Mariko and The Shin: We are a little bit impatient to bring our work on to the big stage

Author: MÁDI Sándor

Georgia’s first participation was in 2007 at Eurovision, their best results are two times a 9th place. Last year Nodi and Sophie were the representative of the country, and they reached 15th place in Malmö. This year Georgia sends Mariko and The Shin in order to reach a good place in Denmark. May they bring the Eurovision to Tbilisi? We still need to wait some more days, until this read the interview I made with Mariko.

How do you feel now, just days before the rehearsals will start in Copenhagen? How will you spend the last days before your departure?

We are curious of course and a little bit impatient to bring our work on to the big stage. At the same time we try to relax and to simply “stay at home”. The public side of our art anyway has already developed it’s own momentum. So we are focused to give our best to the decisive moment. First of all, on May 8 in Copenhagen, to honour Europe’s „Green City” with the contest’s „Green Song” … You may have already seen our heading somewhere on the net: “ONE GREEN SONG GOES BLUE FOR COPENHAGEN”

What should “GOES BLUE” mean?

Well, EUROVISION is blue, isn’t it?

What is the idea behind the song? Is it autobiographic – telling the musicians’ own story?

Isn’t every good musical creation somehow autobiographical? There was since long a kind of pending musical concept about „air and flying” jointly pursued with Eugen Eliu, a close friend and fellow whom we appreciate as a composer and lyricist too. By the way, with Eugen Eliu we are working together on a delightful joint project called „ROSE-O” which is worked out in English and German language at the moment. Beyond this, Felix Baumgartner and his space jump from the stratosphere carried out in 2012 came to our mind: „I’m going home …”. Now we decided to venture this epochal space jump too. However artistically, musically and with a different purpose – deceleration of humans in a green world of togetherness with no aggression. And we are „The Shin”, the homecoming. Thus everything fitted together at once! „Three Minutes To Earth” stands for the idea and the desire for deceleration. At the same time – because it’s music happening here (!) – „Three Minutes To Earth” combines the unique Georgian cultural individuality with catchy jazz-rock and welltempered pop elements, allowing a Johann-Sebastian-Bach quote in the middle of the creative arc. The overarching Georgian good-wish „MRAVALJAMIER” appears as an additional sympathetic vibration. Thereby the song also shows how the earth could sound today. In addition to the musical perspective „The SHIN & Mariko” already offer by means of their congenial cooperation within this project the one and very important intergenerational perspective of togetherness.

What does „home” mean to you, having lived abroad from Georgia for such a long time?

„Shin” means „home” in Georgian. With „Three Minutes To Earth” we are also trying to promote the homecoming of humans into a peaceful world, a green world with good and to culturally committed music. It should be like homecoming to your own self. In our days all this can maybe only be achieved when lead by a firm idea and great desire for deceleration. Wherever you find this, you can be „at home”!

This will be the first big cooperation between The Shin and Mariko – can you tell us how you met, and how the „first steps” of making music together have been?

We haven’t worked together before. But of course we knew each other since quite some time from different events like group concerts. And we have always mutually appreciated the comprehensive onstage professionalism. So we immediately found this merger especially exciting! And the excellent result of our first collaboration encourages us to the idea of further joint projects. We’re checking out all possibilities.

What are your hopes and expectations from your Eurovision participation?

First and foremost, we aim to provide heartbeat music and a good stage show for an excellent audience. Our gift, so we hope, should be accepted by the great community of music lovers. As a consequence we’d like to bring the EUROVISION Cup to Georgia, SHIN, of course.

Do you have a message for your fans?

„The Shin & Mariko” will do their best in Copenhagen. We think that music lovers will love our song. People who like to hear music might learn to love our song. Simply come home to yourself and VOTE 4 MUSIC ON MAY 8 … AND MAY 10. From Georgia with love.

Thank Mariko for this interview and special thanks to Tinatin Berdzenishvili.

We wish good luck in Copenhagen!