[IC] 95th WorldVision Song Contest | Nakom, Yvesia

[Yvesia]

YBS & TPNB-X Presents, WorldVision Song Contest 95

Live from Nakom, Yvesia

OOC Thread | The Host Bid | The Playlist

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As the show starts, the stage would be shown with red and black visuals on the screen, and men dressed in black streetwear would be shown on stage and motorcycles would be lined on the stage, with the participating flags on the back of them and men would be standing next to them. The audience would be cheering, and Vincent would arise on stage from the main front lift, and he would walk down the line of motorcycles, with his back turned to the audience, he then turned around and the beat started and he jumped in the air, as fire ignited from the stage, and he started to dance with the dancers, moving around and then he starts to rap.

I tell em make way
Coming out like genie in a bottle
What’s the word jeonseol
The G O A T of the nation
You better make way
Sigan-i eobs-eo for all the chatter
Save that energy for nugungaleul wihae who cares
They already said geulaeyo #1
Eotteon ineun naega I jaril swibge anjatdago hae
museun tteus-inji aseyo
naega yeogieseo eod-eun geos get her brand new chanel
Soljiki ssaihanuweol jjokpalryeo
Ije illyeone put the world in my pocket
Don’t fit into no categories
Nal damgieneun saijeuga dalreo whoo
Geurae apseo
Gago shipttamyeon whos that yeyakaebwa
They used to buy the CD’S DVD’S
Now all they doing is streaming jeogeos bwa
Face e seoggo on billboards
A-Town to Nakom
Kkwae swil teum eomneun nae passport

He continues to focus on the rapping, as paces up and down the stage, then doing choreography with his dancers and moving around the stage, moving to the beat and throwing his born-passion into the performance. He then walks over to the medium of the stage as he goes to the chorus and puts his hand up.

I’m the K to the I to the N to the G G G
And you better recognize cause that’s what they call me
Nan michinnom biteu wiye next level
Raebeuro hongkongl bonaeneun
They all fall in love with me
K to the I to the N to the G G G
K to the I to the N to the G G G
K to the I to the N to the G G G
Hongkongeul bonaeneun
They all fall in love with me

Nan bekkineun geol bekkineun nomeul jabadaga
Hubaedeun seonbaedeun jekkineun nom
Nompaengideun naega wack ideun fact
Ideun yeoksareul badage rap animal
Tto jaemido eomneun raebpeodeul saieseo
Neul namdeulboda deo chaenggineun mok
Jallaganeun deoge babgeureut ppaetgil
Hyeongdeure shigi jiltu deoge singin’ my song

Hey ho nan jotdo sanggwan an hae
Niga gae sabjilhal ttae
Gandanage niga pan mudeome
Neol saengmaejanghane
Hey ho neonen na gamdang an dwae
Yakjilhaneun dasuye raebpeodeul
Naega aidoriran geose gamsahagil

Cause I'm busy I'm busy 24/7 swigin mweol swini
Imi shigil notchin I kkiri kkiri norajugil
Shigiwa chigiman nameun
Jadeure gokseong mweoshi jungheonjireul molra
Parit to new york damn
I don’t even know whats next

I’m the K to the I to the N to the G G G
And you better recognize cause that’s what they call me
Nan michinnom biteu wiye next level
Raebeuro hongkongl bonaeneun
They all fall in love with me

K to the I to the N to the G G G
K to the I to the N to the G G G
K to the I to the N to the G G G
Hongkongeul bonaeneun
They all fall in love with me
Ah!
You know what time it is?
This is something you have to witness (controlling my mind) feels like im stuck in every way
(chains all on my heart) It tells
Me even where to go
jubyeon saramdeul modu hanagachi nalbogo
Cannot break it,
Can’t break it, can’t break it
It feels like I am going numb

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PLACEHOLDER TEXT

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(We are one) take the time and rewind the clock
(Maybe we are one) It’s driving me crazy, oh no
(mwoga munjeinji malhaejwo m-munjeinji malhaejwo)
I just really need to know sìng thī̀ reā pĕn
(This is the new sound)
Inteoseutella, worldwide, spreading universally
for the world to see
(This is the new sound)
So legendary they can’t take uliga juneun geos-eseo
(Wait!) This right here is ‘part of history
(Wait!) This is like something that you’ve never seen
(Wait?) So watch this spectacle pyeoda
(Wait) Forever we will be number one
(Wait?) We hope you are ready for the show
(Wait?) Cause you’ll never ever dasi boleo gaja
 Once in the chokehold were free so the world will know
sesangi mworaedo gateun
X1, we’re in control, 1,2,3 ready set go
Get in, crank it up because
We sijaghal junbiga the show
 Doing this mission, Oh yeah we killin'
(Feel your mind) X1, feel the double homicide
(Baby we’re the ones) The music here will set you free
Use your mind let go, feel the music in your soul
Cannot break it,
CAN'T break it, can’t break it
Feel your soul on fire
Hey, deulbulcheoleom beonjyeo
The mystery can’t be found
It’s just another ultimate phenomenon.. what is this?
(This is the new sound)
This pyeongbeomhaji anhda day
it’s time to vibe away
just go and take control
(This is the new sound)
There is is a strange spell and we just cannot let go
(Wait!) This right here is ‘part of history
(Wait!) This is like something that you’ve never seen
(Wait?) So watch this spectacle pyeoda
(Wait) Forever we will be number one
(Wait?) We hope you are ready for the show
(Wait?) Cause you’ll never ever dasi boleo gaja
Ha, geureoke neo saram gatgo
Jangnan, jangnan chiji mara
Nae apeseon yoraejorae
Geojitmalmaneul neureonohgo
Nuga bwado nuga bwado
Neon jeongmal ijungjeogiya
(Waitwaitwait ) Sujeong gatdeon maeumdeuri
Eonje geureoke takhaejyeonni
Sarangeul ggeutnaetda
Neol bonaen gaseum i teong biwojyeotda
Hajiman nae miraeneun machi
Ireonaseo useurago sonjitanda
Neoreul bonaenda jeongmal
Haengbokhage sara (waitwaitwait)
Meon hutnare meon hutnare
Geunyang pyeonhage utgo sipda.. ah
(Wait?) wait

Go.... go! NAKOM! ONE MORE TIME! NAKOM! X1!! X1!

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(Wait!) This right here is ‘part of history
(Wait!) This is like something that you’ve never seen
(Wait?) So watch this spectacle pyeoda
(Wait) Forever we will be number one
(Wait?) We hope you are ready for the show
(Wait?) Cause you’ll never ever dasi boleo gaja
(This is the new sound)

Jiwojyeotda, sarajyeotda nae gaseume nega jugeo
Modu tabeoryeotda
(This is the new sound)
Jiwojyeotda, sarajyeotda nae gaseume nega jugeo
Neoneun ije eobtda
Starting up the engines, gal junbiga doeeossda
Gyeolguk eonjengan teojyeobeoril sihanpoktan ggeureoango
Nugunga jeonghaejun
Gil ddara geotneunda
Deo isang geoul soge bichwojiji anhneun sideun neoui ggum
Nae tasi aniya ige jeongdabiya
Byeonmyeonghago tathae pihae ddo gamchuryeo hae
Himggeot dallyeoga chetbakwi sogeuro

You gotta feel it
Pogihajima eoddae jeulgyeobwo
You gotta feel it
Danghwanghajima neodabji anha
You gotta feel it
Tudeoldaejima wonhan geon baro
Geurae geureohge neo
Music is the world, hey!

Jitbalbhin naeil heotdoen baramdeul
Ilgeureojin for your eyes
Muneojyeoganeun baberui tawo give me a chance
Palman yucheon sabaekcho again and again
Sseudisseun regret dok gateun secret
Samkigo samkyeodo ddo dasi maemdora
Rubikon gang neomeoro ikkeusoseo

Jeonggeurui beobchige ddareura malhaji
Yakhago sunjinhan ja huisaengyangira nollyeodae
Nari seon geomjiro songarakjilhaji
Nameun ne gaeui songarageun bandeusi neol garikinda
Igeoda jeogeoda malman beonjireureu
Hyeo ggeuteuro deo nopeun jangbyeogeul ssahaga
Jobeun tab gadhin jasineun ijeun chae

You gotta feel it
Apahajima niga taekhan got
You gotta feel it
Neoreul dorabwa yeogin eodinga
You gotta feel it
Heundeullijima mangchin geon baro
Hollo weroun neo
Music is the world, hey!

Cheoreomneun jangnan bigeukjeok gyeolmal
Eoriseogeo i paradokseu
Sansanjogak nan yuriui seongbyeok getaway
Galgigalgi sangcheo nan haengbok ggeutnae
Naemin yeorin son wemyeonhaetdeon
Neo ije naege amugeotdo aniya
Ganjeolhan baraem irueojisoseo

Ni soneul nonneunda nae du soneul biunda
Seoseohi pareul ppeodeo nalgaereul pyeolchigo
Jageun nalgaetjit geochin padoreul ireukinda

Can you believe it?
Pogihajima eoddae jeulgyeobwa
Can you believe it?
Danghwanghajima neodabji anha
Can you believe it?
Tudeoldaejima wonhan geon baro
Geurae geureohge neo
Have fun fun fun fun! hey

Can you believe it?
Apahajima niga taekhan got
Can you believe it?
Neoreul dorabwa yeogin eodinga
Can you believe it?
Heundeullijima mangchin geon baro
Hollo weroun neo
Have fun fun fun fun! hey

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[Yvesia]

01. Waisnor
Wolf_ess - "Pravda ili lozh'"
Entry | Postcard

02. Aenglide
Lere - "Dreaming"
Entry | Postcard

03. Saviera
Lucia Dagenn - "Do-Re-Mi"
Entry | Postcard

04. Scotatrova
Giuliana Maxes - "Súe Maleca"
Entry | Postcard

05. Adab
Inanna Shipak - "Someone to Love"
Entry | Postcard

06. Faraby
Celal Alptekin - "Internet"
Entry | Postcard

07. StrayaRoss
Altos - "Empty Fire" (Feat. Qui)
Entry | Postcard

08. Britonisea
N/A
Entry | Postcard

09. Carrelie
Monica - "Expect"
Entry | Postcard

10. Beepee
Issa Allmosdova & Gladys Allmosdova - "Dance With Me"
Entry | Postcard

11. Nekoni
Shooting Brakes - "Take Me"
Entry | Postcard

12. Pemecutan
DEDE - "DIHARGAI"
Entry | Postcard

13. Elejamie
The Humanoids - "Come On/Join Us"
Entry | Postcard

14. Crustyland
Gustav- "Strangers"
Entry | Postcard

15. Antahbrantahstan
Afridzal Hussain - "Hypocrite"
Entry | Postcard

16. Alezian Union
Irlene Lilvouw - "Sorry, Niet Sorry"
Entry | Postcard

17. Polkopia
Samira - "Lose"
Entry | Postcard

18. Placely Placington
⟁ - "⊊␥"
Entry | Postcard

19. Malta Comino Gozo
Pessimistic Reflections - "Desperate Wilderness"
Entry | Postcard

20. Kyritakia
Artist - Song Title
Entry | Postcard

21. Axuva
Ophelia - "I'm Free"
Entry | Postcard

22. Achaean Republic
Wolfie and Tubbo - "Sul-Sul"
Entry | Postcard

23. Natanya
N/A
Entry | Postcard

24. Kalosia
Domeniko Gaľanu - "Oki"
Entry | Postcard

25. Mister X
N/A
Entry | Postcard

26. Yvesia
N/A
Entry | Postcard

27. Ertzei Kishim
Omer Grady - Statues
Entry | Postcard

28. Todlichebujoku
Eirlis - "I Survive"
Entry | Postcard

29. Spiritual Republic of Caryton
The Good Neighbors - "Their Purpose"
Entry | Postcard

30. Llatla
Titania - "The Time Of Your Life"
Entry | Postcard

31. Caribou Island
Misty Moore - "Steal My Bones"
Entry | Postcard

32. Ikslund
Misty Moore - "A Meditation on the Struggle Between Desire and Wholeness of Self"
Entry | Postcard

33. New Zealandic South West Saint Martin
Parsocm McOsrap - "0.26"
Entry | Postcard

34. Kasanovakoratica
Brittany Sia - "Big Mess Beauty"
Entry | Postcard

35. Ethane
Taylor Kinsey - "Called To It"
Entry | Postcard

---

Elejamie - ETV1
Part 1

Alezian Union - ABA/ONE
Part 1

[Waisnor]

01

WAISNOR

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Wolf_ess - Pravda ili lozh'/Tune: VVAVES - 5 Of Your Exes

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Akin to many previous Waisnorian participants, Alexandra Volkova or Wolf_ess started her singing career not so long ago, releasing her first album in 2019. She immediately gained some following, which was pretty helpful in the national selection for 95th WorldVision Song Contest, which was won by Alexandra. Waisnorians are hoping that she would return Waisnor to the top 10, out of which they fell in 94th edition for the first time since the 89th edition.

Now we are going to the performance itself - when light came on the stage, only the central part of the stage, where Alexandra was standing, was illuminated. Meanwhile, the shadow of a man appeared behind Volkova. And on the backstage at the same time, an absolutely black screen first appeared, along which a white line slowly began to creep up, dividing the screen in half.

Помню я когда встретились случайно мы

I remember when we met by chance

И мы начали с тобою наш роман

And we started our romance

Начали свой путь в направление семьи

We started our journey in the direction of the family creation

Ведь ты добрый, смелый, никогда не пьян

After all, you are kind, brave, never drunk

While Volkova sang the first verse, the area of the stage, which was lit up, increased, and when she reached the second verse, two twins appeared at the edges, one of them dressed in all white, and the second in all black. They both started walking towards Alexandra. In the background, meanwhile, one half, again, turned white, and the other remained black. The line dividing them began to vibrate to the rhythm of the music.

Но есть сомнения, но есть волнения

But there are doubts, but there is unrest

Что всё, что сказал ты мне - бред

That everything you said to me is nonsense

На вид ты неплох, но мои ощущения

You look good, but my feelings

Говорят, что всё это во вред

They say that all this is harmful

When Wolf_ess began to sing the chorus, both twins began to wriggle around her. In the background, the two halves ceased to be one hundred percent monochrome - white and black gradually began to penetrate the other halves, move and mix. Speaking of Alexandra herself, she looked rather calm and undisturbed by this situation, except sometimes glancing at the guys who seemed to be trying to seduce her.

Не могу я понять, где здесь правда, где здесь ложь,

I can't figure out where is the truth, where is the lie,

Либо мне тебе отдаться, либо же сказать "не трожь"

Either I surrender to you, or say "don't touch me"

Так скажи, я прошу, что же ты мне говоришь

So tell me, I ask, what are you telling me

Либо это всё взаправду, либо бросить норовишь

Either it's all for real, or you strive to quit

When the chorus ended, the twin in black moved away from Volkova, and the twin in white began to flirt with her. When half of the verse was over, now the guy in black began to flirt, while the guy in white looked at it from the side. Speaking of the side, when one of the guys stopped flirting, he went into the dark.

Верить хочу, что это просто паранойя

I want to believe that it's just paranoia

И хочу, чтобы это стёрлось, словно сон

And I want it to fade away like a dream

Ведь без этих драм и тебе, и мне спокойней

After all, without these dramas, both you and me are calmer

И в душе утихнет колокольный звон

And the bell ringing will subside in my soul

Like the first time, both twins began to approach Alexandra, but after that they began to walk in a circle around Volkova, looking at each other. At the same time, the mixing of black and white in the background continued, but formally it was still divided into two parts. Now the line that was dividing the background in half gradually began to disappear.

Но есть сомнения, но есть волнения

But there are doubts, but there is unrest

Что всё, что сказал ты мне - бред

That everything you said to me is nonsense

На вид ты неплох, но мои ощущения

You look good, but my feelings

Говорят, что всё это во вред

They say that all this is harmful

Before starting to sing the chorus again, Alexandra stepped out of the circle and came closer to the edge of the stage. At this time, the twins, who were left alone, began to dance, and this dance somewhat resembled a fight between them. Meanwhile, against the background, black and white began to form an orderly pattern that began to spin, and before the song ended, began to accelerate until then. until it merged into a completely gray background.

Не могу я понять, где здесь правда, где здесь ложь,

I can't figure out where is the truth, where is the lie,

Либо мне тебе отдаться, либо же сказать "не трожь"

Either I surrender to you, or say "don't touch me"

Так скажи, я прошу, что же ты мне говоришь

So tell me, I ask, what are you telling me

Либо это всё взаправду, либо бросить норовишь

Either it's all for real, or you strive to quit

Внутри себя ищу я ответ

Inside myself I am looking for an answer

Раскрыть пытаюсь секрет

I'm trying to reveal a secret

Но выхода ещё нет

But there is still no way out

Так скажи, я прошу, что же ты мне говоришь

So tell me, I ask, what are you telling me

Либо это всё взаправду, либо бросить норовишь

Either it's all for real, or you strive to quit

When the song ended, Alexandra and the twins joined hands and bowed to the audience. After that Volkova said "Thank you! Greetings from Waisnor!"

[Aenglide]

02. AENGLIDE

(Image Credit to Yvesia)

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Lere - ”Dreaming”

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Tune: Fan Club - Call Me
Music: Lere Hveda - Lyrics: Lere Hveda, Petr Oljen - Language: English

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ARTIST & SONG INFO

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Cover Art for "Dreaming" by Lere

oof, ignore that it says 96, not 95, my bad, will be changed soon

Lere Hveda, who is simply known by as Lere, famous singer, songwriter, TV presenter, former journalist, actor ... you could name anything that would appear on Aenglish media, and she has probably at least somewhat of a connection to it. She began singing at the age of five, and growing up she has worked greatly on her vocal skills. By adulthood, she went onto the first edition of Aenglide's Got Talent, when it had first aired and she ended up taking the runner-up position. Since then, she has grown as an entertainment celebrity in Aenglide, and ended up becoming one of the judges on Aenglide's Got Talent, the very own show that she started with.

Lere will be singing her song Dreaming at Aenglide's fourth entry in the Worldvision Song Contest. Lere's discography consists of albums of pop music, but she has claimed to be an enjoyer of 80s and 90s styled music, and this will be the first song that she has written and produced in that music style. This song was a tale about her ex-boyfriend treating her terribly when they were together, and this song's lyrics tell about her experience in a relationship like that, and how she overcame the fears that came along during it, as well as months after they had parted. She sings about "Dreaming", that she could be in another place, another dimension or world perhaps, to get away from the toxicity that she had to deal with. She has publicly revealed to media that she does not want her former partner to be known, or to have his name revealed. Lere has also publicly stated "He did not mean any harm. Please don't send him hate, he may have been terrible to me, but I do always hope that he's doing well now."

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THE SONG

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Lere begins to walk onto the stage, as the stage lights brighten upon her presence. The camera follows her as she walks to the centre of the stage where the microphone can be found. She is wearing a buttoned shirt with a white denim jacket and a gray skirt.

As she walks onto the stage, she smiles and looks around the crowd. The long instrumental introduction into the song gives her a chance to position herself well, and to build the confidence for her performance.

Hey, for sure
I’m thinking of my devilish lover
Hey-ey, yeah now I know
That this wasn’t reality like I’m used to
O-o-oh, you knew, you knew
That the rainbows over me, that I was seeing
Hey, were just the stormy clouds over me-e-e

Please, I’m
Dreaming
Dreaming
Baby, yeah I’m dreaming now
Dreaming
Dre-eaming
Baby, yeah you’re
You’re, you’re, you’re, you’re
You’re not dreaming now

Hey, I’m awake
In a ma-ma-ma-magical world
I’m, wondering now
If life was better here, oh I wonder
O-o-oh, you knew, you knew
If I was dreading my wishes if I knew you
Hey, replace
That broken heart you gave to me

I’m Dreaming
Dreaming
Baby, yeah you’re dreaming now
Dreaming
Dre-eaming
Baby, yeah you’re
You’re, you’re, you’re, you’re
you’re, dreaming now

Oh please, I’m dreaming
Dreaming
Baby, yeah you’re dreaming now
Dreaming
Dre-eaming
Baby, yeah you’re
You’re, you’re, you’re, you’re
I’m on-on-on my knees

I am dreaming now
About when you were gone
Don’t come back to me, move along
I am dreaming now
No, your love is not
Ooh, What I want
I am dreaming now
Save me from hell
That is the place where I’ve gone
I am dreaming now
Hell treated me better
Ooh, then you did

Now now, I’m dreaming
Dreaming
Baby, yeah you’re dreaming now
Dreaming
Dre-eaming
Baby, yeah you’re
You’re, you’re, you’re, you’re
You’re dreaming now

Yeah yeah, I’m dreaming
Dreaming
Baby, yeah you’re dreaming now
Dreaming
Dre-eaming
Baby, yeah you’re
You’re, you’re, you’re, you’re
You’re dreaming now

Yeah yeah, I’m dreaming
Dreaming
Baby, yeah you’re dreaming now
Dreaming
Dre-eaming
Baby, yeah you’re
You’re, you’re, you’re, you’re
You-u’re dre-eaming no-ow.

[Saviera]

.::: 3 ✾ Saviera :::.
Do-Re-Mi
Lucia Dagenn
Tune: Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me) by Miki Matsubara

"But... I thought you said we were forever. I don't understand, why are you like this all of a sudden? What happened to you?

The teen was taken aback by her boyfriend's sudden change in behaviour. They had been together for a couple of years, and having spent so much time together, she was confident that she knew everything about him, just as she expected him to know everything about her by then. Or so she thought.

She tried to fight the tears on her way home, and when she finally arrived at her apartment, she slowly spiralled. Dashing into the room, she locked the door behind her and just. let it all out. Years and years of happy memories were flushed away in the tears that poured out of her face.

When she had a moment to compose herself, she found that the initial rush of emotions had run its course, but she was still left with thoughts of hopelessness. What did she do wrong? Whatever it was, why did it prompt him to act like that? Who is she anymore, without him? In an attempt to cope, she turned on the radio on her bedside table. Listening to the sounds of all sorts of people going through all sorts of emotions, she tried to let it entertain herself, until her thoughts drifted away, and she fell asleep.

---

After a comeback to the 94th WorldVision Song Contest, Saviera has decided to resume its regular participation in the show and have announced Lucia Dagenn as their representative. Lucia is in her mid-twenties and tonight will sing 'Do-Re-Mi', a city pop song about a woman coming to terms with the end of a long-term relationship. The lyrics, inspired by Lucia's experiences during her teenage years, are incredibly sad and emotional, and paired with the generally pleasant and calming properties of the music, this creates a bittersweet track.

The mixing of the track was specifically made to emulate a concert atmosphere, creating the impression that the instruments were played live. In reality the delegation could not afford to send an entire big band to Yvesia, although some backing performers were sent to perform.

For the big night, Lucia is wearing a maroon gown, looking quite elegant. As the song begins, there are three backing singers in the area to the right—one man, two women—dressed in all-black. The camera focuses on them before slowly zooming out.

(To you)
(Yes my love, to you)
(Yes, my love, to you)
(You, to you)

And then we see Lucia walking out onto the main stage. She gets to the middle in time to start singing. In the background you can see manga-style graphics of people crying, with the dominant colour scheme being pastel pink and dark, blue-ish hues. The stage lights are white with a slight rosy tint, complimenting the visuals.

Nightfall is slowly coming
The wind, it hums to me a song
I thought you were forgiving
But then you left and I was wrong

There is certainly a sadness in the way she sang. The wind machine was on, and her hair and dress blew gently. From the sparkle in her eyes you could see the longing in her eyes.

