Eurovision legend Sonia has teased what fans can expect as she prepares to perform at this year’s grand final.
Incredibly, this year marks 30 years since Sonia finished in second place when she represented the UK in Ireland with her song Better The Devil You Know.
For her, this year’s competition being staged in her hometown of Liverpool on behalf of the Ukraine feels like kismet and she can’t wait to return to the stage.
Speaking to the Standard on behalf of Campo Viejo, she said: “The buzz has been amazing and I feel really proud. I went to the arena yesterday to see the set, see my costume – they are actually making my costume as we speak, it’s so exciting! I got to see lots of people on stage rehearsing.
“It’s just amazing and I know when I did it myself I said to everybody, ‘listen, if I win this I’ve got to bring it back to Liverpool.’ So literally my dream has come true. It’s just amazingly, outstandingly fantastic.”
Rehearsals @E_N_O @bbceurovision @Eurovision Eurovillage Liverpool pic.twitter.com/4xOg1Wxu09
— Sonia (@SoniaevansSonia) May 9, 2023
The flame-haired star is staying mostly tight-lipped about her performance, but couldn’t resist sharing a few details.
She said: “I’m on in the interval and I come on last, it’s an amazing thing, but I can’t tell you what my costume looks like or what I’m singing, but it’s epic, it’s literally epic! The guys who are making my costume are the Strictly Come Dancing guys, so they are doing that and the hair and makeup and everything, so getting completely spoiled.”
Elsewhere, she’s set to make her debut in Hollyoaks as a long-lost friend of character Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher).
It’s only a cameo appearance for now as part of a Eurovision-themed episode, but Sonia is hopeful it could lead to more.
Not only would she be up for being a semi-regular on the Channel 4 soap, she even has an idea for a business in the fictional Hollyoaks village.
She said: “We had such fun, it was just fantastic. You see behind the scenes and you don’t realise really what goes into it, but I got on so well with Ross [Adams] and Alex [Fletcher], they were the main characters that I was doing all of my scenes with and we just had a blast!
“I’m playing myself so I turn up in the village and cause quite a stir and we had such fun. I get to go to The Dog, which is the pub there and we do lots of Eurovision things.
“Ross was saying, you know, you’re Alex’s friend from years ago, we are friends, so you could nip in and nip out, see how they’re getting on and go down the pub with them so yeah, the door is open!
“There are a few shops [in the Hollyoaks village] that they need people to work in them, you know, like a record shop that I could own, so fingers crossed.”
Sadly, a representative for Hollyoaks didn’t respond to our request for comment on Sonia’s proposal.
Despite her hectic schedule, which has also seen her recently release new album Love Train – The Philly Album, Sonia somehow found the time to surprise a lucky competition winner on Monday by turning up on their doorstep and performing her Eurovision hit.
Not only that, she also presented them with a cheeseboard by the Cheshire Cheese Company and some Campo Viejo Reserva wine.
Describing herself as a red wine girl, she said she would be raising a few glasses after her Eurovision performance.
