Eurovision fans go wild for Rita Ora as she steals first semi-final: ‘She was born to be famous’
‘Rita Ora served!’: Fans are loving Ora’s Eurovision semi-final performance. (YouTube/Rita Ora)
Fans are revelling in Rita Ora’s redemption arc after the singer tore up the stage at the first Eurovision semi-final last night (9 May).
The 32-year-old opened her set with stripped back versions of her Jonas Blue collaboration “Ritual” and her hit 2017 single “Anywhere”.
Marking this year’s Eurovision theme, United By Music, Ora was joined on stage by a young Ukranian dancer and refugee called Sofiia.
After a slightly softer rendition of her 2014 number one hit “I Will Never Let You Down”, Ora turned the pop star dial back up to 100 by launching into her new, Fatboy Slim-sampling single “Praising You”.
Shrouded in red light and circled by a couple dozen dancers, Ora unleashed her maximum pop diva potential for the final part of her medley, complete with a jaw dropping dance breakdown.
Following on from Ora’s troubling cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” last year, fans were overjoyed to see her back on top form on one of the world’s biggest music stages.
“What a performance Rita Ora did at the Eurovision, I’m speechless. Your energy on stage is so unmatched,” one person wrote on social media, complete with the hashtag ‘#Oravision’.
“Ms Ora! THAT. WAS. ICONIC. Go queen, you always make the bots proud,” another said, referring to Ora’s fandom name ‘Ritabots’.
A third added: “Rita Ora served! What a performance! So powerful. Made me emotional and happy to listen to that amazing mashup.”
As fans raved, Ora herself posted a statement about how important it was for her to be on the Eurovision stage, particularly to highlight the UK’s solidarity with Ukraine.
“Wow what an honour and a full circle moment to be on the Eurovision main stage performing some of my favourite songs and my brand new single ‘Praising You’,” she wrote.
“Thanks to the team, to Liverpool, to Fatboy Slim and of course to you, my incredible fans. Hope you loved that as much as I loved performing it. Sending love to everyone watching across Europe and of course, the Ukraine. Stay strong, we all love you.”
The first semi-final saw entrants including Sweden’s Loreen, Finland’s Käärijä, and Serbia’s Luke Black make it through to the final.
The Eurovision semi-finals continued on Thursday 11 May before the grand final in Liverpool on Saturday 13 May.
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