The impressive Christian Radich tall ship is one of the world's most famous fully rigged ships. It is in fact considered to be a Norwegian national institution nowadays. The ship has been used in the 1958 movie Windjammer and also the TV series The Onedin Line.
Upon arrival on board, guests were treated to strawberries and champagne amongst other culinary treats. The artists from the five countries performed on a makeshift stage set up on top deck of the ship. All five performed their respective entries in Europe's Favourite TV Show, with a couple of different versions amongst them. Lena from Germany gave an acoustic rendition of Satellite, whilst Daniel Diges from Spain gave a blues style twist to Algo Pequeñito.
A surprise for all of those lucky enough to be attending was that the official airline Norwegian.com arranged a special low flyover of a Boeing 737-800 plane. It flew as low as 500 feet at it's lowest level.
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Josh excited and Lena feeling no stress
The United Kingdom's Josh commented about the trip "The ship is very beautiful, going on a day trip gives us a nice chance to meet the other delegations and to chill out." We asked how Josh felt about the big day ahead on Saturday and he said "I cannot wait for the Final, to be in the Final is a great opportunity for me, to sing in front of all of those people will be one of the best experiences of my life, and whatever happens I will definitely keep on singing."
Josh stipulated how grateful he was for the support he had enjoyed since being announced as the United Kingdom's entrant and also commented on what it was like working with such a renowned songwriting team. He says "My message for my fans is thanks for all of your support, I will give my best performance." "Its been a great experience to work with both Pete Waterman and Mike Stock. They are so funny, very light hearted but they know exactly what they want. They really want to get the best performance."
Lena from Germany does not consider herself as a favourite to win the Eurovision Song Contest, despite what many bookmakers think. She commented "I dont see myself as favourite so everything is cool, no stress. I think that my success in Germany is not relevant for the competition here. Germany cannot vote for me now!."
It had been widely reported that Lena suffers a little from nerves on stage, she admitted "It's true I have suffered from stagefright, I don't know what i'll do to combat that yet, i'm trying to calm down and not be that nervous".
Daniel relaxed and Didrik pleased with his draw
Daniel Diges of Spain has a relaxed attitude about his experience in Oslo and adds "The way I'm treating my participation is to take it as a game, to play with it and enjoy it, then you can't get hurt if you take that attitude"
He also commented on how the public had treated him since winning the Spanish national selection by saying "The support from Spanish people been absolutely fantastic, i've had great relations with them. A lot of women in Spain come to me now on the streets to kiss me, they treat me like their son. I am very happy with this reaction."
Didrik Solli-Tangen is Norway's hope this year and was wearing a red suit sporting the Norwegian flag. He adds "The suit was given to me by the Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club in Norway, I really don't know where they got it from originally but i'm happy to be wearing it for this boat trip"
Despite what the assembled media and bookmakers think, Didrik is not of the opinion that being drawn in third position in the Final is a bad thing. He adds "Third place in the draw is very good for us, at least for me anyway as I don't have to sit and wait for a long time and be anxious or nervous waiting for my turn, also this year the viewers can vote during the whole competition right from the start so we will benefit from being on early, as in some countries people only tune in their attention at the very start of the show".
Didrik is not worried about the implications of winning for a second year in a row for Norway and jokes "Of course it would be nice to win again for Norway, but we'll see, I dont care what anybody says about NRK not being able to host for a second year running if I win. We'll do our best and if we win it's not my problem about the cost of hosting again next year!."
Jessy talks about arrangement changes
Jessy Matador of France and his team made some arrangement changes to their song for the Final performance. Jessy remarks "The song has a more African feel, as for the live performance it's supposed to be a surprise for our show. We wanted to have a nice show to present the song in the best way for the audience, it fits better for stage with this instrumental break"
There is also an unusual ending to the French performance on stage, with Jessy and his team performing a kind of tribal dance after the music stops. When asked Jessy said "The idea of the chant at the end of the song really is because every act just usually says thank you, bye bye, or au revoir or something like that. We wanted to do something original to say goodbye at the end of our performance."
There was also an extra treat for those attending as Didrik from Norway and Lena from Germany teamed up to perform a duet of a German song. You can watch this also below.
Eurovision.tv would like to thank the United Kingdom delegation for inviting us to join the trip.
