Just before we all board our flights home (and get ready to see if we can spot next year’s venue as we take off), everyone’s minds are already looking ahead to May 2014 and the fifty-ninth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
What can we look forward to and how will DR make their Contest stand out in the history of one of the biggest television shows on the planet? What changes can we expect to see, what will fans attending the Contest experience, and how many times will we mention ‘Dr Death and the Tooth Fairy‘?
Let’s look into our crystal ball and make some predictions…
A more sedate show…
Looking at the MGP National Finals, DR prefer a more sedately paced show over the frenetic energy that infects Melodifestivalen and the SVT-led Eurovision 2013. Next year’s Contest will still take the same shape, but there’ll be more room to breathe between the beats of the show.
…but with improvements to the voting presentation
It looks like SVT dropped the ball with the presentation of the votes this year, including the declaration of Denmark as the winner while four countries were still to declare their votes. It felt disrespectful to a process that is almost sacrosanct to the Contest. Coupled with the disappearance of the new procedure that promised the 1-7 would be shown before host Petra Mede would go to the spokespeople, the voting, simply put, looked bad. This needs some serious work to make it exciting television that respects everyone involved.
No rhyming couplets
Please.
Ulrika and Terry
More EBU involvement with the show
SVT may have the experience of Melodifestivalen, and they may be the producers of the show, but the Eurovision Song Contest is an international show for close to fifty broadcasters from around the world. Being able to step back and take a holistic view is vital, and the EBU may need to step up and be more actively involved with the production of the show. For example, the issues around the comedy sketches and lampooning of something as serious as ‘war’ may work in Sweden, but it simply did not translate well around Europe and beyond.
There is a balance between a generic show and far too much individuality. SVT strayed a bit too far this year.
A slightly bigger budget
By all accounts, this was the ‘Austerity Eurovision’ and the signs of a trimmed budget could be seen if you looked around. For all the inventiveness of the interval acts, none of them really stood out as huge production numbers. There were areas where budgets were trimmed a little too close for comfort: the press centre doubling up as a TV studio, fewer dedicated transport resources for delegations, a curtailed program during the day of tours and activities between rehearsals… A little bit more flesh on the bone would make life a lot easier all round.
Adding in another day of rehearsals
Squeezing the rehearsal schedule by a day certainly brought down the number of nights of accommodation required by many delegations, but it put a lot of pressure on the technical staff in the Arena and resulted in some long days in the Press Centre for those performing at the end of the day (who then had to wait almost two hours before their first ‘Meet and Greet’). The balance point of saving a day compared to keeping the tech team on stage in tip top condition needs to be looked at, and the instinctive reaction is that we’ll have our first rehearsals on Sunday next year, and not the Monday. Especially if we get more than 39 countries entering in 2014.
Cut Parken Stadium in half
Given the requirements for hotel capacity, transport links, and infrastructure, we’re pretty confident that Eurovision 2014 is going to be in Copenhagen’s Parken – just as it held the 2001 Contest. But with the intent this year to focus on creating more intimate contests, there will be pressure on DR to keep the numbers down. Fans also have bad memories of the 2001 Contest, which could best be described as “cavernous”. A big curtain down the middle of the hall, the top tier of seats closed, and we have a 14,000-15,000 capacity hall that fits the new ‘austere’ paradigm that the Swedes have set this year.
A working space you can work in
It might be a bit ‘inside Baseball’ but SVT implemented a number of changes this year in terms of press facilities, access, and programming. Using the Euroclub as the press centre during the first week was problematic at best, and while problems were noted on the first day, they were never fully addressed (such as the number of tables and chairs available to work at). A full press centre, open for two weeks, is likely to return in 2014.
Eurovision 2001 Mordor
What did work was the ‘Meet and Greet’ format which allowed a lot of shorter interviews to be conducted, before the artists moved to the longer format. The whole ESC Insight team felt these worked really well, and we would urge DR to keep this format for next year.
Lots of butchering of the Danish language by Eurovision fans
Just try saying this correctly:
Rødgrød med fløde.
Thankfully the Danish for guitars is “guitarer”, which makes ending the the podcast a little easier.
What “issues around the comedy sketches and lampooning of something as serious as ‘war’” were there exactly???
I found all the comedy funny, even though I have no links to Sweden at all, I think the comedy worked well for an international audience, personally I understood everything, I’m sure most others did too.
