How does it feel to be in pre-party? Part 1 (Riga)
On 25th, 2017 Latvia again held it is annual Eurovision Pre-Party. While the day was pretty intense, as a team of Eurovoxx we really enjoyed it!
The day started with the Press accreditation at the Tallink hotel. Each member of the press got some amazing souvenirs from Latvia, which were magnets and mug holder with Latvian pictures on them.
At 10.30, a guided tour awaited the guests. While the weather was not welcoming, the amazing guide warmed the heats of the journalists and singers with her stories about Riga, Latvia. The guided tour included the Old Town, the Art-Nouveau district of Riga, and the tour ended at Skonto Hall, which was the venue which hosted Eurovision 2003. After joining the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000, Latvia managed to get its first victory pretty quickly, compared to other Post-Soviet countries. Their first debut was with Brainstorm - My Star. Actually, I was also very happy to get their debut album in one of the shops of Riga.
At 13.00, the Press-Conference started and we managed to meet the amazing singers from Belarus, Czech Republic, Norway and the host country Latvia. Due to foggy weather in Krakow causing delayed flights, Kasia Mos unfortunately did not attend the press-conference. The press-conference was followed by opportunities for individual interviews. I managed to grab a moment to interview the Latvian group Triana Park, and Martina Barta, the artist representing the Czech Republic. You can see them here.
At 14.30 there was a special press-conference with Ruslana, the Ukrainian winner of 2004, who talked and answered questions from the journalists. She talked about the ongoing preparations in Ukraine, her opinion of the Ukraine ban of the Russian contestant, and also mentioned that she will perform in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.
In the evening, the party got of to a start, with last year's Latvian contestant Justs taking the stage. Martina Barta followed, performing Lana Del Rey's 'Young and beautiful', which had some minor technical problems. But Martina proved that she is not afraid of any technical problem, and gave a power performance regardlessly. Later on she also performed her song 'My turn'. After her, Naviband entered the stage, and gave a few songs, including their entry to Eurovision. Following them, Kasia Mos appeared on stage and explained the unfortunate weather condition that let her to be late for the event.
After Kasia Mos, JOWST amazed the dance floor with their 'Grab the moment'. Yep, I also tried to grab some of those moments... And it was pretty cool. The final of this year's contests that took the stage, was Triana Park, who sang a couple of their songs, which especially pleased the local audience. Last, but by no means least, Ruslana took the stage, and served a level of crazy high energy, that you simply had to be there to experience!
In the morning, I also managed to catch Kasia and interview her before she went back to Poland:
Overall, a wonderful party! I really enjoyed the Latvian trip, and the chance to experience these artists perform their songs live, before the big show in May. If you are a true Eurovision fan, the Pre-Parties are something I would highly recommend to everyone!
You can also find some photos here:
#Eurovision #preparty #Riga #2017 #Eurovoxx
