"Diamond" stage for Eurovision 2014 almost complete

One of the first stage renditions presented by DR.

Copenhagen, Denmark - On Saturday in Amsterdam, Head of Show, Jan Lagermand Lundme revealed the first pictures of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest stage, which this year will resemble the shape of a diamond. Further details about the lighting and acoustics at the B&W-Hallerne have also been revealed.

The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will soon be upon us and one of the questions still being asked is how the stage and arena will look. At the weekend, Head of Show, Jan Lagermand Lundme revealed the first pictures of the stage design to budding fans and journalists at the Eurovision In Concert event in Amsterdam.
In addition to this, news about the acoustics and lighting has also been released, giving a much bigger picture of how things will look when the first artist rehearsals start on the 28th of April in Copenhagen.

The Eurovision stage to be diamond shaped!

”Diamond-shaped? No surprise, but it looks bloody exciting!”
That was the first reaction on Facebook after DR’s Head of Show, Jan Lagermand Lundme, revealed the first sneak peek of this year’s stage on Saturday.
This happened in Amsterdam, where 25 of this year’s participants came together for concert for Eurovision Song Contest fans. Here, mobile phone pictures of the stage were instantly spread on social media.
”We have tried to make it all work: the stage, the graphical expression and our slogan #JoinUs. If the first thing people say is that it resembles a diamond, then we have succeeded”, says a satisfied Head of Show.
A magical stage
The diamond shape is quite obviously in one of the pictures Jan Lagermand Lundme showed, depicting an open, angular stage bathed in blue and white lights – in spirit of the #JoinUs logo, which DR presented in the autumn. In the next picture the stage looks completely different and more closed.
”It is a good picture, showing that the stage can be both very open and more closed”, says the Head of Show.

How the stage may look during an artist performance. Photo: Twitter
”It is going to be able to do something, it will be quite magical. I can’t really say more”.
”Wow”
It isn’t just a coincidence that at a party for Eurovision fans, DR decided to show off the first pictures of the stage.
”The fans are a big part of this. Without them there would not be a Eurovision Song Contest. Unless we give them something, we cannot expect people to ’join’ us”, says Jan Lagermand Lundme, making reference to this year’s slogan.
And the reaction from the fans was exciting
”What we really want is to create a curiosity around the show in May. And they said, “wow” and applauded the stage, even though we only showed two quick pictures.
Stage rehearsals start on Thursday
At the B&W-Hallerne, the stage is nearing completion, says Lundme, who has already moved from his large office at DR Byen to a mobile hut on Refshaleøen.
”We have come very far. The Diamond is there, and now we are just missing some details”, he says.
”It will be finished on Thursday, when we will have the first technical rehearsals”.

Denmark’s biggest ever light show

In front of a small meeting room at DR’s headquarters, boxes of technical equipment are piled up. Inside strobe lighting is flashing almost hypnotically. Then, a red beam shoots round and soon the room is bathing in a blue glow.

Light designer Kasper Lange and his team are in process of programming the lighting show for next month’s Eurovision Song Contest.

”It is like a flight simulator, where we can program all the lighting in a virtual world”, he explains and points at the flat screen on the wall.

”We have drawn the decoration, hall and lighting up in 3D and we also have special visualisation program where we can turn on all the screens and lights in the hall”.

The bigger, the simpler it is

With 3,000 lights, and over 1,200 square metres of LED screens, DR’s lighting team are in the process of creating a production of enormous dimensions.

”This is by far the biggest lighting production ever in Denmark – and one of the biggest in the world. The thing that makes it so big is all the viewers. It is really a huge window. I get Goosebumps when I think about it, which I am trying not to do too often”, smiles Kasper Lange.

Precisely because everything is so big in the B&W-Hallerne, Lange looks upon his task as creating something of an individual expression.

”My theory is that the bigger the show is, the simpler this expression should be in order to make it work. There is so much information, so much going on, such varied artists on stage and it is easy to go over the top. So the trick here is to take it easy”, he believes.

”It has to be blue”

Kasper Lange has been responsible for the lighting design at TV shows such as X Factor, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix and many others. Since June, he has been on the team preparing for the Eurovision Song Contest, in close cooperation with stage designer Claus Zier and the rest of DR’s creative team.

Right now, Lange’s team are in full swing programming the lights for the 37 different songs.

”Some countries have s very specific idea for their show with the colours, pictures and graphics they want. Others just say: “It has to be blue” – and then they need to receive guidance from us”, he says.

