brass, in a way the audience can understand no matter what language they speak. In that way, their dance isn't simply movement, but the most honest form of communication we know. Brooke is off-screen singing. The camera floats around just above the stage floor capturing the whole dance act in motion head-on, it sways gently from left to right as the group dances.

Ha!
Don't come close!
I'm better off without you
(Don't come close!)
Don't come close!
Don't come close!
I'm better off without you!

The camera fades out to Brooke standing on the far left of the stage ( the audiences right). she has made her way down the steps onto the main stage. Her dress glittering in the spotlights. She has a cheeky smirk on her face. The scene has changed from the dining room of her house to a moonlit sky with a skyline, 1:32 that is moving on the background LED. The wireframe lights shine fluorescent orange and pink. The camera cuts to a near stage shot side-on, as Brooke walk's on the spot the moving background gives the impression she is actually walking. A ballroom door appears on the left-hand side of the LED and moves towards Brooke. The camera magic makes it look like she steps through it as the camera cuts to an indoor shot of the ballroom. The LED once again turns black as the verse finishes.

Oh, what you see ..is what you get!
And you ain't seen.. nothing yet!
They say that I broke a man down
For not giving me .. the respect that I deserve
(You better choose your battles right)

The spotlights once again light up the main stage in golden yellow and in snow white as the camera quickly cuts to the onstage camera of a group of dancers, 1:46dancing in the centre of the stage. The camera floats between them as they part to let it through towards Brooke on the right side of the stage again, who has now been accompanied by 7 dancers, she is stood on the right. (circled in red in the video) They begin to dance in what looks like a dance battle as she has arrived at the ballroom where her "Lover" has been spending the night, instead of with her. The dancers could never be captured by a simple photograph, any snapshot in time could never be enough to capture what their moving forms conveyed. They were joy and laughter, love and grace, emotions are given a physical form.

Is it safe to say that you weren't the person
Who was intended to save me?
When all that I had was turning out badly
You'll never be the one..

Brooke carries on dancing and singing, the onstage camera capturing their moves as they dance energetically. The camera starts closing in on Brooke, she is smiling proudly and as Brooke sings "I should be so strong" the camera sweeps left to a group of dancers, 2:02 on the left of the stage. Her "lover" is on the far left of the dancers wearing a black hat, engaging in this dance battle.

To transform me
Not in this life
Proceeding onward
I'm changing my ways
I should be so strong
Despite the fact that we get along
So boy yeah
Don't come close!

He jumps to the middle, 2:12 as the pre-chorus finishes. The camera pans closer before it slides right towards Brooke's dancers again, one of the dancers is miming the words to the frontal onstage camera. Brooke can be seen singing and making her way to the back of the dancers ready for the next verse. The ladies followed by several other dancers make their way across the stage the camera following to the left as they carry on dancing together.

Ha!
Don't come close!
I'm better off without you
(Don't come close!)
Don't come close!
Don't Don't come close!
I'm better off without you

Brooke has made her way to the back of the centre stage and the camera cuts between the middle of the two dance groups where she is stood elegantly a dazzling white spotlight lighting her up. Her powerhouse of a voice fills the arena. Her voice is soulful. Her voice conveys a connection between heart and voice. It's highly emotive and is often capable of executing the riffs, runs and fioritura of the song, especially during this pre-chorus. Her arms are spread out and she swings them upwards dramatically as she sings. We can hear the backing singers accompanying her singing the parts between Brooke's lines. The lights flash dramatically to the bass as the bass kick in towards the end of the verse. Brooke holds the note perfectly and ends her lines with an excited woo! The camerapans out to a group of dancers, 2:50 who have gathered in the centre of the stage. We can still see Brooke behind as she joins in the speaking part of the verse she is moving to the beat, running her hand down her thigh and posing to the beat, almost trying to seduce the audience. She winks as the camera swoops left to four mixed couples dancing joyfully.

So boy don't stand too close to me.. to me ..to meee...
Don't be, don't be another tragedy
Another tragedy
I've burned everybody who had a hand.. to lend....
(I'm better off without you)
WOO!
(I'm better off without you)
Don't come close!
(I'm better off without you)
I'm better better
Have you got the message?

The onstage camera which is close to the floor then begins to pan around the dancers clockwise. The whole stage is lit up now in glowing yellow light. The LED's remain black. The couples split up and are then joined by more dancers We now have a view from the back of the stage looking at the dancers with the excited flag-waving jumping crowd in the background. Spotlights are racing around the arena as the dancers spin perform their fantastic choreographed routine. The camera carries on rotating around them before it ends on a female dancer, 3:11 who looks down the camera lens before walking off to the right beckoning Brooke with her hand. Brooke swaggers in from the left and her "Lover" walks in from the right and they meet in the middle. They face each other so we have a side-on view of them both. She waves her finger around in his face before flicking his shoulder, he walks off rejected, she turns to the camera to sing "I'm better off without you" She ends the song smiling proudly with a huge cheeky grin on her face. She had won the battle against her "Lover"

Yeah you'll never be the one
Proceeding onward
I'm changing my ways
I should be so strong
Despite the fact that we get along
So boy yeah
Don't come close!
Don't don't come close!
I'm better off without you

The lights of the arena come on again as the crowd erupts into deafening applause and cheers. Dozens of flags can be seen waving as the camera cuts to one from halfway out into the crowd showing the whole stage. "MCG!" Chants can be heard echoing through the arena. The camera cuts back to an emotional and overwhelmed but still smiling proudly Brooke on stage. Her dancers gather around her loosely as she bellows out to the audience "Thank you Elejamie!" Thank you, WV!!" They exit the stage ready for the next entry.

by **Todlichebujoku** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:01 pm

09. _TÖDLICHEBUJOKU_

Se Sattuu (It Hurts)

Rei Pavro
Tune: Madeon - "The Prince"

MERVI YOŠINO: So, both your fans and the WorldVision community want to know, what's next for your career? Performing on the WorldVision stage is such a big step, are you going to aim for international success?

REI PAVRO: ...

REI PAVRO: The short answer is no.

MERVI YOŠINO: No?? Well that's a shock. And the long answer?

REI PAVRO: You see... I don't know if I ever wanted this life. All this crap, success, whatever.. it's just eating me up inside. At this point I really don't care what you all think- I've sacrificed so much of my well-being chasing the high, and now it's nothing but emptiness. So yeah. I'll probably fuck off, send some new tax-evading fat cat deep-sea diving off his yacht with no diving gear... Maybe you'll see me somewhere else, but you won't catch me dead again in these godsforsaken popularity charts called "career success" or such. They can burn in the realms below for all I care.

MERVI YOŠINO: Oh... So why are you here, then?

REI PAVRO: I suppose this has become my last hurrah, following through with what I agreed with the new TÖBUK, before I send more robber barons to meet the powers below. I've already sent that message, but I'd just like to be abundantly clear. My patience with bullshit has run out.

Rei had a string of successes as an artist, but soon found disillusioned by his work, as his fans became increasingly critical, and work that he had put his blood and sweat in, found little success. He could never find anything to please his audience, and his fanbase grew increasingly toxic as a whole. He attempted to retire several times, and each time was brought back by being guilt-tripped and by the allure of nostalgia and better times in the past. With the societal breakdown he lashed out by sending various music executives and their closest confidantes to the bottom of the sea. After becoming notorious for his maritime exploits, he became part of the artists collective that seized control of TÖBUK, playing a pivotal part in running the Sinun Valintasi for 88. However, his appearance in WorldVision was put on hold for the murder trial of one of the execs who still had a friend alive in the legal system. Luckily, that friend was soon discovered to be a legal nonperson due to being compromised by demonic forces, and so Rei was able to get on with his wretched life. Even so, Rei has expressed his distaste for the music industry, and hopes to leave, as his outbreak amidst lawlessness has only calmed his spite and rage, but not his burnt out heart and hollow soul.

the lighting harsh. he sits on a simple chair on the central projecting platform, his features hollow and wraithlike in the stark lighting. he is soaked in water, and his eyes cast downward, barely meeting the camera view. when he does make eye contact it is with a hateful glare and a trembling voice

Luulen, ettá olen ohi arvataasi
I think I'm over your drama

Kulutat henkeni
You drain my life away

Vuodesta toiseen
Year after year

Rakastan pilvisüüs ya náin olen pasiduottu
I love the high and that's how I'm addicted

Nüt anon apua
Now I beg for help

he raises his head more level to the audience with an expression of raging disappointment. beads of water are visible on his head, like sweat upon his furrowed brow. with a defeated, decapitated fury, he turns to the chorus. smoke rises. flames lick along the borders of the stage, never fully in view, but always just barely noticeable

Muista yálleen
Remember again

Et rakasta sitá, mitá rakastan, ya se sattuu
You don't love what I love, and it hurts

Vaan sanasi ovat kuin mesi
Yet your words are like honey

Válitátkö?
Do you care?

Voi se sattuu
Oh, it hurts

Voi se sattuu
Oh, it hurts

he is half covered in misty fog, only his head and shoulders, hunched over, stay above the rippling mass. it occasionally threatens to overwhelm him, but he does not react, and is resigned to his fate, a soulless gaze rising to meet the camera view

Yokaisest' voitosta,
For every win,

On menetüs, menetüs, yálleen menetüs, voi
There's a loss, and a loss, and again a loss, oh

Mitá sitten yos válitán, mitá yos má tapetaan, ei?
So what if I care, so what if I'm being killed, no?

Yoka üö, yoka üö, ayan gaaio vie veronsa
Every night, every night, the march of time takes its toll

Nüt odotan loppua
Now I await the end

the camera view passes close by his face. he would have let a tear fall, if he were not already dead inside. with an empty, broken expression, he looks out over the audience as the mist begins to lower, a breeze beginning to form. it seems like things are getting better, but his heart is still tortured.

Muista yálleen
Remember again

Et rakasta sitá, mitá rakastan, ya se sattuu
You don't love what I love, and it hurts

Vaan sanasi ovat kuin mesi
Yet your words are like honey

Válitátkö?
Do you care?

Voi se sattuu
Oh, it hurts

Voi se sattuu
Oh, it hurts

there is a brilliant flash. the camera view zooms down from above with rapid speed, the mist being pummelled by a wind from above, creating a circular ripple effect centered on Rei. he lies on the floor in a fetal position, the chair cast aside. another camera angle shows the lights cutting out, leaving only a dull ring of flames around him, which transitions from color to color - blue, orange, white, green, red, purple- as if entering through the sixth circle of disco hell. strobe lights, and lasers color coordinated with the color of the fire, flicker and flash through the battered mist, and Rei's body, through a special effect begins to transform in to a frighteningly realistic skeleton. sometimes all the lights and flames cut out, before returning. throughout this scene, a wall of thin vertical blue-white lasers is sometimes visible, an intangible jail cell in which Rei is imprisoned.

the effects and music fades away. all that is left is Rei, indeed alive, though barely looking so, as he rises to a sitting position on the floor amongst the mist. the spotlight upon him is warmer, and he looks the least dead he's been the whole performance.

