The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 is over and we obviously have a winner. Now it’s time to look back and reflect on what went down and how you liked the contest.
One of the first things that comes to mind is the hosting. SVT, the Swedish Broadcaster in charge of hosting the 2013 contest, made a lot of changes to the contest and for the most part received support from the EBU.
Some of those changes include:
– Pre-determined Running order decided internally by the producers and approved by Jon Ola Sand, the EBU Executive Supervisor
– Small venue, 11.000 tickets only
– Standing room only for the fans
– Shortening the rehearsal schedule
– No access to the first round of rehearsals
In addition, there were some other changes done that effected the overall flow of the show including:
– less time given to nnounce the Semi Final Qualifiers
– less time given for the Final Voting
– The winner was announced when they mathematically could not be beaten, in previous years it was not announced until the end of the voting
Some other changes such as allowing pre-recorded backing vocals were not approved.
SVT was criticized by several members of the press for what was described as chaotic and insufficient preparation including Internet issues and no PC/aptop availability as in previous years. The press center was also not open for the first four days forcing fans and members to work from the Euro Club which was a 20 minute bus ride north of the Malmo Arena.
On the other hand, SVT received also praise by people for bringing back Eurovision back to basics and focus on what’s important. In addition, their intent was to provide a quality show and give every song and artist the chance to shine.
While SVT supporters have been happy with the changes as to them in the end only the final product matters, a lot of fans have not been too impressed with SVT.
But now that the contest is over we would like to know from you: Looking back, how do you think Sweden & SVT has handled their hosting duties? Did people overreact and just hesitant towards changes or was there more to it?
We would like to hear from you so please vote in the poll below and share your thoughts below. You can also join our every growing community on our Forum HERE and share your thoughts.
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Hasso G
May 21, 2013 at 20:59
Hey SVT, this is not Melodifestivalen. The running order fiasco was just the icing on the cake. Hopefully we won’t have to go back to Sweden for the next 20 years.
Zack
May 21, 2013 at 18:59
I say a definite win for the fans there. They got a lot of access to meet the artists. I think the artists were exhausted with all the exposure, but they were good sports about it. So kudos to them!
Yes, some issues for the press, but all bearable in retrospect. Despite the wifi and computer issues, we did the best job we could and we made the most of it. A lot of it was just bearing with the learning curve.
For example, the press did complain about the first rehearsal restrictions. But SVT probably wanted to give the delegations privacy to sort things out on a new stage, and not have the press slam delegations that needed more time to get things right. We had a good view from the EuroClub viewing room. Not only that, we saw how it looked live in the arena and how it would look (and sound) on TV.
When it comes down to it, the fans are what mattered the most. They’re the ones buying the tickets and bringing in money (alongside the participating countries). The press are there simply to provide the fans with more access to what mattered to them.
As for the pigeonholes, I just didn’t get the importance of the promo CDs and the promo materials. The whole mobbing the delegations for free stuff came off a bit unprofessional I thought. Some of the harder-to-get CDs I got simply by being polite, through friendly chatter with the delegations (Macedonia and Italy). Manners can go quite the long way.
But in the end, the fans are what mattered, and I was happy to see the press understanding that. With that mindset, I gave everything that I got from the delegations back to the fans at Europhoria and OGAE Rest of the World.
Is there room for improvement? Yes, there always is. The producer-driven running order for one thing. We have to ask is Eurovision an objective music contest, or an entertainment show? SVT’s influence on the running order pushed it more towards the latter I think. But meh, in a few months, most of us will move on towards counting down the weeks until Denmark in 2014!
Roy van der Merwe
May 21, 2013 at 15:56
Some changes were great – especially the 1000 F2 passes. The worst was the fact the press center – one day it opened 3 pm – never before it had opened that late.
They should have said there would be no FIXED computers and all press have to bring their own laptops or something.
The worst for me was the numbering of the pigeonholes – never before the pigeonholes were not numbered from 1 to say 2000. This year there were like 40 number 1’s – one for erach of the 39 partiicpating countries and one for INTERNATIONAL. It created chaos, some benefitted, Morten for example got a host of CD’s 2 hours after he cleared his pigeonhole first and some worker must have cleared the same number but for another country.
I know of two CD’s I lost due to the felegation not writing it was for my pigeonhole at INTERNATIONAL and probably ended in SPAIN or SWEDEN person with the same pigeohole number.Having a lower pigeon hole number meant at least there was no such number for the smaller countries like Latvia, Estonia, Lithania, but peopler having pigeonhole one had to compete with 39 other people with the same number