It really makes sense to us to have an award for the worse dressed participant in this competition. We don’t mean to sound all negative here, quite on the contrary, we love watching men and women from all over Europe, belting out their sorrow or joy or love or whatever on the ESC stage, while being wrapped in what looks like Queen Elizabeth’s latest stationery supplies or a wallpaper the Queer Eye guys could kill for. In fact, we wish there could be a whole range of categories so more than one contestant could win a Barbara Dex Award every year.
On the other hand, there are always quite a few contestants who look absolutely stunning on stage and we love watching them just as much. And after all it’s better to get a “wow” from the audience either in admiration or disgust, than an indifferent… “meh”.
A couple of those who receive thumbs up and a pat on the back from GEE are the rocker dude Vukašin Brajić from Bosnia & Herzegovina and rocker chick Anna Bergendahl from Sweden. Before ESC, there were much media attention in Norway on our very own Didrik’s embarrassing attempts to pick up this sweet Swede. Well, who can blame him for trying, but he should have realized that boring and bourgeois is not Anna’s cup of tea. Rebellious and red-hot are probably more Anna’s flavors and she would make a cute couple with Vukašin.
Their laidback appearance matches each other perfectly and even though we did find both their songs to be ridiculously boring, we compliment these youngsters for their sense of style and for choosing outfits that fit with their personalities and their performances on stage. It looks edgy yet effortlessly cool, and Anna was brave to stand her ground and insist on keeping her worn out Converses, while there probably were plenty of stylists trying to convince her to go for a pair of killer heels or something more “presentable”.