I don’t remember them “lampooning something as serious as war” apart from one time when she made a joke about a civil war breaking out between Stockholm and Malmo. Which I thought was funny, I don’t think it offended anyone.
Fully working press area from the start,yes.But keep the 1st rehearsals closed as they were this year.I think the the artists benefited from it.
No Parken stadium- definitely not in the current capacity.And your suggestion to just pull a curtain to size it down to half, will not address the acoustic problems that solution may bring with it. The solution for the acoustic problem, may cause doubling the budget,which I am not sure DR will want to.In general keep the size around 15,000 spectators per show,it gives a good atmosphere to the whole show.
I had no problem with the Swedish humour, they laughed at themselves,not taking themselves too seriously, which was a breath of fresh air.
Ciaran – I found most of the comedy painfully unfunny. Hence, it didn’t work well for an international audience, even though it might have worked for you.
I hope they allow the audio from the 1st rehearsals next year, but make it known that is what will happen from the start. This will hopefully make sure the artists and delegations are fully prepared before hitting the arena, and not turning up unrehearsed and still making last minute fixes. I’m fine with blocking the video though, as there will always be technical issues with lighting, cameras, and pyros that need sorting. But the performance should mostly be finished.
The smaller stadium in Malmo worked very well, and I liked seeing the standing areas, as it made for a better atmosphere on TV.
And what’s difficult to pronounce about “rerrgrerr meh flerr”? 😉
Eric Graf
Ah so because you didn’t find it funny that means it wasn’t?
I didn’t realise you were such an authority on all things comedy.
I wondered while watching this year’s show, did the EBU decide after the headache that was Azerbaijan to allow SVT just to take Eurovision and run with it?
As regards the rehearsals, I think the EBU should stop favouring the big 5 + the host country every year and ask them to rehearse than they normally do.
I did think last nights show was one of the funniest we’ve had for some time, but sadly comedy doesn’t cross borders.
Ciaran – Right back atcha. 😛
Some of the comedy certainly crossed borders (especially when the German commentator didn’t talk all over Lynda Woodruff … grrr!), but it was too much of a good thing for me. It was so self-deprecating that it seemed like badly disguised self-infatuation at times.
And at what point did I miss the rhyming couplets? Maybe someone could enlighten me, that’d be very nice!
@Sean – Considering the EBU also let SVT fix the running order, they did more than “just let SVT run with it”. Instead, they gave SVT the keys to an empty house with lots of free alcohol for the weekend, and hoped they didn’t destroy everything with the resulting free-for-all.
@Harriet – The “rhyming couplets” comment refers to the hosts last time Denmark won in 2001. Check this video for an example (start at 5 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu8YVn8Gpx0&feature=player_detailpage#t=300s
The video also shows off elegantly the “wizards pocket” that was Parken Industrial Warehouse.
In regards to the comedy missing the mark, I know for instance that referring to Linda Martin as a drag Johnny Logan caused some offence in Ireland.
I actually enjoyed the humour, its similar to that found in Australia, but can see why it was too much for some.
Also, bravo to SVT for embracing the ‘We Are One’ concept. But whilst it was funny in the arena, and I appreciated the breath of fresh air, at the end the constant reference to gays felt shoved down my throat. Felt like a big middle finger up to the East.
As for Denmark hosting next year, looking forward to it. Just wish it didnt feel like the same destination as this year.
Hoping we dont lose more countries than gain. There will be big some questions to be asked in the Balkans for instance.
And I hope that for 2014 that the United Kingdom gets a big kick up the arse for how they approach the contest.
@Peter: Thanks! It’s beyond me how anyone can remember something this far back, my brain is not laid out to do that. 😀
Harriet: 2001 isn’t that long ago in ESC history… is it?
I didnt find Ms. Woodruff remotely funny and i was pleased the BBC coverage skipped her sketch from the final. Her “comedy” in the semi finals was really not funny at all. And her murdering of the ABBA classic during the final was horrendous. I thought the voting sequence was lack lustered. It was very raw and had no atmosphere and to announce the winner when 4 juries still had to vote was both silly and very unprofessional. Trying to restore order so that the others could vote was difficult. Also, i agree that some of the 1-7 points were late coming on screen and for anyone trying to write them down was nearly impossible. I did like the parade of flags / artists at the beginning though, taking us back to the 60;s when the finalists were announced at the start of the show.
