Kalosia
Oki — Domeniko Gaľanu
performed in Kalosian to the tune of Avalanche — Christian French
With Dafne Maržanu, the runner up of Festival dëla Kanžu Kalosianë 2021, having represented Kalosia at the 94th WorldVision Song Contest, all other competing artists that declared interest for WV that had not had their chance yet, had shifted their priorities and moved on to other projects. Thus, for the 95th WorldVision Song Contest, RTVK finally decided to open up to submissions from the public.
Out of the many songs they received, there was one track that stood out. The singer was also not unfamiliar, having competed twice in Festival dële Melodie Kalosiane (including winning the ticket to WHF on one occasion). He had also competed in FKK just last year, although his summery tune was not able to pprogress past the semifinals.
And so, the broadcaster announced that the Kalosian representative at the 95th WorldVision Song Contest is Domeniko Gaľanu.
The 26-year old heartthrob rose to fame after competing in La Vož, the Kalosian version of reality show The Voice, in 2015. He was only 20 years old at the time and managed to make it to the Top 6, after which he was eliminated. After being sent home, he was able to secure a recording contract with a small record label and packed his bags to move away from Sitria, the coastal tourist town where he grew up, to Monterra to build his career and produce music. He has lived there since.
3 years later, in 2018, he competed in the 35th edition of Festival dële Melodie Kalosiane, the Kalosian national final for the World Hit Festival, with the song 'Ti au përduto' (I have lost you). He came 2nd, losing out to Corpus Calosum, who eventually won the international final.
In December of that year, he competed at the 43rd World Hit Festival in Burgendore, Britonisea, with the song Donë (Woman), where he came 11th in a field of 20.
In 2020, he participated in the nation's most prestigious music show, Festival dëla Kanžu Kalosianë. With the song 'Ragažë mia' (My girl), he came 7th (second to last) in the semifinal and did not advance. It also so happens that Corpus Calosum had also won the previous year and subsequently represented Kalosia on home turf at the WorldVision Song Contest with their winning song. This was the first time this was ever done, setting a precedent and expectations that the 2020 FKK winner could do the same. In fact, it was not the reason Domeniko wanted to participate and, with his non-qualification past the semis, it didn't matter anyway. Following his announcement as the WV representative, he was finally asked if he would've gone to WV had he won FKK that year. And his answer was yes.
Personally, Domeniko thought that his current WV entry is a much stronger entry than his FKK song in terms of potential, as the latter was more tailored towards domestic audiences. This one, he thought, would have better appeal with wider audiences. The title of his WV entry is 'Oki' (Eyes), and tells the story of a man falling in love. It is a summery pop track, not unlike the ones that have been entered by the likes of Scotatrova and Malta Comino Gozo. The song was definitely considered a safe choice by fans, although as we have seen in the past edition, a safe choice may end up being forgettable, and so it is on Domeniko to make sure his performance will resonate with viewers.
Originally, the song was going to be titled Uv oki toji ('In your eyes'), however his team opted for a shorter, easier-to-remember title. The Kalosian delegation also decided for the song to remain entirely in Kalosian, rather than to translate into English as is common practice in both in Kalosian WV history and in WV in general. A music video of Oki was also made, which includes scenes of Domeniko singing as he lays in bed, him going out and meeting a girl, him dancing in the club with her, and ultimately him singing onstage in that club.
As the representatives of the participating countries arrived in Nakom, the Kalosian delegation surprised everyone with their cargo. A bunch of different components were constructed to produce some sort of makeshift room with wheels, measuring about 3 meters wide, 6 meters deep, and 3 meters tall. Once rehearsals commenced, everyone got to see how it all came together, with members of the press comparing it to the music video of Jamiroquai's Virtual Insanity or the Melodifestivalen performance of Danny Saucedo's Dandi Dansa.
Virtual Insanity
Click here to see an external shot from the Melodifestivalen performance of Dandi Dansa
For the big night, Domeniko is wearing a casual outfit. A red-and-black varsity jacket with a black t-shirt and a pair of sleek dark blue denim jeans. He tops the outfit with a pair of white sneakers.
As the song begins, the screen de-blurs and you can see Domeniko's face up close. He has one hand holding a mic, and the other to the back of his head, as if laying in bed. He filled up the screen, so other than that, you can't really make out anything else. He smirked and raised an eyebrow while singing, so you could tell he was quite confident, at least because of what he was singing about.
Tuto komenšavë
Un pomërižu, kadë au viditu
Kelu bel sorisu
Era tu
Domeniko looks like he's 'getting up' from a laying down position, and immediately it switches to a camera angle a medium distance. It turns out he was standing on some sort of ledge, and hops off. Now we get a good view of the scene; he appears to be in some sort of closed off room. The walls appear to be black with three lines running across the room. These are LED lights; the middle one is currently glowing red while the other two appear to be switched off and currently look grey. As Domeniko sings the last line of the part below, a song effect that mimicked his singing can be heard and these red bars (similar to equalizer visuals) could be seen animated in sync with the intensity of that sound effect. So, it appears that these walls are fitted with projector effects. On the ceiling, there are three lines that run vertically from the camera POV; these are LED light installations and are also currently emitting red light. 3 lines can be seen on the floor mimicking the ceiling pattern as well. As Domeniko continues to sing, he takes a few steps forward, closer to the camera.