Fun and tasteful

The biggest challenge for Kasper Lange and his team is to create variety in the performances.

”The viewers should be able to tell the difference between the 37 songs. When you see the recap at the end of each show, you need to able to differentiate clearly between them all”, he explains.

”If we manage to make the shows exciting and fun as well as tasteful, then we have delivered it. Denmark is just the host this year, so it maybe another 10-15 years before we hold Eurovision again. So this is a unique opportunity to place our mark on it”.

FACTS – Denmark’s biggest lighting production

3000 lights – of which 730 are LED-lights
Over 2000 light-cues
Over 1200 m2 of LED screens
46 people are working in the lighting production
14 spotlights, manually operated from a height of 24 metres

A new Danish invention to sort out the acoustics in the B&W-Hallerne

A huge concrete hall and good sound rarely go hand in hand. Anyone who has been at a concert in a huge sports stadium knows that.

That is why Host City Copenhagen, the company responsible for Copenhagen’s hosting of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, has hired one of Denmark’s leading sound experts and is trying out new technology to ensure that the audience and TV-viewers get the best possible sound experience in the B&W-Hallerne in May.

”The challenge is that the hall is so big, and the bigger the space, the more the sound reverberates – i.e. the amount of time it takes for the sound to die out”, explains Eddy Bøgh Brixen who is a qualified sound technician at DR and has released several teaching books about acoustics, also having worked with the sound design at many Danish venues and concert halls.

A picture depicting how the acoustics will work. Photo: Niels Werner Adelman-Larsen (Flex Acoustics)

15,000 square metres to be covered with material

When the B&W-Hallerne on Refshaleøen stand empty, it takes 13.2 second for the sound die away. This needs to be brought down to around 3 seconds, explains Eddy Bøgh Brixen.

”There is a requirement to dampen the sound reverberation at all ends of the spectrum so we are bringing several different tools into use”, he says and continues:

”We are for example working with Molton (sound absorbing black material). One single layer will not help here as it is too thin. We are going to use three to four layers, and we need to cover 15,000 square metres. As such, 60,000 square metres of Molton is required!”

Plastic balloons to prevent bass “rattle”

A completely new Danish invention will also be used – the so-called AqFlex. It is a type of balloon made of plastic that can absorb the bass sound.

”My invention is directed towards the deep sounds and medium frequencies”, explains Niels Werner Adelman-Larsen, who has developed the “balloons”, which are being especially manufactured in Germany for the Eurovision Song Contest.

”The base increases to very high levels for pop music. If we do not overcome the tendency for the hall to trap the bass sound, then a single note can reverberate for a long time. Then the general sound will become muddied and boom”.

Better than Parken

The last time Copenhagen hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001, a large number of the audience at the Parken stadium experienced a low sound quality. This year, DR and the host city are taking a very different approach.

”It will be better than Parken, I can guarantee! This, despite B&W-Hallerne having worse acoustics”, says Eddy Bøgh Brixen.

”Unless the 10,000 members of the audience are having a party, then there is nothing to transmit on TV, and the artists performances are dependent on the audience. It is all connected, and it should all work. So, for the sake of everyone, it is important that the acoustics are good”.

The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will take place on the 6th, 8th and 10th of May in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Denmark’s biggest ever light show

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What do you think of the plans for the stage, lighting and acoustics?

Designing the Eurovision waiting room

John Zoffman.

 

Copenhagen, Denmark - How do you furnish a cosy living area – when there are 68 metres between the floor and the ceiling? And when one also finds themelves in an old, rusty shipyard?

That is one of designer John Zoffmann’s tasks for the Eurovision Song Contest. He has just finished furnishing the so-called Green Room inside the hall of the B&W-Hallerne, where the stars of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will sit during the show, while they await the results.
“We aren’t going down the sequin route. We have chosen top modern Danish design, which is simple, and aesthetic, and something that many of us could envisage having at home in the living room. But at the same time, it will have a touch of party and colour, which the Eurovision Song Contest stands for”, explains John Zoffmann.

From Paradise Hotel to B&W-Hallerne

For the Eurovision Song Contest he has been employed as “Service Provider Manager”. And here, it is one of his tasks to furnish the Green Room.
“I am trying to create some context, so that whatever the viewers experience on stage, is also reflected in the Green Room and in the Press Centre”, explains Zoffmann.

