Under the motto “United by Music” this year's ESC took place from 7th to 11th May in the Arena Malmö, which, with a maximum capacity for 10.000 people for this event, offered an exceptional opportunity to experience the phenomenal acts up close. As every year, an ingenious and fresh stage concept was designed, which this year was arranged in a kind of cross construction on which the various delegations could perform in four different directions. As another central design element, five video cubes were installed above the stage, which were used on a massive scale, as were a total of 2168 moving lights, led bars and strobes in total. The stage design was developed by none other than Florian Wieder, who placed particular emphasis on enabling interaction with the audience. The contest was not intended to look like a conventional tv production, but to create the atmosphere of a concert, in which respect the venue provided a clear advantage. Lighting Designer Fredrik Stormby of Green Wall Designs, based in Stockholm, thereby made the other decisive contributions to the show concept. All under the technical lead of Senior Technical Director and Eurovision Guru Ola Melzig, they did a remarkable job in growing the event into something truly special. The cross-shaped stage for example, consisted of a video floor with an area of 186 square meters. This was complemented by a 340 square meter video wall in front of which the acts could deliver their performances. This video surface was also able to be divided in the middle. The stunning amount of LED in this show was a total of 1000 square meters. Together with Stormby, Wieder developed a design with a strong emphasis on kinetic movement that radiated an incredible dynamic, using 3500 meters of truss. To that an absolutely crushing amount of 199 C1 hoists, which were also visualized in Depence, was used to create the kinetics. The arena had to support an equipment weight of 210 tons.
The lighting design of this year's ESC was primarily intended to reflect the identity of the city of Malmö, i.e. modernity and urbanity. This principle was combined with a representation of the Northern Lights, as they can often be seen in the sky in Scandinavia, which graphic designer Sidney Lim endeavored to achieve. Things became experimental when Stormby and the lighting design team used so-called infield pods. These were side elements that operated between the audience and the stage, but also surrounded the entire set from behind. The flexible lighting level formed in this way was equipped with wash lights. As the audience was to be more involved in this year's ESC, the stage design had to be adapted accordingly. For this purpose, the arena was illuminated with audience lighting, which created a beautiful ambient effect throughout the building. Only the key light was a challenge due to the very spacious and dynamic stage, especially because of the many mechanical movement possibilities. A follow-me system was used for this, which was operated by eight operators.
A particularly well-equipped FOH was needed to handle this massive show. A total of 19 MA3 consoles were used, with which 663 DMX universes were managed. The team around Melzig, Stormby, Ishai Mika (Lead Programmer FX Light), Isak Gabre, Dom Adams (Lead Programmer Keylight), Leo Stenbeck and Linus Pansell were thereby able to rely on first-class support for the Depence Previz system from Syncronorm GmbH, who provided fast and effective fixture and tech support to ensure that all elements of the show were seamlessly integrated in the pre-production phase. Syncronorm also helped to optimize the project file to simulate this massive stage in real-time. The Depence software system was used extensively to gain a time advantage, as programming 37 shows in the given time would not have been logistically possible, giving the team a distinct advantage throughout the pre-production period.
• Ishai Mika (LX Director / Lead Programmer for FX)
• Dom Adams (LX Director / Lead Programmer for Key and White Light)
• Isak Gabre (LX Programmer)
• Linus Pansell (LX Programmer)
• Leo Stenbeck (LX Programmer)
Collaborating Designers:
• Mike Smith (Associate Lighting Designer)
• Michael Straun (Associate Lighting Designer)
• Louisa Smurthwaite (Assistant Lighting Designer / Viewing Room Coordinator)
Additional Support:
• Per Hörding (Follow Spot Caller)