Kuuletko?
Do you hear?

Ehká ei…
Maybe not…

On niin vaikeaa eláá
It's so hard to live

Kanssasi nüt
With you now

On aika mun menná
It's time for me to go

Háipüá
Fade away

Anna mun nousta
Let me rise

Hengittáá
To breathe

the mist parts, revealing him to be soaked in blood. the bold splash of vivid red contrasts with the sparse and spare color visible through the performance. Rei looks down upon himself, then looks back up at the camera view, as all fades to grayscale and the spotlight upon him fades away.

"Kiitos, obrigado," he mutters into the microphone, casting a jaded glance out over the audience before shuffling off the stage. Maybe one day he would find something to bring his soul back to life. But until then... he would just have to continue. To breathe, to live, to stand. And maybe, maybe he would discover a spark rekindling within him. It seemed like a fantasy, and perhaps it was destined to be one. But there must be more in life than suffering, than wallowing in self-hatred and misanthropism. He could only hope, for as long as he lived.

by **New Douria** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:02 pm

10. New Douria
Jade Cadwaladr - "Prophecy"
Written by Jade Cadwaladr
Composed by Jade Cadwaladr
Tune: The Oh Hellos - Soldier, Poet, King

Prelude

New Douria is a nation of contrasts. English culture contrasts with French culture, East with West, North with South. With all the states contrasting one another, it's a wonder how they actually get along. Music in particular is diverse, with genres blending and working together in harmony, which is why the IBA invited the country to participate in the 90th contest.

NDBC was shocked when they recieved the invitation, but they recieved it at just the right moment. The broadcaster was contemplating moving into entertainment, with a few shows in the works, and the Worldvision Song Contest would be their breakthrough. The entrant was selected internally, through a haphazard national final, which selected Jade Cadwaladr, from the state of Redmont.

Jade Cadwaladr

Jade Cadwaladr is a folk rock singer from the city of New Berwick, in the state of Redmont. New Berwick has a very folkloric culture, derived from its heritage, and is famous for its folk music - it's sired a few big names!

Jade is the first of a new generation of New Berwick's musical scene. Folk in the area is gradually being phased out, and Jade is pioneering folk rock! Her songs have been topping the charts over and over again, and it's clear that her popularity is only increasing - the perfect choice for a national final contestant!

Her new single, "Prophecy", is oddly poetic. It's a retelling of a New Dourian folk tale in the style of, well, a prophecy. So far, it's been a hit with the New Dourian people, and Jane's sure it'll be a hit with the rest of the world!

Commentary

John Green: "And that was song number nine, Tödlichebujoku, with "Se satuu", and now it's time for our entry. For those just tuning in, this is the 90th Worldvision Song Contest here in Avon, Elejamie, where we're making our debut. Song number ten, representing New Douria, it's Jade Cadwaladr, with "Prophecy"!

The Performance

Jade walks out onto the stage, followed by 5 drummers. She's wearing a take on a traditional French dress, holding her hat in her hands as she walks up to very front platform of the stage. The drummers follow her, setting down their hand drums in a semi-circle behind her.

Soon come’t the prophet,
Of young and great noble blood,
He shalt see Jerusalem,
With banging of the drums.
They bang the drums, the drums shall ring,
He shalt see Jerusalem, with banging of the drums.

Jade skips around the stage as the screens in the back fill will explosions of coloured powder. She places the hat onto her head as she backs onto the stage through the left platform and re-approaches the centre platform, skipping around the back drummer as she skips towards the front.

Soon come’t his highness,
With servants in his tow,
He shalt end the prophet’s son,
A knife shalt break his bow.
A knife, a stone, a knife shalt break his bow.
He shalt end the prophet’s son, a knife shalt break his bow.

The screens show an army of bows, while 4 of the drummers pull out bows themselves, firing fake arrows into the audience. Jade herself manages to catch a few arrows, placing them into a quiver. On the screens, knives appear to shatter the bows.

Then come’t the beacon,
Who slay’t his eldest son,
Place a crown upon his head,
For the lives of his young.
A bargain struck, for the lives of his young.
Place a crown upon his head, for the lives of his young.

The music begins to pick up, with Jade throwing off her hat and the drummers pick up their pace. Shades of brown and green explode across the stage, mimicking dirt and grass.

This prophecy, I speak it true,
The prophet, king, beacon will
Be within us soon.

Jade throws her hat into the audience, skipping behind each of the drummers before returning to the centre.

The prophet shalt speak his many truths,
The king will be the first, anew.

The prophet shalt be here again,
He shall ne’er die, oh;

This prophecy, I speak it true,
The king shall fall, his kingdom too,
And all of this for a son of blue.

The music dies down as the drummers settle, Jade smiles and bows towards the audience.
"Thank you, Avon!"

by **Carrelie** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:03 pm

Withdrawn

by **Elejamie** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:10 pm

12 Elejamie

Manoy - Underbelly

Tune: Kauf - When You’re Out

Elejamie was in for a massive surprise when Patricio Esposito announced that he would be taking part in the 89th WorldVision Song Contest in Äuszer, Todlichebujoku. Esposito, who last took part in the 75th contest in Monterra, has been a notable critic of the competition following a rather controversial incident that saw him and bandmate/future WV90 co-host Yoni Maenilon lose a point and thus be denied the nation’s first win. He became more outspoken when his sister and her musical partner Aurora Cassidy finished fifth at the 82nd edition in Tiferet, if only because they finished behind a number of entries he perceived to be low quality. So why did he take part in it anyway? Because Aribella, who had sang the song, managed to recruit him and not only did he not want to let a fan down but he also kind of wanted to make amends with the competition. While he did manage to compose the song by himself OK, if only because that’s what he specifically requested, he still had to wait for the lyrics to be written by a whole group of people to actually be sung. Eventually, the resulting track, “I’ve Been Waiting” was released and hopes were high that they’d actually get a second consecutive top ten spot for the first time since 79-80.

Unfortunately, much like the last contest, the voting was an absolute disaster. For a start, they had failed to score a single set of 12 points for the second contest in a row. The most they had received was a single set of 10 points, coming from newcomers Saperetia. They were even in third place going into half-time, which seemed like things were going to go their way. Unfortunately, lengthy periods of receiving little to no points saw them slip further until they finished 12th with the juries with 78 points. The televoting wasn’t that much kinder as they had received 71 points from it, which ultimately dumped them two spots lower to a 14th overall finish. However, despite all of this and knowing the controversial incident that had happened the last time he had competed at the contest, Patricio didn’t go on another diatribe about the contest screwing him over or anything like that. While the drop from 3rd to 12th and then eventually 14th was EXTREMELY concerning, as far as he knew it wasn’t due to anything suspicious or even incompetence but rather just bad luck. Instead he just bitterly accepted the result, although he did reiterate that it would be best for his country to just abandon the contest and never return to it. Aribella, meanwhile, had spent most of the night crying in her hotel bathroom following the contest; no word yet on whether or not she’ll continue her career in music or if she’ll end up taking an early retirement.

Despite all of this, EB had announced two major things. The first was that they were finally going to bid to host the contest. The bid, called AVON 90, was an attempt to bring the contest to the small Pacific island nation. If it was successful, then it was to be hosted at the Riverside Arena in Avon, right on the Garpu River (and yes, for any Indonesians reading this, the name was intentional) and right across from the nation’s capital Coventry. It would also see a huge amount of tourists pouring into the nation and, thus, would provide a huge boost to the economy. Furthermore they had a location at the ready which had hosted the ElejamieVision national final, even if said event didn’t have as many people attending it, so it’s not like they were blindly going with a random venue and hoping for the best. No word yet on what would’ve happened if it wasn’t successful but the general consensus was that the bid was well presented enough that, should it fail, it could’ve been submitted again with some minor alterations and it would still stand a decent chance, even if it would face some equally stiff (if not stiffer) competition.

The second was that ElejamieVision was going to return for another edition. With the jury remaining the same as last time, they eventually manage to boil it down to five songs for the final. “I Lost Myself” by Lake Mizumi, who had previously teamed up with Jon Navarez and Mason for the 83rd edition in St. Christopher; Monochrome Haze making a comeback attempt with their song “I Think It’s Better If I Leave Instead”; The Humanoids, who previously took part in the ElejamieVision fo WV88, attempting a second go with “Come On/Join Us”; newcomer Manoy with “Underbelly”; and Cross Plaza Scene legends The Lads and the Lasses sending their new song “Your Song”. Overall, it seemed to be quite a tight competition and, unlike how one-sided the last edition was where Kyandii essentially got a plethora of fives, this one could’ve gone to anyone.

There could only be one winner and one runner-up, though, and it was the job of the international juries and the domestic televoters to help fix that problem. And Underbelly was the lucky song to win with them with a total score of 46 points. It managed to receive 5s from Malta Comino Gozo, Polkopia, Caryton, Ertzei Kishim, Norp and Britonisea, as well as 4s from the Achaean Republic and the then newly-formed Alezian Union. It did, however, receive 1s from Beepee and Talvezout which might pose a bit of a problem. There was a tie for second place between Your Song and Come On/Join Us, as both finished with 41 points with the juries, but the domestic televoters helped break the deadlock and allowed the former to represent the nation at the 91st edition whereas the former will have to settle for the third placers edition at a later date. I Lost Myself and I Think It’s Better If I Leave Instead, meanwhile, were eliminated outright.

The good news for Manoy got even better when it turned out that he wouldn’t have to trek anywhere or have to worry about quarantining himself for a week upon arrival as the Avon bid turned out to be successful, just narrowly beating out another well-made bid from Carrelie. He would have to fly over to Avon but since it was a domestic flight and he quarantined himself before embarking on the admittedly small flight it wasn’t really much of an issue. Not to mention that it gave him something to be smug about as he was the only entrant who didn’t require to quarantine themselves upon arriving in Avon; everyone else, regardless of the state of coronavirus in their country, had to quarantine for 1-2 weeks as part of the Elejamian government’s zero-tolerance approach to tackling the virus. Not to mention that he’s been to Avon before so he didn’t really do much out of the ordinary while he was there. Other than a quick stop at Rylan’s for a pizza burger (literally a burger but with two mini-pizzas as buns, although fortunately for health reasons you’re not allowed any sides and you can only have a small drink), he figured he might as well explore the town a bit to see what else he could get up to. And plus it might work as a way of promoting the city for people once the contest’s over and done with. From enjoying the Avon Botanical Gardens on the outskirts of town and a small nature park further up the road from there (where the Pemecutan postcard was filmed due to it using their traditional subak irrigation system) to watching a performance at the Cochrane and attending a HBRL match between the Coventry Saviours and the Avon Warriors. He pretty much found himself with plenty to do and not nearly enough time to do it.