Calling linda martin a drag queen did not go down well in ireland. She is a respected artist here.
The only joke I didn’t get was in the Swedish Smorgasboard they had a reference to “all our problems digesting our dairy” then a girl came dancing in a glass of milk.
@Sharleen”I hope that for 2014 that the United Kingdom gets a big kick up the arse for how they approach the contest.”
Well what more can we do??? We sent a Superstar for crying out loud and still only managed 19th.
The same thing will always happen.
UK announces a big name act, Euro fans are quick to denounce the act/song as they know it’s a threat, and it all just accumulates until it’s not a threat anymore. Same thing happened with Belarus, when Solayoh was announced it was 5th favourite to win, then Eurofans just kept attacking it till it dropped away in the odds.
I can’t see the UK winning again, it’s the Nordic Ex USSR contest now. Since 2008 all winners have been either Nordic or Ex USSR with the exception of Germany.
“We sent a Superstar for crying out loud and still only managed 19th.”
Seems to me the answer to that would be obvious: Stop sending superstars and start sending competitive acts. You know what they say about the definition of stupidity.
What makes you think a country music album cut from a washed-up 62-year-old woman (beloved superstar or not) would have a chance against chart-topping hits by the top Scandinavian songwriters and producers?
This contest has NEVER given out points to people just for being famous, and it’s not going to start next year either.
I think the UK should send younger superstars, since singers over 60 tend to loose their vocal abilities somewhat. No offense, I have great respect for Bonnie and Engelbert as artists, but they both gave miserable vocal performances at the crucial moment, and that makes people not vote for them, no matter how beautiful the song. You can’t even blame them, voices get weaker over time, fact of live.
“UK announces a big name act, Euro fans are quick to denounce the act/song as they know it’s a threat, and it all just accumulates until it’s not a threat anymore. Same thing happened with Belarus, when Solayoh was announced it was 5th favourite to win, then Eurofans just kept attacking it till it dropped away in the odds.”
I think you are vastly overrating the effect that Eurovision fans have on the final outcome. Most of the people watching Eurovision and televoting for it will not be aware of what happens inside of the Eurovision fan bubble.
You have to remember that the public do NOT have a say in who the UK sends to Eurovision, and haven’t for a couple of years now. So we’re not the ones sending these older artists – it’s completely the BBC’s choice. They’re misguided, and they seem to think that this is either a good strategy, or a way to look like they’re making an effort while not making enough of an effort to win.
Bonnie and Englebert are great artists in their own right, but were they/their songs right for Eurovision? No, not in 2012/2013.
The BBC really need to pay attention to what the results are – not just our position on the scoreboard, but the jury and televoting split (when the results are revealed) and learn from their mistakes. Otherwise, they’re just going to end up alienating and upsetting a lot of Eurovision fans.
Sure, the majority of people watching the contest on a Saturday night are not what you would call “fans” as such, but even they despair at the BBC’s choice of entry. We need to send someone credible and current with a strong song which has real chart potential to get people interested. Otherwise, I can see the ratings slipping over the next 5 years, and that’s something that the BBC will start to worry about… but at that point it could be beyond saving in the UK – and that’s something that worries me.
@ Sharleen
I agree that the gay references were a little strained and gratuitous, but it made a nice change for the contest to openly acknowledge it’s large gay fan-base, when in past years’ (2009 and 2012 in particular) they were kept hidden.
@ Ciaran
Really, that comment is the epitome of stupidity – the UK didn’t get votes this year because the song was limp album-filler and Bonnie just wasn’t up to it when it came to the live performance. Of course the Nordic countries, who send current and commercially viable acts are going to do better. How do people think “Believe In Me” was deserving of the victory when it barely limped into the top 100 of the UK charts?!?!
If we’re talking about the approach the BBC should take in selecting an act for the contest, the BBC Sound Of… poll would make a great shortlist for possible Eurovision candidates. Laura Mvula or Chvrches would have made great representatives this year…
Guys, a good way for picking the uk entrant. Have a nation wide battle of the bands comp in pubs, set it up in a fa cup style comp. have the smaller towns and pubs host the 1st round, then based on the last census, have each round after in increasingly larger town and city’s. Have say the quarter finals on, put them on tv and let a international and local jury judge acts and in the grand final have a 50/50 vote and points be given out in the same way the contest is done.
It’s a win for everyone.
