Day 4 - Down Time, Party Time!

Just when it seemed our manic schedule was going to get out of hand, with nary a moment to tour the Russian capital, the Eurovision organizers announced today and tomorrow as the second semifinal rehearsal dates. So, we’re officially off for the time being. Or at least the songwriters and a few of the delegates are, as Yohanna and her coach will still be rehearsing at the hotel over the next couple of days.

While the Icelanders were cruising around Moscow in our ESC bus, sight-seeing all over the city, I decided to sleep in. I ended up relaxing for the most part of the early afternoon.

The phone rang a couple of times about various interviews and organization issues. It's embarassing, but I was so exhausted (and totally jet lagged) that I honestly couldn’t recall half of what I was saying in my sleepy state of mind, after I finally woke up! Hopefully, it’s all still very much intact.

After spending a few hours with my photographer, and another few minutes on the phone with friends in New York (yes, I’m getting just a little homesick, honestly, just a little!) our Russian hosts picked me up around 7 PM. We headed over to the Il Patio restaurant downtown, where I joined the rest of our delegation for a proper catch-up and lovely Italian dinner. Although the pizza was slightly on the cold side, my mozzarella and prosciutto salad was simply delectable!



Sitting right between Alma, one of the soloists in the famous Icelandic pop group Nylon (she is also Oskar Pall, my co-writer’s fiancée) and Elin, our fabulous make-up artist, we laughed so hard over dinner. Our table was split into 2’s and 3’s, and it was quite crowded, even for the restaurant staff. It took them forever to serve us!



For this very reason, we arrived late to the opening of the Euro-Club in Moscow’s historic Manezh on Red Square. But it actually turned out to be the best part of the night, as what happened afterwards was so much fun! Some of the biggest Russian pop stars, including Mumiy Troll and N’Evergreen (both of whom I’ve recently interviewed and whose songs I’ve played on my Russkiy in the Mix show) performed a set each and really made it a special night for the VIP attendees. And it was just nice to hear some great Russian pop tunes, for there really aren’t THAT many!

Tomorrow is going to be a rather quiet day for most of us, as we prepare for our big rehearsal on Thursday, followed by the international media conference. Just before our rehearsal kicks off, I’ll be heading off to the airport together with our hosts to meet our co-writer and my producer, Christopher Neil. I really cannot wait to show him around my home town, or one of my two home towns, anyway!

In case you're thinking I'm off to get some sleep, I'm afraid I have to tell you you're wrong. Although it’s already 3:30 AM here in Moscow, I’ve got a phone interview coming up with a UK radio station in a few hours, so there will be no sleep for me tonight. I’m Sleepless in Moscow!

Before I say goodnight, however, some quick insider info. An impressive majority of our ladies were very disappointed that Sakis Rouvas, this year’s Greek entrant at ESC, did not appear at tonight’s EuroClub show. Is it just me, or is he just too flawless not to be a model, instead of being a singer? I honestly don’t get it, but more on that later, right here on BTR!