Robe for Melodifestivalen 2021 posted: 19/04/2021
No country takes the ESC more seriously than Sweden. It is one of the most successful competing nations with a total of six victories and the most top five results of the 21st century, with 11!
Enthusiasm for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest is bursting every disco bubble this year, especially in the wake of last year's first ever cancellation due to - we all know what - as competing countries ramp up the glorious glitz, glamour, drama and pop moments with gusto! Melodifestivalen - Mello' for short - the annual competition to select the Swedish entry is organised by Sveriges Television and is a phenomenon in itself! In recent years, it has been a touring show visiting six key cities, but due to Covid restrictions, this year the six rounds - four heats, the second chance' and the final - were staged in one place, the Annexet arena in Stockholm, part of the Globe complex, and broadcast live on STV1.
It was lit - for the 20th time - by Fredrik Jonsson who utilised 200 Robe moving lights and four RoboSpot systems among other fixtures on the rig.
Taking this fund of experience into account, Fredrik always relishes the challenge of making Mello look fresh, exciting and fun each year and 2021 was no exception offering the rare opportunity to work in what was effectively a very large studio space without an audience, which opened new doors for technical experimentation.
Fredrik once again worked closely with set designer Viktor Brattstrom, another long-term member of the Mello creative team. The two enjoy a great imaginative synergy, and usually start throwing ideas into the mix the previous summer and autumn.
Video content was supplied by Green Wall Designs, another regular collaborator, who had their content wranglers onsite together with a disguise operator.
With a trim height of around 10 metres - and without the limitations of having to tour the rig - the circumstances gave rise to an idea floating around for some time which involved integrating a roof into the set design.
This resulted in shiny black rectangular scenic roof sections being rigged in the upstage / downstage orientation, with lighting trusses filling the gaps in between.
With the 24-metre-wide by 28-metre-deep stage to achieve the desired catwalk / runway perspective, the whole roof system needed a lower trim, so this was set at 4.9 metres from the stage floor, resulting in the fantastic epic cinematic look that they had been dreaming of for some years!
The low trim also meant that any big bulky lights were out, so Fredrik wanted as many compact powerful fixtures as possible on the rig and turned to Robe, choosing MegaPointes and LEDBeam 150s to be at the core of the main lighting system.
The 88 x MegaPointes and 82 x LEDBeam 150s were rigged in triangular-shaped trusses to maintain the linear perspective at the heart of the set concept.
The next challenge was the rear follow spot positions!
For Fredrik, the choice of follow spot fixture was easy - BMFL WashBeams! However, with this design, it was impossible to rig them on the back bars and keep the clean lines due to the larger size of the fixture compared to the LEDBeam 150! After some experimentation, Fredrik opted to use six MegaPointes as his rear follow spots which retained the aesthetic integrity of the rig. These six fixtures were hooked in to the RoboSpot system.
Some applied rigging magic from rental company - and lighting equipment suppliers - Creative Technology Northern Europe's crew combined with short pipes and swivel couplers enabled the LED Beams to sit slightly lower from the trusses so their lenses aligned trim wise with the MegaPointes.
Also on the rig were 27 x Robe BMFL WashBeams utilised for key lights, four of which were the front follow spots, also running on the RoboSpot system.
MegaPointes were the main workhorses for creating all the effects in the stage area. Most of them were in the roof rig, with a few on the flowerbox' set pieces two sets of lights on shelves running US / DS on both sides of the stage
MegaPointes were chosen for their size and weight in conjunction with the many features and huge scope for producing stunning effects. Given the low trim, I needed a good zoom and LOTS of options to give each of the 28 competition songs plus around 20 interval acts a unique and distinctive look, explains Fredrik.
The LEDBeams were rigged in almost identical positions as the two types of fixtures were essentially working in tandem so that alignment was also important.
The LEDBeam has been a favourite of Fredrik's since he started using them a couple of years ago.
It's outstanding bang-for-buck' considering the tiny size, he commented. They create impressive ACL style beam effects, big voluminous washes and can even be used for key lighting at specific times. It's a great little fixture with plenty of tricks up its sleeve . For Mello this year, they were even pixel mapped via the disguise video system!
Fredrik's key light of choice is still the BMFL WashBeam.
For this show, BMFL WashBeams were used as the front follow spots and key lights for the main stage, the B stage and other critical positions like the hosts, etc.
The BMFL WashBeam optical system is amazing! he stated. He loves the big chunky lens and the wonderful texture in the beam that really looks and acts like a real' follow spot when used as key light .
The high CRI of the bulb means it looks great on camera, and to date he's never run out of punch using a BMFL WashBeam as a follow spot and can also drop in cool colour effects during the song - like going red for an emphasis moment - all without any loss in intensity!
I absolutely love them!
Two lighting operators worked alongside Fredrik on the show - Danne Persson and Timo Kauristo - usin
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
Robe for Melodifestivalen 2021 posted: 19/04/2021 
