A strong voice for Macedonia

Baku, Azerbaijan - Kaliopi, representing Macedonia in Baku, has her first rehearsal today. She has been performing in front of big audiences since her childhood, and her experience showed already today!

Kaliopi talked to Eurovision.tv right before her first rehearsal today. About her arrival in Baku, she told us: "The flight was the worst part, I always feel stressed when I have to fly. But the hospitality of the people is just amazing, they are so friendly, I've felt at home immediately. The next two weeks will definitely be great."

"I'm not nervous", Kaliopi said when she saw the stage of the Baku Crystal Hall on the TV screen in the back of her delegation's dressing room. "It doesn't matter how big your audience is, a stage is a stage, no matter if you are performing for 3, or 30,000, or 3 million people. You don't learn that, you are born for the stage. I've been singing since my early childhood, with a live orchestra, on many occasions. But you always show the same respect for your audience", she added.

In Kaliopi's song Crno I Belo, which was sung completely in Macedonian language during today's rehearsal, classy ballad music meets rock, and this was illustrated well in the setting of the stage during today's rehearsal. On the background LEDs, the interior of an opera house was pictured. As soon as the rock part of the song kicked in, white moving spotlights were added to emphasize the increased tempo of the song.

On stage, Kaliopi was accompanied by musicians of both musical genres as well: There were violinists, representing the classical ballad parts, and a drum kit and electric guitars used during the second part of the song.

Kaliopi truly amazed the whole audience in the Baku Crystal Hall with her strong and expressive voice - her big experience with TV shows and concert stages definitely showed today! She performed in a confident and professional way, and while the technical crew was fixing a problem with the spider cam, she was even improvising unplugged with her band members!

Stay with Eurovision.tv to find out more about the Macedonian rehearsal and press conference when it happens! We will keep updating this article with more material.

About Kaliopi

Kaliopi is the biggest pop star in Macedonia, an exceptionally famous singer, composer, poet and is also renowned for her humanitarian work. Now she will grace the stage of Europe's Favourite TV Show performing Crno I Belo.