What you don’t see on TV: this is what happens on the Eurovision stage between performances

Maximum 1 minute. There is no more time between the acts during the Eurovision Song Contest shows. While you, as a television viewer, are getting a coffee or refilling your snacks during those 50 or 60 seconds – with the inevitable fragment from the old box and the announcement of the next country – remarkable things happen in the concert hall!

Like ninjas, men and women in black clothing with hoods shoot onto the plasma screen stage. These Eurovision employees sweep, swab and erase the cross-shaped, 20 meter long and wide stage in no time, making it shine again, so that the eruption of visual effects is optimally displayed. At every performance. The glittering sand cloud that Saba (Denmark) spreads during her performance? Whoops, with two leaf blowers the ninja can take care of that in no time.

The heat of the flamethrowers

Who has kindness the making of -like documentaries and also tolerates intense flashes of light and sound impulses well, is completely at home in the stands of the Malmö Arena in Sweden this week. This concert hall, with room for over 12,000 people, is the battleground of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. We were in the second row on Thursday afternoon during the dress rehearsal, the dress rehearsal for the second semi-final, close enough to feel the heat of the flamethrowers on your cheeks.

“Peace and love .” That’s all the recording director is asking for today. Shortly before the show starts (with fake scoring), this man with a clipboard, headset and transmitter addresses the audience to explain the rules of the game. In front of us is a group of Austrians, next to us a Dane and a few Britons, further down a couple of Belgians dressed in flags, who can then seamlessly transfer to a football stadium.

Fraternization is part of the Eurovision Song Contest, says the recording director. So remember: we’re clapping and cheering for everyone here. “Give us your love and peace. We need them for all our artists tonight happy to the live show for television.”

Twelve cars, six motorcycles for Israel

His words do not come out of the blue. The second semi-final is extra charged, because Israel is seventeenth. There is a lot of resistance to Israel’s participation in the song festival because of the war with Gaza. The police had to send twelve cars, six motorcycles and a helicopter to safely transport singer Eden Golan from her hotel to the stage.

This brings the recording director to the next point: if the concert hall has to be evacuated for safety reasons, the visitor will hear an alarm signal and instructions in two languages ​​on how to get away safely. And one last thing: distracting waving of flags is also prohibited during a performance. Before and after is allowed. “Help every artist.”

At the same time, there are as many angry people demonstrating in the center of the city as there are happy, colorful and excited people in the hall here, awaiting the nineteen performances, with Joost Klein as the bouncer. The mood is great here.

Annoying light boxes

Are you in front of the TV again? Then this is something you don’t see at home.

There’s a lot in the air. Five large, steel cubes of fencing (7×7 meters) float above the stage, sometimes serving as a projection screen and other times as a set piece for the artist. The technicians can lift and lower them, just like the twelve square light boxes. Impressive, but also annoying for the spectators who no longer see anything and are at the mercy of the screens and the direction.

Presenters Petra Mede and Malin Akerman read about the minds of the people in the mosh pit their texts from a teleprompter, which is set up at the nerve center. In a kind of orchestra pit for technicians, there are at least 25 people, each working on 3 computer screens at the same time with image and sound.

Fast changes

Always that minute, those quick changes. Stage cleaning, artist leaves with relief, artist comes on, set pieces are rolled away, new ones pushed up. Oh dear! For a moment there is trouble between the ninjas when the 3 meter high ring – a popular set piece by the way – by Latvian Dons does not fall apart quickly enough and another crew is already ready with the red velvet bench for the Spanish Nebulossa with her burlesque act Zorra. (Noted here: ‘Room cheers, favorite’.)

Wouldn’t the artist feel vulnerable on that glowing light sheet of a stage? Between that technical violence? Sarah Bonnici (Malta) quickly removes her glitter pants from her buttocks before the music starts. Besa (Albania) gives one of the ninjas a hug and quickly waves to the audience. Marina Satti (Greece, Britney Spears pigtails) is involved in a duet with a cameraman, just like the French singer Slimane, who sings his ballad while lying and crawling over the polished tiles.

It is of course not new that the Eurovision Song Contest is not only a musical spectacle, but also a fantastic visual and physical circus. Apparently there are certain trends, such as ‘singer who is adored by dancers’. But also: lying on or crawling across the stage, for the tumbling shots from above.

Skirt on satellite dish

In his pink ballet skirt, Nemo (Switzerland, TheCode ) excels at that. He has to make do with a kind of satellite dish on a rotating base. Nemo uses the set piece as a see-saw, chair and treadmill. Nemo hops back and forth, sings his song and never loses sight of the heavily loaded cameraman. Off-screen, two ninjas on their knees straighten the dish.

What is also beautiful to see: the emotions when it is over. At the edge of that brightly lit cross is a staircase, along the mosh pit where fans hope for high fives . Between the dressing room and the audience of millions. And then at the end of the show you see Joost Klein standing in that corner, together with his sidekicks Appie Vogelpak and Stuntkabouter. First charged, ready to flame with his Europapa.

The crowd loves him, you can immediately see and hear that here in the Malmö Arena. The audience joins in with Joost. The last performance of the show. And if Europapa has ended, Joost Klein stays on the podium just a little longer than all his competitors. He bows, greets the audience, looks happy. And when he walks down those stairs with his buddies, he makes a few crazy jumps with his arms in the air. What a final!