As each day brings us closer to the live shows, ESCXTRA continues our special coverage which includes chats with this year’s artists. Earlier this week, Ireland’s Lesley Roy joined our live stream to discuss how things were going following her second rehearsal.
You can watch the full interview below:
“The most beautiful way to put it on stage”
When asked the reasons behind her intricate staging, Lesley expressed the levels of preperation that had gone into creating the distinctive stage show.
It’s very unique staging and I spent months and months working with our director Fredrik Rydman to make sure every inch of this makes sense. We’ve created everything from paper and everything is moved by hand – this is a hand-powered prop! It’s continuing the story I’ve been telling for the past 18 months and this, I felt, was the best and most beautiful way to put it on stage. We’re very excited by it!
Lesley continued to explain the reasons behind the technical setup and who she, and the Irish delegation had in mind when envisioning.
The main thing we wanted with this was pace, we wanted to keep the momentum of the song. We were also into the idea that we didn’t want it to contain the typical beautiful light explosions of Eurovision. We wanted to make it smaller and for people watching at home on phones, laptops and on TVs. When we first started working on this, there was not a clear idea of how many people would be in the audience. We felt the best bet was to build something for people watching at home.
Asked if she was specifically involved in the design details of the flipbook which appears during her performance, she reveals;
I was involved in every inch and aspect of this song – creation, production, costume, treadmill. I’ve carried a treadmill through Europe with me! There’s not an aspect of this that I haven’t been involved in.
What do you think of Lesley’s performance? Are you rooting for Ireland this year? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our live streams in the run-up to Rotterdam!