Onto the song now and Manoy had been a bit cryptic with the lyrics and what they’re about. Some fans have interpreted it to be either about a police raid, a contract being taken out or literal hunting. The most common and possibly correct interpretation, however, is that it’s about a home invasion that ends up going badly for the invader. This came about because a) the highly controversial music video (which cannot be shown before the 9pm watershed, making it a first in Elejamian WorldVision history) deals with a petty gang breaking into a house in an attempt to rob it only for things to backfire on them horribly and b) Manoy and his wife at the time had been burgled in the past while they were on holiday and it was an incident that stuck with him for a very long time. Regardless, the actual performance will not feature anything related to the videos or the interpretation, either because he didn’t have a good idea to carry it to the big stage, he didn’t have a good idea in general or he just wanted to avoid the whole controversy and just put on a good show. He did wonder what the deal was with these triangles, after all.

Eventually, we reach the night of the contest itself. After plenty of hard work memorising his lines and his moves, it was now time to actually show them off to the world. Even though he was doing it in front of a home crowd along with a whole slew of fans from other countries, he was still ready and raring to go. Especially since he's teamed up with a trio of local dancers, two female and one male, for some choreography that was mostly improvised and, thus, will be as abstract as the song itself. Now as he and his crew were called up and headed onto the stage during his country’s postcard, where it showed him joining in some training with the Avon Knights rugby union team, he was hoping that he would finally help his country get past the dismal 80s and finally give them something to look forward to for the 90s. Whether or not he'd actually be able to is anyone's guess but let's just hope, shall we?

The single cover art, which wasn't a scene from the video or anything like that but, rather, an old photo Manoy took and then edited by himself. Pen and Pixel he is not.

The postcard came to an end and we go from Manoy enjoying the aforementioned rugby training with the Avon Knights to the stage at the Riverside Arena. The fans began to applaud for the song as we just get a static wide shot of the stage, with four figures on the stage and one of them was more in front than the other three. The lights were all on, the stage and the triangles at the back of the stage showed a black screen as if they were turned off, the wireframe lights also seemed to have been turned off as well and, as always, the two screens were just the TV feed showing what the audiences would be watching sans all the graphics. There was also a notice being said through the PA system reminding the audience that the song that was about to be performed would also have flashing images and strobing effects, something that hopefully the commentators had repeated to their audience lest they run the risk of giving the audience back home seizures. Everything seemed ready. All that was left was to actually perform the song itself.

And then the song itself started. The general lights immediately turned off when the first note began to play but the stage and display turned on at the same time to make up for it, with just plain white screens. Regardless, the people on the stage were still in some level of darkness as it was kind of hard to make out what they were wearing exactly or what they looked like. All we knew is that for the first eight or so seconds they stood completely still, except to move one of their shoulders in time with the snares. By the time Manoy himself began to sing, the stage lighting kicked in. There, we could see what everyone was wearing, with the backing dancers wearing black suits with white shirts and black skinny ties whereas Manoy himself was wearing a white suit, a black shirt and the same kind of tie but in white; they were all wearing black shoes regardless of what coloured suit they were wearing. As he lifted up his arm to sing into the microphone in his hand, he and his dancers carried on doing what they were doing. They carried on doing that for the first two lines before Manoy started to walk forward as he sang the third line. While he sang it, he stopped dead in his tracks during the gap between the third and fourth line, where he turned his head to the side before he looked at the audience. He then skidded forward with the balls of his feet as he sang the fourth line before he span around in a circle and moonwalked his way back to the rear stage, holding out his arm straight and vertical, his hand balled up into a fist and, when he reached the end of the line, lifted his fist up while keeping his arm completely straight.

I’ve been disturbed by a strange sound
It’s seems like I’ve been found
I hear them at my door
Roaches scatter
And they will soon be no more

At this point the lights dimmed a little bit; they were still on but they weren't as bright as they were during the verse. To make up for it, not only did the screens get brighter but there was also a bit of animation. The backing screens filled up with white against a black background and the white part of the stage started to contract before expanding again. All of this was done in time with the music, with the backing screens and the stage itself being all white whenever the handclap/snare-sounding beat happened. The wireframe lights, however, kept flashing black and white as they usually did so no real change there. Anyway, while the backing dancers were moving their hands up to their head and clapping in time with the beat, Manoy was simply bobbing and weaving during the instrumental portion, even going as far as turning to his side to continue what he was doing with every clap. When it was his turn to sing, he held the microphone up to his mouth and sing into it, keeping it perfectly horizontal as the camera zoomed into his. He kept perfectly still as this was going on, although his facial expression went from neutral to a demented, almost Aphex Twin-esque smile.

When I hear the prey coming at last
I’m coming now, better run fast
Coming now, better run fast

It was at this point where the audience starts to realise why there was a flashing lights warning. The triforce lights started to flash on and off, albeit in a pattern where the top one was on whereas the bottom one was off before they switched roles; the white backing screens had one black rectangle which randomly changes where it is and the wireframe lights changed which parts were black and which parts were white. Not to mention a bit of strobing here and there. The good news was that it wasn't fast enough to cause any serious seizures but they were still fast enough to be a nuisance to anyone who didn't like them.

Anyway, as the music seemed to charge up and we switch to a shot that's a wee bit more distant, Manoy held his mic close to his chest while he slowly raised his other hand until it was above his head. He had his head down and the cameras were slowly but surely zooming in on him, with the backing dancers not even in the shot. Then, when there was a snapping sound, the camera went back to a 3/4 shot of the stage and Manoy moved his hand back a bit before he thrust it forward, snapping his fingers in time with the sound. Another thing that happened in time with the sound was a small tuft of smoke coming out of each of the pyrotechnics at the foot of the stage. After he sang the first line completely still, he also stuck his arm right out in front of him, looked from left to right quickly before he and his backing dancers shuffled a few paces to their right. He jumped in place, looked left and right again and sang the second line. He and his dancers all looked behind themselves and then slid a few paces to their left, looking from left to right once again before Manoy quickly pushed his elbows back and then sang the third line.

Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind

During the instrumental break Manoy moved his hands down by his side and just looked up at the ceiling while his backing dancers circled him. As they walked around him, they stuck their arms out in a T-pose before they raised them both above their heads, returning to a T-pose before putting them down by their sides ready to start the process all over again. They repeated this action a few times before the music started to soften a bit, at which point they walked in a line to the back of a stage and stood in the same line. There they turned their heads in turn with the music while Manoy moved his head down and walked forward with a bit of swagger in his movement. He stopped when he was just past the catwalk, at which point he just turned his head with the other dancers, completely in rhythm with them.

When it was his turn to sing again, he looked down a little bit for the first couple of lines before he looked left and right quickly during the drum bit. Once that was over he stood on his tip toes as he carried on singing his line before he jumped back a couple of times during the next set of drums. The camera changed to a wide shot of him and the backing dancers spinning on the spot before it returned to a medium shot of him while the dancers did their own thing. He stood still as he started to sing the second line but towards the end of it he looked down at the ground and moved his arm behind him almost as if he was trying to grab something but didn't want to move his body to get it. For the third line he held that arm out in front of him and leant to one side, moving quickly to his other side along with arm in a motion that made it look like he was being a bit creative with painting a line without moving his arm. For the fourth line he slid over to his left side while he shuffled over to his right, although he moonwalked a little bit backwards at the end of the line before he moved forwards. Because why not.

Some now coming through the window
And they think I wouldn’t know
Rest now breaking down my door
And they don’t know now what they are in for

The lights dimmed once again and the animations returned, while the wireframe lights kept changing from black to white and back again in some parts. The backing dancers did the same thing as they did earlier where they moved their hands up to their head and clapped, changing which side they clapped in time with the beat. And Manoy held the microphone completely vertical to his mouth. The only real difference here is that throughout the first line he had his arm stretched out with his hand balled up into a fist, which he waved around during the second line. The third line saw a close-up of his face, staring at the audience but not at the camera with some kind of intent while the camera itself zoomed out. Towards the end of the line, the camera returned to Manoy, who was still moving his arm around.

They’re closing in and in a twist of fate
They can’t escape ‘cause it’s too late
They can’t escape ‘cause it’s too late

During the instrumental break, Manoy slowly raised his arm again much like he did during the first pre-chorus bit. And, while the backing dancers were out of the shot, again like last time, there was a bit of a difference here. For a start, the animations came to a brief stop, leaving us with an all-white backing screen but an all black floor. But, most importantly, every so often it would cut to one of the backing dancers slowly raising their hands before it cuts back to Manoy, where it would cut to a different dancer before going back to the singer and so on. The cuts from Manoy to a random backing dancer got faster and faster until it was almost as seizure-inducing levels before we then got the chorus.

Manoy moved his hand back before he flung it forward, snapping his fingers in time with the handclap-snare and the pyros going off again. During this whole bit, it went back to the same visuals as the chorus with all the effects, flashes and strobes being at the same speed as last time. When it was his turn to sing he bent forwards and lifted his arm up in the air behind him, standing completely straight for the instrumental bit before slowly leaning forward again for the next line. There was another handclap-snare and, much like the last time, Manoy moved his hand back and flung it forward so he'd snap his fingers when the pyros went off. He stood still as he sung the line before turning his head in time with the beat. He stood still again as he sung the line before he and the backing dancers did a Thriller walk during the break. They then spun around before he started the next line, leaning forward again as he sang it. The same thing happened for the next line but there was a spin just before Manoy sang again. Eventually, when it came to the end of the chorus, he basically did was co-host Yoni Maenilon did back in WV75 and move the mic away from him just to replicate the fading vocals that were otherwise studio work.

Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind
Deaf, dumb and blind

Onto the dying minutes of the song now. Manoy just stood still, looking down at the ground and breathing while the dancers around him circled him. They just simply walked around him holding an arm out to their side with their fist balled up before they raised it up to above their head, eventually lowering it so it's back down by their waists with their hands out flat and ready to repeat the process again. They did this for about 10-15 seconds before Manoy lifted his head up and stretched his arms out wide. They moved out a bit before eventually coming to a stop. He then moved his hands closer together as if he was about to start praying, a pose he kept as he slowly kneeled down on one knee. Meanwhile the backing dancers just stood there, swaying their bodies to the beat until the song started to crescendo.

It was at that point where the things started to change a bit. The animations started to slow down and become less intense, although they kept playing. The white parts of the wireframe lights kept the same colour they were while the black parts turned to white and just stayed that way. And Manoy just kept holding his pose while down on one knee. They then decided to pulse on and off in a somewhat slow rhythmic manner, a pattern they'd carry on doing at the other lights dimmed. Meanwhile, as the other dancers just stood around swaying, one of them walked over to Manoy and then lied down on the floor next to him on her side, looking down at the floor with her eyes closed. This was then followed by the male dancer walking to one side of Manoy and lying down on his back completely flat and with his arms by his side. And the third and final dancer sat down on the other side of Manoy, her legs close to her chest and her head looking up at the ceiling. All of this happened in one continuous shot that was mostly a close-up, with pans, zooms and tilts when necessary. They all kept their poses for a few seconds before the last note played, at which point they all opened their eyes and looked into the camera, moving their hands or even sitting up if it was necessary.

