Live from Malm : Behind the scenes of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 By Adrian Pennington
Monday, May 6, 2024 - 14:34
Print This Story
Following Loreen's win in Liverpool in 2023, Sweden has the honour of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest for a record seventh time.
Hosted by Swedish broadcaster SVT in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the 68th Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place in the Malm Arena on Saturday 11 May, with semi-finals scheduled for Tuesday 7 May and Thursday 9 May. The three live shows are expected to attract 162 million viewers.
SVT is working in partnership with facilities provider NEP and with Eurovision Services, the one-time broadcasting arm of the EBU but that has been owned by Munich-based venture capital firm Dubag Group since February 2023. The EBU remains Eurovision's main customer and the Song Contest the largest event it works on.
I've loved Eurovision since I was a little boy and I still have to pinch myself that I get to help produce Eurovision as a job, says Lennard Bartlett, project leader at Eurovision Services. It's a great privilege and I'm very proud of my Eurovision Services team and EBU and BBC colleagues for what we achieved together last year. Over to you SVT bring it on.
Eurovision Services provides distribution of the produced world feed and is producer of the live voting element of the final in which 37 live feeds from participating members need intricate coordination with belt and braces backup.
Speaking from the Eurovision Services truck located in the OB compound 20m outside of the Malm Arena, Bartlett says: It is the biggest live music event in the world by audience and no other show attempts live voting on this scale.
The world feed itself remains in 1080i 50 SDR after an assessment by the EBU after the 2023 event in Liverpool found there was not sufficient demand for a 4K UHD HDR (or even a HD HDR) production among its public service broadcaster community.
Bartlett: I still have to pinch myself that I get to help produce Eurovision as a job'
That said, production values are being upgraded with capture for the first time in Progressive Segmented Frame (PsF), a means of acquiring, producing and distributing a progressive scan from interlace equipment.
The intent is to add a more filmic look to performances, says Bartlett. Inside the arena you can really tell that the standards of lighting, staging and sound quality will be top notch in terms of production standards. You can see that too in monitors from the OB compound during rehearsals that this is going to be a very high-quality show.
Roe Visual is the official supplier of all LED kit for the song contest; Creative Technology Sweden is responsible for the installation.
This comprises around 1,000sqm of LED screen, including a stage floor LED of 186sqm and a backdrop LED screen of 340sqm. Hanging from the ceiling of the arena are five LED cubes totalling 460sqm.
A 6-person stage management team leads the three live shows and manage a further 36 crew who have just 55 seconds to reset the stage between each of the 37 songs. These movements have been carefully choreographed and rehearsed, just like everything else in the live shows.
Eurovision Services' facility is connected to NEP's OB truck via a Technical Operations Centre (TOC) and manages onward distribution over fibre and/or via satellite to all EBU members. Signal redundancy is provided from two teleports including one in Geneva.
Signals for the live voting components are contributed via satellite or direct fibre connection or video over IP.
We require each of the 37 participating members to provide us with a main feed and a back-up link, he adds.
It is the biggest live music event in the world by audience and no other show attempts live voting on this scale
Security is another crucial part of the Eurovision Services operation and it is the piece of the puzzle that shifts most year on year.
Bartlett explains: We can't go into detail on the mechanisms we have in force for obvious reasons, but it is an area we reassess regularly to make sure we have the latest encryption methods and that our kit is patched with the latest updates to the highest specification basically to ensure we are protected. We've taken aboard information provided by SVT, EBU and other security agencies to ensure we're operating within the evolving cybersecurity picture.
This is Bartlett's second Song Contest as project lead but the 12th for lead engineer Felix Berndt. Many of the team producing in Malm are veterans of the 2013 show also hosted in Malm and of the 2016 event in Stockholm.
We've a very experienced team and it all has a very family feel, he says. The vibe is definitely building. The city is getting prepared and hardcore fans are arriving. The Eurovision Village and Eurovision Street and other dedicated areas are buzzing. It promises to be a huge production.
In one change to the format, artists from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, plus Sweden, will each perform their entries live during the semi-finals. The so-called Big Five get a bye' into the final but will showcase their entries to viewers live alongside the competing acts.
Twenty-four-year-old Swiss rapper Nemo is the bookies favourite to win this year.
Eurovision Services are next in action in Germany for the Euros and then again in Paris at the Olympics.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
Live from Malm : Behind the scenes of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 By Adrian Pennington 