I don’t know what I did to hurt you
To make you leave in a haste
All the years have gone to waste

As we see the camera pan over the stage as a whole, we get to see the players that were chosen to join Lucia in Yvesia. There was a drummer, a bassist, a pianist, and a synth player who also operated windchimes. In total, there were 8 people on stage.

I wonder if I still deserve you
As I step into my room
Sadness plays just like a tune

Now as we get into the chorus, Lucia projects her voice even stronger than prior, allowing her sorrows to resonate around the venue. She also hopes that the message of her song will resonate in the hearts of people who have undergone heartbreak.

Do-re-mi
I listen to that lonely melody
It calls out like a lover at nighttime
Without you by my side, even though I had tried

Do-re-mi
The evening sings in broken harmony
To me, as the tears flow so silently
As I’m sitting in bed, thinking of what you said: “we’re done”

Past the initial shock, someone undergoing heartbreak may have feelings of desperation or meaninglessness. In this next part Lucia sings of that experience, reflecting on the relationship's final moments.

And every passing hour
Does not have meaning anymore
You said this love was ours
“Until the end of time” you swore

Lucia's soft, helpless voice screams of innocence as it delicately blends in with the music. Some instruments, particularly the drumbeat and wind chimes, particularly stood out. This was perhaps due to the fact that the players were onstage.

I don’t know what I did to hurt you
Was it something that I said?
After all, your face was red

I wonder if I still deserve you
I turn up the radio
As I try to let it go

Lucia's voice somewhat wobbled as she started this chorus, as if she was becoming more emotional. It had been pretty overwhelming, actually, having had the honour to perform here. The song was written about Lucia's heartbreak experiences as a young adult, and having used that to remind herself why she was here, perhaps it was starting to get to her head.

Do-re-mi
I listen to that lonely melody
It calls out like a lover at nighttime
Without you by my side, even though I had tried

For the past 2 minutes or so, the screens had just been showing different manga-style scenes of people going through heartbreak. There really didn't need to be more antics to truly capture the feel of the song, as Lucia's raw emotion was right there, up close and personal, onstage. Meanwhile the cameras have just been showing different shots of what's going on onstage; the delegation didn't feel a need to be nitpicky about angles.

Do-re-mi
The evening sings in broken harmony
To me, as the tears flow so silently
As I’m sitting in bed, thinking of what you said: “we’re done”

Now it was time for an instrumental break. The guitarist picked up a saxophone and just started going. The cameras focused on him, pretty much. Members of the audience seemed to cheer politely as this happened, though. They seemed to be enjoying it.

In this next part, the backing track seemed to calm down a bit as the percussion took a break. However, Lucia kept singing, persistent than ever. She had a handheld mic, and the lack of a mic stand to shield her from view made her seem exposed and fearless.

Do-re-mi
I listen to that lonely melody
It calls out like a lover at nighttime
Without you by my side, even though I had tried

Of course, by now, the percussion had kicked back in and the music was going on in full swing.

Do-re-mi
The evening sings in broken harmony
To me, as the tears flow so silently
As I’m sitting in bed, thinking of what you said

Repeating the chorus once again, those thoughts had started getting to Lucia. The pain—no, the trauma—of heartbreak that had affected her in her teenage years. Did she really get over them as she keeps telling people she did?

Do-re-mi
I listen to that lonely melody
It calls out like a lover at nighttime
Without you by my side, even though I had tried

A tear started streaming down Lucia's face. Perhaps she had to let it go. She did a bit of ad-libbing with her intonation.

Do-re-mi
The evening sings in broken harmony
To me, as the tears flow so silently
As I’m sitting in bed, thinking of what you said

Lucia slowly began to kneel, as she tried to keep singing. At least for now the audience was impressed by her display of emotion, although her voice began to wobble even more.

Do-re-mi
I listen to that lonely melody
It calls out like a lover at nighttime
Without you by my side, even though I had tried

Being very overwhelmed with emotion, Lucia decided to let it go, singing the titular words one more time.

Do-re-mi...

Now she burst into tears, with both of her hands cupping her face. The audience cheered out of sympathy, and the musicians continued to play, since they were tied to a backing track. The backing singers, however, decided not to continue. Thus, the last minute or so of the song was filled with Lucia breaking down onstage for all of the world to see. Truth be told, these thoughts had bothered her already early on in the process, as of course she had to revisit these memories when writing the song. They continued to haunt her throughout rehearsals and, perhaps due to the atmosphere of WorldVision night, she finally thought it was time to let them overcome her. Her feelings were real, but she knew she had to perform, so she performed in the best possible way in these circumstances.

Slowly, the song came to an end, just in time for Lucia to get her act together. She wiped her tears away and stood up. As the song ended, the audience cheered warmly. Lucia took a bow and politely thanked the audience before turning back and walking towards her other performers, hugging them as they walked offstage, allowing the technical crew to unload their setup and prepare for the next entry.

[Scotatrova]

4. Scotatrova
Giuliana Maxes
Súe Maleca
Tune: Agnes - 24 Hours

---

With the postcard concluding, a camera pans down as the stage comes into frame. Giuliana is standing onstage wearing a small tiara adorned in little lights, reminiscent of some sort of halo. She's wearing a flowy, layered off white dress that is somewhat seeming to be smothering her but she remains unbothered. A man can be seen far off on the left, blending in with the rest of the dark stage as the lighting isn't all too bright, just a pale orange that engulfs the stage. As soon as the music begins 'whirring' up at the start, more lights around the stage begin to slowly light up and then pulse as the little synth riff ends and the drum beat hits.

Seeking my own path, heading toward the dark
The light from the halo dims, seems I missed the mark
Oh, I can still see his silhouette, so stark
Oh, I have nothing left to lose (lose, lose, lose)
I should have never left the golden kingdom
Oh, he convinced me, and I agreed
I was foolish to believe him, I was deceived
Oh, I have nothing left to lose (ooh, ooh, ooh)

Nothing in the world could keep me away
I wouldn’t be caught dead near you now
Although, I wouldn’t mind if it was you
I wouldn’t be caught dead near you now

Giuliana has both of her hands on her hips, standing in a sort of superhero pose as she starts the song. When she sings "the light from the halo dims," the actual lights on her tiara smart blinking and then it goes out. She grabs it off her head, examines it with a curious look on her face and then tosses it to the side. She then turns to face the man onstage with her, which is then revealed to be a stage performer dressed in all black and a mask covering the top part of his face. She motions out to him when she gets to the third line of the opening verse, but then recoils her arm away in disinterest as she continues singing. While she does so, the performer starts slowly walking up to her and starts slowly dancing around her, in a way that is trying to capture her attention. As he does this Giuliana remains dismissive of his attempts, but nevertheless he persists throughout the rest of the verse.

Súe maleca that he said was his whole world
Always told the biggest lies
Súe maleca, that did it all for him
Era súe maleca - I was his angel

They think religion is the mighty cure
Yeah, don’t believe everything in the book
Oh, to think that I thought it had all the answers
I have nothing left to lose (ooh, ooh, ooh)

As the chorus commences, Giuliana becomes more animated in her performance. Suddenly, she starts singing the chorus directly to the male performer. With the way the chorus goes, its clear that this is who she's directing it at. She goes from singing to him as if she was reminiscing to a quick 180 where she seems annoyed and bothered. He reaches out to grab her hand, and for a moment she takes it, admiring it for a quick second. Afterwards, she 'snaps back' to reality and pushes the hand away, focusing back on the performance. Met with this rejection, the performer starts dancing around her in a more 'pushy' manner, moving closer and closer to her while still going with the same goal of trying to get his attention. At this point, Giuliana sharpens her tunnel vision and continues her performance.

Nothing in the world could keep me away
I wouldn’t be caught dead near you now
Although, I wouldn’t mind if it was you
I wouldn’t be caught dead near you now

Súe maleca that he said was his whole world
Always told the biggest lies
Súe maleca, that did it all for him
Era súe maleca - I was his angel

After realizing that his attempts are failing to persuade her, the man then drops to his knees and looks at the ground. Even though she doesn't look directly at him, Giuliana can be seen smirking at the action. She grabs the mic off the stand and turns to him. He looks up at her while she looks down, not changing the continuity of disinterest on her face that she's kept for this duration of the performance. As the chorus starts yet again, she kneels down to him. While singing the first line, she grabs his face and brings his gaze towards hers. Once she sings the second line however, she pushes his face away and faces toward the back of the stage, now facing the LED screen.

Away from his grasp, I’ll seek my own divination
Siv, era súe maleca - Yes, I was his angel
Away from his grasp, I’ll seek my own divination
Siv, era súe maleca - Yes, I was his angel

No more chances for you
You can’t erase the day you left me
But its all that you want to do
About time I grew my own wings
About time I grew my own wings
(I grew my own wings)

Giuliana continues with the next verse as the LED screen becomes active. It displays an image that is split down the middle with a line, two separate spaces. An outline of a man becomes visible on the left space, while on the right a woman is depicted. While all this is going on, Giuliana opens the verse while she's singing "No more chances for you". The outline of the man can be seen putting his hand up on the line dividing the two, and nods his head, motioning for the woman to do the same. She begins to, but is then hesitant and her hand can be seen wavering. Once again the male figure nods at her to do so, and she eventually agrees and puts her hand up to meet his at the barrier. As she does so, the man retracts his hand after a brief moment and walks out of the frame. The woman, now left behind, slowly takes her hand off and can be seen clenching her fists as the image shatters with the commencement of the final verses.

Súe maleca that he said was his whole world
Always told the biggest lies
Súe maleca, that did it all for him
Era súe maleca - I was his angel

Súe maleca that he said was his whole world
Always told the biggest lies
Súe maleca, that did it all for him
Era súe maleca - I was his angel

Away from his grasp, I’ll seek my own divination
Siv, era súe maleca - Yes, I was his angel
Away from his grasp, I’ll seek my own divination
Siv, era súe maleca - Yes, I was his angel

Once the animation on the LED screen had finished, Giuliana turned back toward the audience and glanced over at the performer who was still on his knees on the floor. She had a piercing look on her face as she stared him down, and she slowly starts taking off the white, bulky dress she was wearing. Underneath it was revealed to be, another white dress, but this time perfectly fit to her proportions instead of being draped over her. She walks back up toward the mic stand where the man stood near and puts his head down toward the ground in the defeat for the remainder of the performance. Not long after, Giuliana finishes the final chorus of the song and the audience applause broke through. After a quick "Thank you!" Giuliana puts the microphone back on the stand and then helps her male performer get back on his feet, both smiling and laughing to one another. She waves out to the audience before they walk off together.

[Adab]

5. ADAB
Inanna Shipak – "Someone to Love”
Tune: Linda Ronstadt – When Will I Be Loved
Language: English


Inanna Shipak

Background
Adab entered the 95th WorldVision Song Contest on a high. Ninna Hazi’s third place at the previous meant that, for the second consecutive contest, Adab was on the podium. As confident as ABC Director-General Benji Akiya was in his country’s entries, even he did not expect Adab to be this successful, expecting Hazi’s entry to end up somewhere in the middle of the table. Again and again Benji had emphasized that his focus was not on achieving the highest possible placing in this contest, but more on introducing young Adabian artists to an international audience. The podium was simply a bonus, albeit a valuable and cherished one.

Adab’s performance over the last few contests also served to increase Benji’s confidence in his own song selection. The public process had consumed a not-insignificant amount of the ABC’s time and funds and more often than not they only had midtable results to show for it, but once Benji had taken matters into his own hands they became podium contenders. Benji did not care very much for his entries’ final placing, but he understood that, with internal selection reimplemented, Adab had certainly become more successful in the contest, and that was not a bad thing at all. Benji and the ABC Board unanimously agreed to continue with the current selection process, which placed Benji as effectively the sole arbiter of who would represent Adab in WorldVision and the World Hit Festival.

That Benji chose Inanna Shipak to represent Adab at WorldVision 95 was a bit of a surprise. Inanna was a rising talent, that was certainly not in doubt, but after two entries marked by middle-of-the road pop and indie influences not many expected Benji to go down the country route. Inanna was brought to Benji’s attention when she performed at the Concert to Eradicate Tuberculosis on the Imperial Palace grounds. Her music, which had been gaining traction lately on MyTube and Songtify, was mostly country and country rock with folk and blues influences. When Benji approached her backstage and offered the chance to go on the WorldVision stage, Inanna turned him down, thinking she had been pranked. Benji then called her manager, after which Inanna asked to be given time to consider. Two days later, she finally agreed, but warned Benji that her song might not be “very WorldVision”. “I don’t give a damn,” Benji said.

The Performance
It was with some trepidation that Inanna Shipak emerged onto the stage at the Santiphaph Park Arena. After all, only a few months before she was traveling from one arena to another in Adab, and now she found herself one of the biggest stages of all, with millions – if not billions – watching her from all across the multiverse. As she walked in the darkness was lifted and red lights shone down on the stage, with bright, sharp bars of red also lining the background and down around the outline of the stage.

Dressed immaculately in a sparkling silver dress, Inanna made her way to the central rectangle on the stage, which turned (a much brighter) silver to match her dress. She scanned the cheering crowd, seeing several miniature Adabian flags in their midst. As a single red spotlight focused on her, and the background screens behind her displayed a woman running alone in the midst of a storm, Inanna bowed her head a little, raised her fist, and began singing. As she proceeded through the verses, the screens showed the woman running around aimlessly, then shifted to show her finding and trying to climb a lone tower, only to fall into a nearby trench amidst the storm and rapidly-flashing lightning, following the plot of the song.

I’ve been to north
South, west, and east
For someone to love

I’ll climb towers
Dive into trenches
To find someone to love

The lights on the stage began moving around the stage and flashing at an increasingly faster speed, mirroring the fast pace of the song. Inanna jerked her head upwards with a defiant expression and began to stride forward towards the audience. Behind her the screens continued to follow the plot of the song, changing to display a montage of men of various ethnicities from various nations (with the only thing they had in common being “they’re either liars or just a bore”) as Inanna looked back for a moment and pointed at the screens, shaking her head rapidly to show her disapproval before turning back to face the audience. Her body language became increasingly more expressive, banging her chest several times to display her desperation at being unable to find someone she could love.

As the song reached the second stanza (“I’ll go dancing…”), Inanna did a few dance moves herself, turning, twirling, and shaking her hips frantically as the screens showed a crowd of people on a dance floor before suddenly shifting to a scene of a woman – who looked suspiciously like Inanna – rear-ending a car in the middle of a highway during a traffic jam, mouthing “to have someone to love” as the sound of honks could be heard all around her.

I’ve been around the world
Seen my share of men
They’re either liars or just a bore
I can’t relate to them

I’ll go dancing
I’ll crash my car
To have someone to love

Inanna returned to the center of the rectangle, the spotlight following her, as the screens showed the same woman – now in prison – finding herself caught up in a riot and freeing several other prisoners, including a gang of drug dealers, before they together broke out of the prison. In the midst of the chaos, as she and some other people passed through a hole in the prison fences to finally escape the facility, she saw a man standing alone in the distance, seemingly unperturbed by everything that was going on around him. The man’s face was never shown; only his back could be seen. The woman looked away for a moment, then turned to see him again, but he was already gone.

Onstage, Inanna began walking around and around the rectangle. The screens changed to show the same scene as at the beginning: the lone woman running around in the middle of the storm, not knowing where she was going, turning left and right seemingly randomly, but nevertheless still running without any end in sight. Inanna returned to the center of the rectangle for the final few lines, standing and looking at the audience as she closed out the song.

I’d free a drug dealer
Sell my own mother
If that’s what I gotta do to
Find someone I can love

I’ve been to north
South, west, and east
For someone to love
For someone to love
I just want someone to love

At the end of the final line, the screens shut down and most of the lights went out, with the exception of a few red lights which remained on – albeit dimmed – to illuminate the stage and the spotlight on Inanna. The crowd clapped and cheered, with the Adabians waving their flags. As she scanned the crowd from end to end one last time, Inanna felt a sense of satisfaction. She was a little nervous, but she did her job. Her performance had gone much better than she expected. “Thank you, Nakom! Thank you very much!” she said, smiling, waving at the crowd before making her way out of the stage for the next act.

[Faraby]

6. FARABY
Celal Alptekin – "Internet”
Tune: Kraftwerk – Trans Europa Express
Language: English


Celal Alptekin

Background
Faraby is back after a one-edition absence. Budgetary concerns within the FBC led the corporation to reluctantly decide to sit out WorldVision 94 as it sought to reform itself during the course of the year, revamping its television and Internet programs and social media outreach and even unveiling a new logo, all in an attempt to assert its autonomy and distinguish itself from its parent corporation, the ABC in Adab City. Nevertheless, the FBC Board always aimed for a comeback on WorldVision 95, and with the reforms largely complete the FBC did not hesitate to confirm its return to the contest.

Director-General Sabiha Vali and Head of Delegation Kara Abbas were still at the helm and responsible for the direction of Faraby’s next entry. Having heard rumors that Adab was sending a country-influenced entry, they both agreed that they needed to do something different. A common complaint about Faraby’s participation in the contest was that they were virtually acting as Adab’s “B-team”; both Vali and Abbas were keen to demonstrate that this was not the case. It was Abbas who suggested that they send an electronic entry, to which Vali surprisingly agreed, even offering a name to represent the state.

Celal Alptekin was born in Faraby City, but migrated to Adab in his teens in search of better opportunities. There he established himself as an electronic musician, releasing several critically-acclaimed albums. Although by that point a longtime resident of Adab City, Alptekin retained his Farabian citizenship and only took up Adabian citizenship when Faraby acceded into Adab as an associated state. The 55-year-old had never forgotten his roots, regularly returning to his home island for concerts, and when Vali and Abbas approached him to represent Adab on WorldVision he readily agreed.

The Performance
The stage was pitch black following the exit of the previous act. The Farabian fans who had traveled all the way to Yvesia now waited with bated breath, waiting, waiting for their man to appear. But for many a long minute only silence reigned. After a while it seemed as if Faraby’s entrant would never appear at all. Some in the crowd looked at each other; had they been scammed?

But then something appeared to come out of the otherwise darkened screens at the back; the first sparks of white light, which gradually grew bigger and began to form shapes against the bleak background until they formed “CELAL ALPTEKIN” in bold capital letters. As the letters imposed themselves across the screen, the audience began to hear the first stirrings of sound, a constant, locomotive-like beat from the backing track which sounded as if produced by a drum machine, soon followed by what appeared to be synthesized strings. As the beat went on, a lone white spotlight gradually revealed itself, coming down somewhat towards the back of the stage.

And there he was, standing alone, dressed smartly in a dark silver suit and black tie, his bald head shining like a ball in the light. Black sunglasses covered his eyes, his face expressing little. He did flash a smile towards the audience as he was revealed in the light, but then turned his attention back to the synthesizer in front of him, his fingers moving solemnly back and forth across the device. The performer’s seeming detachment did not perturb the crowd, who clapped and cheered him nevertheless, especially the Farabians.

When his voice finally came out, it was through a talk box which processed it in such a way that it came out sounding vaguely robotic. It would remain that way for the rest of the performance.

Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet

The harsh, unrelenting synth sounds continued, with Celal’s flat, conversational voice coming in against the backdrop of the synthesized beat, the man himself largely appearing cold and emotionless as he repeated “Internet”, as if he were truly a robot. Celal’s name faded away from the screens, to be replaced by a large, bluish image of the Earth, with lines connecting the various bright points scattered across the globe, representing the connectivity provided by the Internet. Blue lines now ran along the outline of the screens and the stage, matching the blue tinge of the image.

Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet

The crowd looked on in mesmerized silence as Celal appeared to raise his head somewhat and look at them, if only for a fleeting moment, as the synths came to dominate the arena’s sound system, their electronic sound providing an eerie and vaguely apocalyptic, yet majestic nevertheless, soundtrack to the proceedings as the constant, precisely-timed drum beat marched on in the background. A human was performing this song, but it did not appear so at times, for in his detachment and aloof manner Celal gave off the aura of having become one with the electronic device he was playing.

The human silence was finally broken when Celal delivered the first lines that were not just “Internet”. Behind him the screens changed to show montages of people at home and in the office, sitting before their computers and laptops, looking down on their phones, their fingers dancing across the keyboards and the phone screens. The audience was then treated to what appeared to be the catalog of an e-commerce website, imposed on the LED screens with a cursor hovering over several of the items as if not sure which one to choose. The screens began to scroll down rapidly, revealing tens upon tens upon tens of items available for purchase.

In this age, everything’s instant
All your needs available immediately
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet

Celal stood solemnly in silence as the synths reverberated across the venue, head bowed down and looking at the synthesizer as if contemplating, averting the audience’s gaze. The screens shifted to show a variety of people accessing their email and social media accounts, sending messages and chatting, and playing online games. All the while several other people passed them by, a few even tapping them on the shoulder, but they did not notice them and appeared lost in their own world.

All your connections are made on screen
Computer a world of its own
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet

Celal began rocking his head back and forth as the backing track with the drum beat took more prominence, seemingly drowning himself in his own performance. He still did not look at the crowd, who remained in a state of respectful – if not appreciative – silence, taking in – if not enjoying – the performance. The screens now showed a man sitting alone in his bedroom, leaning back against the head of the bed, his eyes focused squarely on the laptop in front of him. The bedroom was rather dark, with the curtains closed, and most of the light was coming out of the laptop. The man appeared deep in his own thoughts the entire time, scrolling down through whatever website he was accessing.

I don’t even go outside anymore
That’s alright, everything is on the Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet
Internet, Internet

The last line was followed by a final flourishing of the synths, which lasted well over a minute. The screens gradually faded away to black and the blue lines disappeared from around the stage and the screens, but the music went on and Celal was still focused squarely on his synthesizer, his facial expression still unchanged as if the majesty of his own performance did not touch him. The end itself came suddenly, with the sounds simply stopping – there was no fade-out – and the lights switching off, once again plunging the stage into complete darkness. The crowd clapped and showed their appreciation, some – including the Farabians – more excitedly than the others. Celal’s voice penetrated the darkness one last time: a monotone, yet warm, “thank you”, and in the midst of the darkness, as the crowd continued clapping, he walked off the stage.

[StrayaRoos]

07:StrayaRoos-STR
Empty Fire (Feat.Qui)-Altos
Tune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fngvQS_PmQ The Only song that fits (Sigh)
The Artist(s) and Nation
Yes WorldVision Altos is Back for another 26th Place XD with her new Single Empty Fire with World Hit Festival Performer Qui who will go to Pemecutan Next Month after this adventure in Yvesia and The SBC Have confirmed The Emu Song Festival in Menai will Decide The WV96 Participant if Altos fails to get top 25 which will be interesting what happens
The Song
the Light Around The arena Darkens

Altos:I found A fire it was burning bright until something Ha-Happnened
Oh-Oh, It was Running Empty (Empty),I found it could of Helped an lot (Oh-Oh)
And it Found A hole and Burnt Through the End

The Fire inside me is empty (Oh-Oh)
The Empty Fiire burnin' inside me
I feel it Burning (Oh-Oh)
Qui:It feels Empty
Altos: Oh-Oh,Yeah

This feels hard but wrong Oh-Oh
But the fire Goes on Yeah-Eah

The Fire inside me is empty (Oh-Oh)
The Empty Fiire burnin' inside me
I feel it Burning (Oh-Oh)
Qui:It feels Empty
Altos: Oh-Oh,Yeah

It's so empty
Empty Fiiiiiiiiiiiire

Done (Yay)

[Britonisea]

Withdrawn sozza

[Carrelie]

Tune: Marina & the Diamonds - Oh No!



