Rehersals have been underway this week in Kyiv and Australian performer Isaiah Firebrace has been turning heads. But, heads aren't the only thing turning. With the staging set-up for Isaiah to perform, it has been revealed that Isaiah himself will be turning on stage...on a rotating platform!
from Eurovision fan site wiwibloggs offered his immediate thoughts on seeing Isaiah up on stage, praising the stage design as "expensive and well thought out." In a video posted to YouTube, the team from wiwibloggs pointed out that Australia always manages to sneak under the radar with an impressive performance and stage design.
We're excited to see the extent of what the team have built for Isaiah to perform against on stage. The rotating floor has already proven a winner with the team from wiwibloggs joking that it's like a big lazy susan, but they were wowed by the execution of it.
Video of the first rehearsal has been released:
There were four rehearsals on stage, with Isaiah trying out a number of approaches to his performance on stage. Due to the scale of the staging built for the singer, the first rehearsal was the very first time Isaiah had laid eyes on what had been built for him. Before his first rehearsal, Isaiah told reporters that "I think I'm going to have to just stand there and take it all in and then get on with the rehearsal".
With each rehearsal, the team raised the stakes for Isaiah on stage. After the first three rehearsals, the team unveiled the final element to the performance: pyrotechnics.
Paul Clarke from Blink TV, the Australian production company that works with SBS on every Eurovision broadcast, revealed that the inspiration for the staging came from Isaiah's gorgeous voice:
"The Idea of the turntable came from hearing Isaiah's voice - it's a true soul voice and it reminds you of those great Motown voices like Marvin Gaye, effortlessly sweet, but one you feel in your heart. In those days they staged their singers for TV with cool, classy lines. The turntable was a way of creating some of those.
"Eurovision camera coverage is very different than in Australia or USA or U.K. - often very circular - the steadicams and rail cams go around the artist. We thought:"imagine if the artist went around, and the cameras were still...we've never seen that at Eurovision before.
"There is a lot of soul searching in our song, and Isaiah is singing about moments of inner turmoil before he breaks through at the end. Being on a spinning disc works well for that, and the images behind are like a dream state ... It's like we are in his mind.
In typical Australian fashion, Clarke couldn't help but have a laugh at what they had built for Isaiah: "Australian Music writer Kathy McCabe dubbed it a 'lazy Susan'. So it's now just Suzy to our team!"
The Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast over SBS’s Eurovision weekend - Friday 12 May, Saturday 13 May, and Grand Final Sunday 14 May at 7.30pm on SBS with LIVE early morning broadcasts begin Wednesday 10 May at 5am on SBS.
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