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Ott Lepland: “Baku is wonderful city”
Baku, May 16 (AZERTAC). “It`s my first visit to Baku and the city is very wonderful,” said Estonian singer Ott Lepland in a press conference after his first rehearsal.
Lepland noted “it`s great honor for me to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.”
He added all participants of the contest are very strong.
At the press conference, he was asked about what changes there have been since Estonia last hosted Europe`s Favourite TV Show in 2002. He replied "I believe that Eurovision has changed, there are more countries competing than 10 years ago. To my eyes it has become bigger, but I still believe that it would be a big deal to win for Estonia. It`s awesome here!."
Ott said he considered himself very lucky to have won the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul 2012, as he believed that the competition was very strong.
Ott was asked about whether he gets nervous before his performances and added "I`m always very anxious before I get on stage, but it`s more of a thrill than nerves. When I get on the stage it feels like an adrenaline rush and everything is fine."
Australian radio asked Ott to comment on a show in Estonia where he performed with his grandmother. He went on to say "Performing with my grandmother was the most emotional performance for me, she is a very special person, it was a great honor for me to perform with her on stage. I feel very lucky to have performed with her in front of an Estonian audience." Ott did not rule out performing a duet with the Russian grandmothers Buranovskiye Babushki.
A journalist asked Ott if it was challenging to shorten the song Kuula down to three minutes. He said "The original of the song was released in November 2011, and it was around four minutes and thirty seconds long. It was a difficult challenge to take it down to three minutes. My vocal teacher did a great job cutting the song, and I think it sounds great now."
"The performance has been deliberately toned down for the Eurovision Song Contest", Head of Delegation Mart Normet explained when asked about the staging of the song. "We want the music to speak for itself, the song is a timeless classic we feel."
Ott told the press about the three different language versions of Kuula. He added "We made a Spanish, Russian and English version of the song in order to let as many people understand the song as possible."
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