♦ Prelude ♦

Last edition's ninth place finish came at great surprise to the Carrelian public. Due to its constant language switching, Ddim yn credu was predicted to come somewhere around 20th place, though against the odds Emie pulled through. Soon after, CarrelieOne and Radio Dourie began the organisation of the next Melodifestival contest, again in Efyre. 10 nations competed in the contest, but in the end Efyre won for the second time in 5 contests, an unbelievable result, and it's all thanks to one woman.

♣ Monica ♣


By Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA - Marina @ The Greek 10/04/2019, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.p ... d=85519042

Monica Lasserini, known mononymously as Monica, is an Italian-Efyrian singer-songwriter. Born in 1990 in Milan to Vittorio and Cerys Lasserini, Monica and her mother Cerys moved to the village of Penllwyn in 2003 after Vittorio's death in a car accident in order to be closer to Cerys' family. It was here where Monica picked up her passion for music, and upon turning 20 in 2010, she moved to London to study music in the UK, where she picked up more English. She moved once again to Caerwskwr in 2017 and then released her debut album, Next to Nothing. Since then, she's released 3 more albums and achieved Iffrwff's second consecutive win in Melodifestival.

Monica is very much a star on the rise. Her music reflects on themes on feminism, fame, greed and corruption, making her a very polarising figure in the music scene of Carrelie. During the last 5 years, she's built a considerable following in many circles, and she hasn't let the hate deter her one bit. With a loyal fanbase and a resilient soul, she's headed to certain success!

♠ Performance ♠

The stage begins dark, no lights turned on. After a few seconds, the lights all turn on, shining at Monica, the only person on stage. Around her, the screens show a barren desert at night, without any life at all. The music soon starts, and the desert scene morphs into a rainforest as Monica begins walking to the front of the stage.

Toxic love ain’t my friend
It’ll all come to an end
I don’t want your arms tonight
And not after that whole fright.
Don’t need you, don’t need me
Only need kleptocracy
All the money I attract make up for the skills I lack
What did you expect?
I have no idea
What you could expect, what you could expect
What did you ex-pect?

Following the end of the first verse, Monica begins a choreographed dance routine on stage, swinging her body to the beat. Behind her, four dancers rise out of the ground using the lifts, and the screens show a flood in the rainforest, followed by Monica being encompassed by a flurry of fish.

Don't know whatever you could want or expect of me
Do you think you could leave me spinning like your pottery?
And I won't give you what you expect, see
No, don’t know, oh no, don’t know

From the lifts comes a couch, which is hauled towards the front of the stage. Monica collapses onto the couch, facing the audience. After the third line, she rises from the sofa, and the backing dancers rush up to her, surrounding her with flash cameras. The ground below her shows a red carpet, and the screens in the back show more paparazzi. However, this soon fades and Monica collapses on the floor.

C’est la vie, as you say
I can’t go another day
A new day, a new façade
Try to make it on the scene but the first impression is too flawed.
Trying hard to make it big is not easy if you’re not rich, see
Nepotism all around, skill levels are on the ground
It’s all on the ground (x5)

Monica stays on the ground, feet rapping at the floor as the backing dancers dance behind her. After 4 lines on the ground, she jumps back up to touch the sky, joining the backing dancers in dancing. Behind the group, the screens explode in colour with question marks littering the floor.

Don't know whatever you could want or expect of me
Making it is still impossible for human beings
And I won't give you what you expect, see
No, don’t know, oh no, don’t know
Don't know whatever you could want or expect of me
Making it is still impossible for human beings
And I won't give you what you expect, see
No, don’t know, oh no, don’t know

The backing dancers leave the stage and the focus is once more on Monica, now solitary in the middle of the stage. She stretches out her arms, her left hand trails across her right, then her right across her left. This repeats one more time as the lights shift to all on her, before suddenly cutting out before the final chorus.

And from your arms, I go to theirs
And from their arms, I go to yours
This cycle in which I am trapped
And from their arms, I go to your-your-your-yours

The lights all turn back on, and colour explodes across the venue. Monica returns to her choreographed routine, this time without backing dancers, for the duration of the chorus and the short instrumental, and the backing dancers gradually rejoin her. For the last line, she reaches her hand into the sky, before the lights cut out again.

Don't know whatever you could want or expect of me
Making it is still impossible for human beings
And I won't give you what you expect, see
No, don’t know, oh no, don’t know
Don't know whatever you could want or expect of me
Making it is still impossible for human beings
And I won't give you what you expect, see
No, don’t know, oh no, don’t know

No, don’t know, oh no, don’t know

Monica is revealed once more, smiling with pure joy. She and the backing dancers cheer for themselves, and Monica shouts "Thank you Nakom! Diolch yn fawr!", though it's barely audible above the cheering. She departs the stage, leaving it for the Beepeean entry.

[Beepee]

10 - Beepee

10
"Dance With Me"
Performed by
Issa Allmosdova & Gladys Allmosdova


Tune: 'Eitt Lag Enn' - Stjornin

"I feel like we've forgotten something!" Issa questions just before going on stage, to no-one in particular.

A nearby stage hand, pulls of his headset, "Sorry?"

"Oh, Nothing",  Issa said, not quite sure what feels a little different this time, as he stares down at his shoes.  Backstage, he waits for the previous performance to finish.  He can gere the crowd cheer and chant.

His backing band for tonight are tuning up their instruments and busying themselves to go on stage.  Yet somehow Issa still feels at a loss.

He looks across the stage and can see Gladys waiting in the other wing.  She's preening her hair and applying a final coat of lipstick.  She doesn't notice him.  He fidgets with his microphone.

The crowd provides polite applause as the Carrelian act leaves the stage.  In the few moments as the postcard is being played to the at home audience, stage hands rush onto stage and clear the stage ready for Issa and Gladys' performance.

The backing band make their way onto the stage and arrange them self's at the back of the stage.  Before heading out, one of the band slaps Issa on thr shoulder "you'll be alright", he yells cheerfully while prodding his monitor into his ear.

Still Issa couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was off.

On the screen behind the stage a number 10 and the word Beepee. 

The stage lights come up and flash in a myriad of garishly bright colours, swishing and flashing over the stage and audience.  The backing musicians begin their electro-pop beat.

Gladys rushes onto the stage and sways to the music, beaming to the audience.  Issa breathes in filling his lungs, paints on his smile and rushes onto stage.  He arrives beside Gladys and sways with her.

In the audience a number of the concertgoers lift up their smartphone and click onto the special WV App.  Their they get an augmented reality version.... and their screen is covered in dark, menacing clouds.

As Issa begins...

With you
My skies are filled with blue
The dark clouds they just disappear
It's sunny here

As the above is being sung the clouds move off screen on the WV App and Issa and Gladys dance together to the beat of the music singing and smiling, in a gay, old-fashioned way.

In the auditorium, Gladys boops Issa on the nose as she sings 'with you'.  As Gladys sings of the moon and stars,  the augmented reality on the WV App sees the screen filled with a starry nights sky.  In the auditorium  a stagehand flips a swith a a number of ball lights descend from the rafters  throughout the stage and also above the auditorium looking like a thousand stars in the dark of the auditorium.  Theres a brief moment of awe from the audience.

Indeed, Issa and Gladys are singing and smiling, trying to win over the audience with their sweet smiles and nostalgic feel.  Gladys' cerise dress is adorned with thousands of sequins and diamanté and it glistens and sparkles under the lights on stage.

With you
My night is filled with stars
The moon is shining bright and full
And music plays

With the chorus, the pair grapvine side to side across the stage before box stepping their way around each other.  In the background the band play their instruments with suitable enthusiasm for the upbeat song.  Both Issa and Gladys do their best to sell the song.

Take my hand
As we swing to the band
Hold me close and whisper nothings
Sweetly in my ear

Feel the beat
The rhythm moving our feet
Pull me close and say you'll dance with me
Forever more

As the chorus ends, the pair dance together in each others arms but looking out of over the Yvesian audience. Willie Pluckett, the electric guitar player of the band , gets his 5 seconds of fame as the artistic director cuts to him for his solo before heading back to Issa and Gladys.

Issa smiles down the camera as the next stanza begins, but deep within his head he still feels like he's forgotten something.  It niggles at him.  He tries to carry on hoping that his concern isn't affecting his performance. 

On the WV App the augmented reality is voting into its own.  The background of the singers on stage starts to melt and drip behind them; slowly puddling down and leaving the pair singing against a black background.

With you
The whole world disappears
The background melts away my love
When you are near

Gladys looks into Issa's eyes as she begins her stanza.  She can intuitively tell something is wrong as his brow furrows slightly, so she smiles and nods reassuringly at him as they step back and forth across the stage. 

As she sings 'sway so closely', Gladys spins out and back into Issa's open arms.  His arms wrap around her and the pair sway in unison together.

With you
The music fills my heart
As we sway so closely to the beat
The music plays

The chorus begins and the pair contiune their choreographed routine.

Take my hand
As we swing to the band
Hold me close and whisper nothings
Sweetly in my ear

Feel the beat
The rhythm moving our feet
Pull me close and say you'll dance with me
Forever more

Throughout the chorus on the WV App, cartoon musical instruments sway along with Beepeean duo.  Moving in synchronisation with the pair.  It had taken several months of rehearsal and practice to master the moves and to get the instruments to not look like they were walking through or over Issan and Gladys.  It takes a lot of practice to look this amateur.  But generally the App waitching audience seem amused, if also a little bemused; and the whimsy seems to work well with the overall song and performance. The Beepeean choreographer was keen to make sure that the performance evoked both in AR and IRL.

With the bridge, the pair sing to each other centre stage.

And when the music ends
We stay in each others arms
We sway and dance to our very own beat

Issa and Gladys rock together in the centre of the massive rectangular stage.  The 20,000 fans, waving flags of every nation seem to be getting into the performance despite the usual excessive amount of schmaltz Beepeean entries often display... either that or they're glad it's almost over! 

In AR land, the cartoon instruments have made their way off-screen and now Issa and Gladys stand alone in front of an empty balck screen, in each others arms.  They look at each other breaking as the Bridge comes to an end and in the background a rainbow of colour explodes.

Take my hand
As we swing to the band
Hold me close and whisper nothings
Sweetly in my ear

Feel the beat
The rhythm moving our feet
Pull me close and say you'll dance with me
Forever more

The closing verse is upon Issa and Gladys.  They have sung and danced their heart out for a good 2minutes 45seconds.  They sway together for the final time in the song. 

As the final line is sung, Issa reaches to grab the red rose which is hidden within his suit jacket.  The rose was to be the big reveal for the song, he would present it to Gladys.  A grand romantic gesture.  But as his hand slid in to his jacket, he couldn't feel the rose.  He could feel himself tense, the big finale would be ruined.  This is what had been gnawing away at the back of his mind since before the performance.  He had ruined the song. 

Before ehe knew it he was down on one knee to present the flower.  What was he to do?

Looking away, as the choreography dictated, Gladys stretched out her hand ready take the rose and look coyly at Issa.  As her hand outstretched, Issa  reached dourbhis hand and pulled her hand to to give lips.  It was a moment of inspiration and the viewing public wouldn't know any different.    Except, he pulled at Gladys a little too firmly and Gladys took a small tumble but landed sitting on Issa's knee.    It was a little clumsy  but the pair smiled through it like professionals.

Pull me close and say you'll dance with me
Sway to the rhythm,
Dance with me. always.

With that their song was over.  The Yvesian audience applauded politely. The pair stood up and respectfully bowed and thanked the audience.

The stage lights dimmed to black and the pair made their way off stage.

Backstage, Gladys fumed, "What was that?"

"I'm sorry.  I...."

"Its not good enough, you've ruined our chances!"

"Gladys.  I...."

Gladys stormed off.

[Nekoni]

Entry No.11: NEKONI
Take Me
Shooting Brakes
Based on: Lucy by Lake Malawi

---

Well, that was a fun sojourn round ours, wasn't it? A third contest in Nekoni, and it turned out to be a pretty successful venture, all things considered. The hosting earned them a whole lot of money, with 29 entries, it was Nekoni's biggest contest ever, its televoting system was able to stay the course without exploding, and to cap it off, another Nekoni Top 5 finish. A few months of planning very well spent, all in all. However, as the WV circus rolls up from one location to the next in Yvesia, a new entrant beckons.

It was tempting to do a national final after the renewed spirit that winning, then hosting the contest provided. However, NTR, despite being flush with money, were all massively tired after spending weeks building light rigs and stages, that they said 'sod it', and did a national selection again instead. Three consecutive top 10s haven't let them down yet, eh? Once again, we go to the bustling capital of Varea, and pick up a pop-rock band that literally just finished university this week.

Shooting Brakes, then. They're a variety of car, and since the band's original name idea of The Cars was taken by a much, much, much more famous band, they didn't really have a leg to stand on. Besides, it's a much more enigmatic name. Known for being very good at scratching the itches of 80s-style synthpop, mid-00s indie rock, and a smooth, modern edge, the four members of Shooting Brakes may have gone to the University of Varea to study mathematics, it's clear that their main goal post-grad is to chuck out the abacus and pick up their guitars, as the three years of getting recognised in the SU bar, then the local toilet-circuit scene (Google it, it's a real term) and then in the media have effectively fast-tracked them into a career of it. What better act for WorldVision, then?

SHOOTING BRAKES ARE:
Javier Cassiel - Synths, keys
Jacob Kypros - Bass guitar
Michael Manfredo - Lead singer, guitar
Axel Belvoir - Drums

---

The gargantuan, uber-modern stage goes dark again, greeting entry #11 into the contest. Us. The band, appearing center-stage, are all closely bunched together, save for Michael, lead singer. He starts the song sat down along the steps to the right of the stage area, wearing a black varsity-style jacket, unzipped, with a yellow shirt underneath, which appears to have some sort of anime character on it (not licensed, obviously, that would be a copyright nightmare), darkened jeans and denim hi-tops. The rest of the band, in the center, are dressed equally casually, almost standing out against the extravagance of the surroundings by looking just...well...normal.

The camera starts at Michael's side, as he sings the first line whilst seated on the top stair, his guitar with him, but lying on a stair, next to him.

I'd like to be an honest man
Never thought I'd be the one to beg for your attention
Caught daydreaming, I'm afraid you've made your plans
But I can see in your eyes the chance is not yet gone

As he continues, at the second line about the words falling down, he points down with his right hand outstretched. The background LED boards of the stairs display, in a beautiful act of Nekoni being completely unable to do anything which doesn't explain to the viewer exactly what the lyrics mean, a rivulet of cyan light, cascading down the stairs, changing the white lights to a cool light blue as they go. He also lifts one single finger at the 'make me the one' bit. You gotta commit to the whole role or not do it at all, that's how Nekoni's always rolled.

But when I try to let you know
The words fall out of my mouth, make a puddle at my feet
But when it's in my head, those lines complete
And I'm just wondering, could you make me the one?

As the beat kicks in, Michael stands up, grabs his guitar and makes his way over to join the band at the centre of the stage. The LEDs immediately go black, with red, blue and green lights illuminating each of the band members (in the sort of style of the album cover for Wasting Light). As Michael walks, the path he walks illuminates with bright pink neon lines, pushing forward, with the back boards displaying 'TAKE ME' in a hot pink.

Take me
Are you gonna make your mind up?
Are you gonna take my hand?
Is that what you want?
Take me
Are you gonna let me love you?
Could you let me be the one?
I can't wait to make a start

He reaches the center of the stage when the second part of the chorus hits, and the stage erupts in hot pink, the area surrounding the band a white circle, with more lines emanating from it. He's able to get his microphone into the stand just in time to do a bit of guitar shred as he sings.

Take me
I can't believe that I'm like this,
You've made me weak at the knees with your brightness
I can't believe that I'm like this,
I close my eyes and I see your likeness
Take me

Michael's able to have a bit of a moment to himself playing guitar, as he, with eyes closed, almost dances to the beat as he goes, and the lights flick between pink and blue.

During the second verse, Michael walks a little bit forwards with the mic stand, out of the circle where the band are, to the front part of the main stage. As he does this, a blonde-haired woman in a blue and white cheerleader uniform with pleated skirt and kneesocks to match, and the same jacket Michael has on, also unzipped, appears on the stage behind the band on rollerskates, her hair tied up into a high ponytail.

She skates around the band, as Michael turns towards her to sing, as she completes the circle to end up right next to him. At the end of the verse, Michael reaches his hand up to stop her, and she stops on a dime, looking confused as Michael drops the singing for a second.

Now, pray silence for the spoken word section, which may be the corniest line in Nekoni WorldVision history. Shut up, it's brilliant.

I can't forget the smell of you
The wonderful beautiful sweetness
Could you tell me the product that you use
And would you like a box of it for Christmas?

As the world does a little mouth-vom from the cheese, she smiles, laughing a little. The chorus breaks as she continues to skate around him clockwise, the camera slowly rotating around the two in an anti-clockwise direction.

Take me
Are you gonna make your mind up?
Are you gonna take my hand?
Is that what you want?
Take me
Are you gonna let me love you?
Could you let me be the one?
I can't wait to make a start

We continue this arc around the center stage for the chorus, as the lights continue with their hot pink and blue backgrounds, with streaks of white marking the floor as she moves. As the chorus continues, we see the circle the band is on steading increase in size, until the entire stage is lit with a perfectly bright white light.

Take me
I can't believe that I'm like this,
You've made me weak at the knees with your brightness
I can't believe that I'm like this,
I close my eyes and I see your likeness
Take me

When the light hits white, Michael and the rollerskater are at the front stage, next to each other again. He turns to face her, and she looks back at him. Just as the band drops out, he reaches in for a kiss. G'wan, son. She smiling, leans in too, but at the last possible minute, reaches back out, and playfully boops him on the nose with her finger. She's got a smile as playful as that move, so he's not lost it yet.

I just want you to see me
The man for you I could be
I really want to let you know, but
Oh my God, I'm just so
I'm so afraid I'm gonna mess this up

As the final verse hits, they grab each other by the hand, she leans right into his arm, and she begins to dance, almost in a kind of ballroom style with Michael. She twists and turns around him, whilst Michael isn't moving, their right hands locked into each other the entire time as she does. There's a lot of body contact going on, with her moving close to him and using his arm as a bar to lean back as far as she can across his chest, amongst other moves, somehow staying upright and with perfect poise, considering she's wearing a pair of retro rollerskates.

Take me
I can't believe that I'm like this,
You've made me weak at the knees with your brightness
I can't believe that I'm like this,
I close my eyes and I see your likeness
Take me

A lovely bit of pyro hits as Michael, still hands together, walks forward to the very end of the stage, and leads her off to circle the stage one last time, her movements this time, instead of regular skating, are effectively dance-like, even hitting a pirouette towards the end. She finishes a lap of the stage just as we hit the end of this outro section for the final part, where she reaches Michael, and grabs his waiting hand.

You stole my heart from me
May you take the rest of me?
Please let me know what you want
Are you gonna take my hand?
Are you gonna take my hand?

As they finish, the arena goes dark, with a spotlight focusing on the couple. She's in an embrace, holding Michael around the waist with both arms, head resting against his shoulder. He turns his head towards her, as if to keep her warm in a strong breeze, as he sings the final lyrics.

I'd like to be an honest man
Never thought I'd be the one to beg for your attention

And the song ends as it began, and the crowd appreciatively go wild for them. The two at the front continue to hold their warm embrace until the feed fades out, and we cut to the next entry.

[Pemecutan]

12

---

---

DEDE-" DIHARGAI "

---

---

Title Translation: Appreciated
Language: Bahasa (Indonesian)

Music: Jaya Laksana
Lyric: Dede

---

Tune: Rag'n'Bone - Human

Pemecutan is back again to the WorldVision Song Contest after a top 20 finished last edition. GBC as the official broadcaster makes a shocking decision for who will represent the country in the 95th edition. The reveal is also make a buzz in the country itself. The artist that is selected to represent the country is Dede. He is a newcomer in Pemecutan music industry who just release his first single before his self title album which will be release next month. This selection that make GBC as the organizer to be criticize by the contest fans.

It's not that we're doubting Dede but he is a newcomer. I think we still have a lot of other artists that can represent us in the contest with a fair result.

Says a fan.

GBC spoke person defend their committee decision for selecting Dede. Dede has become a national phenomenon in the country with his first single. The song "Dihargai" which is also will be use in the contest have top the Chakra Music chart on its initial release. It also become the most streamed song in the past week.

The song is beloved domestically. I think that's a good point. The other is the selection give a refreshment to our delegation. And showing that it doesn't need a decades of experience to be selected to the song contest. Anyone can.

GBC spoke person

Made Sabda Adi or known for his stage name, Dede is a 29 years old singer of Pemecutan. Born in Pulugambang, a town in western shore of Giri Island, Dede has had a long journey before he is able to be to this stage. Born in a middle-class family, Dede was often bullied during his childhood because of his weight. He was diagnosed of obesity during elementary school. The situation in his home was also not very friendly. He was often being compared to his older sister. Even his father sometimes bully him because of his weight. And music is his escape. But his music talent is often being underestimated by his father and sister. His sister also can sing. She was joined in a local band and perform from cafe to cafe. But not Dede. Because of the constant bullying, he become very shy and often stage freight when he singing.

I remember when I was a kid. I'm singing in the bathroom but then my father bang the bathroom door and told me to shut up. I was hurt and reluctant to sing again. It was not until college that I am start to singing again.

Dede

Dede already start his diet in high school after a minor heart attack happened to him. In college, he was joined in the university's choir group. There he was encouraged by his friends to keep singing. He then turn to online and record a cover of several notable songs. Luckily, he is learn to play guitar which help him to make the records. The cover video went viral and that is when he is approached by a recording company. He was offered for a 2 albums contract by Jenggala Records which based in Ubung. He think twice about the offer as he was already working. The offer will have to make him move to Ubung. Luckily, the recording company told him that he can work remotely and only come to Ubung occasionally. Dede feel relieve and agree to signed the contract. But the process to make the song is quite long.

After 4 months of no news, Jenggala's agent ask Dede about the progress of his songs or album. Dede was startled because he only have a half finished lyric. The agent pushed him to finished the lyric while also give him several other lyrics from other songwriters that he might interested. The process make him have to go back and forth between Ubung and Peguyangan, the place where he is staying. It also makes him have to resign from his job and just taking part time or freelance job to fill the time between his busy schedule. "Dihargai" is the only song that he write himself in his upcoming self title album. The song is about his own feeling of being unappreciated and underestimated by everyone around him during his childhood and teenage years, including his own family.

By the time I finished college and decided to live in Peguyangan, I only make contact with my mother. She is the only one that still on my side. I always love her and respected her.

Dede

"Dihargai" shocking result makes Dede very happy. It is a great accomplishment for the whole live journey that he had go through. But this is just the start. The music fans have waiting for his album. But then again, there's always pros and cons especially about his selection to WorldVision Song Contest.

I'm feeling honored with the selection and I understand with the negative comment. I know that I am new in this industry. But then again I won't wasted this opportunity.

Dede

---

The tension build up for Dede as his performance time approaching. He feels nervous. And sweat already wet both his palm. For tonight's performance, Dede is wearing an all black suit with red tie. The hair is kept slick. When the host called out his name, Dede breath deeply to calm himself. The postcard of Pemecutan is shown at both side screen with his picture placed in the center screen.

The stage is fill with blue nuance which calm the atmosphere. Dede is standing at the center of the stage. A downlight shine right to him. The camera show a zoom out view which showed a full view of the stage from the right side. As the intro started, the backing singers sing their part while the screen now showing a flowing water in blue background building up a calming atmosphere.

