Elise & The Band - "The Void"
Tune : ENEMY INSIDE - "Phoenix"
Music: Rico Zapata, Dean Yates // Lyrics: Elise

Elise with her guitar: "The Void" will be the 59th entry to represent Britonisea at the WorldVision Song Contest and Elise's guitar will make an appearance during the performance...
Britonisea is set to return to the WorldVision Song Contest with Loueske-born artist Elise, who will be joined on the stage with her friends and bandmates...
Elise's band in Loueske
Ample May
Elise is a 26 year-old singer from the north of the country in Loueske who wrote the lyrics to this song, "The Void". Elise is in a band called Ample May who performs in small gigs in her home city. However, the opportunity came for Elise to perform in a bigger stage and for the broadcaster so she submitted a song to a BITC writing camp and they seemed to like her suggestions. Elise was invited to make her lyrical suggestions into a song at the Eaux City writing camp alongside two writers, Rico Zapata, Dean Yates which gave birth to "The Void" as you know it. She didn't want to leave her bandmates behind however, and asked whether she could take them to the stage with her and BITC agreed as they were the ones she thought about when making the song a rock track. Her band members were more than happy to join her on the stage, raising her profile, their profile but also for music that is made in relatively unknown Loueske. They would also be credited too. Once arriving to Ous, Elise and her bandmates weren't sure what to expect and they didn't know much about Ugunnustan but were very impressed by the crispy batter of the fried chicken served at the KFC but not very impressed by the oppressive laws against homosexuality. Nevertheless, the nation enjoyed their stay in Ugunnustan leading up to the performance. On the night, they were set to perform 22nd.
Lots of Britonish performances in the past have had podiums on the stage and this performance was no different. Standing on the tallest podium, which was covered in decaying roses and thorns stood Elise. Elise was wearing an almost gothic-looking outfit, with a similar rose-looking outfit that looked slightly doused in blood. Around her, there was a mini-orchestra that had formed a circle while some of her bandmates were on smaller platforms further back on the diamond-shaped stage. In the actual live version, the orchestral elements of the song could be heard a little bit more, but as the music would play throughout, you would see these orchestra players strumming away to the song.
At the start of the song, there were twinkling sounds which provided a very dramatic entry into the performance. There was an establishing shot of the arena after the audience died down, with the camera slowly zooming in, getting faster as it got closer to the stage. As the music kicked in, there were plumes of fire that immediately shot into the air as red, orange and yellow filled the stage giving off a very fiery vibe and atmosphere on the stage. There were quick camera cuts from side to side, up and down, with Elise standing in the middle with a microphone in front of her. The fans were on full power doing this, with Elise being able to flick her hair from side to side, egging the audience to scream and shout - to participate in the song. When she started singing, the fiery atmosphere was immediately put out as we cut to a midshot which was slowly zooming into a close up of her. The stage around her was suddenly dark with a singular spotlight on her with only the edges of the podiums around her being lit - though you couldn't see this much as we were in such a close up.
I feel...like I have lost myself
I'm searching, I'm looking high and low
Each day that passes, I feel like I'm rotting more and more
This hell that I'm living in,
It's breaking every part of, of me!
We moved towards the first verse, and into the pre-chorus and you could feel that something more explosive was about to happen. That opening shot midshot of her was used for quite some time, but as we moved onto the line, "Each day that passes," there was some dynamism added and the camera cuts started to become a lot more interactive, with there being some focus on her bandmates who were on their own podiums. Similarly to the RL music video at 00:51, the camera angles flickered between Elise, one of the guitarists in the background and the man on the drums - while Elise grew a wide and almost sinister smile on her face. Elise gripped her chest as she melodically screamed into the microphone as we went into the explosive chorus. There was another long shot of the arena as the fiery atmosphere returned to the stage, alongside the fans.
Come, please save me -
Before I fall deep into the void,
Before I drown in my own sea,
of despair and of my self-pity.
In the background, the yellow, red and orange that was prominent almost created a "black hole" behind her as we moved further throughout the chorus - a black hole which eventually swallowed Elise. We then reached the next part of the song, the verse, with a starry atmosphere now being shown on the huge LED's behind her with a long shot showing her size compared to the size of the huge stage behind her. The other shots that proceeded this were a lot closer and tighter to keep the audience still within the story that Elise and the delegation were trying to create. As we moved into verse, a universe was created behind her with Elise looking around as shooting stars and the like circled around her on the LEDs.
I'm shouting but my cries fall on deaf ears,
Running out of steam, I've hit an all-time low (oh-oh)
Each day that passes, I feel like I'm rotting more and more
This hell that I'm living in,
It's breaking every part of, of me!
Throughout the verse, she was good at using hand gestures to try and convey her emotions. As we moved into another fiery pre-chorus, the camera cuts were a lot more erratic and perhaps foreboding than the cuts before. Elise kept her eyes on the cameras, trying to communicate to the audience at home the hell that she's recently been living in. As she sang the final note of the pre-chorus, the universe turned into an underwater paradise as a huge gush of water flooded the LED screens while a modest number of fire plumes were used during this. While the LEDs and the plumes contradicted one another, the juxtaposition between the two created a very cool effect - with the reddy orange flames sticking out against the oceanic blue of the screens behind her.
Come, please save me -
Before I fall deep into the void,
Before I drown in my own sea,
of despair and of my self-pity.
I know I've failed once, but I must be given one more chance,
One more chance to fly!
[Guitar solo]
For the chorus, you could tell that Elise was giving it a little bit more welly than the first chorus. We then moved onto the middle eight of the song, with Elise kneeling down on the floor, with the camera capturing this moment where Elise looked more vulnerable. The stage and scenery calmed down a little bit, with dark brown and rouge being the main colour themes behind her. But as she sang the lyric, "One more chance to fly!" she looked directly at the camera with a face of determination. She grabbed a guitar from the ground, putting the microphone on the stand as she made her way up and donned her guitar before engaging in an epic guitar solo. The guitar solo ended with pyrotechnic sparks sparkling from the end of the guitar which the audience seemed to enjoy very much - a long shot, a low shot, capturing the "money shot" of the performance. We then headed back into the chorus, and while the sparks on the guitar stopped, BITC blew the pyrotechnics budget on this performance with the broadcaster throwing the kitchen sink into this, sparks flying from all corners. A huge pyrotechnic shower flowed behind her which looked majestic and serene from every point in the arena.
Come, please save me -
Before I fall deep into the void,
Before I drown in my own sea,
of despair and of my self-pity.
Come, please save me -
Before I fall deep into the void.
I know I've failed but just give me,
One more chance to prove that I can fly.
The orchestral people around her and her bandmates all seemed to be enjoying the music as they were all rocking their heads back and forth to the rhythm and pace of the music. As the music became a lot heavier during the final repetition of the chorus, Elise slightly changed the lyrics at the end of the song so that it sounded similar to the bridge section, with the camera zooming in on her before there was a long shot of the arena as you could see (using augmented reality) something that was shining, lifting up into the arena from where Elise was standing as the rest of the stage turned dark. The crowd in Ous applauded with Elise thanking the audience, "Thank YOUUUUOOOUSSS!" She then moved off the stage as the crew got ready for the next performance.















































