Finland: Pernilla closes her eyes
With a song in Swedish language, 21-year-old Pernilla will represent Finland in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. Today she rehearsed her calm ballad for the second time in the Baku Crystal Hall.
"It was really sweet to have my first rehearsal on Mother's Day", Pernilla told Eurovision.tv before her rehearsal today. The delegation hoped that the LED backdrop be changed for today, she explained.
"Also the sound and camera settings should be changed a bit. I hope that today's rehearsal will be better", Pernilla said right before entering the stage in the Baku Crystal Hall.
In the Finnish rehearsal, we saw indeed a change in the background LEDs - the colour was changed from blue to orange, with golden sparkles and fireworks being displayed. Red spotlights were added too, and altogether, a warm atmosphere was created with the new lighting scene.
Pernilla was wearing the same long green dress as in the first rehearsal, and thanks to the wind machine, it was waving in the air nicely. Together with the cellist accompanying her on stage, Pernilla left a confident impression, smiling and flirting with the close-up cameras.
"Yeah, we are happy. Now it feels better with the background, it's more emotional", Pernilla commented about her second rehearsal in today's press conference. About the fact that she is singing a Swedish-language song for Finland, she stated: "We are Swedish-speaking Finns, so it was a natural choice to sing in Swedish."
Pernilla sang a Swedish song accappella for the press before going on with the conference. A Finnish journalist asked her about her dress for the Semi-Final. "I was still wearing a jacket over the upper part of my dress today, and I will only reveal it in full on the Semi-Final night - so it shall remain a secret till then." Pernilla finished the press conference by thanking her fans for their support.