The camera approached Dede as he start to singing. He make contact with the camera when it is viewing him close up. It viewing the side of him. Turning a 180 degrees view as he continue to sing. The music turn vibrant as he sing the chorus. Dede still standing with the microphone in front of him. The screen changed. Now it showing several people, men and women, young and adult. All of them showing a banner with different words in it. The words refer to any expression of negative feelings such as blamed, hurts, enslaved, beaten, cat called, etc. The camera change its view between the screen and Dede sing his heart out. As the chorus ended, the footage distorted.

Hanya dihargai
Ku ingin, ku ingin
Untuk dihargai, hargai

Ku buka suara engkau menyanggah
Ku lakukan semua tiada ungkapan
Ketika ku diam muncul cibiran
Ada dimana letak benarku
Mengapa semua selalu salahku
Dan ku pun membisu
Ku hanya membisu

Saat ku kerjakan kurang bagimu
Di saat ku tak bisa muncul marahmu
Aku pun bingung
Ada dimana letak benarku?
Semua selalu salah bagimu
Dan ku pun membisu
Ku diam membisu

Siapa aku bagimu?
Berhargakah aku?
Semuanya t'lah kulakukan
Hanyalah untuk mu
Bukan pujian yang aku cari
Kehormatan tidak ku nanti
Hanya dihargai
Untuk dihargai

Just appreciation
I want, I want
To be appreciated, appreciated

I open my voice but you denied
I do everything but no expression
When I'm silent, a sneer appears
Where is my right
Why is everything always my fault
And I'm silent
I'm just silent

When I can do things, it's less for you
When I can't, appear your anger
I'm confused too
Where is my right?
Everything is always wrong for you
And I'm silent
I'm silent

Who am I to you?
Am I worth?
I've done everything
Only for you
Not the compliment I was looking for
I will not honor later
Only appreciation
To be appreciated

Dede begin to sing the second part of the song. The screen now back to the bluish color of smoke. The camera give a close up look of Dede before zooming out to show the whole stage. The stage comes alive again as he sing the chorus. The picture footage of people are shown again. The camera show some audience who are also singing along with Dede as the chorus continue. The screen then distort again as the chorus end.

Pernah ku berniat untuk tinggalkan
Namun kau selalu ada alasan
Buatku bimbang
Apakah benar jika ku bertahan?
Tapi diriku tiada lah berharga
Dan ku pun membisu
Ku diam membisu

Siapa aku bagimu?
Berhargakah aku?
Semuanya t'lah kulakukan
Hanyalah untuk mu
Bukan pujian yang aku cari
Kehormatan tidak ku nanti
Hanya dihargai
Untuk dihargai

I ever intended to leave
But you always have a reason
Make me worried
Is it right that I stay?
But I'm not worthy for you
And I'm silent
I'm silent

Who am I to you?
Am I worth?
I've done everything
Only for you
Not the compliment I was looking for
I will not honor later
Only appreciation
To be appreciated

The screen put a space-like video. The camera viewed from the front as Dede take his microphone as walk to the front. The camera stopped and turn to the side as Dede continue to walk while singing the bridge part. It turn to show the back of Dede before turn again to the side and show Dede singing from a distance.

Siapa aku yang tak dipandang
Siapa aku yang tak dianggap
Hanya tempat salah
Ku selalu salah

Ku bukan budak atau suruhan
Ku juga punya hati dan rasa

Bukanlah tempat untuk dimaki
Bukanlah tempat untuk dicaci
Hanya dihargai
Sdikit dihargai

Who am I that is unseen
Who am I that is not considered
Just a place to blame
I'm always wrong

I'm not a slave or an errand boy
I also have a heart and feelings

Not a place to be cursed
Not a place to be scolded
Only appreciation
A little appreciation

The camera zooming in the view until it show the close up of Dede's face. Dede make contact with the camera as he sing through it to reach out the audience. The center screen is also showing his close up face. He continue to sing the last part as the camera zoom out until showing his whole figure. As he sing the last word, he drop his head, hands down as if he is helpless. The stage also suddenly turn dark.

Ku sudah lelah dengan sikapmu
Ku ingin bebas jauh darimu
Menjadi diriku
Tanpa bayanganmu

I'm tired of your attitude
I want to be free away from you
Being myself
Without your shadow

The crowd cheering for his performance especially the fans from Pemecutan who attend there. The stage lights turn on and Dede is standing there with a wide smile. He give a namaste pose and shout 'thank you'. The host once again call his name as Dede bow down and give a farewell before he walks to the backstage. The host then announce the next performer, Elejamie.

[Elejamie]

13 Elejamie

The Humanoids - Come On/Join Us

Tune: Age of Consent - Heartbreak

From left to right: Elliot Page (synths, guitar, vocals), Brian Linehan (synths, bass, vocals), Nicolás Valera (synths, backing vocals), Liam Page (drums, backing vocals).

Elliot Page was born in St. Andrew’s Point, WYKN, on November 27th, 1996. The youngest of three kids, he had an interest in music at a young age and always envisioned himself as a highly popular rock musician. While he wasn’t that good with a normal guitar, once he picked up the bass he showed that he had some level of talent. While his parents couldn’t really afford private lessons, he was able to practice at school and by the time he was 16 he did show that he was competent at playing it and was able to stand out a fair amount. For his junior and senior years in high school he was in a number of garage bands but they would either play a few gigs before breaking up, play a Battle of the Bands and not get that far, practice a few times before just calling it quits for one reason or another or he was on the receiving end of a line-up change. This carried on when he went to Davenport University to study computer science, although his stints in the bands lasted a bit longer.

After bouncing around from band to band, he ultimately decided to form his own band in 2015. Bringing on board a friend from high school in Brian Linehan (born February 29th, 1996) on guitar, the two became The Humanoids, a name they took because it was one of the few bands names that they could think of that wasn’t taken. Teaming up with a drum machine for percussion, they were essentially an alt-rock cover band that, while decent, weren’t anything that would stand out. They got gigs alright and even a couple of recorded performances, the first being a small set for the university student radio station and the other was a slightly bigger set for an internet video; while both Elliot and Brian aren’t that keen on both performances even before they decided to switch their style up, they aren’t that bothered about them ending up on the internet and have encouraged fans to bootleg both performances due to their refusal to officially release them. Eventually, due to a combination of burn-out and an inability to come up with any decent original work, the two decided to call it quits by the end of the year and Elliot decided to concentrate on his education.

Fast forward to 2018. Following his graduation and decision to remain in Davenport, Elliot got back in touch with Brian and they decided to reform The Humanoids. Hoping to make it more of a complete band, they brought in Liam Page (no relation; born March 24th, 1996) on drums to make it a trio after he responded to an advert they had made and gave the best audition. The only real downside was that he wasn’t exactly that keen on using a normal drum kit and instead brought his own pad. While Elliot and Brian didn’t think much of it at first, little did they know that this would end up kickstarting a change in style, especially when Liam ended up bringing in a good friend of his in Nicolás Valera (born September 21st, 1996) on keyboards to turn the trio into a quartet.

Although they weren’t exactly that keen on the alt-rock stylings that the other two wanted to perform, Liam and Nicolás went along with it at first but tried to add an electronic tinge to it whenever they could. This eventually led to them composing their own full-on electronic songs with sampled guitars and bass and sticking them onto the demos whenever they could. While Elliot and Brian weren’t exactly keen with this at first, it did end up working in their favour when they received a letter back from a record label they sent a demo to. While it said that the full-on rock songs weren’t exactly what they were looking for, they did enjoy the more electronic songs and would love to hear more of them. Elliot and Brian relented and decided to go along with it, not only adding some original guitar and bass work but also their own original vocals as well. Once this second demo was done they sent it over to a number of different labels before eventually signing with Super Saturday, who took them on for a three-album deal.

Now with a bigger budget and better equipment, they took the best of their demo songs and either reworked them to their new style or improved on what they already had. With a good place to start, they get to work on the rest of the album, a process easier said than done. For obvious reasons they were still unable to figure out how to mesh the two styles together, which saw some songs leaning closer to one style than the other. While the members weren’t flat-out arguing, they were still having disagreements on how it should be done. Fortunately they were able to get a general idea of what to go with when they made the song Firefly, when they decided to just take the New Order approach. As a result, they went back to try and re-record what they had already done to try and fit this new style. It may have resulted in their self-titled debut album being delayed by a couple of weeks to fit this re-recording session, resulting in it being released in March 2019, but the positive reviews and decent sales were more than enough to make up for it. They didn’t tour to support the album, however, as they instead joined their label’s annual Super Satourday, a label-wide touring festival that happens every Summer (barring 2020 and 2021 for obvious reasons).

Once the tour came to an end, they decided to take a brief hiatus to either come up with new ideas for new songs (Elliot), work on other projects (Liam and Nicolás) or just help other bands with other things (Brian). When the coronavirus pandemic ended up putting the kibosh on some of their plans, it did mean that they were able to get together and work on some more songs. Although it was a bit slow due to them having to record their bits separately and then trying to get them in the best quality possible, they were able to get a few songs out of the whole experience. They eventually split these songs into two digital-only EPs, the first of which was simply called EP and the second called More Of The Humanoids. Despite not really that much promotion from the artists themselves, they both got a fair amount of streams and downloads so it wasn’t all bad. After another small break, they eventually returned to the studio to record a couple of stand-alone singles, one of which (Class of ‘85) was their first attempt at a WorldVision entry. Their second album, titled 2071, was released back in August 2021 to positive reviews. Should Super SatourDay go ahead in 2022 then they’ll use that to support the album but, other than that, the band has said that they don’t have that many plans for future releases or events at the moment.

In the last competition, Elejamie were represented by Lisa Park and Her Gang in what was their second competition. Their first attempt at the contest was at the 85th contest in Valletta in Malta Comino Gozo with Lucía Beltrán, which didn’t do too well as they ended up finishing in 12th place with 130 points. However, this second time, the group were not only front and centre but were also performing one of their own songs, a little ditty called “Love in the Afternoon”. Inspired by Lisa’s first date with her now-husband Andrew Song, it was also the band’s entry attempt heading into WV84 but ended up finishing third in the NF. However, the band would eventually be selected to perform at the contest in Marina Point, Nekoni and as a result they decided to go with their originally-planned song. They were accompanied by Lewis Montclair as a conductor and the NTR Philharmonia as a backing orchestra, making it the second time an Elejamian entry had used one and the third time an Elejamian conductor had performed at the contest. While the song wasn’t really expected to do well, with bookies placing it in the lower half of the top ten if not missing out on it entirely, hopes were still high and there was a chance that the nation would get a good score out of it.

Unlike past competitions, the voting didn’t go too badly for the small Pacific island nation. For a start, they managed to tie their record of four 12 points, receiving the max score from Joija, Carrelie, the Achaean Republic and hosts Nekoni. Furthermore, it was the joint most in the competition as Antahbrantahstan (who eventually finished fourth) also received four 12s as well. By the half-way point, they were in second place with 63 points and just a single point behind the Alezian Union. However, while the second half saw a bit of a decline like always, it wasn’t as much of a disaster as it was in previous competitions. They still managed to scrape the aforementioned 12 from Nekoni as well as a 7 from Kalosia but other than that there were moments where they received few points or none at all. By the end of the jury vote they had dropped down to third place with 95 points, the same score as Adab but just ahead of them on tie-breakers. However, the televote was kind to them and they managed to pick up a whopping 123 points in it to finish in second place overall with 218 points, just five points behind the winners from the Alezian Union. While some pessimists argue that it’s just another point in the nation’s infamous “Legacy of Pain”, it’s a viewpoint not shared by all and is even considered a high-point because a) they had won the televote thanks to that impressive score and b) unlike the 75th and 77th editions there was nothing last-minute that had costed them the win (at least from an OOC perspective, since when I was writing this I was a Committee member and thus I could actually check to see how well I was doing). Lisa also didn’t mind finishing runner-up either, as she said on social media following the contest that she felt that Aziz-Lufti Garanov deserved the win more in the caption of a picture she uploaded on social media of the two together.

As ElejamieVision is still finished for the time being, although whether or not it’ll make a return will be anyone’s guess, ETV had to internally select another entry. Deciding not to hype this out any longer, they decided to go for The Humanoids, who by this point were not only all fit and healthy but also were up for competing. The band were originally supposed to play at the 91st edition in Haufenburg, Carrelie due to them finishing second in the previous edition’s ElejamieVision, but bassist/keyboardist/singer Brian Linehan had broken his leg in an accident and thus the band had to withdraw; The Lads and the Lasses stepped in to take their place and managed a resounding third place with their entry Your Song. By the time the 94th edition rolled around, where ETV had decided to scrap the third-placers edition of ElejamieVision, they were asked again if they would be up for participating but again turned it down. This was due to a combination of Brian’s leg not being 100% healed, the rest of the band not being exactly ready to compete either and because the band didn’t respond in time before Lisa Park and Her Gang stepped in. Fortunately, the third time they were asked they were all available and they agreed to take part at the competition with the same song they were hoping to send five editions ago, a little electronic tune called Come On/Join Us. But more on that in a bit.

Upon completing their mandatory seven day quarantine upon arrival in Nakom in Yvesia, as expected for any citizen who leaves Elejamie, they just spent their time off from rehearsing just doing whatever took their fancy. After all, while the tour guide didn't really suggest a great deal, the four were still able to have an adventure. For a start, there was the Catchom Thongsi Performance Arts Centre where they caught a couple of shows, although it was kind of split on whether it was for inspiration or just to pass the time. There was also a tour of Black Sheep Studios, which again was enough to pass the time in between rehearsals. And, while they didn't go to any of the clubs, they did hit up a couple of the casinos although drummer Liam Page had to be figuratively dragged away after losing ¥57,500 (or $500) despite starting with a good streak; fortunately, he did manage to avoid getting an addiction but his bandmates still kept an eye on him for the rest of the tour. Also, despite being offered the chance to arrive in a brand new luxury car, they elected to arrive to the Santiphaph Park Arena in a taxi. This wasn't just to try and endear them to the locals but also because they wanted to show a bit of humbleness and because they wanted to stand out from everyone else.

When asked about the song and what it’s about keyboardist Nicolás Valera, who came up with the idea for the album, said (with an obvious jokey reference at some point) “The album it’s on, 2071, is a concept album about a world where creativity and individuality is banned and anyone expressing those things ends up getting punished for it. Forced disappearances, being denigrated in public, memory holed, all that fun stuff. And of course you have the band of unlikely heroes teaming up to take it down. Standard cyberpunk fare with no real subtext because writers who use it are cowards. This song is essentially a theme tune for the secret police, who spend their time watching everyone to make sure they’re falling in line, they’re not trying to draw attention to themselves and how these secret police officers are willing to smack down anyone who dares to break that rule.”

---

Once the postcard came to an end, we’re greeted with a distant shot of the stage and a caption at the bottom of the screen saying the country along with all the info about the song, along with the audience cheering for the act that they were about to see. As the camera slowly zoomed closer to the stage, we could make out more of the details. There were the four band members standing on it, the backing screens were turned off for the moment and they were all standing behind or next to their instruments. They also seemed to be a bit calm, either because they just thought of it as just a normal concert except they had to perform only the one song or they were able to put all of their fears to one side. A bit easier said than done due to the fact that not only were they following up from Lisa Park’s miraculous second place finish but also there was the fact that they were brought up as a question mark so often it was now a mystery of whether or not the hype was going to be completely worth it. No matter, they could cross that bridge when they get to it.

The cheering died down and then the song started. Not only did we get a close-up of Liam hitting his drum pad three times but it was also presented in a small box in the middle of the screen. The first time that he hit the drum pad the screen had a white filter on it, the second time there was an orange filter and the third time the whole picture went dark. Immediately after that we then cut to a wide shot of the stage where we could see the band, as well as the screens behind them just showing a green moving grid against a black background. Three of them were in a straight line while the one on the furthest right was a bit more forward than them; this wasn’t because they wanted the music to be front and centre (WV77 and WV93) or because they had no idea how to present it (WV81) but rather because it fit the whole theme of the song. From left to right we had Nicolás playing his keyboards, Liam drumming along on his pad, Elliot standing in front of a keyboard while he had his guitar equipped and Brian plucking his bass while he was standing in front of a microphone. With the sole exception of Elliot, who wasn’t playing anything at that moment, they were all playing their instruments in a very robotic manner which was fitting for a song from an album about not being an individual. Shortly before the start of the first verse, we then cut to Elliot messing around with his keyboard, as it was pre-loaded with samples of the song itself, before we then cut to a shot of him repeatedly pressing a key before pressing two more just so it can say “_{JOIN JOIN JOIN JOIN JOIN-JOIN} ^{JOIN JOIN}”.

That was Brian’s signal to start singing. He stood up straight and once Elliot was done with his keyboard bit he began to sing into the microphone. He, alongside his bandmates, was dressed in a black suit with white shirts, thin black ties and black shoes for a completely nondescript look, either to make the whole “secret police” vibe even more clear or to channel the men in black. Even Liam had his hair cut so he wouldn't look out of place. The backing screen behind the band was a moving image full of abstract shapes of differing shades of dark blue, grey and black, with the screen occasionally going black to display some text in a white font for a few seconds. The camera was mostly centred around him singing his verse and plucking his bass in the same robotic manner, all with a stony face to keep with the whole theme of the song. There were shots of the band also playing their instruments just as robotically and, indeed, while there was a shot Nicolás drumming the screen behind the band went black with the word “OBEY” written on it; while the text was mostly cut off in the shot, it was still easy to make out what it said. As soon as the verse ended, there was a quick and immediate cut to Brian’s fingers going down the neck of his bass as a quick segue to the pre-chorus.

We shall get rid of your soul
As soon as we take full control
Burn the books and wipe the slate
Don’t be creative in this place

As soon as it was time to start the pre-chorus of the song, Brian shook his body to the side and then sang. This was partly for dramatic effect and partly because he was leaning to one side while he was playing that bass bit and wanted to get himself upright. The camera was also at a Dutch angle for the first line but for the second it was just a normal shot of him. At the end of the second line there was a shot of Liam hitting the drum pads but, unlike the start of the song, there was no filter but there was a close up of his hands. A close up that zoomed in and lost the black border around the shot with each hit. While Brian moved his body and his head a little bit as he sang the rest of the pre-chorus, there were occasional cuts to Nicolás and Liam playing their instruments while they either looked down at them or stared at the camera, again to keep the whole aesthetic going. The lights also got brighter at this bit and the shapes behind them got more bold, although there was no "subliminal messages" this time around.

You’ll be able to see them through
If they’re out of line you’ll know what to do
If they try to subvert us
You know what to do
You’ll know how to avert this

Once the pre-chorus was over we got a quick instrumental break. For this, the camera then cuts to Liam hitting one of his drum pads before he hits two of them at the same time. However, as he did this, the shot instead was shown at a medium size in the middle of the screen and, when he hit the drum pad for the first time, there was a red filter which immediately turned into a yellow filter when he hit both drum pads. He repeated that pattern again while the shot stayed exactly the same, except this time it was a red filter going into a white one. The camera then did a quick pan over to a close-up of Nicolás’ fingers as he played a few notes on his keyboard to segue into the chorus. While it wasn’t a difficult feat to show this for the viewers back home, for the people at the contest itself the side screens went black and what the people were seeing back home was being shown on it. Indeed, that’s how it was being done, with one camera just recording the one screen and it being cut to it when necessary.

Now it was time for the chorus. Brian made slight movements to the upper half of his body while he sang the first two lines, all while the camera cut to different angles and shots of him. Towards the end of that, there was a quick cut over to Elliot who pressed a couple of his keys on his keyboard to make a quick “JOIN US”, something that was done by sampling a couple of the lyrics into it and allowing him to mess around with it. A neat idea but he had to punch in a different code if he wanted to use something else, so it was just a matter of not trying to get lost into the music to actually get it done. After that, the camera cut back to Brian for a brief second before it returned to Liam drumming along at the end of the third line. For the last two, the camera then returned to Brian who stood completely still for the fourth line before leaning forward a little bit to perform the last line.

It’s time to begin our plan
Make them more machine than man
And when they fall in line
You’ll be acceptable
Come on and join us

Almost immediately, the second verse started. The camera cut to another shot of Liam hitting his drum kit a few times before it returned over to Brian. At this point the lights dimmed but weren’t completely off, as it was still easy to make out certain features of the stage. Not to mention the fairly bright light shining down on Brian and light coming off the rear projector behind them. Brian just simply sang the first two lines as he stood completely still, the only movements noticeable on the outside being him blinking, his mouth moving to sing and his hands moving along to play his bass, the camera cutting from a straight-ahead shot of him for the first line to one from the side as he sang the second. Furthermore, towards the end of the second line, the camera cut to an aerial shot of Elliot pressing his keys to make what Brian sang echo. The camera returned to Brian and again remained on a medium shot of him singing the third and fourth lines, with the screen behind the band going black and the word “CONFORM” being written on it in the same white letters as earlier. He turned his head towards the end of the fourth line, with a brief cut to Nicolás playing his keyboards, before the camera returned to the same shot as he leaned forward to sing the fifth line with a bit of emphasis.

By now you should’ve known the score
You will be above the law law law law law law
No one will ever question you
You can make all the rules
And you can break them

And now it was time for the pre-chorus again. The camera returned to Liam slamming his sticks down onto the drum pads and, with that, not only did the lights return but they were shining brighter than they did earlier. The camera kept on him drumming a bit harder than he did earlier in the song before it cut back to Brian for the second line, where he again sang with a bit of enthusiasm towards the end of the line. There was a cut to a side shot of Liam playing his drums but, much like earlier, it was simply a small picture surrounded by a black screen and with a filter on it, with the picture growing bigger with each drum hit; in this case it started with a blue filter before going to a white one with the second hit and finally finishing off with a yellow one. The camera returned to Brian and mostly focused on him with the odd cutaway to Liam still drumming along or to Nicolás playing his keyboards. Eventually, when it came to the end of the fifth line, Brian turned his head to the side and looked down while there was a quick sweep to Elliot pressing a key on his keyboard and fiddling with a dial to make the ending echo a little bit.

You’ll be able to see them through
If they’re out of line you’ll know what to do
If they try to subvert us
You’ll know what to do
You’ll know how to avert this

Once again, it was time for the quick instrumental break before the chorus. And this time the cameras immediately cut to a close-up of Liam’s hands hitting the drum pads the same way he did earlier. However, unlike the last time, the shot was surrounded by a black background but as it zoomed in the image got bigger. The cameras themselves didn’t really do anything other than display the shots, it was all done with the magic of editing. Furthermore there was a dark blue filter that led into a white one. Then a light blue filter that also went into a white one, which it stayed on as the camera then trucked over to a close-up of Nicolás playing his keyboards to lead into the chorus itself.

Brian stood up straight as he sang the chorus, with the first line being another Dutch angle shot of him singing before the second line being a simple straight-ahead medium shot of him. Towards the end of that line the camera then cut over to Elliot playing a couple of keys on his keyboard before it returned to the same shot of Brian as he did the third line. Indeed, as he sang that third line, the screen behind him went black yet again with the words “FOLLOW” written in white letters on it. For the fourth line Brian stood still but leaned forward again for a bit more emphasis on the fifth line. More of the same happened for the sixth and seventh lines, although Brian brought his bass closer to the floor as he emphasised the last couple of syllables. He leaned back a bit for the eighth line before doing the same as he did earlier for the ninth and tenth ones.