Once the song had officially came to an end, the audience gave a round of applause to the song that they had just heard. Mostly because it was the host nation performing it and they wanted to be nice but also some of it was because they probably thought it was a good tune. There were a few waving their flags around, a handful with some signs and the majority just clapping or any other method of showing their appreciation. There were a few empty spots here and there but, once again, a lot fewer than there could've been. There were also a few close-up of the fans, a few of which even mugged for the cameras because why not. You've always got to have that one group of fans.

After a few seconds of this, we then return to the stage with the displays turned off and the lights on. No special lighting or anything, it's just showing the stage and the people on it OK. At this point Manoy and his backing dancers were standing close together although there was a bit of a gap between each member; this wasn't just for the obvious reason but also so everyone could react in their own way without worrying about accidentally hitting the person next to them. They pretty much waved and bowed, nothing completely special. Manoy then held up the microphone and started to speak into it as he not only smiled at the audience but at the cameras as well. "Gracias, salamat, thank you Avon! Thank you WorldVision!" Fortunately, as there were no props or anything like that for them to take off, so while the next country's postcard played instead he and his backing dancers walked over to the right-side stairs, climbed them and disappeared off-stage so everything could be set up for whoever's next to perform.

by **Polkopia** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:18 pm

(Withdrawn)

by **Crustyland** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:20 pm

14. Crustyland

Elisa Paola The Addiction

Somehow Crustyland had finished in the top 15! This was the most unusual thing for the strange seal infested nation who had performed so badly since their debut. Despite the song and performance being very camp and odd, it was a memorable and fun song that obviously impressed the voters. Crustyland finished 13th with 150 points!

CRAP once again decided on choosing their entry internally. This time though, they talked with a well-known singer named Elisa. Elisa was one of the nations best-kept secrets. The country which had seen terrible economic problems due to their collapsing fishing industry had seen a huge revival from tourists, which surged to the cold barren archipelago to observe the local semi-aquatic see the sea lions seals and the Walruses. This huge surge in tourists meant that broadcaster CRAP this time didn't have to leach from Malta Comino Gozo for extra funds to help fund their entry. They had enough cash to pay Elisa's team. Elisa was so excited to be chosen to represent Crustyland.

22-year old Elisa is Crustyland's brightest popstar-in-waiting; an insightful and talented songwriter with a knack for coming-of-age pop that radiates relatability. Wrapped up in a sound that fizzes with mood and ambience, she's the latest protege of Bede Management

Born Elisa Hartveit Kolltveit Paola, in Arna - a suburb to the west of Flomalas, Elisa was the youngest of five siblings. "Arna was a very safe place to grow up in," she tells CRAPTV where she's performing live for the first time. "It's a place where everyone is nearly related and everybody knows everyone."

She benefitted from her music-loving family's record collection and a father who played in bands when she was little and sang in the local choir. Papa Paola took her to see Metallica as a child. "My brothers also introduced me to a lot of hip hop, she explains, "But it was my parents who played me softer stuff: Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell. There was always music playing."

Elias Paola will sing "The Addiction" A song about how love can be a horrible addiction.

Entry

Elisa is standing centre stage with a stand-up microphone. Her backing singers are towards the back of the stage but we can't see them. She is wearing a colourful dress. The LED's remain blank. She is lit in a golden spotlight. We have a frontal camera shot. As she opens she puts her hands through her hair, she has a pained expression on her face fighting with the angel and devil on her shoulders. She shakes her head slightly. We can hear her 2 backing singers their backing parts.

I got the angel and the devil on my shoulders
They’re yelling at me crazy giving me orders
I don’t,
I just don’t know how to stop them
(How to stop them)

The camera zooms out slightly so we have a body shot. She sways from side to side. The LED'S now showing tiny little yellow lights which sparkle in the background. Halfway through the camera cuts to a frontal shot. She looks downtrodden and looks down at her feet before looking back up with a pained expression on her face she finishes the verse. We can hear the backing singers again at the end of the verse.

I’m hooked and I don’t know how to escape
I feel like I’m trapped inside of this space
This song comes from my heart pouring onto this page
I don’t how to stop the bleeding
(Stop the bleeding)

An onstage camera swings around Elisa from left to right. She follows the camera never losing eye contact. On the last line, we have a frontal body shot. She shrugs her shoulders as she sings and puts her arms out.

Stop, it all
Don’t, know how
To stop it all
Make, me quit
What can
Make me quit?

We then have a quick drum close up as the drummer at the back of the stage drumming The camera then cuts to a high stage view. The LED backgrounds now turn to a raining glittery purple. Golden yellow spotlights shoot outwards and the lights above the stage also turn golden yellow. The camera zooms in nearer to the stage as Elisa swings her arms up and down through the verse before holding the microphone for the last line again. She rests her hands on her head she sings "The addiction-o-on" before putting them back onto her microphone.

It makes me sick
Can it make me sick?
The addictio-o-on
I can’t stop, but it hurts
I can’t quit, but I can’t learn
Oh..
The addiction..
The addiction-o-on
I don’t know if it can end
But I can’t ask, for your help
The addiction in my head oh oh

The LED's fade back into black again and the stage is lit in a purple and golden yellow glow. We can now see the two female backing singers in the background dressed in purple dresses at the back left of the stage. They are swinging their arm together. We have various camera shot of Elisa singing. Her expression has changed to a more confident one.

It's just bad fiction
Honey that sure ain't love
You know that it's just an addiction oh oh
Now how much more abuse are you gonna take, take now

We have an onstage shot again which curves in front of Elisa as she sings outwards to the crowd. She is shimmying to the beat.

Stop it all
Don’t know how
To stop it all it's just an addiction yeah can it
Can it make me quit me quit?

She grabs her hair again and runs her hands down onto her face, her face looks exasperated almost begging the audience to help.

What can make me quit? What can make me quit?
Makes me sick
Can it make me sick
Stop it all
Don’t know how

The LED backgrounds now turns to a raining glittery purple again. Golden yellow spotlights shoot outwards and the lights above the stage also turn golden yellow. The crowd cheers loudly. Elisa puts both her arms out wide in front of her and sways around to the rhythm. The camera cuts to a quick close up body shot of the backing singers singing their lines after each of Elisa's lines before it cuts back to Elisa again after each one. Elisa's dance becomes more fast-paced as the verse goes on. We have a quick drum shot of the drummer again before we end with a body shot of Elisa again.

Can it make me sick? (Me sick)
Can it make me sick? (Me sick)
The addictio-o-on
I can’t stop, but it hurts
I can’t quit, but I can’t learn
Oh..
(Addiction)
The addiction-o-on (oh yea-eh)
I don’t know if it can end
But I can’t ask for your help
The addiction in my head..

We have a close up as Elisa raises her arms above her head and closes her eyes briefly. She is illuminated in purple and golden yellow lights from the back of the stage.

In my head
In my head

We have a shot of the backing singers who have taken their microphones out of their stands are making their way towards Elisa.

But I can’t ask for your help
The addiction in my head..

The camera fades back to Elisa. We have an onstage body shot from Elisa's right. She clutches the microphone in both hands she turns her head slightly towards the camera lens and sings softly towards it. She stares passionately into the camera.

I fear this constant condition
My strange, strange hurting love addiction
Addiction

The view is now a frontal upper body shot. Elisa speaks the last line "Don’t know how" as the lights fade a bit.

Stop it all..
Don’t know how

The background explodes into a purple and golden rain which rains down. The stage is lit up amazingly in a golden yellow and purple light and also firework sparkles start raining down from the top of the stage behind her. The crowd cheers. Golden spotlights wizz playfully around the arena. We have a whole stage view of everyone on stage. Elisa dances excitedly on the spot. And shakes her head left to right as she sings "The addictio-o-on" She gestures outwards before swinging her arms out and moving her body side to side. The backing singers join her on both sides to support her and are dancing as well. The camera then gently pans across the front of the stage.

This
The addictio-o-on
I can’t stop, but it hurts
I can’t quit, but I can’t learn
Oh.. The addiction-o-on
I don’t know if it can end
But I can’t ask for your help
The addiction in my head..

Yellow spotlights carry on the whooshing around the arena. We have an above shot above the audience of the whole stage. Before we cut back to Elisa singing the last lines.

In in in in my head
In in in in my head
But I can’t ask for your help
The addiction in my head..
Huh Huh Huh.. Huh

The crowd unexpected roars and cheers, flags waving, people jumping. We can see some Crustyland fans in Crustyland Rules T-shirts jumping playfully about for the nation. The entry had gone down very well for once! "Thank you Avon!!" Elisa screams and jumps. She was so proud of her and her team. The stage gets ready for the next entry.

by **Alezian Union** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:22 pm

B A C K G R O U N D

The Alezians for the first time enters the Worldvision Song Contest as a unified country after previously participating separately under North and South Alezia. Under separate style of government, the two had a contrast difference in the competition. In the North, there's North Alezia with a although not-so-stellar, yet still is reputable, result over its participation since its debut in Worldvision 82. North Alezia participated 8 times, with four top 10s which include one second place in 83, one edition after the debut which surprised everyone.

South Alezia had a not-so-good record over its previous participation. Debuting in the 83rd edition, South Alezia has been considered as a laughingstock by the fans of the contest. Getting bottom 10 every participation, some can even argue that South Alezia's terrible record in the contest could've been one of the causes of the overthrowing of the old monarchy system.

After a previous agreement, it has been agreed that the Alezian Union is allowed to continue North Alezia's record, hoping to raise the Alezian Standard considering that three more countries got on board which will obviously help give variation to the Alezian selection of songs.

A R T I S T - I N F O

(Left to Right : Melissa Beekhof, Erina Maatsrijk, Marina Van der Berg, Leslie Friedan)

Quarter Again (or usually shortened to QA) is an Alezian Girl Band that was formed last year in secret on Doorsbreeken, South Alezia. The name was inspired from the moment when they got to plan and agree on an underground band after they got to do a coin throw game. They just happened to throw a single quarter (0.25) of South Alezian Gulden. They would gain inspiration from KPOP songs that they can tap their hands into. It just so happens that South Alezia is the biggest KPOP market in the Alezian Union.

MELISSA BEEKHOFF
Melissa Beekhoff was born in Doorsbreeken, South Alezia on 15th of July, 1995. She was the one that got to secretly tap to the inspiration for QA's songs, since she gained access to an unrestricted internet due to her being the daughter of a South Alezian Governmental Employee. She finished her education in Zafizamarrah (Melissa escaped to North Alezia, then secretly returned.) in Music Theory. She also contributed to the latest fall of the Monarchy.

ERINA MAATSRIJK
Erina Maatsrijk was born in Helensbreek, South Alezia (80 kilometers away from Doorsbreeken) on 28th of March, 1991. Erina met with Melissa Beekhof first, when they crashed onto each other in Doorsbreeken National Library (which have some books, but most of them are anti-North Alezia back then). Erina got fascinated by Melissa's dance that she joined in. She also contributed to the rebellion by broadcasting news to North Alezia, who is also helping in against the rebellion.

