Hippotizer MX Series Drives 52TB of Video for Junior Euro...

The annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest arrived at Tbilisi's Gymnastic Hall in Olympic City, presenting an international stage for young talent with rich, narrative-led visuals powered by the new Green Hippo Hippotizer MEUSE MX Series Media Servers. Under the event's motto, United by Music, the production set out to deliver a warm, imaginative, child-focused fairytale world while meeting the technical demands of a major international live broadcast.

Praised for its atmospheric video environments and conceived as a strongly video-driven stage concept, the production made extensive use of LED screens and surfaces to deliver flexible, performance-specific visuals. Designed to give each delegation maximum creative freedom, the show's visuals generated more than 100 million views on TikTok, showcasing the appetite for its distinctive visual identity.

Trust Rental, led by Head of Video Planning, Sebastian Huwig, specified Hippotizer MEUSE MX Series Media Servers. These formed the technical backbone of the show's media infrastructure, integrating into established racks to ensure fast deployment and rock-solid reliability.

The scale of the project meant we were handling enormous amounts of data around 52 terabytes of content, says Huwig. That was a key reason for choosing MEUSE MX. The implementation of the NotchLC codec, combined with significantly increased internal storage, allowed us to load, manage and play back content quickly and reliably, delivering consistently stable performance throughout rehearsals and the live broadcast, without any performance limitations.

A 100-gigabit media network and central 100G NAS enabled efficient content distribution across all systems, providing short loading times and high data security. Green Hippo's Hippotizer SHAPE software was used to create and recall projector mapping presets directly from the console an essential capability for fast, secure adjustments during live rehearsals.

The stage backdrop was comprised of two large LED screens positioned left and right, with a smaller central LED surface acting as a visual focal point. From this central element, a show staircase extended down to center stage, with both fully covered in LED panels. On either side, staggered terrace stage elements featured LED-clad fronts, adding depth and spatial structure, while a full-width LED banderole ran along the front edge of the stage, tying the entire design together.

Video-capable LED strips were used throughout the design, blending lighting and video into a cohesive visual language. Additional projector-based mappings were deployed for select performances, including content mapped onto a costume and a scenic tree, adding moments of visual surprise and extending the stage architecture beyond its physical boundaries.

The stage design was conceived as a highly video-driven environment, Huwig continues. Its geometry and spatial segmentation gave every delegation maximum creative freedom, allowing LED surfaces, levels and spatial zones to be reinterpreted visually for each performance, while still maintaining a coherent overall look.

Working alongside Sunrise Studios Berlin and Creative Director Marvin Dietmann, Trust Rental was responsible for the planning, delivery and operation of the event's media server infrastructure, translating ambitious creative concepts into a seamless live and broadcast experience. Designed by Rapha l Demonthy in close collaboration with Dietmann, the show's visual narrative evolved over time, following a continuous visual dramaturgy.

The Hippotizer Media Server fully integrates into the MA Lighting control environment, adds Huwig, allowing media playback, pixel mapping and masking to be programmed alongside lighting cues. Console-based control is a major advantage for us. Changes can be implemented immediately often while rehearsals are still running without re-rendering or exporting content. That flexibility is essential on productions of this scale.

The Hippotizer PixelMapper was used to drive the LED strip elements, tightly synchronizing video and lighting, while the Live Masking Tool enabled content to be rapidly adapted to complex stage geometries without time-consuming re-rendering as the show evolved.

Content for the show was supplied by a combination of individual delegations and Trust Event Engineering, which also created the opening performance, interval acts and multiple house looks. Trust Rental supported delegation designers throughout the process, providing both creative and technical guidance, advising on technical setup and workflow optimization.

Highlights for us were the opening fairytale world and the different house looks, says Huwig. They made optimal use of the stage and media surfaces and created a cohesive, immersive visual experience across the entire show.

Reflecting on the platform, Huwig concludes: The Hippotizer MX Series Media Servers represent a significant step forward. Their performance, stability and futureproofing give both operators and creative teams confidence on complex live productions. It will absolutely play a key role in our future media server projects.

Together, the tightly integrated media server platform, creative vision and international collaboration delivered a production fully aligned with Junior Eurovision's United by Music ethos leaving the sense that a small piece of magic had quietly found its happy ending.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcaster. The contest was won by France, with the song Ce monde performed by Lou Deleuze.

Green Hippo Media Servers are distributed in North America by ACT Entertainment.

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