It’s time to begin our plan
Make them more machine than man
And when they fall in line
You’ll be acceptable
Come on and join us
Now that they’re one of us
It’s time to do what you must
And now that they’re in line
You are acceptable
Come on and join us

At that point, not only did the screens behind the band turn off, along with a few of the lights, but also the camera faded and went to a series of shots that faded in before fading out a few seconds later. First it was Elliot playing his guitar. Then it was a close-up of Nicolás making Brian’s line’s echo and fade out, as he had the same settings as Elliot on his keyboard. Then it was a close-up of Brian looking intently to his side, only catching the camera out of the corner of his eye. Afterwards it was a close-up of Elliot’s hands strumming along. Next up was another close-up but this time it was of Brian’s hand running along the neck of his bass, before segueing into one of Liam hitting his drum pads a couple of times and Nicolás playing his keyboards as he returned to the same settings he had earlier.

Even when the lyrics kicked in, they carried on with what they were doing. For the bit in brackets with Brian’s sampled voice, it was Elliot strumming with one hand while he used a finger on the other to press one of the keys to make those sounds. Then it went to a quick shot of both Liam hitting his drum pads and Nicolás playing his instruments, although only half of each person was in that shot. There was also a series of shots of Brian singing the verse, all from different angles and different distances and one or two even zooming in. And all broken up with the occasional shot of Elliot again pressing the same key to make those samples in the brackets while strumming with his other hand, the occasional shot of Liam hitting his drum pads and the occasional shot of Nicolás pressing his keys. And, of course, they were all joining Brian in singing the bit when their mouths were visible. All of this made a Battlefield Earth trailer seem like it had a working camera by comparison but at least it somewhat fit the whole aesthetic.

(JOIN JOIN JOIN JOIN)
Come on, join us
Join us, come on (JOIN JOIN JOIN JOIN)
Come on, join us
Join us, come on (JOIN JOIN JOIN JOIN)

Fortunately by the time it was for the chorus, or more accurately a variation of it, they had faded into a shot of the space above Brian. The stage itself was still mostly dimmed, with the only sources of lights being a white light shining down on Brian and the lights at the foot of the stage, which rolled back and forth like a wave. As Brian began to sing the lines, the camera slowly lowered itself until he was fully in the shot. Between the end of the first line and halfway through the second there was a faint picture-in-picture shot of Elliot playing his guitar over Brian simply standing there and singing. The same sort of shot returned partway through the third before it faded out, except this time it was of Nicolás hunched over his keyboard, fiddling with a dial with one hand while he used a few fingers on his other hand to play a chord. Much like he did during the chorus Brian stood completely rigid for the fourth line before leaning forward for a bit of emphasis on the fifth.

Now they can’t think for themselves
Or create anything else
Because you’ve done a good job
You are acceptable
Come on and join us

Right after Brian had finished singing, Liam hit his drum pads three times to signify the start of the outro. The shot was in the middle of the screen and, with each drum beat it got smaller until it was roughly the size of a 3x3 square made up of postage stamps. There was a green filter over the first drum beat, a red filter over the second and a yellow filter over the third. When it was time for Brian to sing again, the camera went to a wide shot of the stage, which exploded into light as everything turned back on with varying degrees of brightness. He slowly moved his head from the left to the right for the first line and back again for the second, with a brief cut over to Elliot playing a couple of samples on his keyboard before the cameras returned to Brian. There was a slight nod for the third before he looked to his side after singing the fourth line and leaning forward for the fifth, much like he had done earlier in the song.

The cameras then returned to what they were doing earlier in the song, where they were different shots of the band from different angles and different positions, all as they played their instruments and sang the lines. The differences were that there were no fade-ins or outs in between each shot but rather just a simple cut, and the lights and the backing screen were all on. In fact, halfway through the eighth line, the backing screen turned black with the word “CONSUME” written on it in the same white letters as before. Partway through the ninth line, the camera returned to Brian who was standing still and playing his instrument as he started to sing his own bits. He remained still throughout the last line of the song, although there was another faint picture-in-picture shot of the rest of the band playing their instruments while singing the bit in brackets.

Come on
Join us
Come on
You are acceptable
Come on and join us
Come on, join us
Join us, come on
Come on, join us
(Come on) You are acceptable
(Join us) Come on and join us

Immediately after Brian had stopped singing, the cameras cut to a wide shot of the entire stage and the lights and the screens faded to darkness to signify that it was the end of the song. Indeed, when the stage was pitch black the audience started to applaud for the song they had just finished watching. The lights turned back on a couple of seconds later and the camera panned around to show them waving flags and signs and just being excitable. The cameras then returned to the stage where The Humanoids were standing at the foot of it, almost as if they had teleported there. All four of them were standing in a completely straight line to the exact millimetre. The only person who wasn’t standing completely upright and still with his hands by his sides was Brian, whose arm was closer to his chest because he was holding a microphone in that hand. He merely raised it up and said a simple “Thank you” before everyone headed backstage in a single file line. But not before he delicately slammed the mic back down on its stand, as not to break it for the next person.

Once they were backstage, they finally stepped out of character. They made their way past the next entrant, a Mr. Gustav Matan who’s representing Crustyland in another of their more serious and non-seal/non-walrus related entries, the sort they've been putting out quite a bit lately. They then sat down at their table in the green room and ordered a can of beer each. Although there was a bit of pressure on them given the country’s placing last time, coupled with the fact that two major players at the contest are making a return, the group were completely chill about the whole thing. It was just like a concert, except on a bigger scale and they’re only performing the one song. That being said, it’s just a question of whether or not they’d continue to have this attitude later on into the night...

[Crustyland]

14. Crustyland

Gustav Matan

Song

What had just happened.. EIGHT place...Benjamin Cramp and the other head's of CRAP stared silently at each other from around their coffee-stained table. The clock ticked away on the wall, the wind whistled through the still broken glass of the main window that had still not been repaired since Tony Turdison & Mandy Bigooty song devastated much of the town, still, at least the glass business was having a good time repairing millions of panes of glass. Most of the nation as well as the heads of CRAP were still incomplete utter shock and disbelief at HOW WELL Crustyland had actually done. Such results were unheard of and its staff to say most of the population got pretty drunk that evening.

Having done so well and finding EVEN more funds coughed up by a vomiting sea lion, Worldvision's reputation amongst the 1% of Crustylandian's actually good singers was gaining more popularity. Step forward Gustav Matan. Gustav Matan was born March 19, 1976 in Rannk. He is an actor and singer. His entry for WV is a blend of pop-infused with traditional Crustyland Folk music. The song features an acoustic guitar, violin, piano and a ukulele, offering listeners a glimpse into a part of Crustylandian culture outsiders rarely see. Gustav's song "Strangers" is a classic love song about how two strangers become a couple.



The act from Elejamie finished and the crowd roared excitedly as the postcard played. There was actually excitement again as they knew Crustyland had brought their A-game again. The song opens with a view of the stage and a lonely gold spotlight on Gustav centre stage, he has a stand-up mic and is playing acoustic guitar The stage lights fade into gold too. The camera pans towards him then cuts to a body shot that pans out slowly. Gustav is wearing a black blazer white top and black trousers. Behind him, we can see the rest of his band. Three backing singers, two women one man and five musicians one lady on violin, one lady on ukelele, one man on a keyboard one man, one man on electric guitar and two women on cellos. The men are dressed in country attire, cowboy hats and shirts and the women is bright floral dresses. The camera zooms into him for the last line.

There's more than meets the eye
In the dark, watch us fly
There's more than meets the eye
Slow down girl
Take me high
There's more than meets the eye

We have a stage shot of the whole stage and band as the beat kicks in. All the time we can hear the instruments played in the background. Gustav sings playfully into his stand up microphone while strumming away on his guitar a huge smile on his bearded face. He winks for the last line.

There's more than meets the eye
When morning comes stay close by
There's more than meets the eye
I write your name
Cross the sky
There's more than meets the eye

Gustav strums away and we hear the backing singers in the background. The song lifts halfway through the verse and the lights flash gold at the start of every line. Two shadowy strangers holding hands on a hot sunny day walk behind him in the background. The backing singers can be heard in the background harmonising him.

Strangers in the night
Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night
Up to the moment
When we said our first hello
Little did we know,
Love was just a glance away

The chorus quickens and the camera pans outwards as the stage fills with a golden light as more instruments can be heard. Gold spotlights dance and turn around the hall. The backing singers sing beautifully behind him. They sway to the beat of the song as Gustav strums away. Gustav was loving it, this was where he was best, on stage performing to a live audience. We have a close up of Gustav smiling before we fade to a view of the backing singers all standing proudly swaying. We have various different camera angles of the stage and Gustav stood centre stage.

A warm embracing dance away
And ever since that night we've been together
Lovers at first sight,
In love forever
It turned out so right
For us two lovers
It turned out so right for strangers in the night

We cut to a brief view of the backing singers before we cut back to Gustav. We hear the electric guitar accompany his singing. Gustav is tapping his right foot to the beat. Gustav strums away nimbly and joyfully on his acoustic guitar in front of the headbanging audience. The backing singers then start a "Yeehaw and OOO hah!" in the background igniting a huge smile on Gustav's face camera pans smoothly around the front of the stage. The golden lights illuminate the whole stage. As Gustav sings the last line "We are in love forever!" we can hear the backing singers lift the song.

There's more than meets the eye
They see us wonder why
There's more than meets the eye
I know it's true love can't lie
'cos I see you everywhere
I see them too..
But I don't care I only sigh..
There's more than meets the eye
Lovers at first sight,
We are in love forever!

We have a lovely view as the camera swings out from Gustav towards the back of the hall. We see the entire and playing smiles on their faces. The camera then hovers over the crowd and makes its way towards the stage. Gustav sings with happiness and energy into his mic. He can't help but grin like a little kid.

Strangers in the night
Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night
Up to the moment
When we said our first hello
Little did we know,
Love was just a glance away

The spotlights then begin to fade and twinkle on stage adding a warm and cosy effect to the stage. The onstage camera pans in front of the backing singers who are smiling proudly also foot tapping. We have a view of the guitarist in the background before we cut to a fontal body shot of Gustav singing.

A warm embracing dance away
And ever since that night we've been together
Lovers at first sight,
In love forever
It turned out so right
For us two lovers
It turned out so right for strangers in the night

Gustav spins around to face his band. The instrumental kicks in and the backing singers perform a little barn dance routine a barn dance along with Gustav who is still centre stage. We then cut to a brief view of the band and backing singers again this time they are playing their respective instruments playfully and passionately behind Gustav. The camera swings out from a man dressed in country gear on a wooden keyboard right at the back of the stage and fades into the cello players behind left playing gracefully and the two women standing on the right behind Gustav playing the ukelele and violin optimistically. Their bright smiles resonate with the audience.

Strangers in the night
Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night
Up to the moment
When we said our first hello
Little did we know,
Love was just a glance away

Gustav spreads his arms wide before going back to playing. The shadowy figures appear in the background again behind him. The band carry on barn dancing on the spot. For the last line young woman in a beautiful country dress appears as the camera pans outwards and we cut to an upper-body shot as she nears Gustav and they share a quick kiss as the song ends. They then hold hands.

A warm embracing dance away
And ever since that night we've been together
Lovers at first sight,
In love forever
It turned out so right
For us two lovers
It turned out so right for strangers in the night

Gustav and the young women and the whole band bows to the cheering audience. Crustyland had gone down very well again in the arena. "Thank you!" Gustav shouts with passion! He felt amazing! The cheers of the audience ignite his excitement even more as he grabs his face and beams. They wave and exit the stage.

[Antahbrantahstan]

15. ANTAHBRANTAHSTAN | إانتهبرنتهستن

Afridzal Hussain - Hypocrite
Tune: Day6 - Congratulations
m: Sandor Rocha
l: Afridzal Hussain

A wasteland forms on stage, with LED screens showing image of an arid, seemingly untouchable environment, seemingly hungry for the thirst of civilization. Some smoke effects, although in a very minimal setting so as not to engulf Afrizal, complements the setting.

The drums chimes in, acting as a cue card for Afridzal to start singing. Afridzal, wearing (outfit) and electric guitar attached to a strap, finally gets his time to shine, standing in front of a microphone stand, lights shining all over, accompanied by additional musicians (extra electric guitarist, bassist, drummer and keyboardist, to be exact), and three backing singers, whose face remained unseen, hidden by the shadows. His voice, sitting on a comfortable range, hints of heartbreak, seemingly betrayed by his lover, however, the audience does not seem to care regarding his heartbreak, presumably thinking that he’s just a lovefool (or bucin in Anturian slang), or too dumb, or a combination of both. Nevertheless, the audience continues to enjoy his singing, with the camera capturing the audience in a sea of smartphone-powered lights.

With Afridzal grasping the situation around him, he grasps control of the stage, restricting his vocal capabilities for the chorus.

The blissful lies you’ve said are now uncovered
The veil you wore i’ll splinter it, now, don’t pretend
I’m tired of trying to understand
You do this and do that, but forbade me to do the same

Now i feel like a fool
Letting myself controlled by you
Now i know you’re so cruel
You’re tearing my soul away and apart, oh, oh

As the chorus goes, Afrizal sings passionately, angry (or rather ashamed) that his lover did not give Afridzal any apologies regarding what they have done to him. The man continues to highlight his inner cries and anger to the crowd, who continues to enjoy his singing, becoming a voyeur to this poor man’s emotions. Afridzal does not care whatsoever, as with every single strums that he made on his guitar, every screams that he made on stage, provides an outlet for him to let his stress out.

Hypocritical, what you did to me
Hypocritical, what you said to me
When i try to do things, you try to forbid me
When you do the same, excuses came out of your mouth, oh!
Is it too hard to say, yeah
Is it hurting to say, yeah
I always welcome your apologies with my open arms
But maybe you don't know
Maybe you felt too good
That saying "sorry" would make you powerless
And weaker than the rest

The stage now goes dark, with Afrizal singing rather quickly, almost rapping, taking a jab at his lover for being too egoistic to say sorry. However, soon after, he reverts back to singing, the LED screen slowly lighting up and intensifying as the verses continue, just as he’s going to swear to the world stage (though he decides not to at the end, saving his anger.)

Right now, what are you trying to do?
Trying to escape and stay away from my own life?
Maybe you’re just too egoistic
Thinking that this love was fantastic
Maybe you’re just in shock that i have stood up
Maybe you’re just too heartless
You don’t give a-ah...

The LED screen finally shows the same desert environment that the audience have seen in the beginning. Afridzal is still painful, his heart aching for his lover to put their ego to the ground and apologize for their mistakes. However, his cries is definitely not heard, as if Afridzal is shouting to nobody. His pained, hurt voice, combined with the echoing "oh!" sounds his backing singers made, forms a heart-wrenching cacophony of melodies that amuses (or saddens) the multiversal audience. The camera continues to shoot Afridzal switching from a chest-up shot, waist-up shot, or a far away shot which captures the entire stage, transformed into an arid wasteland, depending on the lyrics.

Hypocritical, what you did to me
Hypocritical, what you said to me
When i try to do things, you try to forbid me
When you do the same, excuses came out of your mouth, oh!
Is it too hard to say, yeah
Is it hurting to say, yeah
I always welcome your apologies with my open arms
But maybe you don't know
Maybe you felt too good
That saying "sorry" would make you powerless
And weaker than the rest

The stage now darkens, save for very few lights shining upon Afridzal, now his rapping, much to the surprise of the audience, highlights his pain and suffering that he has. The cameras continue to shoot him from a waist-up angle, or a full body shot of him, shot from the edge of the stage. Afridzal, his hands gripping the microphone like he's holding on for dear life, exclaims that he's calm like water, much like how his rap originally starts, however, as time progresses, his rap cotinues to be more and more explosive, just like what he said, his personality has turned into something akin into the roaring currents, presumably after venting up years and decades of anger that he has after naively being controlled by her.

I’ll say “wow girl, congratulations”
Controlling me, it’s prolly on top of your wishlist
Huh, and you saw me standing up with a clenched iron fist
But you’re just too dumb to get the gist
Friends say i’m always too calm like water
But now i’ll let my own, bad vendetta take over
I can’t let any other people suffer the same thing that i had
And now let the streets be the witness
How no apologies
Can turn the flowing waters into the worst roaring currents!

Two firework flares signals the beginning of the final chorus, the LED screens now showing an image akin to Kowloon Walled City, albeit more dilapidated and deserted. Afridzal takes his microphone forcibly, letting his mic stand drop to the floor, the stage is now awash with smoke and minimal pyrotechnic effects, with Afridzal, now experiencing being in charge for the first time, lets his emotions out and engage in a very passionate singing, with the backing singers continuing to complement his already emotional, pained vocals.

Afridzal, however, does not let everything overwhelm him, soon before everything ends, he takes the microphone stand and attaches the mic again, showcasing that he probably has closure from everything that has happened to him, and is looking forward to moving on, just in time for the "What you have done to me" lyrics, where afterwards, everything goes dark.

Hypocritical, what you did to me
Hypocritical, what you said to me
When i try to do things, you try to forbid me
But now i have enough and i'm now standing up, oh!
Is it too hard to say, yeah
Is it hurting to say, yeah
Maybe you don't have the emotional thought to say that "I'm sorry"
But maybe your ego is out of this world, oh
I hope that someday you'll reflect and regret
What you have done to me

The audience then roared and applauded as appreciation for Afridzal's amazing performance, and Afridzal, overjoyed, bowed towads the audience, and said "Thank you Yvesia! Thank you Universe!" before going backstage in preparation for the Alezian Union's performance.

[Alezian Union]

(Read comic right to left)

Only one word can describe how Alezians felt last edition, and that is VICTORY! The entire nation was in disbelief over the fact that the Alezian Union surprised everyone by winning, surprising even the most skeptic people towards the contest who said that the Alezian Union might as well give up since they won't win anyway. But that was proven wrong.

The victory was met with massive fireworks and parties throughout the Alezian Union, especially in the winners' region, Mosin-Nagan. You might as well say that Mosin-Nagan was in deadlock for a day. The reaction was made even more ecstatic considering that the Alezian Union won over Elejamie by five points, which is currently the smallest margin for a Worldvision victory since the introduction of the Televoting system in Worldvision 82 in Tiferet, Ertzei Kishim (which incidentally is also the first time that North Alezia debuted).

Thanks to this win, the Alezian Union get to keep its reputation for always entering top 10 in every single edition since their debut in the 90th edition in Avon, Elejamie. For the 95th Worldvision Song Contest in Nakom, as the cycle rule ended in Mosin-Nagan, the next thing to do is to hold yet another national final to pick the next Alezian entry.

Initially, North Alezia was in the favourites to win Alma. However, as usual, South Alezia surprises and comes with the victory, winning two times in a row with the song "Sorry, Niet Sorry" by Irlene Lilvouw. This is also the first time that the Alezian entry won't be sung in English, but in South Alezia's regional languages of Indonesian and Dutch.

(Irlene Lilvouw in a casual photoshoot in Doorsbreeken
with the dress she's wearing on the Yvesian stage.)
yes, I KNOW the photo is watermarked, but I'm not going to pay for a photo that
I'll probs just use once tysm.

Irlene Lilvouw is a South Alezian singer born in Iskandaruddin, North Alezia on 15th of March 1994. She was the only child of Harzanaruddin Lilvouw and Isabelle Louvelijk. Irlene's parents moved to North Alezia 2 years before Irlene was born where they traversed underground from their hometown of Ouber, Oost-Brenaven up to the coast between South Alezia and Pantabang Islands, before finally continuing from Southern Pantabang Islands moving underground before freely sailing to Zafizamarrah.

During her time living in North Alezia, she refined her singing skills ever since she was in kindergarten, oftentimes singing in children festival, even one time being selected to appear in the "We, The Children of Alezia" show where she sung the song titled "One plus One equals One", which is a children song that talks about Reunification, which is an appropriate topic considering that Irlene is South Alezian.

However, after kindergarten, Irlene kept a low profile, participating in school choirs are the only thing she did that has to do with singing. Her highest point in choir is when her high school(with Irlene herself as one of the members)'s choir got selected to represent Zafizamarrah in the annual but less famous "AleziRadio Choir Festival" in 2010 where her school earned third place from 18 choirs from 7 regions and 2 territories.

Irlene finished her tertiary education with a degree on International Relations at the University of Iskandaruddin, which is the second best university in North Alezia. Initially, she worked as a diplomat between North and South Alezia where she had to go back and forth between Zafizamarrah and Baerland (now Doorsbreeken). However, when reunification happened, Irlene got laid off temporarily as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently still trying to find a job for her.

After reunification, Irlene's family returned to Ouber after travel restrictions virtually become non-existent due to the fact that the Alezian Isles has finally reunified after so long. Around this time, Irlene tried singing again, releasing a few recordings of her covers of famous Alezian songs, which was met with positive acclaim found on the comments at her ARICO.net account. This definitely caught the attention of ABA Doorsbreeken who contacted her asking if she wanted to try to represent the Alezian Union at the 95th Worldvision Song Contest.

Initially, Irlene hesitated, but she then decided to go for it. Irlene got selected together with a boyband to represent South Alezia at ALMA. Even in the regional competition, Irlene was already met with expectations since South Alezia won the last season of Alma. Then, expectations rose up again due to the fact that the Alezian Union finally won Worldvision last edition. And to her surprise, Irlene won the second season of Alma and thus earned the ticket to Nakom, Yvesia.

"Sorry, Niet Sorry" is a song about a woman leaving a "nice guy" and a "manchild" that does nothing but slack and gives no feeling of love towards the woman, and everytime the guy tried to guilt trip and blame her into solving his life problems, the woman told the guy that "it's your problem, not mine" and to "solve it yourself"

"Sorry, Niet Sorry" is the third song that Irlene wrote, and the first time that she got help from fellow singer and Irlene's best friend, Annie Rouzehurst. The song was quite personal to Annie as she had faced a relationship like described in the lyrics and didn't want to suffer from it again. The song was also written in hope that people no matter woman or man, everyone should stay clear from relationship that doesn't benefit both parties.

The involvement of Annie Rouzehurst came up inside Irlene's mind considering that Annie was also starting a well-paced musical career. Initially, Irlene wanted to make it a duet, however, Annie rejected due to the time constraints that she's currently experiencing, not having time for performing at Worldvision. However, Annie agreed to help Irlene compose the Alezian entry.

HD: Habisyul Damaqqi (Host of That's Tea)
IL: Irlene Lilvouw

HD: It's that time of the month again, everyone. Everytime Worldvision was arriving, there's always a "That's Tea" episode coming, revealing who will represent this grand nation in Nakom. However, we already know who it is if you watched ABA Channel 1 like a week ago. And you know what is still tedious? Keeping everyone waiting for the best show on ABA Channel 2. Live from Studio 5 of ABASphere, Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm Habisyul Damaqqi your friendly host and welcome to....

HD + Audience: THHAAAAAAAAATT'SSS TEEA!

(All people in the studio points to a glass (not cup) of tea while the camera that pointed into it zoomed out while the jingle plays.
The jingle ends and the audience clapped.)

HD: And welcome back to another episode of That's Tea. A few months ago...

(a tv screen moved downwards before activating itself showing a recording of the winning performance from Aziz-Lutfi Garanov and the Time-Killers at Marina Point, Nekoni last edition met with applause from the audience)

HD: UGH WHO AM I KIDDING, EVERYONE in the Alezian Union knew. EVERYONE in the world knew. Knew what? The fact that we actually won. The goddamn. Contest. GOD BLESS ALEZIA!

(the audience roared in excitement)

HD: Ain't that beautiful. Truly the Alezian Dream is to solve what's impossible, and one of it is solving the question of "Whether the Alezian Union would win Worldvision at some point", and the answer is... YES!

(the audience roared in excitement)

HD: And such, the winning delegation has received the medal of Artistic Appreciation of the Alezian Union from the Premier. What a great time it is to be Alezian. But then, comes the next question. Who will continue that? Well, ALMA was just held in Doorsbreeken, and it was a fun and unforgettable show, but we're going to talk with the winner and the one that will represent the Alezian Union this Worldvision! You might already know her if you're a Worldvision maniac, but here she is, Ms. Irlene Lilvouw!

