Technical Difficulties
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Everything Wrong With The Eurovision Stage
‘Sun’ Won’t Rotate
It sounded like beauty, it sounded like grace but that muckle sun is stuck in its place!
One of the most ‘iconic’ and anticipated features of the Eurovision stage this year was the beautiful rotating sun sculpture commissioned to sit in pride of place at the centre of the Eurovision stage. The concept – stunning 10/10. Nothing sounds better than a distinctive element on stage that delegations can adapt into their stagings. Possibly a nod to Jerusalem 1978’s revolving sculpture.
In 2022 the stage is SO MUCH BIGGER than what it would have been back in the day and on top of that the technology being utilised is ever more complicated. Turin’s sun features an LED backdrop, built in lighting and of course a mechanical component to drive the structure into motion. All this whilst being situated next to waterfalls, programmed to HIPPITY PUMP-PUMP water out like there is no tomorrow! It would have been an incredible technological feat but alas RAI bit off more than they could chew!
Instead, the mechanism behind the movement simply won’t turn by itself and would instead require to be manually moved into place. This means that acts such as Armenia who had been greenlighted by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for using the movement in their song, have had to change plans last minute. Thankfully for them, they have still found a way to SNAP! replacing the mechanical movements with some last minute stagehand additions.
Waterfalls Are Shallow
Yup, those aforementioned waterfalls have also had issues!
It wouldn’t be Eurovision without seeing a WATERFALL in the Grand Final! There’s no escaping it, if you won’t send Jedward or sing about one at all, the production team will just cover the stage in them. And you won’t believe it but they are frankly stunning!
The rehearsal footage of the waterfalls in action is truly breath-taking. There is something just so calming about these fountains yet they can be used in so many versatile ways. Yet despite me loving them, the problems with the ‘Sun’ have meant they have been eclipsed.
Whilst it is frankly impossible to get much of a reliable source, the press being completely absent to observe the carnage – which the newspapers picked up on and spun anyway… It seems that the water damage cannot be ruled out as an issue or a risk to the ‘sun’? There are many conflicting reports – *sigh* and as a result these waterfalls too may well have been reduced in their scale and impact.
LED screens are Inaccessible
The more technologically advanced the production, the harder it is to solve problems. This is partially because every piece of equipment is reliant on the next working in order for it to be doing its job optimally. There is no more obvious example of this then in the LED screens this year.
These screens are both one of the most popular and loathed aspects of the modern contest with many views as to their use circulating every year… more than can be said for the arches. First introduced in Moscow’s 2009 contest, they were dropped in 2010 (due to their high expense) and were then reintroduced to become a staple until Lisbon’s 2018 “Music is Not Fireworks” contest.
When delegations realised they would not simply be able to rely on a backdrop, many turned to creative 00’s style staging again. We saw ‘Moldova’s doors’, ‘Ukraine’s piano/coffin’, ‘Estonia’s massive dress’, ‘Finland’s… ehm wheel of fortune’ and in many ways performances felt fresh and outside of the box! Then there were the delegations who just brought their own LED screens anyway, likely at large expense. Was this the lazy way out? Or are they a staple of Eurovision that should simply be provided by the host? The debate remains.
Italy’s stage this year should have provided a best of both worlds scenario. A cool prop which can be used creatively, provided free of charge or an LED screen behind it meaning you don’t have to touch it. Instead it has screwed both groups over. As the prop is now unmovable and hogging the middle view of the stage, the EBU has decided to leave it closed allowing for the prop to still be a part of the stage. After all the sun has a limited number of LEDs on it itself, delegations can use.
The problem is whilst the prop not moving makes it useless anyway for many delegations, for those just using the screen, the tiny sun LEDs are no substitute. They will have spent thousands on getting a visually striking pattern to fill the whole LED screen that simply cannot be replicated on a smaller screen. To change it to something else would mean starting their graphic design process all over – its frankly impossible.
So if you were a delegation who put all your important graphics on the far left and right of the screen – you might actually be fine. But for everyone else, you will be visiting ‘some black holes’ with Sam Ryder, as there will now be one slap bang in the middle of your picture. How frustrating.
Lights Are Broken
Eagle-eyed viewers also noticed another problem with the ‘Sun’. It’s built in lights have been very temperamental in rehearsals – which is particularly annoying when you just want all the acts to SHINE (I promise that’s the last one).
Delegations have to sign off the best (non-spoiler) clip to the EBU before any rehearsal footage is uploaded. Despite this in a number of rehearsals technical difficulties have been observed by fans, particularly in relation to lighting.
If you check out my Rehearsal Reaction Page, you will note that one of my main criticisms with many of the songs is simply how dark they have ended up. Colourful LED lights, ha – they won’t help you here, so you better pray the built in ‘sun’ lights are enough! That would be if they worked all the time. This year we may just have to focus more on the songs than the performance art.
“We live in a world of disposable music; fast-food music without any content… Music is not fireworks, music is feeling. So let’s try to change this and bring music back which is really what matters.”
Salvador Sobral (Eurovision 2017, champion)
One of the main clips where these issues have been noticed is in S10’s second rehearsal. One of the light fixtures just seems to have gotten camera shy and does not move in sequence with the other lights. Of all the problems this year though, hopefully this is the most fixable!
But Eurovision Is Going To Be Epic!
The saddest thing about all this is that the acts may not get to live out their vision on stage and there is no way to sugar-coat that.
It plain sucks.
But every Eurovision has it’s highs and it’s lows. It is still Eurovision. We will all look back at this one day and remember with a chortle just how wrong production can sometimes get things. And then think back to how much we still loved the show they put on in the end.
Eurovision is not cancelled. This is the beginning of the newest winner’s historic journey!
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