Skip to main content

Black and white show of fire for Turkey

19 May 2010 at 19:07 CEST

Turkey is the last country in the running-order of the second Semi-Final. When their representatives maNga entered the stage, they revealed a stage show with smoke, black and white flags and a female futuristic poser come dancer. Red dots of laser flew over the band members and the dancer during the performance. To the end of the show, the dancer raised a black and white flag-set of her own. Earlier in the performance, she wields a sparking weld. Already for the first notes of the song, the band urged the audience to clap along with the rhythm.

The lighting used a black backdrop with strong white spotlights from the lower portions of the stage, slanting upwards. The lights were blinking with a high frequency, making the audience in the hall peer towards the stage, shielding their eyes. The lighting was described as bold by the production, standing out very much.

For the last run-through of the song, the prepared pyrotechnics were used. And they are extensive. Silvery sprays and rays of fire were displayed in the back of the stage at times during the entire run of the song.

"We have worked so hard to put this together. For a first rehearsal, we are very happy," a representative of the Turkish delegation told Eurovision.tv immediately afterwards.

    

This content is unfortunately no longer available

"Most professional rehearsal"

maNga expressed great content with the rehearsal when they entered the press conference.

"This was probably the most professional rehearsal we've ever had," the band stated.

The band has employed the Canadian choreographer Genevieve Cleary for the staging of the song.

"The idea was to create a cyber character who reaches out to the human beings and wants to be like them," she said about the female dancer.

The band told the press of their habit to mix musical styles. For the entry We Could Be The Same, they have opted for rock mixed with hip hop and traditional Turkish music. Now, they look forward to the big night.

"This is the biggest contest that we know of. It's a great place for us to be to express our music and represent our nation. To us, this is not just a contest and competition, it's a festival."

This content is unfortunately no longer available

maNga’s story began when Yağmur Sarıgül “Yamyam” (guitar) separated his ways with the cover band he played with at local bars. His plan for his new band was to combine rock and electronic music bringing together hard guitar riffs and rap vocals. maNga began to form when Özgür Can Öney (drums), Efe Yılmaz (turntables), Ferman Akgül (vocals) and Cem Bahtiyar (bass guitar) joined the new band. The band was named maNga after the traditional Japanese cartoon art, bringing five different characters, five different music styles and five different world views together.

From 2001 onwards, the band released several highly successful albums which all became top sellers in their native country of Turkey. maNga won the Best European Act award at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2009. That was not the only award the band won in 2009 though, maNga has taken numerous other awards as well, including for the best video, the best band, the best song, the best album and the best performance.