Eurovision Song Contest: backstage Ruth Elkins for Eurovision.tv and Aline Ingwersen, Media Officer, EBU 1
Backsta Ruth Elkins, Eurovision.tv Aline Ingwersen, Media Officer, EBU Backstage without a VIP pass Sertab Erener, 2003 Winner In a race against the clock Turkey s national broadcaster, TRT, had less than a year to organize the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul. Not only is this event a major production to put on but the 2004 contest launched a new look and format comprising a Semi-Final and Final with a record 36 countries. This was a challenge which TRT and an army of experts from across Europe, under the watchful eyes of Bulent Osma, executive producer (TRT) and Svante Stockselius, executive supervisor (EBU), staged with flying colours at the Abdi Apekci arena in the great city of Istanbul. Staging the contest is a bit like putting together Frankenstein s monster, said ESC production manager, Firat Kasapoglu, apologizing for any negativity his metaphor might convey. You start giving it life and it s only then you see the problems you have to sort out, he explained. Firat Kasapoglu managed a 2,500- strong team to make sure everything to do with the production infrastructure in Istanbul worked: from making sure the venue had enough security and the make-up artists didn t forget their lipsticks, to ensuring that the 1,700 journalists accredited to cover the event were 2 DIFFUSION online 2004/30
ge Eurovision Song Contest provided with optimal working facilities, right through to basic things like catering and WCs to making sure that lighting and special effects were not obstructed by anything like the Green Room. The first day we got to the venue, we were walking around and the team was showing me the plans for the stage and the Green Room, recalled the production manager. But as they were explaining it, we realized the whole Green Room was being constructed right in front of the projectors that beam images onto the background set. As a result the Green Room was rebuilt on stilts, raised 11 metres above the ground, making it the highest in the Contest s history. On time In the arena itself, as Julie and Ludwig were on the massive Eurovision stage rehearsing, you could see floor manager, Mark Harrisan, pacing up and down in front of the stage and speaking into his cams. After their regulation 3-minute long performance, the Maltese duo finished in time. Just a couple of camera notes, Harrisan announced into his microphone, And then we ll be moving on to the next act. Normally, the 31-year-old from Clapham, South London, is busy in the UK keeping starlet s egos under 3
control on the studio floor of music programmes like the BBC s Top of the Pops. For the contest in Istanbul, he was making sure that all of the artists on-stage performances looked as good on screen as possible. Moving between the director, the cameramen, and the delegation, the energetic yet collected Harrisan was coordinating the gruelling weeks of pre-contest rehearsals. Information hall Each of the 36 delegations taking part had sent a tape to the director to show him how they envisaged their country s on-screen performance. Mark Harrisan s team spent days changing the direction around and making sure the delegations were happy with the result. I m the show-glue, aren t I? he asked, looking at his right-hand man. Henry Sheldon, 29, is indispensable backstage, chivvying the artists to the dressing rooms, sending them to have their hair styled or make-up done and getting them to the stage on time. You have to be good at organizing. With a live broadcast watched by so many people all over the world, every second counts. It s crucial we stick to time. But, hey, we re used to the stress! Make-up Green Room 4 DIFFUSION online 2004/30
votes were processed during the shows by the first ever pan-european mass televoting platform developed and coordinated by Digame, an affiliate of Deutsche Telecom. Roland Vecchiato and Frank Saelens Impressive logistics Another indispensable person: the contest s technical coordinator from the EBU, Roland Vecchiato, usually perched on a plastic garden chair in an inconspicuous, white, prefab container, located just outside the arena. Belgian-born Roland Vecchiato, the former head of the EBU s Genevabased International Control Centre, has worked for the organization for 36 years. He is responsible for making sure the images from the contest venue reach TV viewers all over Europe and beyond, and ensuring the contest s live transmission. In front of him were two rows of monitors showing him the pictures being transmitted to more than 40 countries, as far away as Puerto Rico and Australia. Everything is doubled up, explained Roland Vecchiato. We have to be safe. Outside this control-room, four huge satellite dishes were installed to beam the arena s pictures to the Eurovision satellite network. If the picture quality starts to fail as can happen in bad weather, for example the technical team have a back-up plan: send the pictures by wire to Ankara. From there, they can be beamed to another satellite, ready for national broadcasters to pick up the feed. During the contest, Roland Vecchiato also remained in constant contact with the Eurovision Control Centre in Geneva. Sitting next to him was Frank Saelens, his Belgian colleague, who was viewing the pictures being shown by national broadcasters and making sure the connections between Istanbul and the rest of the world were okay. During the contest no technicality is left to chance. This is especially true for the voting. The live on-screen announcement of each country s votes has long been a Eurovision tradition and this year all countries used televoting to award their 1 12 points. Over 5 million calls and SMS Taking into account the record number of participating countries, all feeds from the national broadcasters must be in order. Each country has 90 seconds to say hello and give their votes and then we have to move on, explains Roland Vecchiato. Starting with Andorra, the voting countries are queued up in batches of five, ready to go live with their results and it s Roland Vecchiato who presses the button to make sure the right picture pops onto the TV screens at exactly the right time. The responsibility is undoubtedly stressful. The 2004 contest was Roland Vecchiato s last. I m sad to be leaving, of course, he admits but he adds with a smile, it s enough now. He then went on to show his famous red panic button, linked to the voting scrutineer s desk, manned by Svante Stockselius, who sits right by the stage during the shows. If Svante Stockselius sees a red light go on, it means there s a problem with the voting. However, as things ran smoothly during the Semi-Final and the Final the red light never flashed. Moreover, in all of Roland Vecchiato s time with the Song The Abdi Apekci arena in the great city of Istanbul. 5
Contest, nothing has really ever gone wrong. It gets really stressful on the night, admits Roland Vecchiato, but I stay calm. I m a calm man, even if my wife disagrees. Preparations for the Semi Final The I-stay-calm line is one Kasapoglu also takes. This was the 38- year-old s first time organizing the contest. With 20 years of experience producing major music events like New York s Woodstock Festival and Istanbul s summer pop event, Rock n Coke, the 7,500-strong audience in the arena on the night of the Eurovision Final was, after all, nothing to worry about. Satellite link-ups I have seen crowds! he grinned. And you believed him. The bear-like man had a Zen-like calm about him. It s my job to stay calm, he laughed, dodging a frazzled-looking cameraman dashing into the Press Centre with a kebab in his hand. Someone around here has to. The winner of the 2004 contest was Ukraine s Ruslana with her song Wild Dance. So, rendezvous next year in Ukraine. In 2005 the Eurovision Song Contest will also celebrate its 50th edition. The Semi Final can come these guys are prepared Control-room Press centre EBU s Geneva-based International Control Centre EBU press conferences: Aline Ingwersen, Svante Stockselius, Werner Kloetsch, Ruurd Biermann Catering for the press 6 DIFFUSION online 2004/30
The winner of the 2004 contest: Ukraine s Ruslana Photos by JM and International 7