(the audience applaused for her name when Irlene walks down the backstage's stairs and into the stage)

HD: Lilvouw... Selamat datang!

IL: Hehe, terima kasih, dank je. Thank you for having me, Habisyul. It's been an absolute honour.

HD: No, no, the honour is mine. So, how are you feeling about Worldvision and Alma and Yvesia and everything else?

IL: I still can't believe that I won Alma and am going to Yvesia with Annie and the rest of the Alezian delegation. It's been my dream to get out of the isles and explore the world a bit. I'm having a great time with the team, they've been really nice and helping!

HD: Well that's great! So, Irlene. Is there any details on preparation we can know and spread? I mean, you don't have to spill the tea right now because we ran out of tea to spill for the segment later so we're not having it.

(The audience can be heard both laughing and sighing in dissapointment)

IL: Ah, there is something I could share, the Team said it was fine to share this info right now. I'm going to wear the same outfit like the one I wore at the photoshoot back in DB. And also, I would be accompanied by four backing dancers, two male, two female, and the ladies are also going to be my backing singers, and there would be a lot of movement that the camera's are going to tire themselves out!

HD: Nice! Now, let's talk more about Alma. What happened there?

IL: Heh, firstly, I won with your support and the international juries' support, and honestly Alma was nerve wrecking because in that classic Alezian taste, it's ALWAYS close. Anyone could win at any moment. But at the last second, I surprisingly won even against veterans Samara and Izdar. Since it was in my home region and it being the second in a row win, everyone just kinda went crazy that KoeveldHALL was a bit deafening at some point. Truly, nerve-wrenching and also one of the best moments in my life.

HD: Okay, next question. Where's Annie Houzelhurst? I thought you're composing the song with her?

IL: I've been TRYING to invite Annie to come here with me, but she said that she's busy. I won't judge her, though. I kinda caught her at the middle of her upcoming album, which will be called GREYSCALE which would be released on your favourite music streaming services, her ARICO.net page, and on Music Stores Alezianwide!

(the audience applaused)

IL: Also, Annie told to say this to the audience: "Hey, everyone! Sorry I can't come to ABASphere, I still had a song to record which is SO BIG I can't leave Doorsbreeken for it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the song that I helped Irlene in, and you might see me in Nakom since my album would be completed back then, and sorry, but I'm not going to do a lot on stage, I just wanted to support Irlene and to help her performance. Hope you all are doing well, With love, Annie Houzelhurst.

(the audience applaused)

HD: Thank you, Annie. Such a great letter. Also, if I may wonder, can I ask something a bit scary?

IL: I hate horror films, does it have something to do with that?

HD: No, not horror kind of scary, nervous kind of scary. Anyway, the question is: (DING!) "CONSIDERING THAT SOUTH ALEZIA HAS WON ALMA TWICE IN A ROW, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE EXPECTATIONS THE PEOPLE MADE AND THE FACT THAT YOU'RE CONTINUING OFF OF A WINNER?"

IL: Oh, god. The expectations! They're ENDLESS! Some wanted me to continue the top 10 streak, some wanted me to win so we can have a twice in a row, some wanted me and the next North Alezian representative which we can't tell who yet to start making a hattrick, like, we're NOT Malta Comino Gozo, but people mostly didn't expect much and told me to do my best and just have fun. For me, I didn't want to dissapoint my country and I didn't want to be pessimistic. I mean, Aziz-Lutfi's mantra is Confidence and he won. Maybe I should try that as well!

HD: Confidence is important, Irlene. That's what keeping me on this show jabbering about random stuff over a glass, NOT CUP, of tea. For international viewers, the glass is an Alezian thing.

(the audience laughed)

HD: Well, that has been a segment of the show. And with that, after the ad break we'll play the song that will represent the Alezian Union in this edition of the Worldvision Song Contest in Nakom, Yvesia. AND, before I leave, I have to say, don't forget to watch the final of the Worldvision Song Contest next Sunday on 4 AM, live from the OTHER channel next door, ABA Channel One! And pray for our delegation because we need a miracle at this point to hopefully one day WIN the whole contest, ya hear me?

the audience applaused)

HD: Glad y'all understood. I'm Habisyul Damaqqi your handsome host with Irlene Lilvouw, you've been watching a segment of!

HD +IL + Audience: THAAAAAAT'S TEA!

(All people in the studio points to a glass (not cup) of tea while the camera that pointed into it zoomed into it while the jingle plays.
The jingle ends and the audience clapped.)

Tune: Ortal - Chaque Pense A Soi

The audience applaused for the reigning champions. As the lights above prepared themselves for the Alezian entry, the audience reacted ecstaticly for Irlene who was still facing against the audience with her still not visible in the dark. Behind her is her four backing dancer who also faced against the audience with the ladies wearing the same dress as Irlene (look up at her Artist Info for what Irlene wore at the competition), and the men wearing orange T-Shirts and navy jeans.

Irlene took a deep breath and then started pulling the microphone nearer to her as she holds it and starting to sing as the instrumental starts, and at the same time, everyone on the stage nods to the rhythm, and around the last sentence, she can be seen wagging her left pointing finger.

Sorry, Niet Sorry
Dat is niet mijn probleem
Ze vertelden me om
Maar ik wil niet praten

As the guitar sounds can be heard, Irlene started pivoting facing the audience, revealing her in her orange dress, as she walked into the light as a camera pointed towards Irlene as she can be shown once again waggling her left hand's finger, and then when the "beats" can be heard, Irlene spreads her hands left and right, prompting the backing dancers to spin aggresively until the whole group faces the audience. This was met with a quick zoom in before transitioning with a quick "sliding" transition to the right, and also prompting the LCD screen to show an orange and black circle that pulsates like a heart.

Sorry, Niet Sorry
Maar je hebt het verpest met mij
En nu vroeg je me om te doen
Maar ik wil het niet doen

Irlene and her backing dancers walked to the front part of the stage followed by a camera moving from the right side of the stage from the back all the way up to the front, and as she arrived at the third sentence, she stopped followed by her backing dancers, before the backing dancers moved forwards and then walked back.

Hoe vaak moet ik nog zeggen?
Dat ik er genoeg van heb
Maar je bleef aandringen
Geluk verspillen

Irlene and her backing dancers then stayed at the same position as Irlene moved but staying in her position, then the backing dancers moved left and right, before sliding left on Irlene's third sentence, and then sliding right on Irlene's fourth sentence.

Je had iets groots kunnen doen
Maar niet met mijn kleine geduld
Je hebt de kans gegrepen
En ik wil er niets van

The camera shows a close-up of Irlene singing for the first sentence, then showing a view from the behind the group showing the audience who can be seen flying a few flags, and Irlene doing her best as her backing dancers started to "froze" for style, and then back to a close-up of Irlene pointing her finger at the camera, triggering a quick transition.

Je woorden zijn erg goedkoop
Je liefde is erg goedkoop
Uw verwachtingen zijn duur

As the next verse comes, Irlene pointed her finger again and swung it from left to right as her backing dancers changed position. And then, met with a massive applause from the audience, the male dancers started giving support to the female dancers as the female dancers got up and did a handstand holding on to the men's hands, around this time, Irlene quickly adlibbed "COME ON NAKOM!".

Je eisen zijn veel te hoog
Je wensen zijn veel te hoog
En ik ben je echt zat

The camera quickly changes its view to show the scene from the top, then quickly changes the view to the scene from the ceiling camera recording the stage. The LCD can be seen playing a visualization of fire like the ones you see on Media Player, but much more sophisticated, and around this time, stage lamps started getting turned on and off to the beat

Sorry, Niet Sorry
Dat is niet mijn probleem
Ze vertelden me om
Maar ik wil niet praten

Around this time, the female backing dancers did a front roll before moving back rejoining the line. And then the dancers stood still for a while, with them crossing their hands as Irlene sung the last line in the verse

Sorry, Niet Sorry
Maar je hebt het verpest met mij
En nu vroeg je me om te doen
Maar ik wil het niet doen

The backing dancers moved and changed pose randomly everytime a guitar strung was heard for this verse, as lines of spotlight followed suit. Around this time, Irlene on the first sentence pointed her finger at the camera, then to her left side at the second, then upwards at the third, before spinning her left hand at the fourth

Nu zit je vast met problemen
En je belde mijn nummer
En je huilt en jammert
En dan onderbreek ik je

The backing dancers then moved forward, and with Irlene creating a horizontal line, where they walked left for the first line, while stopping for the second line, then walking right for the third line before stopping for the last line

Je hebt nog een keer gebeld
Zeggen dat het mijn schuld is
"Ik zeg, je bent schuldig"
Het doet me niets anders

As the slow "huh" can be heard, Irlene and the female backing dancers started sliding left back to the center, changing their step every "huh"

Het kan me niet meer schelen
Zeven keer, je bent zo klaar
Doe vanaf nu alles alleen

And then the male dancers followed suit doing the same thing, while Irlene on the center holding on to her microphone and touching her wrist (my time) and her brain (my elegance), before falling backwards and held by the female dancers then spinning her hands upwards.

Ik heb mijn liefde verspild
Mijn tijd, mijn elegantie
Mijn geest, mijn breekbare hart

In the Indonesian part, the female dancers faced the audience together with Irlene as they also work as Irlene's backing singers crossing their hands while nodding to the beat. Around this part as well, the male dancers faced against the audience, and posed randomly everytime a beat was heard, and as a steadicam moves in to record the moment, Irlene looked at the steadicam and swished her left hand to the right, yet triggering another transition.

Berapa kali kubilang?
Cintaku telah hilang
Kau tantang kehidupanmu
Dan keberuntunganmu

The same thing continues for this part, but for this part, around the third sentence, the male dancers did a backroll, before sliding themselves forward, and then faced back towards the audience, crossing their hands for the next part.

Jangan kau panggil aku
Kau t'lah kuanggap tiada
Kau bukan masalahku
Jangan salahkan aku

The backing dancers walked a few steps back to give Irlene the spotlight as continuous fireworks starting to be shot from the bottom. Around this part, the view changes for a while to show a few Alezian fans waving Alezian flags.

Sorry, Niet Sorry
Dat is niet mijn probleem
Ze vertelden me om
Maar ik wil niet praten

Irlene nodded along with the tune, and to the surprise of everyone, faced against the audience, gave her microphone to one of the backing dancers and did a quick front roll, which is difficult to do. But luckily she did it successfully, since she was actually a good floor gymnast. This was definitely met with loud screams of applause. Irlene quickly took her back her microphone and faced towards the audience again for the final part.

Sorry, Niet Sorry
Maar je hebt het verpest met mij
En nu vroeg je me om te doen
Maar ik wil het niet doen

The group started walking from left to right, as the female dancers sung a few lines as backing singers. Around this time the fireworks has already been turned off.

Sorry, Niet Sorry (Berapa kali kubilang?)
Dat is niet mijn probleem (Cintaku telah hilang)
Ze vertelden me om (Kau tantang kehidupanmu)
Maar ik wil niet praten (Dan keberuntunganmu)

This continues as the view changes to show the scene from the back, showing the audience still waving flags, as the LEDs on the floor started glowing up with the colour orange

Sorry, Niet Sorry (Jangan kau panggil aku)
Maar je hebt het verpest met mij (Kau t'lah kuanggap tiada)
En nu vroeg je me om te doen (Kau bukan masalahku)
Maar ik wil het niet doen (Jangan salahkan aku)

The group finally stopped still and did a few acts where Irlene and the female backing dancers stayed on their position as the male backing dancers did a back roll for the first and second line, then a front roll for the third and fourth line.

Sorry, Niet Sorry (Berapa kali kubilang?)
Dat is niet mijn probleem (Cintaku telah hilang)
Ze vertelden me om (Kau tantang kehidupanmu)
Maar ik wil niet praten (Dan keberuntunganmu)

The backing dancers gathered around Irlene, creating the horizontal line, as the crossed their hands as Irlene continued to sing her song, and as Irlene once again swung her hand upwards in circles for the third line before pointing at the camera again for the fourth line, the backing dancers spun and faced themselves against the audience

Sorry, Niet Sorry (Jangan kau panggil aku)
Maar je hebt het verpest met mij (Kau t'lah kuanggap tiada)
En nu vroeg je me om te doen (Kau bukan masalahku)
Maar ik wil het niet doen (Maar ik wil het niet doen)

As the song started to calm down, Irlene looked at the camera doing a close-up on her as a bit of wind was activated.

Heeyyyyy... Heyy... Heyy...

The song ended with the applause of the audience, and as the backing dancers broke from their line and gather with Irlene, Irlene shouted "THANK YOU, WORLD! I LOVE YOU!" before giving air kisses to the audience and moving away from the stage with her backing dancers behind following her. The view changes to show the Alezians celebrating their entry. The stage prepares for the next entry which is from Polkopia.

Note: What may seem like a grammatical error, is actually the Alezian dialect of Dutch!

Sorry, Not Sorry
It's Not My Problem
They told me
But I don't want to talk

Sorry, Not Sorry
But you messed up with me
And now you asked me to do
But I don't want to do it

How many times do I have to say
That I've had enough
But you kept pushing
Wasting luck

You could've done a big thing
But not with my small patience
You took the chance
And I don't want any of it

Your words are very cheap
Your love is very cheap
Your expectations are expensive

Your demands are way too high
Your wants are way too high
And I'm really tired of you

Sorry, Not Sorry
It's Not My Problem
They told me
But I don't want to talk

Sorry, Not Sorry
But you messed up with me
And now you asked me to do
But I don't want to do it

Now you're stuck with problems
And you called my number
And you cry and wail
And then I cut you off

You called once again
Saying that it's my fault
"I say, You're guilty"
It's not doing any other thing to me

I don't care anymore
Seven times, you're way done
From now on, Do all on your own

I've been wasting my love
My time, my elegance
My mind, my fragile heart

How many times I have to say?
My love is already gone
You've challenged your life
and your luck

Don't you call me
I've considered you gone
You're not my problem
Don't blame me

Sorry, Not Sorry
It's Not My Problem
They told me
But I don't want to talk

Sorry, Not Sorry
But you messed up with me
And now you asked me to do
But I don't want to do it

Sorry, Not Sorry
It's Not My Problem
They told me
But I don't want to talk

Sorry, Not Sorry
But you messed up with me
And now you asked me to do
But I don't want to do it

Sorry, Not Sorry
It's Not My Problem
They told me
But I don't want to talk

Sorry, Not Sorry
But you messed up with me
And now you asked me to do
But I don't want to do it

[Polkopia]

SAMIRA // "Lose"

Polkopia's return to the 95th Worldvision Song Contest came as a shock to many Polkopians, who had started to adapt themselves to a life without actively participating in the country's most-watched non-sporting event. Of course, the event had been broadcasted in Polkopia every edition since the nation's withdrawal prior to the 9th edition of the contest, but many found it far less exciting to be actively rooting for a participant, hosting watch parties, or hoping that their home country would continue their successful stint in the competition, and as a result, viewership has steadily declined since WV90. It wasn't until after the 94th edition of the contest where artists and fans alike petitioned the PNB to return to the contest, with certain artists even offering donations to the PNB in order to alleviate some of the heavy financial strain participating in this competition places on a broadcaster. When talk about potentially returning to the contest first started prior to the Grand Final of WV94, viewership spiked during the event. For example, WV93 drew, according to the PNB, 3.23 million viewers across the country, whereas WV94 drew 5.98 million viewers. While domestic viewership is still relatively low compared to previous editions where Polkopia played a more active role in the competition, it was enough for some of the executives to take notice of trends in popular culture. Perhaps withdrawing Polkopia from the competition wasn't a wise decision on their part, and the outcry they were facing was tangible proof of this, but it was never too late to return to the contest. After all, the Landa vy Polkopiya, which served as the nation's national final in it's selection of their Worldvision entry, was still ongoing, despite the nation's withdrawal from Worldvision, and still drew immense popular support and launched the careers of many up-and-coming artists. It wasn't too daunting of a task to reinstate this as the method for selecting Polkopia's next act for Worldvision.

The bottom line though was accumulating the necessary funds in order to take part in the contest. Although the PNB found itself more than capable of paying the annual fees necessary to retain its membership with the IBA, the fees associated with participating in the Worldvision Song Contest were always a topic for debate among PNB executives. With the termination of Sergey Denisov, one of the leading financial analysts in the PNB, the focus shifted from providing a range of services to a population who were starving for entertainment following strict quarantine regulations, to a more conservative mindset where projects requiring excessive funding were called into question. Worldvision, being one of the most expensive projects the PNB regularly partook in, was an easily-identifiable cut from the budget, and the competition's elimination from the broadcaster's annual dues proved to be a huge financial gain for the PNB. With these excessive funds accumulated over years of non-participation at Worldvision now available for the PNB, many called into question why the broadcaster hadn't expanded its range of television networks. Some expected another channel to be implemented, and rumors of PNB3 had been circulating for quite some time, however nothing came to fruition. An audit from the federal government was launched and it was discovered that a large portion of these funds were being embezzled by many of the broadcaster's higher-level executives. An ultimatum was given; either return the money to the broadcaster with a 33% interest rate, or face jailtime. The decision was a pretty easy one for many of these individuals to make, and the funds had been returned to the PNB. With the money returned to the broadcaster's budget, along with the extra funds accumulated with the interest rate, the question of undertaking the "Worldvision Project" was once again brought up. This was around the same time that viewership began to soar with the 94th edition of the contest brining much larger viewership than the years prior, and it was decided that these funds would be once again allocated to bring back Polkopia to the competition.

With the return of Polkopia to Worldvision officially confirmed, submissions to the Landa vy Polkopiya skyrocketed, with the number rising from an average of 43 entries over the past few years to 134. It was the second-highest figure for entries submitted to the Landa vy Polkopiya - a testament to the excitement the public had in seeing their nation once again represented in the contest. As always, the professional juries, consisting of 22 individuals, narrowed the pool down to 10 entries. These final 10 entries would be performed across two semi-finals, broadcasted live, and the decision on who would advance to the Grand Final would once again be left to a split 50/50 vote between international juries and a domestic televote. Over the past few years, the contest had not been broadcasted in other countries and became accessible to only Polkopian citizens. To prepare for Worldvision, however, the Landa vy Polkopiya was once again broadcasted internationally and welcomed votes from eight different nations, all who had a say in who would be Polkopia's representative to the 95th edition of the contest. After an exciting show, it was decided that SAMIRA would win the honor of representing her home nation after winning the domestic televote and coming second place in the international jury vote. Unlike several other artists who completed in this edition of the Landa vy Polkopiya, this was SAMIRA's first appearance in the contest, and her entry immediately caught the attention of the public. Many compared her entry to Inita Gold's "People", which took part in WV89 in Tödlichebujoku. Many saw similarities in the two entries' sultry, low-fi vibes. Gold's song went on to take third place, only 24 points from Malta Comino Gozo, who took first. With this genre becoming a staple in the Polkopian music scene, many are hopeful that this song will expose the multiverse to a Polkopian music scene that has been largely absent from international contests for years, and are hopeful that it will be received in a positive light matched with a good result in the contest.

---

---

To begin the performance, SAMIRA was dressed in an outfit consisting of a silver miniskirt adorned with sparkles and glitter and a black long-sleeve shirt which had a deep V, laced with several threads which seemed to barely hold the outfit together (Similar to this but with few alterations). She wore silver heels, adding six inches to her usual 5'6" stature, and her hair was styled in the same way she normally styled her hair during her performances back home - parted down the middle and falling down to her shoulders on either side. Her makeup, while normally natural back home, was done up more so for her Worldvision performance. She now wore heavy black eyeliner, sporting a long wing past the corners of her eyes and to her hairline. On the underside of this wing was a neon pink thin line, which traced the lower perimeter all the way to her hairline as well. Besides her dramatic eye makeup, everything else seemed quite natural in comparison. Of course, she wore foundation, concealer, blush, and lipstick to cover up any blemishes that her skin encountered throughout the stressful journey that she had undertaken for Worldvision thus far, but it was nowhere near as excessive as her eye makeup. She was to start the performance along on stage, and the setting was to play on the camera angles and positioning more than anything else. The background LED screen showed patterns of neon pink lasers which moved and folded upon itself in strange, unnatural motions as the song progressed. The floor was completely dark, but large amounts of fog crept up across the floor, reaching as high as SAMIRA's calves as she stood on the stage. To start, the stage was almost completely dark, except for a dim spotlight over SAMIRA, who was turned away from the stage, and the LED lasers on the background screen. When the first beats of the opening instrumentation sounded, SAMIRA started moving her hips side to side. During each "horn" sound that played, the camera would change angles, moving from a frontal view of the stage, to a closeup view of half of SAMIRA's face, to then a half-view of her hips moving while the LED screen played in the background, to then her shoulders moving as she swayed, to an zoomed-in aerial view, and then back to a frontal view of the stage as SAMIRA turned around and started singing.

You know the winner takes it all
But I was never one to play
Though in your heart you've always known
You know that when I win, you lose

SAMIRA continued to sing, not moving from the position on-stage that she started on. One of her hands held her microphone while she swayed her other hand across her body. She still moved her body freely, but maintained a stoic, maybe even sexy, expression on her face that seemed nearly void of all emotion but still drew in an alluring presence to those who paid close attention to her. At certain times, she let her eyes fall shut and caressed the side of her face with her free hand, adding to the sultry feel of the song. The lyrical content was meant to compliment this, as her movements proved that she knew exactly who she was as a performer, and being proud of her appearance allowed her to really amplify the sex-appeal she was trying to exemplify by her movements.

So go ahead, go on
Let me hear it, all night
Fill my head up, with your lies, 'cause...
You know that when I win, you lose

Right before the chorus, all the lighting on the stage turned to black, save for a dim spotlight that was only bright enough to show SAMIRA's silhouette against the fog. During this moment, she held her arms out to her sides and looked up while the camera showed a frontal view of the stage. Once the chorus started, the camera transitioned to an aerial view, where bright pink rings shot out from the place SAMIRA stood. Once SAMIRA started singing the second line, the camera once again changed its angle to viewing SAMIRA from the front of the stage. When she sang the fifth line, SAMIRA extended her hand outward in a motion that seemed cool and true to the vibe she had been giving off thus far, but still rushed. Once this happened the camera showed her from the side of the stage. Then, as she sang the next line, SAMIRA pulled her hand into her body and grabbed her collarbone in the same manner she moved her hand out earlier. The camera once again changed angles, showing her from the other side of the stage. The camera returned to a perspective from the front of the stage ad SAMIRA sang the next line, and as she did, she ran her hand down the hem of her shirt, tracing the edge of the fabric that lay in between her chest and the material.

Lose, Lose...
Baby, when I win, you lose, no no
Lose, Lose...
Baby, when I win, you lose, no no
Regret a little (little)
But cry a lot (cry a lot)
And now I know I'm not (all yours)
Keep staying bitter (staying bitter)
And cool your thoughts (cool your thoughts)
Baby when I win, you lose

As the next verse began, SAMIRA moved from her position on-stage to walking around the edge. She moved at a slow pace, maintaining full eye-contact with the camera as it changed positions and angles. Her pace, albeit slow, was full of confidence and poise. She kicked her foot out in front of her before taking her step, adding a sense of drama to her walking, and it appeared as if though she was walking on a sort of catwalk by the way she moved. She stopped in her tracks when she sang the last line, holding her free hand in the air, hunching over as she sang the last note.

It ended before it begun
This crazy game you played called love
But deep inside you've always known
You know that when I win, you lose

She continued making hand motions, but did so in an angrier fashion than before. Her movements were jerkier and her expression more sullen than during any earlier moment of the performance so far. Some of these motions including pointing, wagging her finger, and dismissive gestures, all of which she did while singing this verse.