Mondu mia a kañatu
Al improvisu lë sol a tornatu
Lasu alë ťelu
Gražia di tu
He takes a few steps forward, and suddenly on the walls, the lines to the song appear. "La vitë va..." first in the leftmost corner, followed by "e va..." in the middle and finally again on the right as he sings those lines. Ditto the next line with "Penšu kë sara" and the word sara repeated. As he sings the third line, although Domeniko was standing still, it suddenly seemed like he was being dragged to the back... but wait, looking at the movement of the lines on the floor, it seemed like the floor had started to move... but not the walls nor ceiling. In reality, the walls and ceiling are a wheeled structure which the camera is attached to. As this is the pre-chorus, the beat intensifies and Domeniko raises his voice. Meanwhile, the structure starts moving to the right, bringing a female dancer into the picture.
Mentrë la vitë va, e va, e va
Ja penšu kë sara, sara, sara
Unë aventurë për dwe, e tu mi aj
Poj veniz tu? Es or o maj!
With the beat dropped, we enter the chorus. The structure stopped moving, leaving Domeniko at a corner at back of the room. The female dancer is wearing a smart casual outfit, that is a white jacket over a black dress. She turns back and heads toward Domeniko, who steps forward. They meet, and while they never actually make physical contact, they engage in choreography that makes it seem like they are playing some sort of game, where they follow each other to different corners of the room. It definitely looks very intimate, and you can really see the passionate tension between them. Domeniko is singing the whole time this happens, and the lights that go around the room are emitting white light, although the intensity varies as the light pulsates around the room. The ceiling lights are off and the floor is plain black.
Ti portaru
Ala finë dël arkuťelu
Ove speta la primë luž dëla matinë
Saremu intrë li steli šintiľanti
Kë au trovatu uv oki toji
Now the two of them are at the front of the room, and the structure moved forward. Domeniko stood still as he sung, therefore appearing to be 'dragged' to the back, but the female dancer walked forward and stayed in the front of the room. In the third line of the next part, Domeniko walks forth to catch up with the girl, but she turns back and walks towards the back of the room, causing Domeniko to walk too fast and miss her completely.
Ti portaru
Ala finë dël arkuťelu
Ove speta la primë luž dëla matinë
Saremu intrë li steli šintiľanti
Kë au trovatu uv oki toji
Now the structure's movements slowly come to a halt. The ceiling lights come back on, shining in white. Now these graphics were projected onto the walls which looked a lot like a grid structure rendering of a park landscape (so somewhat like this but with trees and what have you). The ceiling lights glow in white, the LED floors show horizontal white lines, and Domeniko begins making his way to the back of the room, while looking at the female dancer (as if to sing to her). The structure has also begun to move backwards, forcing Domeniko to walk faster. The female dancer actually walks slowly, meaning the front wall quickly catches up with her, and she waves to him (as if to say goodbye at the end of the night) and quickly makes an exit to the left. Domeniko slowly stopped walking, realizing she left, and was now facing the front. The structure kept moving though, and by the time it stopped, Domeniko was closer to the front of the room.
Kadë avamu parlatu
Sentivu kë sentimenti moji
Eranu rešiproki a ti
The ceiling lights now turned red while the white horizontal lines on the floor got wiped away, being replaced with red vertical lines instead. The projectors showed a big heart on the back wall now, and the middle LED light started pulsating in red, somewhat slowly at first. As Domeniko kept singing, the wall projections began to fade into red, essentially recolouring them and drowning the heart in a sea of red. He definitely looked like he meant what he was saying, as he sang while grinning from ear to ear. At the same time, the pulsations of the lights became more intense, and once again Domeniko raised his voice as he finished off this pre-chorus. And right as that happened, the projections were turned off, leaving only the red LED lines in on a black background.
Poj mi san prometetu kë ti daru
Mi koru interu, ed or
Ja voľu mošarë ti
K’es veru, sej tuto për mi!
Now, the female dancer came back in, carry a little black handbag with her, the gold chain strap hanging over her shoulder. She circles Domeniko, and the dynamics of her movement are emphasized due to the structure also rotating... you can see the floor and its vertical lines rotating 90° clockwise (which means the structure is rotating 90° counter-clockwise). While this is happening, all LED lights are on and emitting red. The horizontal ones in particular are pulsating around the room. Being near her, Domeniko definitely seemed like he was having a good time. You could almost see the lustful expression in his eyes as the closeness between him and the dancer created tension.