MARINA VAN DER BERG
Marina Van Der Berg was born in Doorsbreeken, South Alezia on 17th of November, 1993. Marina lived in Doorsbreeken's tallest building, Rooksderejk 008 (82 meters), especially with her tall position, Marina can get Alezian Broadcasting Authority on her Television, and then spread it around Doorsbreeken on a limited sharing service. Marina Van Der Berg is the poetic of the four, writing the lyrics for QA's songs.

LESLIE FRIEDAN
Leslie Friedan was born in Shabantunan, Pantabang Islands (previously under South Alezian authority) on 23rd of July, 1996. She got the chance to enjoy smuggled North Alezian culture ever since she was young. She also became a smuggler herself. And she got to enjoy singing North Alezian songs (in secret). One time her family got impressed over it.

In conclusion, these people had history of enjoying North Alezian culture, spread it, and also participate on the toppling of the old South Alezian monarchy. They loved the same kind of music, and all have good touch on music.

S O N G - I N F O

"If I Can Repeat The Past" is a song that was inspired with the latest trends of Korean Pop. The song talks about what was used to be a close relationship, now due to circumstances evolved (or devolved depending on who you're asking) into a Long Distance Relationship (LDR). Eventually, they can't sustain it. And now they have to learn and let each other go.

The idea of the whole song came from Melissa Beekhoff's old relationship with a North Alezian with an undisclosed name. When Melissa got to attend college in North Alezia, she met with the guy, and started dating. However, Melissa has to go back home to Doorsbreeken eventually, and has to leave her boyfriend behind, as North Alezians cannot enter South Alezia legally at that time. Contact between the Alezias were used to be severly hard to do. So Melissa cannot sustain the relationship further, not knowing when or if they'll meet again. Due to the fact that they cannot communicate anymore, Melissa gave up, thinking that the guy already found another person to love. Hoping for the best, Melissa let go of him, hoping that he'll let go of her and lets her find someone else to love.

When the Alezian Union got reunified and installed as the sole government, this brings a new breeze to South Alezian music, just waiting to be influenced openly and be tapped into. When the ABA opened registration for ALMA in South Alezia, Quarter Again decided to register the song in not knowing that eventually, their song get selected together with one other South Alezian song to go to Zafizamarrah.

Not thinking they would win, QA just tried their best and not think much about it. They thought it's North Alezia (especially Sourire Alievais who was the favorite to win the trophy, just to get third (which that by itself came from the save by winning the Televoting round)) who'll take the trophy. However, fate and international juries said otherwise, and it's a neck and neck race between them and Ma'aka Salem from Pantabang Islands. At the last televoting round, QA proved to be the victorious, and earned the ticket to AVON.

Before the flight to Avon, QA met with North Alezian composer, Muhammad Raqqi to revamp their song to be the one they got now.

P E R F O R M A N C E

If I Could Repeat The Past
Sung by Quarter Again / QA

Music: Melissa Beekhoff, Muhammad Raqqi
Lyrics: Marina van der Berg
Tune: GFriend - Rough

Blue : Melissa Beekhoff
Pink : Marina van der Berg
Green : Erina Maatsrijk
Orange (yellow in stage instructions) : Leslie Friedan
Black : All

(The postcard ended, people applaused the Alezian Union's entry. The instrumental start, and all wirelights emits a bright white colour where the four stood up in far away position away from each other. At the start of instrumental where hand clicking sounds can be heard, the camera view keeps changing to other member of QA's hands clicking. It keeps changing and changing and changing, until it changes to hand claps. And finally it reveals the four members of Quarter Again wearing navy blue winter clothes.)

(OOC: next staging instruction in this video, I just can't seem to do it for some reason

)

(After the instrumental change, the four starts walking to the center and clapping as they went through. Each time a clapping sound was heard, the view changes to another person and so on until the singing part starts and all members of QA has arrived at the center part of the stage and assembled a horizontal line. At the first verse, on the first and second sentence, Melissa got the first turn to sing, running forward to the front circular plinth walking through the left side of the catwalk. While she sung, the camera views her on her way to reach there. Then at the third and fourth stage, it's Marina's turn to earn her spotlight at the camera. Marina did the same thing, which is singing while running through the catwalk, this time through the middle one, going to the same spot as Melissa.)

Watching the train pass me by, it makes me wonder why
About the reason on why did I leave you behind
We both could've done it, while holding our hands
But then I had to leave, but yet I'm still thinking 'bout you

(A new verse, a new first and second sentence, and it's Erina's turn. She did the same thing as Marina basically, running to the front through the middle catwalk. When the third and fourth sentence came, Leslie did the same thing also, but this time going through the right catwalk. Finally, the four are reunited, and the camera zoomed at the four who raised their right hands where each seems to be holding two flowers tied into one and when she sung the last sentence before going to the reff, the four threw the flowers at their backs.)

You promised that we face all together
We're used to be like flowers tied to one
Question remains, when I'll see you again?
Or if not when, I wonder if you'll come back again?

(The scene transitioned with a white glow-up, revealing an aerial view of the stage with the entire Quarter Again dancing by waving their right hand to the right, and then kicked their left leg to the right, and then waved both of their hands up and down, repeating the move twice. While that happened the LED shows a video of snow falling down. The overhead lights move around the stage in a medium-speed velocity.)

If I can repeat the past, I'd fix what we had real fast
Maybe you might disagree, but you're ev'rything to me
If I can repeat the past, I'll rewind time 'cuz I feel I must
I'd promise I'll never leave, I hope you'd do the same too

(The four lies down on the floor at the short instrumental moment, with them facing each other in pairs and high fiving each other, then when the instrumental ends, Melissa woke up from lying down halfway. And she sung her part with her having the overhead light all for herself. Then for the third and fourth sentence, Melissa lies back down and the time came for Marina to sung her part sitting down.)

Truth to be told it feels insane to wait around all day
I might as well be heartbroken because of you and your way
I tried to be strong, even if I think it's wrong
You're the one I long, that for you I even wrote a song

(Another new verse, another new sentence. The first and second sentence are sung by Erina who half woken up and sung after Marina lies back down. At the third and fourth sentence, as usual, it's Leslie's turn. The same movement happened. Many people might find the dance monotonous, but this is how Alezian dance group work. Stability over over-styling and messing it up. Nearing the last sentence, the four jumped back up and standing up again)

You promised me that we'll stay together forever
But your heart and plans won you over
I know that you, you really meant well
But sometimes I, wonder if you'd be braver to call

(The scene transitioned with a white glow-up, revealing an aerial view of the stage with the entire Quarter Again dancing by waving their right hand to the right, and then kicked their left leg to the right, and then waved both of their hands up and down, repeating the move twice. While that happened the LED shows a video of snow falling down. The overhead lights move around the stage in a medium-speed velocity.)

If I can repeat the past, I'd fix what we had real fast
Maybe you might disagree, but you're ev'rything to me
If I can repeat the past, I'll rewind time 'cuz I feel I must
I'd promise I'll never leave, I hope you'd do the same too

(The instrumental last longer in this part. The four did a dance where they'd face eachother, Melissa with Marina, and Erina with Leslie, and hold eachother's hands, jumped at the spot then let each other go and jumped away from eachother. Then they slipped their legs and they changed dance partners. Melissa with Erina and Marina with Leslie. They did the same dance and repeating until the instrumental nearly comes to an end, where they returned to their original spot and Melissa got the first spotlight to herself. Each got one sentence to sing and a few seconds to have the spotlight for each one of them)

I'll let you go, but you have to let me go, too
I'll leave you be, as long as you let me be me
I know I'll miss you, I hope you do, too
Even if we won't meet again!

The four did a small dance filling the instrumental which includes a 360 degrees spin and a jump then a split and then a final jump. At that moment, all light went crazy again, with Leslie giving the additional long notes to the surprise of the audience. The scene transitioned with a white glow-up, revealing an aerial view of the stage with the entire Quarter Again (except for Leslie due to her having additional lyrics, she stood in front of the other three and did not dance for this part.) dancing by waving their right hand to the right, and then kicked their left leg to the right, and then waved both of their hands up and down, repeating the move twice. While that happened the LED shows a video of snow falling down. The overhead lights move around the stage in a medium-speed velocity. At that same moment, a wind machine got activated giving a feel of a windy and snowy day.)

(woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!)
If I can repeat the past, I'd fix what we had real fast [color=#FFBF00](but I'll let you go)
Maybe you might disagree, but you're ev'rything to me [color=#FFBF00](oh I'll let you be)
If I can repeat the past, I'll rewind time 'cuz I feel I must [color=#FFBF00](oh~ woah~)
I'd promise I'll never leave, I hope you'd do the same

(At the last verse, Leslie stepped back to rejoin her team, and Melissa stepped forward to serve the pre-reff verse. Then the group did the same dance as in the reff. Where Melissa who is on the front and the other three behind her waving their right hand to the right, and then kicked their left leg to the right, and then waved both of their hands up and down, repeating the move twice.)

[color=#0000BF]But please do promise me this, please don't ever change the way you love
The way you used to love me, someone deserved it better than me
If I can repeat the past, I'll rewind time 'cuz I feel I must
I'd promise I'll never leave, I hope you'd do the same to me[/box]

(Nearing the end, they assembled to form a vertical line, where facing the audience, the line consists of Leslie, Erina, Marina, and Melissa from front to back where the camera finally changed prespective to show the group from the ceiling. They dissasembeled the line by stepping their legs up and down to the left revealing each and every member of Quarter Again, then they reassembled the line as the camera changes view back to front view. Following the clock ticking effect, all members of Quarter Again stepped asside to the left except for Leslie. Erina stepped to the left once, Marina twice, and Melissa three times. Once they done that, they crossed their legs and put their fingers below their chin as in they're thinking.)

(The song ends and the quarter raised their hands together for the applause. The quarter all shouted, "THANK YOU AVON! THANK YOU WORLD! LET'S MEET AGAIN ONE DAY! LOVE!" Then while the quartet leave the stage, the view changes to show a pack of Alezian Worldvision Fans celebrating their entry, wearing Alezian Union coloured shirts (some even spray painted the colors in a white tshirt, waving Alezian flags, and waving Alezian scarfs with the combination of Alezian colours which is Yellow and White. One even got a teddy bear. The fans shouted, "A-LE-ZI-A! A-LE-ZI-A!" Next song, please!)

by **Mister X** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:26 pm

16 MISTER X

Lauren - "Set Me On Fire"
Tune: Celeste - "Stop This Flame" (alt link)

Who is Lauren? She is an enigma. She's also dead brainy. A reported comment in the media was that she was allegedly caught on tape claiming, although probably metaphorically, that she had brains coming out of her bottom, although in slightly coarser language, and she's also represented Mister X several times in the WorldVision Song Contest. She is the go-to middle-aged woman of MRX Television. That said, MRX Television come into WorldVision 90 in crisis. Despite having entered over 55 times, the disqualification from the 87th contest still wrangles with them - not least because there was no right of appeal, and they were not involved in the "trial" at all. One executive commented that they now knew what it felt like to be Czechoslovakia in 1938, watching others decide their own fate without any say in it. Another executive questioned this, saying it is difficult to "be" a nation state. However, MRX's official position is they still hope for this to be overturned one day and to be (correctly) acquitted of wrongdoing.

