The composer of Russia’s highly-rated Eurovision entry described Ira Losco as “one of the favourites” for the competition ahead of tonight’s semi-final in Stockholm.
“Ira Losco is such a beautiful woman, and she has a fantastic voice,” Philipp Kirkorov, who represented Russia as a singer in 1995 and has since written a number of successful entries, told the Times of Malta. “For me she is one of the favourites and I wish her great success. Let’s get through the semi-finals together, then we’ll think about the next step.”
Kirkorov was speaking just before the final dress rehearsal before this evening's big event, with Ira Losco closing off the performance with a strong performance.
Russia's entry You are the Only One, written by Kirkorov and performed by Sergey Lazarov, is generally regarded as the favourite both for tonight’s semi-final, where it will compete against Malta’s entry Walk on Water and for the final on Saturday.
Kirkorov said the Russian team was not feeling any additional pressure due to the predictions, but admitted he felt close to “the biggest success” of his Eurovision career.
“Sergey is a fantastic singer, the top singer in Russia right now,” he said. “It was the right choice to write this song specifically for Sergey. The Eurovision is a competition first and foremost for composers. With TV and visuals, everything is changing, so I am sure Sergey will present my song very well.”
Times of Malta also spoke with Hungarian singer Freddie, who found fame on a Hungarian TV talent show and is now representing his country with the song Pioneer.
“I don’t expect anything,” he said. “I just want to sing as best as I can to raise the Hungarian flag as high as possible. It’s about my country – I’d like to be ranked as high as possible for them, but it’s so hard to reach all the countries with your musicality. It’s so diverse.
"So many people are attracted to the Eurovision: 42 countries, 42 different tastes. I hope I can reach people with this song: this is our music and I hope to reach people who feel alike.”