Ti portaru
Ala finë dël arkuťelu
Ove speta la primë luž dëla matinë
Saremu intrë li steli šintiľanti
Kë au trovatu uv oki toji
Once the structure completed its rotation, the female backing singer tossed the handbag towards the back of the room and then playfully removed her jacket as well, revealling this gorgeous little black dress underneath. Not long after, the structure moved again, backwards this time, moving the bag and the jacket—both on the floor— towards the front of the room. Meanwhile, Domeniko was mainly focusing on his singing, as he made general, lax body movements. He sang while looking at the dancer.
Ti portaru
Ala finë dël arkuťelu
Ove speta la primë luž dëla matinë
Saremu intrë li steli šintiľanti
Kë au trovatu uv oki toji
Finally, the two embrace at the back of the room, and the structure moves backwards, bringing them forward, closer to the camera. Domeniko continues to sing as they hold hands, and projected onto the walls are many little shining dots that twinkle, mimicking a starry night sky. This is definitely the most intimate moment of the entire song, as he looks into her eyes as he sings about how "I have found myself in your eyes".
Au trovatu, trovatu, trovatu
Mi stesu uv oki toji
Au trovatu, trovatu, trovatu
Mi stesu uv oki toji
The structure stops moving right as the two of them are in front of the camera. Slowly, Domeniko lets go of the dancer, who also lets go and moves away. Being right in front of the camera, he walks to the left and exits the scene. It cuts to a camera outside the box; as it turns out Domeniko has come out of the structure as he sings the line below, revealing the stage setup outside the room. The camera follows him from in front as he makes it towards the front of the stage. He sings this line as that happens, and as he walks, we can gradually see that there is a whole band, namely an electric guitar player, an electric bass player, a drumkit (and its player), and three backing singers, including the female backing dancer from earlier. The stage lights here are pretty dimly lit, save for a spotlight on Domeniko and some more fainter lights on the other performers. Also, we get to see the structure being rotated again by stage crew. This time, it is being oriented so that the back wall is facing the audience. It turns out that this wall's exterior has been fitted with lights as well which will serve as a background for Domeniko now. Speaking of him, Domeniko makes it to the front of the stage and attaches his mic to the stand just in time for this part to finish.
Mentrë la vitë va, e va, e va
Ja penšu kë sara, sara, sara
Unë aventurë për dwe, e tu mi aj
Poj veniz tu? Es or o maj!
Now as the camera angle switches to a close-up of Domeniko, he sings the first line of the next part. Afterwards, the camera immediately zooms out to a wide shot, pyrotechnic fountains shoot once from all around the outline of the stage, and immediately the lighting kicks in. The LED fixtures installed into the stage design are a warm golden colour, while the stage lights illuminating the set are red, allowing for this warm, welcoming tone. Quickly, the camera angle switched to a dynamic one that circled the perimeter of the stage, with Domeniko in the picture, before switching to other camera angles.
Ti portaru
Ala finë dël arkuťelu
Ove speta la primë luž dëla matinë
Saremu intrë li steli šintiľanti
Kë au trovatu uv oki toji
Now, the atmosphere on the stage was amazing. It was clear that Domeniko was having tons of fun on stage, being very generous with his facial expressions and body gestures, particularly ones where he extends his arms as a reflection of his promises to take his new lover "there", be it the end of the rainbow or the stars that glisten in her eyes.
Ti portaru
Ala finë dël arkuťelu
Ove speta la primë luž dëla matinë
Saremu intrë li steli šintiľanti
Kë au trovatu uv oki toji
Now a pyro curtain began to fall at the back of the stage. As the stage was showered by light, the camera angles used in this part below were shots that focused on the stage—wide shots as well as side shots and even shots from above. These angles were able to display our performers in context, and conveyed the atmosphere that Domeniko performed in. A quite warm one, with an enthusiastic audience.
Au trovatu, trovatu, trovatu
Mi stesu uv oki toji
Au trovatu, trovatu, trovatu
Mi stesu uv oki toji
As the song starts coming to an end, the cameras now focus on more intimate shots of Domeniko. Not close up shots, but rather medium shots and ones where he is the main object. This was actually a great visual, particularly with the warmth of the stage lights and golden shower. Domeniko was definitely very happy, be it from the lyrical content of a guy falling in love, or from the fact that his performance, which was almost done, has been quite successful. For sure, he was giving this his all.
Au trovatu, trovatu, trovatu
Mi stesu uv oki toji
Au trovatu, trovatu, trovatu
Mi stesu uv oki toji
For the final shot, the pyro curtain stopped falling and instead was replaced by a long pyro fountain shot from the stage outline. Domeniko excitedly had his hands extended up, as if to celebrate. As the song was now over, the audience went wild. "THANK YOU!!!!!" he screamed into the mic. He jumped around excitedly and hi-fived his mates as they returned to the green room, as the stage crew not only took the time to dismantle the setup, but also prepare for the next entry, coming from Yvesia.