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The Eurovision Performer You Never Saw: The Song Contest Stand-Ins Written by on June 22, 2015 | 1 Comment

Each Eurovision Song Contest artist gets just fifty minutes of time to prepare on the Song Contest stage before the big shows. This time leaves little opportunity for changes and usually the alternations of stage design, camera work and performance are only minor in that final week before the Contest is broadcast to the world

However that does not mean these are the only rehearsals. Before each country arrives onto the gigantic stage, local musicians have also performed each of the entries to camera, giving the production team and delegation ideas to improve for the live shows. Investigating how this murky pre-rehearsal side of the Eurovision Song Contest works, Ben Robertson met Vienna stand-in David Rodriguez-Yanez to discuss the inner workings of his Eurovision experience at.

The Almost-Invisible Eurovision Singers

The history of being a Eurovision stand-in began with the Swedish production of 2013, where 50 students from the local Heleneholm Gymnaisum were selected by host broadcaster SVT to perform as dancers and singers on the big Eurovision stage.

Of these, one in particular caught the attention of the TV executives making sure their stage worked to perfection. Her name was Ellen Benediktsson and she stood up inside the Malmö Arena to perform the French entry in the weeks before the artists themselves arrived in town. Christer Björkman, who was Show Producer for the 2013 Contest, remembered Ellen’s impressive performance and asked her to test out a subtle ballad called ‘Songbird’ that was submitted for Melodifestivalen the following year. That combination took Ellen to the Final of Sweden’s biggest TV show and kick-started her career.

The process of selecting a stand-in has moved on even in the last two years, and nowadays the selection process is run beyond the reach of the host broadcaster, as David explained to me in our interview.

There was an audition process, one for a dance audition and one for singers. Usually here in Germany and Austria there aren’t open calls, not like the West End or Broadway. You send in your stuff and your resume and then they invite you to audition.

It was all done by Dietmann production ran by Marvin Dietmann. He’s a choreographer for ORF and he also works on plays and musicals in Austria.

This process was not one taken lightly or rushed through. David’s first audition took place in November, and it took until January for him to be shortlisted for the final group. The first day the team assembled together was the 4th April, and it was on this day that each of the group found out which songs they would perform.

I got to tell you, I got the songs. There are so many great songs and cultures, but, oh my God, I got my favourite ones, they are amazing. When we were told what songs we would get we got to look at the videos from the delegations, like a director’s cut, and that is what we learn to perform on stage.

The Puppet On The Delegation’s Strings

One can hardly disagree with David’s statement about the songs that he got to perform. He was involved in five of the different acts from this year’s Song Contest, performing Armenia’s, Azerbaijan’s, Sweden’s, Australia’s and Israeli’s entries as the lead artist. These technically demanding songs pushed David to the limits, not just in terms of vocal ability but also the difficulties in dance routines and finding camera angles. Some of these were harder than others.

With Sweden it was always the same as the original video, you can’t do anything different. Azerbaijan was completely different, when we had his video there were no dancers, we had to get two dancers to go and learn a choreography and I had to work out which cameras to look into. Then two weeks later we got a new video, and had to learn an altered routine. But that’s not too bad, with Armenia’s entry we had to change the routine three times.

We have to be open to see what they want to change and to try and make it perfect.

All this tinkering and change happens until each of these acts gets to go onto the Eurovision stage to record. This year it took place between the 1st and 3rd of May and each country’s act had 45 minutes of performance time on the big stage, including all set up. As you can imagine, this ate into the time taken for David to master his version of ‘Heroes’ in the Wiener Stadthalle,

Sweden was so technical needing to have every single move on the exact beat with the animation. The first adjustment was with the red light that appears on this chest. No joke but we took about 30 minutes on just adjusting that light bulb. It had to be in the right position because it has to cover his neck but not his face.

I wondered if any of the other delegations had noticed the hard work that David and the team had put in.

I was very grateful that the first delegation which passed on their congratulations was Sweden. The day after we made the performance video ORF came and said Sweden wants to congratulate me for your work. I didn’t know if I would get the chance to meet them but it was amazing because I came in to see them rehearse, I wanted to see how it actually looks. There both the Swedish and Israeli delegation recognised me and came up and thanked me for the work. And that felt very good. It felt like the work that I did, they noticed that it was lots of work and they appreciated it. It was a nice feeling.

What Makes Eurovision Stand Out From The Crowd

The warmth and the friendliness of the Eurovision community had its impression on David’s impression of the Song Contest. Born in Venezuela and moving across to the United States in his youth, Eurovision barely featured on his radar growing up. Indeed, even when David moved across to Europe nine years ago, Eurovision still was just a ‘normal’ Contest, similar in setup and impact to the likes of Idol, X Factor and the gazillion other talent shows on TV. However in the midst of Vienna’s EuroBubble that attitude has been completely turned upside down.

The first special moment for me personally was with Conchita’s win last year as it gave a message to the world that things are changing, and also the song was great as was her.

Being here, I realised just how much work every single person puts into this show. Not just the artist too but also the composers, producers, choreographers, writers, and also being here in the hosting country to see what ORF have done…you just want to be a part of it. It is about the music, the artist and about having fun. You aren’t thinking about political issues or gender issues, just about who has the best show and who moves you the most. Honestly as a singer I would love to just stand on that stage and have the opportunity to change people’s lives in that way.

As a stand-in David also featured as some of the show extra's, here taking centre stage during the Opening of Semi Final One.

As a stand-in David also featured in some of the show’s other moments, here taking centre stage during the Opening of Semi Final One.

The feeling and the energy you get when I’ve been doing the live shows has been unbelievable. These people are just there to watch the show and they sing and they scream and it’s amazing just how much work and effort goes into this show.

My career plan has definitely changed. I originally wanted to be a pop singer like all young boys and then I got into musical theatre. I think it’s a beautiful form of theatre and I forgot about this experience about performing your songs. The first time I stood on that stage I mean there was no people there just the production people and the camera team and you have the in-ears, the music plays and it’s loud and you hit the cameras and it’s just an amazing experience. You want to do this and keep doing this.

Through having the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of Europe’s top artists and from impersonating them on the biggest stage of them all, David has got the buzz. Eurovision has acquired not just a new fan, but also a talented performer who now has the Song Contest lurking around his professional ambition. By opening up it’s doors Eurovision has proved itself again to be one of the premiere events available for up-and-coming artists.

But not only that, the stand-in tradition has cemented itself as a part of the Eurovision circus. David’s experience shows that it is becoming a valued offering in each Song Contest cycle, and one that takes months of preparation and practice. In doing so the Song Contest becomes far less stressful for competing artists and everybody involved in the technically challenging production. They also bring a fantastic enthusiasm to the occasion which helps makes those first steps into the arena special for all involved. Long may it continue as one of the Contest’s newer traditions.

You can find out more on David via his Facebook and Instagram pages, and the ESC-Kaz team grabbed the footage of David singing ‘Heroes’ at the EuroVillage, along with some of the other stand-ins, embedded above.

About The Author: Ben Robertson

Ben Robertson has attended 23 National Finals in the world of Eurovision. With that experience behind him he writes for ESC Insight with his analysis and opinions about anything and everything Eurovision Song Contest that is worth telling.

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Have Your Say

One response to “The Eurovision Performer You Never Saw: The Song Contest Stand-Ins”

  1. Martin says:

    Great article Ben – surprised that I’m the first to comment on this after two years!

    I’ve linked this in an article I’m writing for my blog – I didn’t want to rehash such a well written piece, especially as mine will be about the individual performances themselves and less about what happens during the process.

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