Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, has decorated its most prominent statues in yellow clothing items and disco balls to support The Roop, the Lithuanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The capital has collaborated with the fashion brand MK Drama Queen, which has created The Roop’s stage costumes for the Eurovision. The initiative comes as a way of sending The Roop off to Rotterdam on May 7th.
The capital has decorated the statues as another support action along with the already promised open-air discoteque if Lithuanian performance is successful in the Contest. Remigijus Šimašius, Mayor of Vilnius, says the dressed up statues will wave The Roop goodbye on their way to the Netherlands.
“Vilnius has been supporting The Roop in every step of their Eurovision journey, and the statues will cheerfully send them off and welcome back. The yellow clothing items on the statues make every passer-by turn their head, and also remind them that we all root for our Eurovision act,” said Mayor. “If we get lucky in the Contest, the statues will be already prepared for our Open Discoteque.”
The most famous Vilnius’ statues have been given yellow scarfs, bucket hats, cloaks, jackets, shawls, bags, and neck bows. All of the items have been designed in the color scheme and specific features to resemble The Roop’s style for their Discoteque performance. The clothing had been specifically treated to withstand all weather conditions, and the designers also had to readjust to dressing immovable statues rather than living models.
“Given that the statues cannot move, raise their arms, or turn around, it was quite challenging to take the necessary measurements. Also, we have never taken on a similar project at a city scope, so designing clothing for so many large objects has been a new experience to us,” said Monika and Kotryna, designers at MK Drama Queen.
The designers also added that, besides being one of this year’s top colors, yellow works in favor of The Roop’s style.
“Yellow was actually suggested by Vaidotas, the leader of The Roop. Although we were quite skeptical at first, now we see that this color really makes the band stand out,” elaborated the designers. “Since the clothing cut is formal, this color made all the additional accents and features pop, and now yellow has become almost synonymous with The Roop.”
Vilnius has been long known for its non-conventional approach towards city-wide decorations. So now the capital has chosen 10 statues most favoured by locals and visitors for the Eurovision makeover. For instance, the monument for Gediminas, Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, has been given a yellow cloak.
The memorial for Mindaugas, the 13th century King of Lithuania, has a scarf wrapped around it, and the statue of Barbora Radvilaitė, Lithuania’s Great Duchess of the 16th century, has been given a handbag. One of the international tourist favourites, the memorial for Frank Zappa, has received a bucket hat.
The Roop will open the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 and perform Discoteque in the first Semi-Final on May 18th.
