The birds keep singing for Anouk

If anyone knows how to captivate an audience, it is Anouk, the lady behind the hit Nobody's Wife that charted all over Europe in the nineties. 

Previously we saw Anouk give a near-on perfect rendition of her Eurovision Song Contest entry Birds and today she was back to rehearse at the Malmö Arena for the second time. 

Backstage she was focused but (pardon the pun) chirpy. She is a pro on stage but nevertheless the idea of singing front of hundreds of millions of people can be nerveracking! 

In the hall there was quite a large Dutch contingent who did all they could to make Anouk feel welcome. Her performance was very confident as previously and she continued to have very little eye contact with the camera, something that is in itself captivating. 

During the performance she remains on the catwalk with her three backing singers on the main stage behind her. The song builds slowly and steadily as does the stage performance with the dark close up shots slowly being replaced with lighter, yet still sultry tones. Spotlights also play a big part in her rehearsal as do birds projected on the rear of the stage. 

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"Loving the music is what it's all about" 

Anouk's press conference started with the customary photo opportunity. Her approach is very humourous with the press and she connected well with them. 

She described that the style of music she usually sings is rock and blues so a ballad is something a bit different. She did however say: "I want to return to rock and blues one day, and to make more albums". She did however also say "I don't really want to tour as I have 4 kids at home, and I like being at home". 

Anouk was also asked about how she came to enter the Eurovision Song Contest and she said that she invited herself, after seeing the highlights from the year before. 

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When discussing the rehearsals, she said that she had been asked to look in the camera more but she said, "even though I tried, it meant I was thinking too much and then things can go wrong". 

The final question was what the song Birds meant to Anouk and she replied, "I want the audience to find their own feelings about my song". She also added, "I don't think people want to know my feelings about the song". This adds to the mystery surrounding the song.