Oh mon Dieu! - Damiano David

25｡◕‿◕｡

May 2021,

The show came to an end, Margot gave another spectacular performance on stage. The crowd was going wild as the rain was falling and she was singing her little heart out. The thing that she wasn't ready for was the press conference that followed. As soon as she finished her performance and the cameras panned out into the audience in the arena, she was ushered backstage to change into dry clothes for that press conference. Before she knew it, she heard a staff member whispering to her to smile for the cameras as she was pushed into an auditorium filled with hungry photographers ready to take her photo. All she could see was the white flashes of cameras as she was stunned for a few seconds before pulling her best media face and smiled with the microphone trophy.

She was led to sit on the table, behind the paper with her name on it. She waved and smiled at all the press in front of her. As soon as the commotion died down, she could hear the moderator explaining what will happen, but all she could focus on was the water in front of her that she chugged down. Her throat was sandpaper dry from excitement, singing and nerves. She noticed someone coming around her bringing her more water that she was thankful for. The reporters were introducing themselves to her and started off with questions which ranged from "How are you feeling after your win? "How is it winning Eurovision?" How was the writing process of the song? "What's next for you?" – to which she gave generic answers that she would give in any other interview. The monotonous answers followed with charming but nervous smiles followed for another few minutes, until one reporter asked a question, she wasn't ready for. No one expected that they would ask her this, and the moderator couldn't even stop the person from asking this.

"I do not know if you are aware of this following thing, but there are rumors going online that the song is written for another Eurovision contestant, specifically one of the Italian contestants Maneskin. Are these rumors true and do you condone their behavior during the voting stage where the said band member was seen taking drugs on the table?" – The whole crowd was stunned and so was Margot. She looked at the reporter in the face with disbelief. As far as she knew, she kept her dating life very private, no one knew anything about it despite most of her songs being written about people that she was in a relationship with. She couldn't believe her ears. It took her a moment to regain her composure. She heard the moderator condemning the reporter for asking that, but she cut them off, using her media training to answer the question as diplomatically as possible:

"I have always been very private about my love life, and it is beyond me to understand where those rumors might come from, but what I can tell you is that it's none of your business, or anyone else's business to know who the song is about. Even though most of my songs are very personal, I would never reveal who the songs are written for. As a matter of fact, that shouldn't even be a question that should concern you tonight. We are here to celebrate our music and our talent and hard work that all of us have put into this show and before it. And when it comes to the so called "drug allegations" you are making towards a fellow contestant, I can assure you that nothing like that happened or will happen at an event such as this one. I have known Damiano for a short time and he is not that kind of a person. To go after his character like that is vile and you should be ashamed for asking that and disregarding the millions of other questions that you could've asked me. Thank you for wasting your opportunity, my time and the time of the other people present in this auditorium."

The reporter was too stunned to speak as people soon started to clap at her comeback towards the reporter. Margot was staring daggers down at the reporter, keeping a wicked sweet smile on her face the whole time. They got off the podium in shame as everyone was booing them. This moment was about her, and as selfish as that sounded, no one could ruin this for her. What she didn't know was that Damiano was standing hidden behind the scenes waiting in line with his bandmates to get interviews as the runner ups. He had tears in his eyes as he saw how passionately she defended his honor. He really did not use cocaine. He understood how that probably looked to the audience, but he never touched the substance even when he was at rock bottom.