Out of the embers: The Eurovision Song Contest returns

Eurovisions executive supervisor Martin sterdahl talks to TVBEurope about the return of the mother of all big entertainment shows

By Jenny Priestley

Published: May 21, 2021

Eurovision's executive supervisor Martin sterdahl talks to TVBEurope about the return of the mother of all big entertainment shows

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Following last year's cancellation due to the pandemic, the Eurovision Song Contest is back on TV screens on 22nd May, with a show broadcast live from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

For Martin sterdahl this year's show is especially significant as it marks his first as the executive supervisor of the ESC. sterdahl has taken over from Jon Ola Sand, who spent ten years in charge of Eurovision, and admits he has some big shoes to fill. Jon Ola is a good friend. Obviously he's done a huge deal for the Song Contest, he tells TVBEurope. I've had the pleasure of working with him for a long time. I was on the reference group for seven years, I produced the Song Contest twice when he was the executive supervisor. We've done a lot of things together in changing and adapting the format through the years, and luckily I can still reach out and give him a ring if there's anything.

Eurovision's executive supervisor is employed by the European Broadcasting Union and based at its headquarters in Geneva. sterdahl leads the team who run and organise the show every year, meaning he has overall responsibility for the Eurovision Song Contest brand. Just call him Mr Eurovision.

data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Eurovision-2021-726x484.jpeg alt= width=404 height=269 data-srcset=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Eurovision-2021-726x484.jpeg 726w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Eurovision-2021-353x235.jpeg 353w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Eurovision-2021-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Eurovision-2021-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Eurovision-2021.jpeg 2048w data-sizes=(max-width: 404px) 100vw, 404px />Inside the Ahoy Arena I pass the relevant information and knowledge on from one host broadcaster to the next each year, he explains. My role is very much to work with the executive producers to help them organise the event and also to coach them. Apart from that, when it comes to the actual event I am also the head of the Contest, so, everything with regards to the onstage performance, the rules of the contest, the voting points, the announcement of the winner and so on, falls under the responsibility of the executive supervisor.

Planning for Eurovision's return began almost as soon as last year's event was cancelled, but stardahl admits it's still been a tough year for everyone. The task of organising the Eurovision Song Contest is always very complex, it's arguably one of the most complex live television productions in the world. As an international event, it's also very complex, it has a global reach. We had a readiness in the past to change our setup in case of a local crisis or a local problem, we never really had the readiness to change if it was more of a global crisis, which this has been.

So, we've had to change quite a lot in the way that we work, and the framework that we work under, and that work started straight off the bat as soon as we unfortunately had to cancel last year's show. It's been a difficult year for everyone in what we do in our jobs but also on a personal level. But I think to unite 40 countries and 40 delegations in one spot in Europe has never been more difficult than this year.

We know that the Eurovision Song Contest is extremely loved by many people, stardahl adds. It has a very long tradition. I usually call it the mother of all big entertainment shows, at least in Europe. So we have a legacy and we feel that we have a sense of duty to bring this show back to Europe and to all the fans.

data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eurovision-3-726x484.jpeg alt= width=305 height=203 data-srcset=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eurovision-3-726x484.jpeg 726w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eurovision-3-353x235.jpeg 353w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eurovision-3-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eurovision-3-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eurovision-3-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w data-sizes=(max-width: 305px) 100vw, 305px />James Newton will be performing the UK's entry sterdahl likens Eurovision to one of the major sporting events that take place every four years, in other words, the organising team know five years ahead of time that they will be hosting an international sports event and can rely on that sport's federation. But for Eurovision, each year the organisers are given some dates and access to the team in Geneva. After Shine A Light in the spring of 2020 we started preparing straightaway for the return of the real thing. In terms of our ambitions we realised pretty early that the pandemic was going to linger and it would affect 2021 as well.

Of course I'm incredibly grateful for the Dutch courage of host broadcasters NPO, NOS, AVROTROS and the city of Rotterdam that they decided to commit again to 2021. All of the members of the EBU taking part in this are really very grateful that they did. We wanted to fulfil the plans that they had prepared for 2020. The cancellation came very late and the preparations were more or less all srt and done. So the ambition was to make that happen in 2021. Of course you always review things in the show, they've updated a lot of things

LINK:	https://www.tvbeurope.com/live-production/out-of-the-embers-the-eurovi...
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