After staying away from WorldVision 89, MRX has opted to make a triumphant return to this edition. Nothing less than a win will do. They know that they have a great tune, and they had plenty to choose from as well, and they know Lauren sings it well. They also have gone fairly safe staging-wise, and they could not think of anywhere better to perform this song than in Elejamie, as EJM have been hospitable to Lauren ever since she arrived. Great food, great wine - probably too much of it in all honesty - and a great musical outlook in the contest. Even if the logo was recycled somewhat from the last time they hosted.

The stage is in total darkness until Lauren grunts the opening.

Yeah!

The lights slowly fade up on a very simple stage. Lauren is front and centre, she has a microphone stand in front her. She is wearing a black dress, but in a bridal fit - it fits her body well, and doesn't wear her like many flowing dresses have a tendency to do. Dotted around the stage (clockwise from audience's viewpoint) is a pianist, not playing anything grand but a simple keyboard with a "YAMAHA" sticker on the back: deliberately amateurish. He is wearing a plain black T-shirt and black trousers, but also, for some reason, is wearing sunglasses. Directly behind Lauren is a drummer with a basic drum kit, wearing plain black clothing. There is also a single brass musician on the audience's right. What he's doing there is a bit of a mystery due to a lack of excessive brass hits in the track, but it looked nice to have three people behind her and not two in that particular formation. During this introduction, the camera is focused on the piano keys being hit, before the lights become more flowy once the drums hit, with lots of gentle movement, but still retaining "cold" colours for now - whites, blues. The camera, for the first verse, takes some rather generic wide shots of the stage but includes one singular close-up of Lauren on the first line.

You read me like an open book
Have no secrets, and I have no lies
I am frozen inside, frozen inside
I am cold, I am cold, and I need my heart to burn
When I'm alight, it'll be all right
You'll put the warmth back into my heart

For the first pre-chorus, the camera, for each of the four lines, does a gentle zoom on each of the participants on the stage in turn, starting with the brass player, then the drummer, then the pianist, and finally on Lauren. The lights slowly become warmer and do not move as much as they had done before. As the music stops for the final line, the lights all fade off quickly.

And when I'm alight I will keep on burning
When I'm alight I will keep on burning
When I'm alight I will keep on burning
Burning, burning, burning

The camera cuts to a wide shot as Lauren begins to sing the chorus, and when the beat drops all the lights in the hall turn on and are pointed at the audience. They don't stay on for long and fade out quickly, other than the warmer-coloured lights - oranges, yellows, light reds - that replace the colder atmosphere seen before in the first verse. This song is about trying to relight one's fire, and recapture the flame of love that once existed but has not done so for a long time. So by using warmer colours, this indicates that there is some success with warmth and love and this sort of thing. The camera, for the first four lines, takes two wide panning shots, one from audience level, and one from high up. For the fifth, sixth, and seventh lines, there is a gentle zoom on Lauren and the performers, before taking another wide panning shot for the eighth and ninth lines.

So when you set me on fire
I will never burn out my love
For it's my only desire
The flames will only take me higher
And as the heat is only rising
I know that you are desiring
There's only one thing that you just want
So when you set me on fire
I will never burn out my love

Lauren takes the microphone out of the stand and walks slowly across the stage, singing to each one of her band in turn. There is one long panning shot that follows her around the stage, but this is interspersed with close-ups from different angles of the people she is singing to. The lighting is more warm than it was in the first verse, but does not use as many lights as it did in the chorus.

And now I'm alight I will not stop
You know that my love will never go out
Never extinguished, never extinguished,
Never out, never out, and I will just keep on burning

Lauren returns to the front of the stage, and "reveals" two long flowing drapes from the back of her dress, almost like mini-capes, from her shoulders. She puts the microphone back in the stand on the final line of the pre-chorus.

And when I'm alight I will keep on burning
When I'm alight I will keep on burning
When I'm alight I will keep on burning
Burning, burning, burning

Lauren thrusts her arms out and a wind machine kicks in, thus creating some flow to the performance with the drapes flying about beautifully. The camera shots are more dynamic in this particular chorus, although the lighting remains as it did in the first chorus, including a big flash on cue with the beat. The camera shots include more zooms and attempt to add a little more drama to the performance, but not melodramatically. After all, this is meant to be a pleasant, nice song.

So when you set me on fire
I will never burn out my love
For it's my only desire
The flames will only take me higher
And as the heat is only rising
I know that you are desiring
There's only one thing that you just want
So when you set me on fire
I will never burn out my love

Most of the lights go out, along with the wind machine. There are a few yellowish spotlights on Lauren and most of the stage is in half-light. A cameraman runs onto the stage and tracks her, doing laps around her slowly, before running back off the stage during the final line of the bridge section. This is easier said than done, as Lauren once again takes the microphone off the stand and walks aimlessly around the stage.

I am on fire and I will never go out
I am on fire, you put the flame back in my heart
I am on fire and I will never go out
I am on fire, you put the flame back in my heart

For the mini-instrumental, all the lights turn off.

There is one more flash of light for the final chorus, but the wind machine kicks back in. Lauren does not put the microphone back in and instead attempts to gee up the audience by punching the air, and the audience start clapping along, which is probably not the right kind of atmosphere for this song but anyhow, it shows that the audience are falling in love with the song. Which is a good thing. For this final chorus, a golden shower of sparks descends along the back of the stage, creating a bright and warm atmosphere. "Bright and breezy as opposed to shite and wheezy", to borrow a phrase from a Mister Xian staging director. The camerawork is even more dynamic, taking new shots every half a line rather than every two lines in the first chorus and every line in the second chorus, alternating this time between wide shots and close-up zooms. But it finishes with a close-up zoom on Lauren.

So when you set me on fire
I will never burn out my love
For it's my only desire
The flames will only take me higher
And as the heat is only rising
I know that you are desiring
There's only one thing that you just want
So when you set me on fire
I will never burn out my love

The song ends as it started: with a close-up of the pianist.

The crowd goes wild, Lauren thanks them, and leaves the stage.

by **Natanya** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:32 pm

17. Natanya
Nah-ah - Flowers Will Bloom Among Debris
Tune: A-ha - The Sun Always Shine On TV

Promotional image of Nah-ah, with singer Jens centre

Nah-ah is a Natanyan band with the roots of its identity in the sounds of the 1980’s. Formed by frontman Jens Morket, keyboardist Magnus Furholven and guitarist James Viiktaar 2 years ago, they have been steadily rising in fame in the eastern Natanyan music scene, performing many covers of 80s classics at bars and clubs. Now venturing into releasing original music, the band saw Worldvision as the perfect opportunity to take the leap into the music industry, while also representing that country internationally. To do this, on a whim, Magnus mailed a couple of the songs they were working on to the NTV headquarters. A few weeks later the band was brought in and asked to perform live and thankfully for them the live performance went well enough for them to be confirmed as the act for Natanya at Worldvision 90. NTV left it up to them which of their songs they would choose to take to the contest, they eventually decided on “Flowers Will Bloom Among Debris”, a song about dealing with one’s inner thoughts and self-doubts and getting yourself out of dark places, through the point of view of someone asking of loved one for reassurance.

The band arrived in Avon fairly late, only a couple days before their rehearsals were due to begin. In an interview that they stated that this was because they wanted to focus solely on the competition and that they would do any sightseeing that they wanted to do the week after the competition instead of before. Sticking to their word, the band was only really seen at official events and rarely ventured out of their hotel rooms for things that were not to do with rehearsing. When asked about their chances, Jens said that he is confident that they have put together a good show and staging that reflects the song well without detracting too much from it. He said that while he does not know where they will end up on the final scoreboard, he knows that they have put together a full performance that they are proud of, and now their fate is just in the hands of the voters on the night. And once that night came, the band was surprisingly calm and collected, ready to get on the stage and perform for the world the song they had written and brought with them from a small town in east Natanya. Hoping everything went well, they had one last group pep talk before getting ready to get on stage after Mister X had finished up their performance. Confident that they could at least put on a good show, they boys were ready to show the world what they’ve got.

Then Natanyan performance opens with a far shot of the whole stage with three single spotlights descending on the three different points on the stage. The spotlights falling upon the three members of Nah-ah. The camera shows a shot of the keyboardist hands playing the introductory notes of the song. The two instrumentalists are on opposite sides of the backstage, meanwhile our lead singer, Jens, is stood on the front centre stage near to the audience. As the lyrics begin, the camera fades into a shot of Jens, who raises his head and begins singing to the camera, not moving from the spot but expressively moving his arms while singing. Once the big note at the end of the chorus arrives, Jens sticks out his arm gradually and as he does the camera pan backwards away from him, revealing more and more of the stage. As it does, rows of spotlights appear further and further out into the crowd in time with the layering of the keyboard notes.

Love me,
Through the rough sea.
Assure me,
Flowers will bloom among debris,
Feel me,
Deep in your soul,
Love me,
And keep a light on for me,
For me.

Once the drum beat kicks in the lights all flash rapidly and then spark pyrotechnics explode from the sides of the stage and just above the centre of the stage, making an audible bang. After this the stage lights up to a light grey colour, occasionally flashing white or black. The band members are now much more animated, passionately playing their parts of the song, or in the case of Jens, just dancing to the song and hyping up the crowd. The camera switches between all of them but mainly focuses on whoever his currently most dominant in the song. The lights fade in and out, pointing randomly into the crowd and slowly shifting from spot to spot. In the verse of the song most of the focus is on Jens as he stood on the centre stage sings out to the crowd and when it comes near with the camera too, emotively mimicking the heavier themes of the lyrics.

Time and time again I sit and,
Wonder what will become of this,
Sorry story that has been my life.
Oh-uh-oh-woah.

Down here in my own fray,
I’ve got to centre all my own thoughts,
Take myself somewhere far away.
Oh-uh-oh-woah.

During this second repeat of the chorus, the spotlights once again arrange into lines but this time they are joined from lines of spotlights from stage and screen level coming from behind the act. Other than the row of spotlights directly on the stage floor shining out into the audience, most of the spotlights form in arch in their rows, around the act and stage and out into the audience. For this section, the camera mostly takes wide slow pans of the three different members of the band, expect for in the middle of the chorus, where it suddenly cuts to different shots in time with the music.

Love me,
Through the rough sea.
Assure me,
Flowers will bloom among debris,
Feel me,
Deep in your soul,
Love me,
And keep a light on for me,
For me.

While the staging for the 3rd verse follows much the same as the other two did, for the 4th verse, the stage blackens, and spotlights descend directly down onto the stage with the camera taken a far row shot directly in the service direction with Jens stood centre shot. These spotlights flash in relation to the differing keyboard notes in the instrumental however not all of them flash at one time. Jens, however, continues performing towards the camera on the audience as if nothing had changed behind him. The camera then changed to the keyboardist for the final couple notes and cuts to the guitarist for the screech of the guitar, after which, the stage returns to how it was before, and the next chorus proceeds like the last one did.

I realise there’s no one,
But myself that pull me up,
Out of the subway of my mind.