So go ahead, go on
Keep on drinking, all night long
It's all been said, all been done
You know that when I win, you lose

When the chorus started again, SAMIRA allowed herself to smile and pointed to the members of the audience who were standing toward the front of the stage. She pointed mainly toward those waving Polkopian flags, before turning away as she held the note as she sang the lyrics in the fourth line. The camera returned to the aerial view once more, but rotated in place, to see the circles pulsating from center-stage. Then panned back to SAMIRA, who beat her chest as she sang, "You ain't breaking a piece of my heart", and moved her body to the beat of the song. For the rest of the chorus, the camera followed her around the stage as she continued to sing the stronger notes here.

Lose, Lose...
Baby when I win, you lose, no no
Lose, Lose...
Baby, when I win, you lose...
I've made up my mind
You ain't breaking a piece of my heart, when you leave
And I'm leaving you behind
Baby, when I win, you lose.

During this part, the lights all shut off, save for the dim spotlight illuminating SAMIRA. The pink neon laser pattern continued playing on the LED screen in the background, but those were the only colors on-stage. The fog remained on the stage too, however, and SAMIRA jerked her wrist back and forth from her hip, snapping as she did so, in-sync with the beat. The crowd followed suit and clapped along during this part. During the fourth line, the lights switched back on and the camera rapidly zoomed in on SAMIRA as she arched her back and held the note with her free hand outstretched.

Baby when I win, you lose
Baby when I win, you lose (When I win you lose)
Baby when I win, you lose
Baby, baby, and you're gonna lose...

SAMIRA moved around the stage, smiling, once again motioning toward the audience members in the first couple rows closest to the stage. After a rather tense, sultry performance, it seemed as if SAMIRA was performing much more naturally now, moving around the stage in no real direction and generally having fun with the last bit of the song here. She seemed to sing when she wanted to, but let the background singers sing much of the part here as she danced along to the beat of the song.

(I'll win, you'll lose)
I'm not gonna cry (Not gonna cry)
I'll win (I'll win), you'll lose (Yeah)
Oh yeah
I'll win (I'll win), you'll lose (Not gonna cry)
I'm not gonna cry (cry)
I'll win, you'll lose
Oh yeah

The song ended and the lights returned to normal. "Thank you Yvesia!" Samira yelled into the microphone before blowing kisses to the cheering crowd, exiting the stage so that the organizers could prepare the stage for the next entry.

[Placely Placington]

18 - Placely Placington

⟁ - ⊊␥

Tune: Sunn O))) - It Took The Night To Believe

It was a couple of days before the 95th WorldVision Song Contest and Television Director was outside of Chief President Man Dave McDaverson's office. To his left was a Test Subject as well as a sandwich on a plate. He had a couple of pieces of paper in his hands and, indeed, when he knocked on the door he knocked with both hands as he didn't want to let go of them. No reply. He knocked again a few seconds later and then heard a familiar voice. "Come in!"

Television Director opened the door and closed it behind him. He was now screen to face with the voice from the other side. It was Dave McDaverson, who had managed to escape from Nekonian prison after they had found some stuff in his belongings that he really shouldn't have brought into their country. How did he do it? He flushed himself down the toilet. He got stuck at some point but hey, that's why they have the Clonomat. He was sat behind his desk, which was now fully repaired albeit covered in glue stains and duct tape. "Sir." Television Director said as he put the papers down on the desk, which was now starting to crack under the weight of the papers. "I have made a shortlist of who should be our next WorldVision entrant."

"No need." said Dave jauntily. Something must've really pleased him, given that his country was nearly going to finish last at the last contest and were only saved thanks to a high score from Moorland. "I've found a guy."

"You did?" Television Director asked, a little bit confused.

"Yes I did. I had some mysterious bloke - made up of many things, black robes, unsayable name - contact me saying that he'd find someone to represent us at the contest in exchange for my ever-living soul. But I managed to haggle it down to him representing us and a sandwich in return for a baggie."

"Uh-huh..." Television Director said, still confused but not wanting to ask him any further. Presumably to avoid any button-pressing related problems.

"Speaking of which, where is that sandwich anyway?" Dave asked himself as he got up and had a look around his office to find this sandwich he was promised. Nothing. He then stuck his head out of his office door and looked back and forth. Nothing. He then stepped out and had a good look around where he finally found it. The sandwich was just two slices of plain white bread with a whole load of sticks of butter in it. Just the way Dave McDaverson likes it. "There it is!"

As he picked it up and prepared to take a bite out of it, Television Director noticed something. "That sandwich has a face."

Dave then stopped and flipped it over. Television Director was right, the sandwich did have a proper face on it. He then flipped the Test Subject over to reveal complete smoothness where there was once a face. To be fair to the unpronounceable person, the whole rigmarole with the sandwich was more the Test Subject's fault somehow. Dave then frowned and then threw his sandwich back onto the plate. "Well, now I'm not hungry." He said in a vaguely disappointed tone of voice.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Television Director spoke again. "Do you want me to contact that person to tell him the deal's off?"

"Maybe later. I have stuff to name after myself."

"Yes sir." At that point, the two parted ways. Dave headed to his office to do what he was originally doing whereas Television Director returned to his day job: Fishing for shopping trollies. He had hoped that Dave had made the right choice. Or, failing that, the mysterious figure would be able to be stopped in time before they performed because of the deal being off. Would he be able to stop them in time? No because if he did then there wouldn't be an entry. Let's bring it on.

---

Anyway, after Polkopia's incredibly amazing return to the competition after five editions away and the subsequent postcard while they clean up the stage, we then cut to the stage. It was completely empty but, surprisingly, there were plenty of people still in their seats. Maybe they were that pumped up from the preceding entry. Who knows. Either way, it's time for the song to start. And it did so by blaring the music loudly. There were no instruments on stage, there was no tape in the machine, there was no way for it to actually be played. And yet it was. A disembodied scream played while the mysterious figure, a sentient pitch black robe with two white circles for eyes, emerged from the bottom of the stage to perform the "vocals".

(ꙮ)
Í ĦÁ℣É ɃÉÉŊ ÚŊŁÉÁ§ĦÉÐ ŦÓ ŦĦÉ ẂÓ®ŁÐ (♅♅♅♅♅♅♅)
ŦĦÉ ÓŊÉ ÇÁŁŁÉÐ ÐÁ℣É
ĦÉ §ĦÓÚŁÐ ŊÓŦ ĦÁ℣É ®ÉŁÉÁ§ÉÐ ꟽÉ
Í ẂÍŁŁ ÐÉ℣ÓÚ® ÁŁŁ
ÉÁ®ŦĦŁÝ ®ÉÁŁꟽ§

The figure just floated in place as stick-like tentacles emerged from its back and slammed down on the stage floor. As it did that, it unleashes a rippling effect that turned everything black or white. It wasn't a filter or an effect, the figure was literally corrupting the world around it by displaying the world around it as 1-bit, a world that was starting to grow bigger. This ripple affect started to affect the stage before it was unleashed onto the audience, leaving them as an array of white shapes if there weren't any that appeared to have been swallowed by the void. It didn't take long before the entire arena and those who dwelled in it were affected by it. Even Flynn Taggart, the Elejamian commentator who had dealt with a supernatural being at the contest before, had been affected by it.

(⅌)
Í §ĦÁŁŁ ÇÓŊ§ÚꟽÉ ŦĦÉÍ® ŦĦÓÚꞠĦŦ§
Í ĦÁ℣É §ÚÇĦ §ÍꞠĦŦ§ ÁÑÐ ÞŁÉÁ§Ú®É§ ŦÓ §ĦÓẂ ŦĦÉꟽ ÁŁŁ
ŦĦÉÝ §ĦÁŁŁ ÁŁŁ §ÚÇÇÚꟽɃ

Not content with subverting the arena and those inside it, the mysterious figure saw to corrupt the world outside it. In a seance the scale of which hasn't been seen for nearly thirty years, and possibly exceeding that, the 1-bit seeped out of the screens of those watching the contest. Turning off the televisions had no effect, it would still spread and infect the world around it. Meanwhile in Yvesia the figure barely reacted to what was going on, it merely grew and stretched out wide while more stick-like tenacles emerged from it.

(∰) (ↂↂↂↂↂ)
ŦĦͧ ͧ ꟽÝ NÉẂ ÐÓꟽÁÍŊ
ŦĦÉÝ §ĦÁŁŁ ÁŁŁ §ÉÉ
ꟽÝ ÞÓẂÉ®
ŦĦÉÝ §ĦÁŁŁ §ÉÉ
ŦĦÉ Ŧ®ÚÉ ÞÓŦÉÑŦÍÁŁ ÓℲ ꟽÝ ®ÉÁŁ ÞÓẂÉ®

The inhuman, disembodied screams grew, either because the figure had absorbed more people or because it was becoming stronger. Soon, it would be a world, nay a universe, moulded in its image. And, to the figure, it would be glorious. It kept on bellowing its vocals, blissfully unaware that the 1-bit was slowly retreating. Maybe it had overestimated its power. Maybe Flynn had found a way to stop it, much like he had done the last time Placely Placington ended up sending an eldritch abomination to the contest. Maybe Television Director actually told it the deal was off. Either way, the world was starting to return to its normal colour.

(⌬⌬⌬) (⑇⑇⑇⑇⑇)
ŦĦÉÝ §ĦÁŁŁ ÁŁŁ §ÚÇÇÚꟽɃ
(⎄ᚙᚙᚙ)
ŦĦͧ ͧ ꟽÝ NÉẂ ÐÓꟽÁÍŊ
(ᚙ⎄⎄⎄)
Í ẂÍŁŁ ÐÉ℣ÓÚ® ÍŦ
(ᚙ⎄⎄⎄)
ŦĦÉÝ §ĦÁŁŁ ÁŁŁ §ÚÇÇÚꟽɃ
(⎄◍◍◍)
Í ẂÍŁŁ ÐÉ℣ÓÚ® ÍŦ
(⎄ᚙᚙᚙ)
ŦĦͧ ͧ ꟽÝ NÉẂ ÐÓꟽÁÍŊ
(ᚙᚙᚙ)
ĦÉ §ĦÓÚŁÐ NÓŦ ĦÁ℣É ®ÉŁÉÁ§ÉÐ ꟽÉ
(⎄⎄⎄)

(⊊␥)

Eventually, it let out one last scream as its work appeared to have become undone and the world returned to its former somewhat glory. The figure violently shook before it turned into a beam of light. The being inside the robe flew out of it like a horde while the robe floated to the ground before it turned into a pile of ash. Both eventually faded into nothingness. The audience, completely shaken up by what had happened, were now hoping that the next entry, courtesy of Malta Comino Gozo, would be a lot better. However, there were a few figures who had remained 1-bit despite the figure's defeat. The ride never ends, the ride never ends...

Disclaimer, there are no real translations for this, this was just an excuse for me to use as many Unicode characters as possible to try and create an uncomfortable experience. If any of them show up as blocks or question marks then billy bonus. Apologies if this causes any problems with the site or whatever you're using to read this entry with. Also, their next entry will hopefully be a lot less nightmare-fuel inducing, regardless of whether or not this finishes last. I also had to change a few lines because the site literally would not allow me to post them so enjoy the original version here.

[Malta Comino Gozo]

Nation Name: Malta Comino Gozo
Official Broadcaster: MCG 1
Tune: (Nothing But Thieves - Is Everybody Going Crazy?)
Song Title: Desperate Wilderness
Artist(s) Name(s): Pessimistic Reflections
Lyrics & Music: Jerome Mason and Luca Bardon

---

It was not Malta Comino Gozo's finest hour sadly. 19th place. Nathan Aperitivo who had represented them once before and helped write the nations entries for the 89th and 91st WV song contests had sadly, achieved the countries worst place so far. As the votes came in and Malta Comino Gozo failed to score early it did not look good, even 1 twelve didn't see them gain much traction. It was not Malta Comino Gozo's night. This sadly broke their douze top ten place streak. Could it be the fact they sent such a summery hit in wintertime, who knows, but MCG1 knew they had to get back on track! Doing what they do best they approached alternative rockband Pessimistic Reflections.

Ben Simon, Jerome Mason,Luca Bardon, Dominic Lesco and Joe Borg

Hailing from Valletta Malta Comino Gozo, Pessimistic Reflections make a passionate guitar-based rock that balances indie rock artfulness with a pop sensibility. Formed in 2015, Pessimistic Reflections features lead singer Jerome Mason, electronic guitarist Joe Borg, electronic guitarist Dominic Lesco, bassist Ben Simon, and drummer Luca Bardon.

Returning with new music in 2021, Desperate Wilderness is the band’s first new music since their 2019 EP "Transformative" and their 2017 acclaimed album "Angry Machine", which charted at #1 in the MCG album chart.

The past few years have been quite a ride for Pessimistic Reflections. Amassing over 800,000 album sales and 750million streams so far, they have built up a loyal and wide following for their impactful alt-rock sound, cementing themselves as one of the best current rock bands emerging right now. Selling 150,000 tickets on their last album campaign, which included their biggest headline tour to date and a sold-out show at MCG's Fed Ex Forum and selling out their entire worldwide Angry Machine headline tour, which toured through Avon, Elejamie, Zafi Aleezian Union, Waisnor and Carrelie to name a few. Their success has been global.

Lead Singer Jerome Mason, 21, is already a seasoned artist, having performed in Nekoni and extensively in his native Malta Comino Gozo. Labelled ‘the boy with the sexy voice’ by Pan Magazine, Mason has been singing for as long as he can remember; “At 7 years old, I knew my destiny… singing is my passion and my joy, and all I ever wanted to do” he says.


A dream was ticked at the age of 13 when Mason found himself enrolled in MCG's school for the Performing Arts. With rigorous tuition in singing, vocal range, stage presence and technique, the hard work had well and truly begun.

The building blocks continued to be laid when Mason further developed his skills in audience interaction, microphone technique, harmonies and backing vocals at Vocal Tech Music College. Here he also joined various bands as a lead singer, exposing him to many genres of music including jazz, pop, blues, rock, country and reggae.

After college Jerome based himself between Ertzei Kishim and Malta Comino Gozo and now juggles a demanding career between the two places. Life in Ertzei Kishim is fast-paced and sees Mason swiftly moving from gig to studio, to audition and back. Back in Malta Comino Gozo, Mason is an established name. A great introduction came through the 2015 Bay Music Awards, where he gave a high-octane performance alongside fellow artist and friend Brooke Galea. This is how he met his fellow band members and formed Pessimistic Reflections.

It was here that Mason was also nominated for the Best Newcomer award. A string of hits ensued, namely 'You are My Home' and 'Sail Away, with ‘Bottled My Teardrops’ hitting the number one spot. Mason has since worked on TV projects in Malta Comino Gozo, and in Ertzei Kishim working with different producers and experimenting with new sounds.

The song is an infectious number entitled "Desperate wilderness", and is penned by Jerome Mason with vocal direction by Amy Attard at La Voix Academy. It’s a groovy, bopping tune that dips up and down, Mason’s voice flowing through falsetto and mid-range hooks for one of the most complex pieces on the record.

"Desperate wilderness is a mix of feeling being lost in the wilderness with no compass, map or any direction of where to go and the desperate wildness of mental health and being in the spotlight. Most of us imagine feeling happy and content should we ever achieve the wealth, fame and notoriety associated with being a celebrity. However, the experience of being a person who is highly visible in the media can take a tremendous toll on one’s psychological functioning. Even the most grounded actors, musicians, professional athletes, and some world leaders are vulnerable to the deleterious effects of being in the media spotlight."

Jerome Mason told HDR Music.

"And, as you cross the desperate wilderness like it's everyone else's business,' refers to just wanting to be alone, to meditate, to compose, to re-energise and to get up and carry on. It's no one's business what I do with my downtime, the eyes of the world do not have to be on me 24/7, 365 days a year. This, mixed with anxiety can have a really nasty effect on peoples mental wellbeing".

Opening with a glam rock guitar riff, the track transforms into a rock/dance/R&B hybrid.

"The four of us have such eclectic music tastes that we create something odd each time. This song was the epitome of our melting pot. When it started, it had this T. Rex influence to it. Then we thought, 'How do we take it as far away as possible from that?' So you add this R&B thing into the pre-chorus, which just slips on its head, then do a pop-based chorus. We were very conscious of each section of the song having its own identity - they all have their own world."

Musically, the single is a heavy-hitter. The riffs are smooth, yet heavy, with fuzzed guitar tones, coupled with lead singer Jerome Mason‘s fluctuating vocals, the tune is sharp. The instrumentals keep listeners wondering and wanting more.

The MCG delegation would fly out two weeks before the show. Being the capital of Yvesia there was a lot to see and do the band made the most of visiting some of the popular bars and clubs before travelling to Santiphaph Park Arena.

The shall we say, different performance from Placely Placington ended and the crowd boomed enthusiastically as the stage got ready in the interlude for the postcard. Once the postcard was done we are left with a broad stage shot of the black stage, no lights or anything, just the cheers of the juiced-up crowd. The loud glam rock fuzzy guitar riff and snare drum rip through the darkness to a shred of blinding white flashing light like lightning and the camera leaps nearer dramatically. This amps up the crowd even more. The stage is silent and black again momentarily before the second fuzzy guitar riff and snare drums and the stage flashes tremendously again. Luca who is on drums is positioned back left. The camera once again jumps forward quickly so we are left with a closeup shot of the stage. This carries on and the lights intensify as the opening ups in tempo. As the beat kicks in, and the lights turn on to soft gold, we can see Jerome standing centre stage behind his mic stand, head tilted sideways shoulders slumped, his arms dangling beside him. Jerome is wearing a beige loose-fitting hoodie and black jeans. He has a small studded earring in his right ear. His hair is moussed to look messy and wild. Nerves never really unsettled Jerome, as she stood there composed, calm. He had performed numerous times at home and abroad and therefore had the right mindset to tune into performance mode. He breathed in a deep breath and shut his eyes momentarily and smiled as the realisation of what he was about to do hit him. This was just the adrenaline spark that he desired.

As Jerome begins to sing, the camera then begins to be affected by slight visual distortion and interference, which pulls and distorts Jerome's face and figure slightly every couple of seconds. He grips the microphone stand with both hands. Jerome's expression is forlorn. He doesn't look extremely upset but he looks fed up. His eyes stare deeply into the camera. For the instrumental, after he sings "Will you be my one?" the camera spins clockwise showing a full-circle view of the stage and then the audience before it loops back round to Jerome. This time he is standing in front of the mic stand, microphone in his right hand. He has a mysterious expression on his face. As he sings "Only my mind here for company" the camera pans in closer to him as a speech bubble appears on the LED background as if it's coming out of his head containing the words "I've never felt so lost and lonely." The camera then cuts to an angled profile shot from his left where he keeps his face still but averts his gaze towards the camera.

For the instrumental, before the pre-chorus the lights stay a soft gold and we then have various shots of the band, electric guitarist Dominic Lesco, bassist Ben Simon, guitarist Joe Borg, before finishing on a view of drummer Luca Bardon. Each member of the band purposely doesn't make eye contact with the camera, portraying a mood of loneliness and sadness. The camera keeps its distortion and interference, which blurs and fuzzes each person.

Will you walk through my storm
Will you be my one?
Will you talk with me through till dawn?
No? Never felt so lost and lonely
Only my mind here for company..

The soft gold fades and the stage is plunged into darkness apart from the intermittent white flashes and faded white spotlight on Jerome. The flickering lights mock the dark. It was an unsettling, menacing darkness, full of dancing shadows. The camera focuses on Jerome, he leans forward bending towards the camera which is slightly below him, his body moves jerkily the camera still affected by the odd distortion and interference-effect. As he sings "I teased it with my hand" he opens his free left and palm down, waves it in a left to right motion above the floor. The view then cuts to a first person view from the camera. The lights of the stage flicker menacingly with bright strobes of white flickering like flames in the wind. The figure the view is representing stumbles around, lost, confused, looking left then suddenly up at the strobing ceiling, right, and then at the floor, he is lost like being trapped in a corn maze and not knowing which way to turn. As Jerome sings "The fruit of knowledge has a bitter taste" the stage is lit in a dim orange glow which intermittently cuts to darkness adding a flickering effect. All the band apart from Luca on drums have lined up in front of the "lost man" as he darts forwards towards the back of the stage. Each band member darts out his way Jerome to his right, Joe to his left and so on as the "lost man" runs forward towards the thick green foliage LED which has now appeared at the back. He's now lost in the wilderness.

Lying was good, for I teased it with my hand
When outside and lost in the wild
If I could see the future
In the wasteland the land laid waste
The fruit of knowledge has a bitter taste

The camera view snaps back quickly to Jerome for the chorus. The stage lights dramatically shine a bright white and the LED background changes so we can see white and black shapes that flash and strobe behind the band members. Jerome sings with passion. He recalls past traumas in his head, his brain rushes with emotion, which begins to show. His face pales with emotion his eyebrows low and pulled closer together.

"It's as if I have barbed wire surrounding me, and with every movement I make, it digs deeper into my skin. Cutting into my flesh. Deeper and deeper, until I can't move. I can't think. I can't breathe. And the pain just gets worse. It won't go away. I need to make it go away. I never meant for any of this to happen. I didn't realise it had gotten so bad. Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. And for the first time, I saw my true self. I saw what other people see. I saw an empty, hollow shell of a person. And I was disgusted. Repelled. Full of loathing. Don't mourn for me. Mourn for those killed in the war. Mourn for those desperately trying to cling on for just a few more seconds. Mourn for those who don't get a chance. But don't mourn for me. I don't need your pity. I look back at my life, at all that's happened to me, and I think 'Why did all this have to happen to me? Why not to somebody else?' The problem is, we're all 'somebody else' to somebody else. I'm sorry. I know you always tried to help me. But it's too late. It's gone on for too long. It'll never stop. That's why I have to do this. To stop the pain. To stop the hurt. To stop everything.."

The chorus has an axillary percussion in the background. As he sings "And, as you cross the desperate wilderness" we have a side angle shot of the stage from just above the audience which transitions to one from the middle of the arena above the audience. We can see various flags being swung around excitedly. The camera cuts to a brief gritty view of Dominic screeching his electric guitar as he plays his riffs, he nods his head softly, takes one step forward and leans forward on his right leg. The strobe lights flicker.

He's lost in the wilderness
He's lost in the bitterness
And without a shred of any happiness
And, as you cross the desperate wilderness
Like its everyone else's business
Crying out for tenderness
Out here in the desperate open wild..
I am just some stranger in the night..

We then have an onstage side shot of Jerome he is moving his arms robotically along to the beat pointing at his head while he sings "Thoughts buzzing around in my head" shifting his gestures each time. After that, we then have a shot of the stage as the camera moves outwards and upward from Jerome singing "Though you find yourself alone." His voice is a blend of both happy emotions and a tinge of sadness. The camera keeps cutting periodically to a "negative filter effect" to portray the emotions of the songs lyrics. It gives the song a mysterious and dark feel as it passes to and from the negative filters. Jerome has a look of concentration etched on his face. The LED background is now a glitchy white and blue. The stage is now a dim gold. The floor LED's have glitchy effects. White strobe lights flash around the stage which illuminates the band. The camera carries on pulling outwards so we see more of the crowds. We can see the band playing their instruments. The view then transitions to a side-on view of Jerome singing out towards the audience his face lit by changing cold blue, neon pink and dark purple strobes. He leans forward on his left leg and motions backwards and forwards a slight arch in his spine. The stage is tinged in the same palette. A ceiling cam then swoops in from the left catching the whole stage in its glory with all the strobe lights rushing around the arena before it cuts to a closeup shot of Jerome singing his heart out before pulling outwards.

