Nordic Party 2018

ESCKAZ.com were very fortunate to be invited again this year to the Nordic Party 2018, hosted by the Icelandic delegation this year

Taking place at the TOPO rooftop bar in downtown Lisbon the gathered press were first treated to performances at Eurovillage by some of the Delegations. Then we were invited to the private reception at the TOPP bar.

Complimentary food and drink was offered for all the guests. and the delegations from Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia mixed with the press and other invited guests.

Ari Ólafsson performed a medley and we also managed to chat with Denmark, Sweden and Finland while they enjoyed the evening sunshine and the amazing surroundings…

All videos and photos below;

After the Russian performance this one will definitely put a smile on everyone's face. It sounds and looks great in the hall and doesn't get boring for a moment. DoReDos obviously know their act through and through, and maybe it's because of that it looks a little too rehearsed, female lead Marina seems a bit tired.

We are on day 7 of the rehearsals, the last full day starting with Russia.

No changes to the Russian performance after the first rehearsal it seems. It's still not sounding that good and also the act on stage is not very convincing, though it's hard to say what else could be done really. On a positive note, in the studio version I think the latest part with all the repetitions of "'cause even in the darkness, even in the darkest night.." does sound better live than in studio.

As it already became a tradition, our team was invited to attend reception in the embassy of Georgia. Guests were offered drinks (Georgian wine or juices). Georgian diaspora of Portugal was very interested to chat with the members of the band IRIAO, which is representing Georgia at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Ethno Jazz band members gave exclusive interview to our website in Russian language, in which took part for the first time songwriters David Malazonia:

Also we offer you to watch several performances of IRIAO with participants of the national Georgian Junior Eurovision preselection:

It was business as usual today in the betting markets with not a lot of movement.
The only real price crash in the outright market was Estonia, who rehearsed yesterday and won the press centre poll.
Norway did well enough to not disappoint.
France had a slight drift in the market since their staging didn't exactly ignite the fireworks, but was solid all around.
Italy drifted in the market a bit harsher because people were expecting more of the staging.