(Love me) Searching through my soul for a light,
(Keep a light on) Maybe you can guide me through the night,
Or just hold my heart in your sight.

Love me,
Through the rough sea.
Assure me,
Flowers will bloom among debris,
Feel me,
Deep in your soul,
Love me,
And keep a light on for me.

For the beginning of the instrumental break, the camera fades to black and mainly stay black during this section, flashing on with a shot of a band member each time a note hits, but then fading back to black. On stage, the lights are facing down and flashing in tune again. As the notes build, it stops fading back to black and just cuts rapidly from shot to shot of the band members and the stage. Once the vocals return again the spotlights that are facing down row by row lift into the crowd, and once all have lifted, they continue going round and round in circular motions, keeping constant rows of lights coming from behind our artists. The camera in this section is similar to the other chorus sections, with slow pans and different shots, but this time the pans are much slower, and a lot of the shots are more cinematic. For the final big note, the camera focuses on a close up of Jens, and then pans outwards and upwards away from him.

Feel me,
Deep in your soul,
Love me,
And keep a light on for me,
For me.

As the final fading piano note plays the outro, the camera cuts back again to Jens, who now has the other two members stood beside him. With the part of the stage they’re stood at covered in low smoke, the camera pans across the three of them, before panning to a distant shot of nothing and unfocusing. Once the arena lights come back on the three boys come out of their final poses and wave at the audience in different directions. Jens says a quick thank you into the microphone before the three of them makes their way off.

by **Saviera** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:32 pm

.::: 18 ✾ Saviera :::.
September
Water, The Forgotten Element
Tune: 17 År by Veronica Maggio

Water, The Forgotten Element is the name of a Savieran band. They consist of a female lead singer and male band members. They were chosen to represent the nation at the 90th WorldVision Song Contest in Avon, Elejamie, with the song September.

September is a song about a fading teenage romance, sung from the perspective of someone who wants to savour their most intimate moments with their partner before some assumed end to their relationship, perhaps in this case referring to the end of school and subsequent move to higher education, where the two sides of the pair will part ways. The first person perspective notices that the look in their partner's eyes have begun to fade, perhaps as a result of facing that reality.

The song also refers to a dance on the evening of September 21st. Perhaps the singer sings from the perspective of someone who hopes to remember the 21st night of September. It can be assumed that this date may refer to some sort of school or youth event, or possibly even a send-off in which the pair bid each other farewell as they part ways.

As the song begins, the band is situated on the main stage. The band begins playing and is soon joined by brass and string from the orchestra, which is led by the in-house conductor. They are wearing some pretty rustic clothes and the LED background shows autumn trees, that have moving effects (leaves rustling in the wind and all that) but otherwise don't really change throughout the performance. The stage lights are a warm golden yellow, which makes for a very homey, cosy ambience for this entry. After a bit of humming, the lead singer begins to sing.

The night is blown away by summer breeze
We were June teens watching all the flowers
When we walked under the brooding trees
We knew we wasted meaningless hours

The band are already having plenty of fun onstage, and wish to create a concert kind of ambience, so there isn't much focus on creating a TV performance. The camera angles definitely help a lot, as they are ever-changing throughout the performance.

Springtime, snow time, does it matter
When I lose your helping hand?
Oh, let us be the moment, you and I
We’ll live the life that we have planned

As we get into the chorus, we do get to see a few wide shots and how the audience is reacting. They seem to be having some modest fun of their own.

A September dance
On the twenty-first night
Under cloudy skies, we will
Party til October ends
And when November comes
We don’t have to worry bout a thing

As we get into the second verse, the singer seems to sound very wistful. There is a sense of longing with the high notes she hits, which is further made emotional with the song's lyrics.

We were showered by the April rains
On the meadows dormant by the forest
I felt ‘forever’ fading, come what May
When your laughter changed, let’s be honest

Throughout this whole performance, the singer's expressions seemed bittersweet. She was somewhat smiling, but not really. There was definitely a sense of longing in her eyes.

Springtime, snow time, does it matter
When I fear that you won’t stay?
Oh, let us be the moment, you and I
Before we must embrace the change

Another chorus, and she sings emotionally as ever.

A September dance
On the twenty-first night
Under cloudy skies, we will
Party til October ends
And when November comes
We don’t have to worry bout a thing

Now for the most emotional part of the song, the bridge, the lights turned into a dimmed dark blue, although the band was well-illuminated in white. The cameras focused on close shots of the lead singer, as she shares this very intimate confession with the world.

I know eternity
Is not for you and me
So let’s make some peace with what will come

But if the time we have
Will then come to an end
Come take my hand and tell me it will be alright

Now the cameras showed a few wide shots and the stage lights went back to warm golden yellow. There were a few brief close up shots on the other band members at this point, including the drummer, bass player, etc.

It’s a September dance
On the twenty-first night
Under cloudy skies, we will
Party til October ends
And when November comes
We don’t have to worry bout a thing

Medium and close up shots of the singer as she sings the next part.

We never have to worry
We never have to worry
Bout a thing

Now as the song begins to come to an end, the singer sings the final lines of the song.

We never have to worry
Bout a thing

However the song doesn't end right away. The cameras focus on the piano solo, before moving to the violin, before finally zooming out on the stage as it becomes dim, signifying the end of the song. At this point, the crowd had already begun to cheer. As soon as the song ended for real, though, the singer smiled and thanked the audience. She and her band members waved as they left the stage for it to be prepared for the next act.

by **Antenovaria** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:39 pm

19

The camera started at an close up angle on her face, zooming out to reveal the stage and fog on the stage, and the dancers beneath the white platform she stood on and as she began to sing, the dancers started to slowly dance

Feel, feeling real good
I’m just really feel, feeling real good...
I’m just really feel, feeling real good
I’m just really feel, feeling real good
(Yah, yah, do it, ayy do it, )
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that

As they continued to dance, the camera zoomed to only the singer being in the view before she started to rap the verse.

Come do it just like that, I know how to flirt
Jus take off that shirt, then boy come do your dirt
This feeling ain’t the same, it’s better than before
But baby this gon work, it’s nobodys concern
Oh, hey, don’t take pauses come and get at me baby
He wanna try me, head to toe but starting with my face
Just letting you know there ain’t nothing that is stopping you, hey
Bumping and pumping just like this beat and this bass
Pumping like the, just pumping like that bass
Two of us together just pumping like that bass
P-p-pumping like this bass, ayy, pumping like that bass
We both together and we party and we pumping like the bass
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)

Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Pick up the pace, hey
Don’t got all day and
But love supposed to take all day
We both making amends
Forget it let’s go all day
Empty out that brain
And carry on with your thing
I, I, I, I
We just getting dirty
Stay still, I want it
Show me how to get
To the money
This is our calling
We can’t stop it
Nobody else but us, regardless
It’s the way you work like that
Tapping away to the beat like that
Carrying the song like it’s my rap
Got it all on me I’m a jewel that’s fact
Imma whole artifact
Study my body make sure it’s all intact
Then keep it going cause I’m down like that
And once we done it’ll come right back, oh
Boy sometimes you got me acting so crazy
But it’s your fault cause you treat me in a daily
And there ain’t nothing to compare it’s so lovely
Until the end of time, just keep it on me
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
Do it just like that, (Doing it good to me)
Give me all of that, give me all of that (doing it good to me)
Cmon and give me all of that
I got what you need
And you got all of you
But come on here and show me
I’ll fall into your arms
And we will drift on to sleep
Take me on home
Cause you know it’s really sweet
Feel, feeling real good
I’m just really feel, feeling real good...
I’m just really feel, feeling real good
I’m just really feel, feeling real good

by **Belgaam** » Mon May 03, 2021 3:41 pm

by **Achaean Republic** » Mon May 03, 2021 5:06 pm

21| Achaean Republic
Awkwamarine -“Patriarchy”)
Tune: MARINA - Man's World (feat. Pablo Vittar)
Music & Lyrics: Alice Coronad, Marina Coronado

Achaeans are internationally stereotyped as being sex-crazed morons. Sex in the nation is—for the lack of a better word—treated in a quite schizophrenic lens. Telenovelas and seedy game shows try to shove groins and nipples on TV screens and social media accounts towards impressionable minds wanting to fit in to the crowds. Carnivals and festivals, and even the odd birthday or two, are peppered with award-winning, government-sponsored ads reminding people to wear a condom that people take in stride and wear them as they were balloons. Though rare nowadays, some machista parents take their children when they turn eighteen (or look like it) to prostitutes (which in and of itself is sorta-illegal-but-not in the nation) so as to “turn them into men,” sexual traumas and poor relationships with future women notwithstanding. And even Jose the Floor Manager, one-time production manager-cum-influencer famous for unwittingly appearing at a commercial for a popular dating app, is treated as an anti-celebrity with equal rights as a neighborhood drunk or a shady provocateur. A famous philosopher and psychologist once ruefully said, “Achaean culture has transformed into a sick culture.” However, can that be really true?

At the same time Achaean pop culture celebrates sexual freedom, it has also subjected many people to cynically accept multiple double-edged swords that amount to a series of microaggressions. Women are free to be sluts, but our daughters cannot be one. Men can have as much sex as they want, so long as they’re not on the receiving end of things. Threesomes and orgies aren’t okay, but having a side piece is fine so long as the main doesn’t know. The “sickness” in Achaean society the unnamed philosopher was referring to is not sexual—rather, it has become mental. But conservative and religious civil society, who has risen up in power and influence in the last couple of years and even spearheaded former pastor Carlos Núñez Alvarado’s successful bid for the presidency, many agree they attempt to tackle the problem in the opposite way: through abstinence, intimidation, coordination, frustration. An issue that must be cut off the root must be exposed and confronted, not whisked away into an endless stream of needless prohibitions meant to avoid and dissuade and even neglect.

Alice and Marina Coronado, a sisterly duo from the interior of Cuenca in Dajabón, turned into music as a way to find ways to expose the cracks in society and provide people a new way of thinking towards life. Besides the run-of-the-mill pop/rock charters like Te Dejé un Abrazo[i] (“I Left You a Hug”) and [i]Dime Cuál Fue Mi Error (“Tell Me What’s My Mistake”), the duo created Patriarchy, the English-first song dedicated to deconstruct the sexual myths that have kept many trapped into a tunnel vision of unforeseen consequences and diseases. “Not everything in Achaea is hunky-dory with sex,” explained Alice Coronado when interviewed after her win. “We made this song to show that actions have consequences, and we must be empowered and responsible to take charge of it.” Marina also added, “We think of men and women that are in the sex trade, in the profession—and we know a few—and they deserve the same rights as any other worker. While we may disagree with many methods, we believe they have the right to receive benefits, and Patriarchy is a way to reflect upon it—you dance, you boogie, but you also reflect on it as well.”

AkwaMarine won WorldVision: La Final on both jury and televoting scores and won the ticket to represent the Achaean Republic on the WorldVision Song Contest, granting them a ticket to Avon, Elejamie for their performance (and unfortunately, they forgot to order some mascara from their mom's catalog before leaving).

