Luxembourg's Laura Thorn: "It still doesn't feel natural"

With Luxembourg's return to the Eurovision Song Contest last year it's all quite new to the delegation, but also to whoever steps onto the stage to represent the country in the world's biggest music competition.

Regardless, the country's Eurovision broadcaster (RTL) invested in producing a tasteful national selection contest (with one host former Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst), bring quality songs to it, and plan a careful and detailed journey to the show.

This time around, and unlike last year's act, they are not revamping the song and we can expect a similar staging to Luxembourg Song Contest 2025. At least, that's what Laura Thorn – this year's representative – shared with us a few days ago when we spoke:

– It won't be completely different, she explains.

– We will keep the main idea of what we did in the national selection contest but, of course, we will adapt as the stage is going to be much bigger. You have that long catwalk and a T-shape at the front, so there's a lot of space and we will use it in an interesting way.

She also hints that with the bigger staging the choreography will be adjusted. Laura's performance of "La poupée monte le son" is fully choreographed from beginning to end.

Is dancing hard or natural for you?

– I have danced my whole life. I actually have been a classical dancer for 15 years and I've taken part in many competitions, she shares.

– It's really easy for me to get it and I learn it quite quickly. I don't need a lot of time.

Yet, all of it together – singing, dancing, breathing and focusing on the in-ears – is something completely different and way tougher. She believes that having this advantage of dancing for a long time has helped her face this Eurovision challenge, that in its essence has indeed been that: a challenge.

While she has experience as a dancer, the same cannot be said about the in-ears usage. When we spoke Laura had just returned from the Dutch pre-party:

– I see these parties as training, besides being important for visibility. I try to analyze what went right or wrong so I can work on it. Lately, I've been struggling with the in-ears. I am not used to singing with them, and you hear yourself in a very weird way.

– You hear yourself with a delay. It's weird because you hear yourself in your in-ears, but then again a half second later. You have to blend all of that, and I've had trouble hearing myself well in Amsterdam so it's something I know I have to work on so I won't be off key, she explains.

Making the song her own

Another challenge for Laura was addressing her song, "La poupée monte le son," which falls a bit outside of her comfort zone. The song wasn't written for her, it was sent to her:

– It wasn't an easy process. It's very far away from what I usually do. I'm more of a soul singer and I don't really sing in French. Besides soul music, I love musicals and songs for villains, she confesses.

– I had to make the song my own and test different vocal qualities with it and, honestly, it still doesn't feel very natural for me to sing that song, but I've learned a lot from it and found my connection with it.

It still doesn't feel very natural for me to sing that song.

As explained by herself, Laura is fascinated by villains' songs in musicals, and she found that characteristic in this specific song that made her bond with it:

– It has something from a villain song to it because there's so much irony, sarcasm and humor in it which villains usually have as well. I also like to play with its lyrics and sing it in a different way so I don't get tired of it. I'm singing it like I would do in a musical.

As we continue our conversation, we speak about Eurovision and if it has been a goal of hers to perform in the show. It hasn't. So how did the Luxembourg Song Contest participation come around?

– I got a random text from someone I didn't know back in June. It basically said, "Hi, we wrote a song for the Luxembourg Song Contest and we're looking for a Luxembourgish female singer to do it. Here's the demo. Listen to it and if you're interested, we'd like to do auditions with you."

She goes on to share she found it a bit suspicious because it came out of nowhere and she didn't know the sender, but she listened to the demo anyway:

– I felt like it was a cool project, so I sent them a video of myself singing it in my room and they liked it. The process was quite rushed so I recorded the song with my own material at home and sent it to RTL. A month later we got an email saying we were through to the main auditions.

From the overall amount of participants, it was reduced to 52 contestants, then 12, and finally the last seven who performed in the actual show.

"La poupée monte le son" is actually Laura's breakthrough in music. It's her first released song, and the first time she's emerged as a popstar:

– Indeed, I mostly sing covers whenever I have shows and I am not exactly a songwriter, so this is my first time singing a song of my own in front of an audience.

How has the public been embracing you?

– Incredibly nice! I was really scared, though, because whenever you become a public figure you never know what to expect. But I've been getting really positive feedback, and whenever it's negative it's about the song, not exactly about myself.

Enjoying the experience carefully

Despite being her first song, Laura's career in music goes way back. She was only five when she started taking part in competitions, was trained in music theory, piano, cello, dancing and more, and even has a master's degree in pop singing.

Needless to say, she's extremely disciplined. She sees herself as someone determined, professional and quite serious, but also fun:

– I take everything seriously and I try to be as professional as I can be, but I am also fun and positive. I think there are times to be both, but for Eurovision you have to be serious about it.

It is a singing competition after all...

– Well, yes, but I don't really see it as a competition. For me, the competition was before, she says referring to the Luxembourg Song Contest.

– There isn't another step and you don't have to win Eurovision in order to do something else. I am very open to whatever could happen afterwards.

You've got to take care of your body in order for your instrument to work.

She goes on about her rationale on the seriousness of doing Eurovision:

– You do have to be serious about it. You have to preserve your voice for the actual show while doing multiple interviews, attending to parties, meeting important people and so on, she says.

– With this sort of schedule, it's easy for you to go to a restaurant every day, not eating well, not getting enough sleep as there's always something to do. After a few days, you cannot sing your song anymore. You've got to take care of your body in order for your instrument to work.

All of this leads to Laura's main goal with this Eurovision participation, which is to enjoy the experience and to have fun, but keeping in mind the discipline and dedication it requires:

– I don't want to look back and think I was so stressed that I was always in a bad mood and think, "Now it's done and I'm never going to do it again." I try to be positive and enjoy it as much as I can.

She's living the dream and having experiences that she'll remember for the rest of her life. On 15 May Laura Thorn will step onto the Eurovision stage hoping to qualify for the Final with her song "La poupée monte le son," a song that pays tribute to France Gall's "Poupée de cire, poupée de son."