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It’s not Glastonbury or Coachella or even Lady Gaga on Copacabana. The biggest music event in the world is Eurovision and it is back in Switzerland, the country where it all began back in 1956.
Launched as a live broadcasting experiment with seven
nations competing, the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) now attracts contestants
from dozens of countries across the EBU membership (that includes Israel,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Australia), and a TV audience that reached 163 million
people over the 3 live shows in 2024.
Among youth audiences (15-24 year olds), the viewing share
of the 2024 Final was 58.6%, the highest share on record and more than four
times the broadcast channels' average with an additional 6.5 billion views of
#Eurovision2024 on TikTok – up 1.7 billion compared to 2023.
The 69th edition runs 12 to 17 May at the St. Jakobshalle, Basel,
produced by Swiss national broadcaster SRG SSR. Immediately after Nemo’s
victory in Malmö last May, an SRG task force began preparing for the 2025 ESC
in Switzerland. Reto Peritz from SRF and Moritz Stadler from RTS were
announced as the Executive Producers sharing overall responsibility.
One of their first hires was Tobias Åberg as Head
of Production. “I represent SRG SSR in the project of ESC 2025,” he says. “The
ESC is at the cutting edge of technology with demanding set-ups. For me, it’s
always extremely interesting to work in different contexts and countries, as it
offers the opportunity to learn from other cultures and people.”
Åberg, a Swede, is an ESC pro: he was Executive in Charge of
Production in Malmö and was also a member of the core team for ESC 2013 and
2016. Over the last eight years, he has served as either Head of Production or
a technical expert. As Head of Production ESC 2025 he is responsible
for technical production, stage construction, infrastructure and IT.
He began by building the production team over the summer,
while also travelling around Switzerland to help make the choice of host city
and venue.
“Some of the earliest topics included defining the
production scope and the responsibilities of the production team. I then began
building my core team and engaging the key creatives within the production team
- set designer, lighting designer, and senior multi-camera director.
“Once we’d made up our minds and selected the set design and
set designer, we continued developing the overall production design, both
creatively and technically, while also investigating its practical feasibility.
The lighting design, camera plan, rigging concept, and LED specifications were
developed. When the framework around the production design - including the
technical setup for the broadcast - was in place, we began the tendering
process to secure our technical suppliers.
In parallel, they engaged the wider team of technical
managers, operators, camera crew and logistics.
A total of nine shows will be held at the 8000 seater St.
Jakobshalle – with three aired live: the two Semi-Finals on 13 and 15 May and the
Grand Final on 17 May.
Each year, the production tweaks and develop the concept of
the show and its execution. “One key learning from previous ESC is that larger
LED lighting setups are becoming increasingly complex - both in terms of signal
distribution and, when combined with greater amounts of automation. The demands
on power distribution are also growing. I always keep a close eye on these
aspects.”
“We are always looking to optimise the viewer experience, as
well as improve workflows - both during the setup period and throughout
rehearsals and live shows,” Åberg says. “The camera positions are adjusted to
best capture the specific production design, although we often return to some
proven ideas, such as cranes on either side of the stage. Rail cameras and
aerial cameras vary depending on the design.”
The camera plan for ESC 2025 includes 7 wireless, 9 on stands (8 with 90x-122x
zoom lenses) and 10 block cameras plus 5 PTZ cams. All are Sony.
A total of 300 audio streams are being managed from a system
that includes 100 wireless microphones and 250 In-Ear wireless receivers
“We have DANTE out of the RF Receivers, Optocore in two
redundant loops connecting all consoles in the venue, MADI for interconnecting
with the broadcast world (OB vans) and AVB to address all amplifiers,” he says.
NEP once again is the main services supplier for galleries
and vision this time working with Ukrainian special cameras team OperTec and
links providers 2Sat (SNG) and Swisscom (IT).
Creative Technology are leading on supply and install of LED
and projection kit. Set Stage and construction is handled by Unbranded
Productions. Lighting rig and control is in the care of Neg Earth Lights.
Rigging and Automation is handled by Germany’s Malecon. The Automated Camera
Script (ACS) is LiveEdit.
The EBU’s tech partner Riedel are in charge of intercom,
internal signal distributing and commentary tech. On-screen graphics are by
Sweden’s VXO Design and LED content is led by Luke Halls Studio..
“VXO is the supplier and they work closely with our art
director, our multicamera director, and our end of show producer to achieve the
right look and feel,” says Åberg.
The short video ‘postcards’ introducing each act and
screened while the stage is being prepared for the next entry, were filmed
between January and April 2025 and directed by Luca Zurfluh of Zurich-based
production company Dynamic Frame.
The activation sequence for the postcards are produced
through a collaboration between Luke Halls Studio, VXO design, and Art
Director Artur Deyneuve. “For this,
we also plan to use AR to place the graphics in a visually appealing way within
our set design,” says Åberg.
The World Feed remains in 1080 50 SDR after an assessment by
the EBU after 2023 in Liverpool found there was not sufficient demand for a 4K
UHD HDR (or even a HD HDR) production among its public service broadcaster
community.
To accommodate as many requests as possible for each act,
rehearsals are essential and extensive, he says. There’s a significant amount
of pre-programming too “to ensure we are as prepared as possible when we begin
the live stage performance.”
This included pre-programming all lights, creating all LED
content and pre-programming the ACS system. The team hold camera briefings with
all the camera operators and rehearse with stand-ins before artists arrive on
site.
“Lighting Designer Tim Routledge receives a look and brief
for each act, some of which include very detailed lighting requests. His
lighting team works to facilitate these as best as possible; however, it is
ultimately our responsibility (as host broadcast producers), in collaboration
with EBU, to make the final decision about the overall look.”
The production is using a QLab system for this year’s floor
marking with Disguise as the playout system for all LED and projector surfaces.
RTCG of Montenegro return to the competition after last
competing in 2022. And 36 of the 37 countries that took part at Malmö 2024 will
be participating once again.
Eurovision Services provide distribution of the produced
World Feed and is producer of the live voting element of the final.
Deyneuve has sprinkled the audio identity to the show with
traditional Swiss elements: yodelling, a Basel drum corps, and alphorns. The
stage design was also inspired by Switzerland's mountains by Production
Designer Florian Wieder (Wieder Design), and highlighted by a central extension
that extends into the standing audience area and surrounded by an LED arch.
The multicamera directors are led by Robin Hofwander with
Myriam von Necker and Fredrik Bäcklund. Head of Show is SRF’s Yves Schifferle
who last year helped Nemo to victory as Switzerland’s Head of Delegation at the
ESC. He is responsible for creating and realising the content for all three ESC
shows (including moderating the shows, the opening and interval acts, the flag
parade, postcards and voting procedure). Head of Contest is Swedish TV producer
Christer Björkman, who had the same role over the past decade.
Director of the Eurovision Song Contest is Martin Green.
He joined in November from entertainment company TAIT where he was VO of live
events. Green has been executive producer of major events includes the
ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Birmingham
Commonwealth Games 2022 and the BAFTA-winning ESC in Liverpool in 2023 on
behalf of Ukraine.
The current favourite to win Eurovision 2025 is Sweden, represented
by band KAJ, with their song Bara Bada Bastu, with France and Austria also in
the early running.
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