Eurovision low note for Mae who ‘could barely be heard over music’
THE BBC is facing questions over the noise quality of Mae Muller’s Eurovision performance.
Viewers claimed they could “barely hear her” over the backing music with the singer suffering similar issues in the practices leading up to Saturday’s show.
Music critics said the song was “excellent” but the “staging wasn’t great” and there were issues with the shots used by the television cameras. It came after Muller, 25, suffered technical difficulties during rehearsals.
The London-born singer took to the stage in Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest final hoping to finish in the top 10, but she ended up second from last with I Wrote A Song, claiming 24 points. Germany was the only nation to finish below the UK, on 18 points.
The disappointing result came 12 months after the UK finished second behind Ukraine when Sam Ryder performed his hit Space Man.
In the week leading up to this year’s final, Eurovision fans had been left perplexed after a clip of Muller’s rehearsal was omitted from the official round-up video released by the show.
Footage of the rehearsal later appeared on social media with vocals from a male backing singer overpowering Muller’s voice significantly.
The singer later posted on Twitter clarifying the situation, she said: “Technical Issue huns that ain’t what it sounded like in rehearsal.” Music critics in the press room after the final asked about the concept underlying Muller’s performance. In particular, the use of a large number of wide shots and pop art video installations meant TV audiences could not always appreciate the singer’s charisma, some observers said.
“I think it’s an excellent song, but the staging wasn’t great,” Ken Olausson of Sweden’s QX magazine told the BBC.
“The whole feeling of female power that’s in the song when you hear it on the radio, it wasn’t on stage. I don’t know if they lost her in a lot of props, but the power didn’t come through.”
Mark Savage, the BBC’S music correspondent, said TV viewers had complained that Muller’s vocals had been too quiet. “Lots of people saying Mae’s vocals were too low in the mix,” he tweeted. “Didn’t sound that way in the press centre but they’ve got a great sound system here.”
“You could barely hear her over her music,” wrote one on social media. “Something sounded off with the sound production for Mae Muller,” agreed another. “She can obviously sing, but it all sounded quiet.” Muller later added: “We really put our all into the last few months, not the result we hoped for but so proud of everyone.”
The BBC revealed record viewing figures with an average audience of 9.9 million and a peak of 11 million.