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WATCH ME Melani’s full performance from Junior Eurovision
Melani at Junior Eurovision 2019 with a song about plastic pollution in the ocean
to that authenticity. This is some of my favourite work as I get in so deep with it. Printing was becoming so good at the time of the Funhouse tour, we actually redesigned all the patterns on the set in the studio and had them printed rather than theatrically painted. It just gave the whole set a richness and colourfulness. The backdrops were designed with various companies who would create such spectacular textual designs. It of course helped that we also had an extraordinary screen content team that worked with and built upon our ideas. We had amazing lighting and costume designers as well! Which of the industries you work across do you find the most exciting and why? Music is where my heart and soul is, but I’m always excited about any project. I very easily get passionate about any kind of project because there’s always
on the other side of the screen. Feeling live elements makes any production touching and authentic – and that validates us. So I always try to think of ways to include a live audience close to the stage. What’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt in your career that you feel could help others? I always say that you need to know your stuff, you need to do the research and make a good network of people who you can call up when you want to know about new things, or learn how to do something. Everything is possible. It’s purely a matter of time and money and teamwork. But the key is to not give up, and know that everything is possible in one way or another. To learn more about Refsing and Rockart Design’s work, head to rockartdesign.com
something unique, and that is what I’m always trying to find. The most boring briefs I get are when somebody comes in with a reference – from the Oscars for example – and says ‘we want something similar to the Oscars, but not the Oscars’. I try to say that you’re never going to be the Oscars, and what you want to be is your own thing. That’s when your brand is strongest, when you find your own identity. I also care greatly about maintaining the live experience because that is something we felt the loss of during the pandemic. When you miss out on the live part of a show, you miss the validation that makes it a true, authentic performance. The moment where you spot that person in the crowd with tears in their eyes because they’re visually so touched by what’s happening live on stage; the viewers at home can then also feel that
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