Today the host broadcaster ORF has announced two further additions to the Eurovision 2015 team: Andi Knoll who has been commentating the shows for ORF since 1999 and the Austrian spokesperson since 2011, Kati Bellowitsch. Here’s an overview of what they’ll be involved in until May:
26 January: Insignia ceremony & Allocation draw
At 12:00 CET, a delegation from last year’s host city Copenhagen will symbolically hand over a key ring to the Viennese mayor Michael Häupl in order to officially kick off Vienna’s Eurovision year. Afterwards, at 13:25 CET, things will get exciting for ESC fans: On the premises of the town hall it will be determined which country will perform in which semi final – as well as their allocation to the first or second half of the semi final. Just like in the previous two years, the exact position of the countries within those halves will be determined by the producers of the show. Both the insignia ceremony and the allocation draw will be presented by Andi Knoll and Kati Bellowitsch – the draw will be broadcast live on ORF and eurovision.tv.
Press conferences
About 1700 journalists will be accredited for the event in Vienna. The 39 participating acts will have the chance to present themselves in two press conferences each. In total, there will be about 80 press conferences – Kati Bellowitsch will host half of them. The second press conference host hasn’t been revealed.
17 May: Opening Ceremony
Traditionally, the official opening ceremony takes place on Sunday before the ESC week in the host city’s town hall. Knoll and Bellowitsch will host the opening programme of the event together and interview the participants as they stride on the red carpet.
18-23 May: ESC Live
ESC Live will be broadcast daily at 20:15 CET live on ORF. Andi Knoll will host the shows from a glass studio inside of the Eurovision venue. There will be ESC-related reports, studio guests and a lot of background information about the event. Kati Bellowitsch will join ESC Live as outdoor host. She will report from interesting sites such as the Euroclub or the Eurovillage
Commentary
Despite his strong involvement in everything that surrounds Eurovision this year, Andi Knoll will still be the ORF commentator for all three live shows. He has been the Austrian commentator since 1999 with the exception of 2009 and 2010.
Voting results
Since their comeback in 2011, Kati Bellowitsch has been announcing the Austrian points during the Eurovision finals. She has been selected as spokesperson for 2015 as well. Whether she will put on her knitted beard again remains to be seen.
Source: APA • Picture courtesy: ORF