The BBC couldn’t even manage to make a mini national final where we pick from 3 songs off Bonnie’s CD, like Spain did. I doubt they’ll go to much more effort than that next year.
@Ewan: 2001 may not be long ago in ESC history, but for me it feels like a lifetime ago. 😀 Maybe because my life now is drastically different from my life back then.
And I simply have an extremely poor memory … 😉
According to some EBU members that were asked what happened they said the following:
The reason why Denmark was announced the winner still 4 countries ahead was simply because of the time schedule. You see even though this is a once in a year show, it still runs under a tight schedule. The show had to have finished by a certain time.
If you look at some previous contests where the green room wasn’t inside the arena, it was quite time consuming for the winners to walk all the way from the green room across the stairs and some floors to end up at the stage. Of course in 2010-2012 that wasn’t the case because the green room was either inside or next to the arena.
Also If you look at some backstage videos of rehearsals you would see that it takes around 5-10 minutes for one to walk from the green room to the arena. It was just to save some time so when all 4 countries had finished announcing , Emellie was already close to the arena but not yet there.
Its ok to wait for the winner to arrive at the arena but having 120 million people waiting for 10 whole minutes when they know who the winner is just didn’t work in this case.
However, personally i would agree that its much better not to break the old tradition of ESC, and also do the victory music when the winner is announced AFTER all countries have casted their votes.
About Parken, well i at first had a few suggestions but it was kinda expensive, at first i was thinking of adding an additional budget to finish the Copenhagen Arena which was meant to have been completed by 2015. But was able to seat 15,000 and was in Copenhagen so close to transport /airports/ hotels.
One thing i do find annoying (please respect my opinion) is that the arenas seem to turn into a more show fashion. Its like watching X factor or Idols. don’t forget that this is Eurovision/ its not equivalent to the Olympics but its not equivalent to x factor either.
I personally found the Esprit Arena, Baku Hall, Telenor, Olympski Moscow and even Belgrade arena amazing because you could really feel the atmosphere of 18,000 to 35,000 people which really gave the idea of this being a really important contest which it is.
I just think, this is important, you might as well make it nearly as good as the Olympic ceremony but with a more Eurovision style. Parken in my opinion doesn’t have that good shape like the Esprit arena because its just 4 sections fit around a field with roof. In my opinion for this kind of arena it should be a center stage concert (different but maybe good)
Its just that a small arena is nice, but forgetting that there are many people out there that also want to be part of the national final and the tickets this year being sold out in less than 30 minutes! Even though small arenas seem good, it really doesn’t give the idea that this is Eurovision in the 21st century especially when 120 million are watching this.
It looks pretty much like the X factor final here in britain, even i would prefer to watch that over ESC.
Eurovision is a once a year contest, if a country wins, but has tiny arenas then let them host it in tiny arenas. But if a country like Denmark or Sweden won they should ideally host it in a larger arena.
This year Friends arena could have been chosen but it was kinda too big. But if you looked at the Melodifestivalen 2013 you would see how they cut half of the stadium to fit the format by reducing the capacity from 65,000 to 27,000 which in my opinion was big a large enough to give that ESC spirit of Europe being united not just by the ‘idea of 120 million people watching’ but also the fact that Europe is United at a large arena.
That space behind the stage could easily have been converted into a simple green room where the winner had to only walk a small distance (perhaps not the big opening door like in esc2011) but just a shorter distance to walk.
Small is nice but remember this year at the final only 10,500 people got to see Denmark win.. If you look back at ESC 2011 wow what a show, with loud music, millions of pyros, huge LED screen. Something which really brings in the atmosphere.
I know people like keeping things simple, but if you look at it this way, even the other historical contests like X factor or Idols started with small house shows like programmes and gradually merged into a more national show.
Remember this ESC could be classified as a ‘show’ but considering that it involves something as big as the EBU the arena sizes should really be taken into consideration for countries that HAVE good availabilities.
If Copenhagen has all the facilities would you really abandon that just because you want a smaller arena? Malmo had virtually no problem because it still had all the facilities, hotels, shopping, tourist attractions and a large bridge to connect to the rest of Europe!
ESC back in 2001 was kinda different and back then the technologies and ideas were different. Nowadays there are talented people who are able to make good decisions to design and completely change stadiums to save space but also money.
