From our special correspondent in Liverpool (UK)
La Zarra performed their first rehearsal on the Eurovision 2023 stage at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Thursday afternoon. Unlike previous editions, this branding took place behind closed doors, as was also the case for all the artists in the running. The journalists were therefore unable to see or hear anything from the performance of the representative of France, apart from a few photos and a short video on TikTok (which was still not online at the time of these lines were written). 20 minutes was however able to collect, exclusively, the hot reaction of Alexandra Redde-Amiel, the head of the tricolor delegation.
“A first rehearsal at Eurovision is always chaotic, always hard, she confides. But there, we have a very interesting base to work on. We are going to improve a lot of things, in the lights, in particular… ”The staging, which La Zarra announced as “dangerous”, seems very ambitious. She will begin her performance at 3 meters in height, wearing a huge dress – “which required a hundred hours of work”.
“A very beautiful declaration of love to France”
“There is a whole mechanism that will make it go up and down. La Zarra will therefore have a seat belt, which she will have to detach when she finds herself on the ground, then reattach to go up, describes the head of delegation. She will be all in front of the stage. Everything is meticulously thought out for her, so that the performance is iconic.” At the end of the performance, the lights on the set will show the colors of the French flag. “I had chills at that time, it’s a very beautiful declaration of love to France”, slips Alexandra Redde-Amiel.
La Zarra, who has withdrawn from the media in recent weeks for personal reasons, did not speak after this first rehearsal. However, she should say more during an interview session scheduled for Friday afternoon in Liverpool.
Was she at ease vocally this Thursday? “She is a perfectionist and very demanding, so there are things she wants to work on, but we were very happy because she did a very good first rehearsal,” said Alexandra-Redde Amiel. Things will very quickly follow one another for the artist: his second rehearsal on the competition stage will take place on Saturday morning. Then, she will enter the final straight until the final on May 13.
This Thursday evening, in the wake of the revelation of the images of her performance of the day, she won a place in the eyes of the bookmakers: she is now the third favorite for victory.