Sweden: Operatic contrasts
03 May 2009 at 14:00 CESTThe main visual concept of the Swedish entry is that of contrasts. Malena Ernman wears a white dress intended to display her an an ice queen figure. Her five female backing vocalists move around her all dressed in black. The large LED screens in the background display singular colours such as green and white. On the flanks on the stage five plastic structures resembling ice crystals were raised, each holding a theatrical mask. The masks are used by the backing singers during the second part of the song.
In the press conference later, a lot of focus fell on Malena's career as a professional opera singer. Malena stated that she feels equally nervous doing opera and pop music. In opera, she has to reach out without a microphone - in this pop song she has to use a microphone, which is something that she is very unused to doing, and switch between the pop voice and the opera voice. In the end of the press conference, she sang a piece of opera and a piece of a pop ballad.
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Malena Ernman is one of the most sought-after opera singers in the world. She has quickly gained worldwide fame within her genre and is considered by many to be a world-class mezzo-soprano singer. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, the Music Conservatory in Orléans, France and at the school of the Royal Swedish Opera. Her breakthrough performance came in 1998, when she did a spectacular performance as Kaja in Sven-David Sandströms show, Staden. Since then, she has starred in numerous operas all around Europe. Malena´s discography includes the solo albums Cabaret Songs, My Love, Songs In Season and Müllers Nachtgesänge. In 2009, the opera singer will be starring in Cinderella at the Royal Swedish Opera and in Frankfurt she will play Dido in Dido And Aeneas.
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