Look at the Esprit arena in 2011. Instead of having the seatings on the flat section near the stage all lined up like the ESC2001 show, NDR changed it by designing this sunrise fan design where seatings were assigned at each fan of the sunrise. This saved space and also added to the awesome design.
Perhaps Denmark might be able to pull off something like that as well? In my opinion the center-stage idea should be thought off, because then you could cut down on the number of seats inside the arena, especially the top parts that are just too far away from the stage.
I would look forward to an audience of around 20,000 to 25,000 .. Not significant to 10,000 but there is definitely a difference in the atmosphere.
My conclusion: Just remember we live in 2013, technology, designing, computer designs have changed. Perhaps its a good idea to give it a go at Parken and see what we could do, rather than converting ESC into a local X factor show.
(please don’t get angry or argue harsly to me about something) i respect everyones opinion around here and am also stating my personal opinions, it would be nice if people gave me good ideas/
@Steve. For me, there were two good things about Malmo. The first was obviously the smaller setting, which was very refreshing after the vast empty space in Baku. But the second thing, was the introduction of the standing area, which (on TV at least) made it feel more like a music event.
I totally get your comparison with it possibly looking like an X Factor show, but this year it also felt like it was a concert, somewhere that people went to so they could enjoy the music. We saw people dancing and jumping and having fun, and the whole thing felt more alive than it did with everyone sat down in neat little rows. Obviously, I wasn’t lucky enough to go there and experience it in person, but it looked great at home.
You are of course totally right that stage design and TV production has improved massively since 2001 so it might very well be possible to host it in Parken without looking so vast and dull and empty now. And yes Dusseldorf 2011 would be a perfect place to start looking for ideas.
There is a careful balance to be made with arena size and attendance though, and just as Baku couldn’t recreate the atmosphere that Dusseldorf had, we can’t automatically assume that Denmark picking a smaller arena will work as well as Malmo did. Either way, I certainly look forward to seeing what they choose, and trust them to find something that looks great!
@Peter,
I agree.
The main thing EBU will be looking for is not a smaller arena. Its whether the host city is able to accommodate the certain number of people that will attend the shows. Also, not everyone that goes to the city during this time go there just because there is ESC, some go there to just discover the country itself.
If Herring is able to offer Hotels, good transport links and good service then it would be fine.
The main reason why Malmo was also considered a good place was because it being the ‘third’ biggest city in Stockholm, good transport link with the rest of Europe (bridge)
Not too far away from Stockholm and had the facilities that were needed. But even then there were some cons like a lack of a conference centre so the Euroclub had to be used for that.
Copenhagen in my opinion has everything, and the fact that there is a huge international airport there adds to the fact that this can be a great city.
Perhaps if the Copenhagen Arena existed right now i would be screaming that down every page because it would be the perfect arena for this concert:
15,000 seating and in Copenhagen! exactly!
I hope somehow DR makes the right decision to look at the city facilities before looking at the arena itself, because for now the more important thing is to find a good host city that is capable of showing 120,000,000 people that ESC14 is the best show in Europe.
To all that think ESC is about capital cities: maybe you should look at the history of Eurovision to find out how many times a host city being a capital city was used contrasted with the number of cities not being the capital.
The gay references were brilliant!! The two men kissing on stage made such a statement about how forward thinking Sweden is. Yes it wasn’t a perfect show but it was infinitely more entertaining than “Azer-BAI-jan.”
@Steve Mac:
The main issue regarding Herning as a potential host city is that its hotel capacity isn’t sufficient for an event such as the Eurovision Song Contest, and the nearest international airport is located almost 2 hours away. Add to this that from most of Denmark, getting to Herning by public transportation is a bit of a nightmare.
Regarding Copenhagen as a potential host city, the consistently horrible acoustics of the Parken Stadium are the biggest issue.
Btw, Malmö does have a conference centre, MalmöMässan, which is located right next to Malmö Arena. It hosted the ESC press centre from 10-19 May and was also the participants’ dressing rooms.
As an Australian who doesn’t hear much about the ‘hype’ of Eurovision before the finals, and just decides on the best sounding song of the night… I just thought I’d back Eric up… I don’t reckon the UK hasn’t had a decent song in YEARS – and it definitely doesn’t have anything to do with people talking them down. The songs are just bad.
@Ross
I totally agree… It’s not as if the UK doesn’t have awesome artists who could submit awesome songs, they’ve just been sending bad choices for years!