The hyper-technological stage in Avon’s Riverside Arena was quite confusing to navigate for the Achaean delegation. Not that they were unused or averse to technology, though—the sound techs and engineers and choreographers enjoyed playing with the blinking lights and flashing screens that pulsated with precipitous expenses God only knows how could ETV afford to pay for. The zig-zaggy screens on the catwalk were intensely followed by both technicians and dancers alike trying to learn their steps and attempting to recreate a sense of dreadful intimacy for the Achaean performance. Intimacy, that’s the word they were looking for! Creating intimacy was hard to do in such a large stage with so many cohesively disjointed parts. It was a challenge they had to forcefully accept.

The crowd in Avon grew ecstatic with the incoming Achaean performance. The song was polarizing upon its reception in Elejamie, though, with the Anglo-Elejamians quite recognizing the beat but finding it quite bland and lifeless (at no point it was a Tierno, some fondly reminisced, what could still be considered the Achaean Republic’s most successful WorldVision entry to date), while the Hispano-Elejamians, already quite fond of the Achaeans in theory, were living for the eclectic disco beat but were quite disappointed that the entry was in English, save a few mistranslated feminist quotes here and there. The Illiyim, in true Elejamian fashion, blew past it. It was quite hard to gauge the intensity of the performance for both Alice and Marina, known to many as people who don’t take things quite seriously as they should. However, they would privately confide in each other that their nerves were killing them. But they had to hide that from the cameras and make it happen somehow.

The stage’s blue tones immediately changed to various shades of red. Dark red and light red. Pink red and regular red. Burgundy and cherry red. It made the stage look seedy, grimy, dingy and facetious, making it seem like a red light district in one of Achaea’s poor barrios or a fancy two-star motel somewhat nestled in the city’s nightlife district, wedged in between bars and pubs and restaurants where people with some time (and passion) in their hands (and bodies) could enjoy. It was tacky, yet glamorous, a dangerous contradiction.

As the first house beats could be heard, flashes of white and red lights popped out of the stage. The center of the stage featured a heart-shaped bed that was repurposed from a Corola City motel (which may have also served as a crack den and a refuge for the wild and outlandish). How did the Achaean delegation manage to ship a motel bed complete with working love machine and creaking massage pillows, only God would know. It even replicated some of the stains that were common to appear in these beds, which made the feeling both hilarious and disgusting—just the reaction they were looking for. In lieu of a mirror atop of the nonexistent roof, a handheld Camcorder was used by Alice and Marina (though Marina was seen fiddling with it at times) and their reactions being shown on the LED screens behind her. (Talk about breaking the fourth wall!)

A distorted female voice was heard, irresponsibly translating a quote from French feminist philosopher and writer Simone de Beauvoir in somewhat garbled Spanish:

Soy muy intensa
I am very intense

Soy muy inteligente
I am very intelligent

Soy muy ingeniosa para tomarme en serio
I am very ingenious for anyone to take me seriously

Alice was dressed with a black submissive strappy lace bracelette with a multi-strapped neckline, spaghetti straps and bracelets that barely covered the strategic portions of her body, while she wore clear/black LED illuminated stripper heels that illuminated the floor every time she walked. Her wavy black hair provided an air of innocence that contradicted her sexualized posture, laying bored and frustrated and reclining in a bed, taking a puff of her e-cig (she doesn’t smoke, but it was important to look the part). As she sang and the camera moved closer to her, she looked dejected and quite hopeless. Not the picture of Achaean sexual freedom that could be expressed from the outset.

Skirt’s high, blouse tight and I look so fine
Boobs perky and so juicy, lashes on fleek and wild
Tramp stamp, five tattoos, a dusty line
Burning through my college fund, don’t know why
I was promised riches and castles
But the world won’t stop treating me like a hassle

I want to die again
My God, I’m such a bore
Patriarchy’s banished in my world forevermore
Patriarchy’s banished in my world forevermore

On a chair beside the viewer’s right side of the bed, Marina was sitting, her legs stretched into an unladylike position, smoking a (vape) drag with her feet firmly planted on the ground, looking forlorn at the LED floor. It was pulsating waves of red, which were both calming and awkwardly hypnotizing for her. She adjusted her microphone once the cameras were on her and it was her turn to sing. The handheld cameras would spin around her chair, herself trying not to get lost and confused on the heavy editing of the moment (she forgot what camera angles were to be used for the performance, so she had to pretend she knew what she was doing).

Marina wore a see-though white lace night dress that closely resembled a mixture between a negligee and a chemise. She had her dirty blonde hair tied up, then loosened up from the knot and left in the wild. Nevertheless, she then walked towards the cameras and then smirked at the audience—a sobering counterpoint to the song’s somewhat lyrical lyrics, more so that, unlike Alice’s cocaine-addled party-going, eccentric, gold-digging lyrical persona, Marina’s alter ego was much more aware of the dangers in her ill-fated line of work: her exposure to sexually transmitted diseases and drug usage; her sense of isolation and contempt, exposing her internalized shame.

Rooms filled with red lights fill me with dread
Like a dirty motel, one whiff and I will fall dead
Tell me that’s not fair, what men will I reject
Be it a disease or a poof! He wanna inject

I want to die again
My God, I’m such a bore
Patriarchy’s banished in my world forevermore
Patriarchy’s banished in my world forevermore

The cameras suddenly aligned to the front of the sisters and they stood up from their positions. They also turned as they—with their backs aligned to the camera—started walking in sultry poses to the zig-zagging catwalk in the center stage. They were trying hard to keep up a sensual, sexual pose, all the while posing the question to the Multiversal viewers. If they saw them dressed like that, walking like that, singing like that, would they be treated kindly by them? They were Achaean and women, after all, the worst specimens of them all, so they could be considered as either sexual temptresses or degenerate whores. Why did they deserve to be cheered on like that by the Elejamian crowd, unless they were degenerates, too?

The sister tried so hard to keep a modicum of seriousness to their sultry personas. But it was hard to maintain such a straight face while singing and trying to not step on each other’s toes. Whenever they look at each other, they could not help but smirk or smile or giggle. It was too cute to play pretend on the world stage! They couldn’t stop thinking about the stupid memes that were incoming as soon as they were fresh off their performance! But they had to try and bring it home, allowing the viewers to get involved in the fantasy—but not too much that they lose all the sense of their reality. They still recoiled in horror after that thing that happened at a concert in Santa Ana, and they need not live it again.

Will you treat me kindly
Can I be your friend
Lonely nights are coming
And I won’t pretend
That my scars are running
Time and time again
You’re broken like me
Don’t say you’re the best

A wide-pan view of the stage had four dancers sliding down from a metal pole. They were gymnasts, activists, athletes, dancers. These four women were hand-picked from many Achaeans to perform the acrobatic moves required to successfully recreate the steps needed. For a moment, the delegation wanted a colorblind selection, only choosing its dancers on merit and the synergy of their movements against the duo’s woefully pitiful dance moves. Even the sexualization of their bodies caused headaches for the dedicated choreographers, as their innate clumsiness would run afoul of the messages embedded in the performance. (What abstractions were those were hard to understand and open to interpretation, but sometimes it is best to smile and move on.) Still, the dancers were at full display on the corners of the stage, the cameras switching between the ones on the left and the ones on the right and the duo at the center.

They vogued. They posed. They licked the poles in a blatant disregard for social distancing protocols that were sure to be a firestorm back home (probably the rest of the Multiversal audience would surely dismiss it as on-brand for an Achaean performance). In the meantime, the sisters strutted down the catwalk with some hesitation and a bit of giggling, much to the chagrin of the choreographers that woefully attempted to guide the women towards their moves. They could only resolve to sensualize, objectify, and mollify both fans and critics who watched their work with a hinge of sarcasm. It was only so much they could portray-sick, broken, helpless, hopeless. There was so much that needed to be said but wasn’t nor couldn’t.

I feel hunger and pain and flashes
Showing fists into broken dashes
I’m lucky that I control my rashes
And my body’s in a bed and not with ashes

I want to die again
My God, I’m such a bore
Patriarchy’s banished in my world forevermore
Patriarchy’s banished in my world forevermore

All the women congregated in the circular stage at the end of the arena, close to the cheering Elejamian crowd. Behind them, the camera took a bird’s eye view of the stage and it displayed a female symbol that elicited crowds from the women. The song’s portrayal of patriarchy is quite twisted: it was meant to draw attention the logical, extreme consequences of oppression, objectification and sexualization to women. Treating them like virgins or whores—sometimes both at the same time—, subjecting them to humiliation and exposing them to diseases and not being able to enjoy their bodies as freely as they deserve. The women felt they lived twenty years ahead of their time, yet at the same time they were surrounded in a place thirty years behind them. So many strides were made. So many choices were taken. Yet it quite felt the pace was one step forward, two steps back.

So why perform and sensualize and sexualize and fit into the typical “Achaean slut” stereotype they were so adamant to avoid? Because that was the way, perhaps the only way they could call their plight to attention. It worked for Lysistrata. Nobody said it couldn’t work for them, either. The lights surrounding them changed to different hues of red, pink and white, sometimes alternating with the LED lights on the floor. The triangles were also projecting the lights and the silhouettes of women of all shapes and sizes. Where the sisters and the dancers stood on the main plinth, the circle below them was displaying concentric circles of light with the same dark red, light red, pink and white colors.

Will you treat me kindly
Can I be your friend
Lonely nights are coming
And I won’t pretend
That my scars are running
Time and time again
You’re broken like me
Don’t say you’re the best

You’re broken like me
Don’t say you’re the best
You’re broken like me
Don’t say you’re the best

At the end, another bastardized quote from Simone de Beauvoir appeared on a distorted voice, which was quite hard to tell if it was recited by a woman with a very strong voice, or a man who was trying to force his voice as a woman, or a distortion of either a male or female voice. What matters is that the voice was distorted. It meant: “I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to be selfish…” The idea demonstrated is that, beyond the scourge of patriarchy, it was important for women to be empowered to become anything that pleased them, wherever it pleased them. The experience of pleasure cannot be equated with simple carnality to the male gaze or to respond to society’s oppressive expectations—rather, they only needed to be bound to and responsible for themselves to experience the fullness of their complexity.

Quiero ser mujer y hombre, amistosa y sola, afanosa y escritora, y egoísta…

The song ended, and the performers gave each other a huge hug. The crowd—in particular, the Hispano-Elejamians—went wild for the sultry Achaean performance, and a few Achaeans in the crowd (or Elejamians of Achaean descent) were cheering on. The performers bowed and held hands and blew kisses before leaving. The sisters in particular were happy for their performance, and hoped they could do it again.

Oddly enough, they were able to shout a “Gracias, Itamar!” when before they left the stage. What were they going on about…?

by **Rhim Flavezztowland** » Mon May 03, 2021 7:28 pm

22. Rhim Flavezztowland

by **Talvezout** » Mon May 03, 2021 11:34 pm

AVON 90|EJM (WorldVision Song Contest 90)

AVON 90|EJM (WorldVision Song Contest 90)

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