Thoughts buzzing around in my head
Though you find yourself alone
With no friend to take your side
On the endless road afoot and empty-handed
Where the wild-eyed Cossacks will go ride

The camera work becomes even more chaotic with the view changing every second. We then have a view of Joe and Ben bending forward as the guitar bridge reaches its climax. The LED floors are speckled in white cracks. He had a delicate warmth to his voice. It had been so long since he'd used that tone that he'd forgotten what it was supposed to sound like. His current prerogative put deeper edges around his words. The lyrics come out sharp came like his tongue had judged his own thoughts too uninterestingly daunting and abandoned the words before their fruition. Some days his sadness was a mild lisp. It barely scratched the surface of his voice, but today it had waged a full-scale assault.

In the wasteland the land laid waste
The fruit of knowledge has a bitter taste

The glitchy white and blue shatters instantly into the white and black shapes that flash and strobe behind them. We have a quick aerial view of Ben playing his bass before the chorus hits and the boom camera launches outwards from Luca on drums. He plays vigorously. Jerome is now standing at the edge of the stage. For each chord of the guitar, we cut to aerial shots of the band which zooms inwards like this. It changes for each chord. For the last line "I am just some stranger in the night.." the camera pulls outwards as Jerome holds his note before it cuts back to him as he turns sharply away from the camera.

He's lost in the wilderness
He's lost in the bitterness
And without a shred of any happiness
And, as you cross the desperate wilderness
Like its everyone else's business
Crying out for some tenderness
Out here in the desperate open wild..
I am just some stranger in the night..

The stage is dark again and we catch a brief glimpse of Jerome from the upper right above the stage walking towards the centre his mic dangling by his side his left arm fist-bumping to the beat. He is dimly lit by a cold white spotlight. The camera cuts to Joe on electric guitar and performs various motions, from a 360° spin to various close-ups of the guitar itself and full body shots. The camera again is dark and gritty and full of distortion adding to the manic part of the song. The background slowly fades into a mountainous wilderness. The camera cuts to Dominic on electric guitar as he screeches his parts before the drums kick in and we see Luca on drums playing away energetically. A fierce expression on his face. The camera work remains unbalanced and chaotic.

As the snare drums kick back in we cut dramatically to Jerome hurling his arms around mid-stage, facing away from the camera lens before we have shots of everyone on stage, lit dimly in white spotlights. the camera moving around frantically like a hyperactive person, unable to focus long on each musician. Each of them is headbanging softly. We cut to Jerome as he stumbles around, frantically looking around in each direction. A look of desperation on his face. He is lost in the wilderness. The camera stumbles around the chaotic stage, the lights flashing, it's a scene from a horror movie. The camera jolts, spins, shakes. The electronic guitar riffs split the air like thunder. As the instrumental nears the end before the chorus again the camera's attention turns to the background. It's a somewhat AR background with the man showing ever so slightly in front of the background for the viewers back at home. It is of a black and white cartoon man, in a trench coat and hat, his head hung down in sadness, with a slow stride. It zooms out slowly and we can see the silhouette of a city skyline. The sky behind fills with deep reds and purples. The small clouds are but fluffy cumulous balls on the horizon, painted by the sun. As the background zooms out even more we can see the man is walking on a pavement made up of the same colours littered with the days of the week written along with it to represent the "desperate wilderness." As Jerome sings "happiness " the sun does a full loop and were left with a dimly lit bluish sky. The cameras then begins to pan outwards, the stage coming back into view.

The camera pulls outwards over the heads of the people on stage, then out and over the dancing audience. White spotlights stream erratically around the arena swirling around the excited crowd. The camera spins towards the stage from the back of the arena and then it races towards Jerome whose centre stage as he sings "Crying out for some tenderness." The background continues to play out on the LED screens behind them. The camera pans around the front of the stage before showing a whole stage shot and the a closeup of Jerome singing passionately. We can hear the band supporting Jerome as they echo "I am just". We have a brief view of Ben on bass before the camera snaps to one at the back of the arena which races towards Jerome for the last line. Jerome holds the last not powerfully his string voice reverberating throughout the hall.

He's lost in the wilderness
He's lost in the bitterness
And without a shred of any happiness
And, as you cross the desperate wilderness
Like its everyone else's business
Crying out for some tenderness
Out here in the desperate open wild..
I am just
I am just some stranger in the night..

The crowd is on their feet with applause and screams. "MCG, MCG" rings out! Jerome now with a huge smile on his face thanks the roaring crowd energetically, "Thank you Nakom!!!! In front of him a sea of content. He felt pleased, gratitude and appreciated. He had done what he loved doing most but this time for his country on the multiverse stage. These feelings warmed him inside. They left the stage for the next entry.

[Kyritakia]

Sorry guys, man's down.

[Axuva]

This is Axuva’s first entry after TPNB-X terminated its contract with Worldvision organizers on the eve of the 90th Worldvision Song Contest and switched to the rights of broadcasting World Hit Festival purely. Axuva returned not only with an entry but a joint hosting bid with Yvesia and is now currently hosting the competition. The comeback was set to be big for Axuva, especially entry wise. This entry by Ophelia was internally selected and was carefully handpicked out of several songs made by Ophelia.

#21 AXUVA
Ophelia - "I'm Free"
Tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QtamAJ7GE

The violinists in the pits of the stage begin to play the intro as the giant halo that was on stage began to light up and the light cell started to go around the halo and as the beat came in, the halo fully lit up and it lifted into the air, then as it lifted into the air, so did Ophelia, being attached to a harness. She lifts her head up and extenders her arms and she starts to sing.

Been held back but baby now I’ve gone solo, no more tears and, no more ashy skies
Now since you’re gone I won’t even say goodbye and no I won’t cry
Eyes wide open so I won’t turn back no more, I’m running free so I won’t look back oh no
Our time is up so there’s nothing left, we’re through.. don’t wanna see you again

The white light on the halo warps around the halo inside and out as she sings the song and the stage stands black currently, and Ophelia is shown in light one moment and the next sort of in darkness, she then is lowered a bit under the halo and extenders her hands and changes her position to as if she is flying, then as she starts to proceed to the chorus, she is dramatically lifted up and the halo tilts to the side

It’s time to fight for something new in my life I’m sick and tired of all the pain I’ve been through, it’s my time and it’s a brand new day

Ophelia lifts her hands in the air while singing and swings her hair as she sings the chorus, moving her hands dramatically then, as she reaches the middle of the chorus she starts to spin dramatically for a moment and then is immediately slowed. As she reaches the end, she is lifted down to the stage slowly as the violins play, and the halo is lifted down as well and two spot lights would be put down on the stage to illuminate her and the two other dancers.

Shake down, your love I don’t want no more and baby I’m free and there’s nothing that’s stopping me
My love for you is gone so just walk away
Now I feel like a keugo balg-eun shining star, oh yeah I’m floating
Try me I will not feel pain no more
This is my destiny... I’m going to it
It will only be me to stick beside me, I’m on my own so gyesog mil-eo
I don’t want to feel this pain no no more

As she finally reaches the flat stage, she takes off her harness and is approached from the behind by a dancer and they start to dance to the song dramatically. Then he flips away to her side, as the camera turns and another dancer is shown falling in place, and they are on stage dramatically dancing together, looking as if Ophelia is fighting both of the dancers by herself.

Im soaring high like a bird in the sky geuligo ondoga jeogdanghada
You toyed with me even from the start, I should’ve did my part
I won’t look back ni jigeum saeloun naega issda
I won’t cry but I don’t know about you
I won’t keep going to break my heart for you, never no more

This part embodies strength, as the dancers represent her own conscious and another male counterpart in a relationship where she is battling her mind and the mind of another person and is fighting them away with the little strength she has left.

Sometimes I thought maybe this too will pass, but the time started looking too short
There was never ever any hope

The dancers would circle Ophelia and other dancers would get into the light behind her, and they would dance to the beat with passion and soul, keeping it on tempo and not going too fast or too slow and they would jump in the air, then landing back on the ground and dancing , then as they start to reach the ending of the song, they all fall to the ground and a straight pathway of the stage lights up as the music continues to play and Ophelia starts walking down it.

Break down. I’m not here to play with you but now I’m free so there is nothing stopping me
I wish I knew what you were, but I’ve got me to myself
sesang-eun nae geos-ida and you will know that it is true
Go home turn around and walk out the door and baby turn out deo na-eun namjalo
I’ll show you what I can be and you will see it
It will only be me to stick beside me, I’m on my own so gyesog mil-eo
I don’t want to feel this pain no no more

Ophelia gets attached to the harness again after walking down to the end point of the LED stage pathway and while she is being attached to the harness, the camera view was focused on the violinists playing in the pit. And at the end of the pathway there is a spotlight and she begins to sing, standing alone and the halo lowers itself down to Ophelia then once the beat starts up again, Ophelia and the halo rises again, but this time the lights on it are faster than usual.

Shake down, your love I don’t want no more and baby I’m free and there’s nothing that’s stopping me
My love for you is gone so just walk away
Now I feel like a keugo balg-eun shining star , oh yeah I am gazing
Try me I will not feel pain no more
This is my destiny... I’m going to it

Ophelia dramatically sings the outro and she continues to sing as the dancers got up below her and they danced dramatically to the songs as she was in the sky.

It will only be me to stick beside me, I’m on my own so gyesog mil-eo
I don’t want to feel this pain no no more

As she hits the outro, she continues to sing with passion and feels on her body and the halo tilts again and as the song ends she drops her head and the halos light continues to spin and soon dims out as the dancers are on the ground, laying.

(Shake down!) Oooooh....
I’m free....
Hey yeah, yeah!
(Try me!) Oh try me....
(Now I!) Hey ohhhhhhh...
I’m free!
Woahhh ooohh...

[Achaean Republic]

22| Achaean Republic
Wolfie and Tubbo-“Sul-Sul!”
Tune:Synth Peter - Doef Doef ft. Katinka, Loufi, What The Faf, Wortel Kombat

Somebody in AS1 must’ve smoked Placely Placingtonian crack.

The past year has been a very successful one for the Corola-based channel. With three wins under their belt and an acceptable sixth-placed result after their attempt to defend their crown, it was time for the delegation to do something bold, demented, and exceedingly stupid. After all, they already won the contest—what else did they have to lose? It just so happened, though, that a popular Corola DJ and comedian suddenly decided to pitch in and pull a few connections—and maybe a few legs—in order to show his crazy new song he built with his crew after a couple of blunts and Red Bulls while playing The Sims on a Twitch server. It was, above all, simple, catchy and irreverent, which ticked off the box for everything an Achaean entry is known and loved for.

There was a little problem, though: The song was in Simlish, an imaginary language and a intellectual property rights nightmare.

But first, some context: Ever since the Achaean Republic returned to the Multiversal musical contest circuit, AS1 required that at least 50% of the lyrics of any performance were written in Spanish. The language restriction was, in the eyes of an executive member of Achaea’s WorldVision delegation, a way to ensure that Spanish and our diverse culture has an important representation in the Multiverse.” However, this was already eliminated by the 82nd edition of the contest, which paved the way for other non-Spanish entries (mostly in English) that have fared differently depending on the audience’s whims. (This rule is maintained in World Hit Festival and Junior World Hit Festival, though with different requirements). Even though the language restriction is no longer applied in WorldVision, its legacy is still present with many songwriters, arrangers and lyricists who don’t even bother to send songs in a language they may not fully understand. After all, nobody would be stupid enough to send a song in a language from a popular PC video game anybody would instantly recognize and immediately judge upon its accuracy, right!?

Wolfie and Tubbo aren’t only two members, however. The duo is, in fact, a “supergroup” of sorts, a quintet of DJ’s and VJ’s and mixers and oddballs and rappers that decided to band together and create a song for the WorldVision song contest…in a language enjoyed by many players while trying to skirt the line between cease-and-desist letters and tacky groaning between the older types. Of course, the way they prepared for their song was quite unorthodox, even by their standards: They spent hours and hours playing The Sims on their computers, creating avatars, designing houses, and trying to mimic the stilted movements and exaggerated facial expressions and incorporate those into their music. They tried to research everything they could get their hands on regarding imaginary and constructed languages: Esperanto, Interlingua, whatever Urban Triad was going on about in Sanomi, whatever Sylvester Stallone said when he opened his mouth. They enriched their lives in nothing, attempting to method-act their way into writing the perfect Simlish WorldVision entry. Banged doors, swaddled (fake) babies on the floor, peeing on carpets and even the occasional Woo-Hoo! in the bushes didn’t stop the awkward quintet in their journey towards inspiration. But mostly they Instagrammed the whole process for a few quirky laughs. After all, winning was not the point—but if it happened, then they would welcome it.

It was awkward enough that the crew went out of their way and faced such lengths in order to make a song that was indecipherably, undeniably nonsense, yet contain such richness in grammatical structures and diction that any casual listener could make sense of the lyrics. It was another to market the song to a crafty and judicious Achaean public, who had a sense of pride and accomplishment over their language. Believe it or not, Achaeans take their language seriously and some even uphold the patriotic duty to uphold the language with the same zeal of their egregiously snooty Spanish grade school writers. But luckily, it became a running gag and a meme in TikTok, and its infectious beat, interpretative lyrics and simple dance steps gave the song enough word-of-mouth to receive airplay on Top 40 radio and a listening eye to the Achaean WorldVision delegation desperate for a new hit.

With that, they were off to their destination in search of their sul-sul.

---

The slick, fast-paced world of Yvesia seemed out-of-place, yet quirky and embracing enough for the Achaeans on their way to Nakom. The harakuju squares, the kawaii, the fast-paced Y-pop and A-pop (for the nations’ musical tastes were quite interlinked) and the skyscrapers made the city look like an intimidating carbon copy of a Seoul or a Dubai or a Kuala Lumpur, only with slightly warmer weather—enough for the Achaeans to shed their bulky winter coats and enjoy a comfortable stroll. They were also offered the ability to ride the new Mercedes Benz, but they chose not to do it until they were able to better ground their feet and ride their way to the Grand Final with style. After all, with Nakom’s excellent public transport, it wasn’t hard to get around the city, anyway. They needed the workout.

Despite the shine and the sheen, there was a faint glimmer of steel-laced artifice. The infinity pools above massive rooftop gardens laden with tropical fruits are nice, but they couldn’t feel any more unsettled at the stringency of Yvesian life. The team was careful not to smoke gum or wear too much revealing clothing or act or dress provocatively (Achaeans were known to have quite the seedy reputation in the city). They were even wary of chewing gum and spitting on the streets, even though that is common sense and etiquette everywhere else in the world. But there was much of an effort, even more so, to display a sense of elegance and camaraderie that almost felt forced…unnatural…recalcitrant to the delegation. They tried to be a bit too polite with the press and the audience, but the artifice of desperation kept cracking down on them.

---

The stage was set for an eclectic, eyebrow-raising performance unlike many have seen. Especially when it comes to the Achaean Republic, anything could happen, more so if something unnecessarily sexual squeezes through the stage. This time, though, the mere fact that a song was done without any Spanish from a Spanish-speaking nation is weird enough. Now, a real-life copy of a studio apartment was part of the convoluted scenario for the Achaean presentation. On the left, there was a large, queen-sized bed with a man sleeping on it, with thought bubbles made of carton that had large “Z…Z…Z’s” on it. Next, there was another person with a dirty shirt slouching on the couch while watching mind-numbing television (could it be a past WorldVision Song Contest?). In a kitchen table nearby, a man with a hoodie was sitting down, scratching his back, then scratching his gonads in a choppy motion. Next to him, another guy laying around on the floor, making dust angels—even though there was no dust for him to spread around. Finally, a young woman was in the kitchen trying to chop a kiwi with a spoon. All had the iconic green plumb bobs atop of their heads.

For a moment, the lights on the stage grew dim as the cameras focused on the natural light emanating from the stage. The lyrics began, but the group was awoken to the infectious rhythm. At every sul-sul, every performer stood up and began a fast-paced motion to the center of the stage, right between the couch and the table. First, the guy on the bed. Then, the other guy on the couch. Then the hoodied man on a table. Then the guy doing imaginary dust angels. Then the lady with a broken spoon. They moved in unison and did one of the awkward Sim group dances. They hopped on their right feet and fell on the same beat. Then they grooved their fingers and made voguing moves with their arms. The lights behind them changed to strobes and lasers in a quite ignominious fashion and the floor below them had glimmering squares, turning the stage into a disco party.

Of note: The lyrics are in Simlish. The lyrics by themselves have no meaning. It is up to the listener to determine the context and the spirit of what is being sung.

Flabba sweedy-sul, sul
Garble snaffle-sul, sul
Flakka lakka-sul, sul
Shagga lekke-sul, sul
Danga wisha-sul, sul
Narva trinag-sul, sul
Tabarnacious-sul, sul
Ganarrama-sul, sul

Flabba sweedy-sul, sul
Garble snaffle-sul, sul
Flakka lakka-sul, sul
Shagga lekke-sul, sul
Danga wisha-sul, sul
Narva trinag-sul, sul
Tabarnacious-sul, sul
Ganarrama-sul, sul

Sul, sul, sul, sul

The blonde lady was named Jessikona, codename for Jessica Rodríguez, a homemaker and rapper that engaged in part-time tomfoolery and shenanigans with her fellow musical friends. Her entry was pointed and her movements stilted but flowing, as if she were manipulated with a mouse. The plumb bob atop of her head grew shinier with a small green light ensconced in the center, as if she were the next person being handed over to the game. It took hours for her to get the choppy movements of the Sims right. She even had a (plastic) baby that was bundled up and was squaddled and pushed until, in a random moment, she left the baby on the floor. It was a defiance of all rules of logic and child protection—this single move almost landed the group in hot water with the Department of Family and Child Protective Services, who missed the joke in a real-life example of Poe’s law. This raised many eyebrows as well.

Oofa digga tame see
Brasho oshea kraco shee
Miasha basho ser ser
Sul! Dooba tappo mee
Balasho gammo der-der
Sushi pera llotzo
Tchotchke dabba gabba so
Sul-sul sra yammul soy
Abba mada foosho
Doof! Boogo sheeshoo
Stop! Maa doo cron
Loosh too wongo foo
Nasha dragga brush doof
Dow magga lashu e
Sul-sul gabba masho
Shoo illi isho pamma…

In a glance, the cameras cut away at her feet and look at a small puddle of water pooling under her. Then, as the cameras moved back to her face, Jessikona had a worrying image of desperation and frustration—she was going to die of embarrassment! A carton-sized thought bubble appeared, carried over by another person, showing a person trying to hold their bladder and another toilet with a huge red “X” atop of it. It was an awkward sighting, but for some reason it made sense in its bizarre context. Then again, there was nothing else she could do now. (The plastic baby was tucked in a corner, still swaddled with a towel). She then reunited with her other friends to continue the dance.

Flabba sweedy-sul, sul
Garble snaffle-sul, sul
Flakka lakka-sul, sul
Shagga lekke-sul, sul
Danga wisha-sul, sul
Narva trinag-sul, sul
Tabarnacious-sul, sul
Ganarrama-sul, sul

Another one of the performers, the one nicknamed Krustee, had a spatula on the left hand (to the viewer) and a (prop) fish to the viewer’s right. He first glanced at the bright green plumb-bob shining atop of his head, which startled him dearly, enough that made him jump and almost quake in fear. His performance, like the rest of the song, wrestled with the concept of the metaphysical—the innate self-awareness of the computer characters, who seemed to be much more aware than the most avid players—against the blurred lines of reality and fiction. While it was quite hard to understand the lyrics, if anything could be drawn out of it, Krustee used his pitch and intonation to indicate his…frustration? Anger? Exasperation? Intrigue? With his tone and shady personality, it was impossible to determine the expression and the intention of his song. It was a puzzle. Or maybe that was supposed to be the idea.

Sul-sul, do! Fa sho gooly do
Uzima po shasho cool
Gabba yagga drash dot
Drae goo shasha loot
Masho keema dragga lush
Oopa saenga burke lof
Yrgo dmu lash ruf
Oonagh dryba masho tof
Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Olsken stop
Sul-sul, drabba musha col
Elshe marher etse ross
Kee-oh! Rarshar trepper glass
Shuya shalla yaffa shufsh
Sul-sul to the bra, sul-sul to the duff,
Sul-sul to the modof bobbensho slug!

The audience was bewildered in their innate reactions. It was not your standard Achaean fare. It was not your standard Achaean language. Their movements were blocky and awkward, as if they were Roblox characters come to life. Their blank stares and bumpy voices contrasted with the sheer wit and comedy of their interactions with the environment, just like any regular sims. The music kept blasting, the dances were catchy and ridiculous, and the stage lights kept flickering in many epilepsy-inducing colors. Which is why the reactions to the Achaeans’ over-the-top staging are quite mixed. Some pointed and laughed. Some just looked confused at the whole setup—have the Achaeans, already an outgoing and decadent lot, lost their damn minds? Others danced and tried to imitate the dance moves by following their own #SimsDanceChallenges on TikTok and Instagram.

The last singer, nicknamed DeLucian (a cheeky wordplay on delusion), started singing while he was holding two random boxes and had the green plumb-bob turned on his head. He looked possessed by the rhythm: an impressive flow, an effusive smile on the right side of his face—partially ongoing due to a recovering bout of Bell’s Palsy he suffered from whilst he was a teenager—and, unlike others, appeared much more reluctant to engage with the audience. In such a high-energy performance like this one, where the performers became living simulators, it was quite jarring to see the cameras look at DeLucian sing to blank stares while on the bicycle as if nothing ever happened. Behind his focus, a small fire popped out from the other side of the kitchen. Jessikona and Krustee could be seen in the background screaming for help while another one—perhaps Wolfie, perhaps Tubbo—started banging on the fire hydrant instead of pressing the buttons in order to release the foam. (As any longtime player would know, Sims are not known for their sense of logic.) But it did provide a sense of comic dynamism that was sorely needed.

Cougha yabba sul-sul
Aurf borasho dboo dboo
Sholomi fa go too too
Arrekhe capoules, sul-sul
Obi warna gar fo sho
Ma won ton baba broken too
Plas domma ya a lakken toof
Re-ne va sul-sul
Elastic, fantastic, draba sa ho
Madam, yu mush wash te
Lasanera ta ba fo
Su to di bic, sul to di boh
Lekker fi hi mo go
Oh ma has ben
Su bi exciting! Worf!

Flabba sweedy-sul, sul
Garble snaffle-sul, sul
Flakka lakka-sul, sul
Shagga lekke-sul, sul
Danga wisha-sul, sul
Narva trinag-sul, sul
Tabarnacious-sul, sul
Ganarrama-sul, sul

Once the song stopped, all five members congregated in the center of the stage and shouted, “Sul-sul!” to the cheering, but confused, crowd. It was doubly awkward for the Achaeans on the audience, loud as they were, who were perplexed at their national entry—yet for some, they were obliged to cheer for their attempt anyway. At least it was fun. At least it was quirky. At least it was different like the rest of the Sims and plays they immersed themselves in their entry. Still, others in the audience enjoyed the out-of-the-box courage of the Acheans to try something new in a language they couldn’t understand since it wasn’t real. The performers, instead, hoped that the audience was able to distinguish between the artifice of simulation and their comparisons with real life, or the comparison between fantasy and reality, or even the vicarious expectations of sims in troubled times. Or maybe they hoped the audience took the performance as a humble parody of a popular internet game and threw some points along the way.

For the cooler heads that prevailed, the Achaean delegation mentioned that the next entry will definitely have some Spanish.

[Natanya]

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