Editorials & Opinion

My Eurovision 2018 Experience (Part 1)

As the 2019 season approaches, I am taking a look back at my experience attending the contest in Lisbon this year.

I have previously attended the contest back in 2016, but this is the first time I’ve done Eurovision week.. IN FULL!! and I cannot wait to tell you all about my experience in Lisbon.

Day 1 – Getting to Lisbon

After a long week of working… I finally got to Lisbon!!!!!

As they say… you save the best for last!!! :L, I did not get to Lisbon, until the next week after the rehearsals have started. I had this giddy and excitement at the airport awaiting for my flight. Despite the long delays, I have managed to arrive in Lisbon.

When I got to Lisbon, I went straight to my place, dropped my stuff off and went straight to the venue. When I got there, Mikolas was doing a meet and greet and it was nice to see him once again, after seeing him in London and Amsterdam.

I then went on to the arena and attended a couple of rehearsals. It was surreal being inside the Altice Arena (finally!) and it was a nice feeling to be able to have a sneak peek of the performances beforehand.

After watching the rehearsals, I went to a couple of press conferences and saw Riccardo!. He is a very lovely person and it was finally nice to meet my other teammates in person!

To end the night off, I attended the Israeli Party where a few of the participants performed the entry to those who attended, which you are able to watch in the vlog.

Day 2 – Rehearsals and Blue Carpet

Second Round of Big Five Rehearsals and the Blue Carpet

No rest for the wicked s they said. After a few hours of sleep, I made my way once again to the Altice Arena for a few hours. The Big Five had their second round of rehearsals just before the Blue Carpet later in the day.

After the second round of rehearsals, we then made our way to the press conferences, where the Big Five countries, were allocated which half they will perform. In this case, everyone except Italy got the first half.

A few hours later, I then made my way to the MAAT museum, where the Blue Carpet took place. It was a chance for me to see the artists once again or in some case, meet them for the first time. My highlight of this was when Melovin sprayed me with his fragrance “Black Gas” (spoiler alert! it smelt lovely!!!)

Day 3 – First Semi-Final Rehearsal and Jury Rehearsal

On the third day, I watched the dress rehearsal and the jury rehearsal for the first Semi-Final!

Happy Eurovision Week!!!!, It is Monday, rehearsals for the shows are now in full swing. I managed to attend the first full dress rehearsal of the First Semi-Final before the Jury Rehearsal later in the night.

The thing with semi-final one (personally), is that it always feels like a blood-bath! and no matter what I predict, it would not be 10/10. With that in mind, it is really nice watching the jury rehearsals, it really gave me a feel of what the shows will be like for when the show is broadcasted the next day.

That’s all for now. Tune in next week, where I tell you more about my time in Lisbon. Don’t forget to subscribe on our Youtube channel ‘ESCXTRA‘ and ‘ESCXTRA LIVE’ and on social media @ESCXTRA

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button