No classics, thank you

The viewers should not expect to see the Swan, Egg or other Danish furniture classics in the Green Room during the live shows in May.
“We considered using some of the known Danish classics, but quickly decided against that idea, as we want to avoid being completely predictable. So there will not be any “Danish modern” at Eurovision this year, but much more “New Danish look”. However, despite this some items by Nanna Ditzel have sneaked into the design because they are just so fabulous”, says the designer, with a reverent look on his face.
“We are trying to represent Denmark in the best possible way during the show – and that also applies to furniture and lamps”, he explains.

Fake-tan proof material

Fitting out a TV studio is a completely different kettle of fish to kitting out a living room – even though the perceived atmosphere should be the same.
“The chairs and sofas should, for example, both be able to go with a small girl in a short dress, and a large fat man. They should not be able to be spun around as the artists may get nervous during the voting. And the covers should be able to be removed in case a lamp falls onto a chair of if the participant’s fake tan comes off on it”, he says with a sparkle in his eye.
“There are many considerations – One can’t just pick and choose!”

How would you furnish your ideal Green Room?

Eurovision stage begins construction at the B&W-Hallerne

Construction of the stage has now started.

Copenhagen, Denmark - With less than three months until showtime, the stage for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest has begun to take shape in Copenhagen.

At the moment, the stage’s rear wall is being moved from a workshop on Refshaleøen and into the B&W-Hallerne, where the three live shows will take place in May.
”The rear wall cosists of a skeleton of boxes in aluminium and iron. It is these that we are now moving into the venue. I will make sure that we will make good progress when building the stage”, explains Søren Andresen, who is DR’s technical project manager for the Eurovision Song Contest.
”The next thing we are going to start on, is lighting and sound”.

Since August Søren Andresen has been very busy planning DR’s move to the historical industrical complex, where until 1996, Burmeister and Wain built their ships, and where the world’s biggest music competition will soon take place.
”I am the first persomnm to arrive at the venue, and the last one to leave”, says Andresen, who with his assistant, will exchange his desk at DR’s headquarters for a mobile cabin on Refshaleøen at the beginning of March.
”The biggest challenge is to get it all to come together, right up until the rehearsals start in the middle of April. We are going to work on a double shift basis in order to achieve it”, he says.
Andresen previously had technical responsibility for tv-shows like Dansk Melodi Grand Prix and the X-Factor finals.
”But the Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest! Everything is doubled up!”, he says.
”My work is first over on the 18th of May – one week after the Grand Final. By then we have to be out of the arena again”.

The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will take place on the 6th, 8th and 10th of May in Copenhagen, Denmark, following Emmelie de Forest’s victory in Malmö last year.
Stay tuned to Eurovision.tv for more news about the progress of the arena.

What do you think the stage will look like?

DR to move into B&W-Hallerne in March

B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen. Photo: Jan Jørgensen (Scanpix)

 

Copenhagen, Denmark - After half a year of preparations, DR’s production team will, in March, move into the historical shipyard on Refshaleøen in Copenhagen where the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place in May.

The halls have been cleared of the last containers. The mighty pillars that connect the two halls will soon be gone. The gigantic ceiling has been strengthened and the gates will soon be removed and replaced by new doors.
After half a year of thorough preparation, the old B&W shipyard on Refshaleøen is almost ready for DR to move in and rig up for the Eurovision Song Contest in May.
”A lot will be happening during the next month, but the big milestone is, of course, when the first section of DR’s production team physically moves into the B&W-Hallerne in March, and then it will be full speed ahead”, explains the Head of Relations for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, Søren Therkelsen, who in responsible for the partnership between DR and the City of Copenhagen.

Gradually coming together

It is the project company ”Host City Copenhagen”, made up of the City of Copenhagen, the Capital City Region, Wonderful Copenhagen and Refshaleøen's Property Company that are responsible for getting the impressive B&W-Hallerne ready, whilst DR is reponsible for producing the TV shows.
”We have been wokring on the Eurovision 2014 project for over half a year and that means that we are now seriously moving from the planning phase to the implementation phase, where everything is becoming more concrete”, says Søren Therkelsen.

Space for 10,000 spectators and 2,000 press

Inside the halls, grandstands will now be constructed for the 10,000 members of the audience who will see the three TV shows and six dress rehearsals. The modules, which make up the stage will be constructed and sound and light rigging will be installed.
Outside on Refshaleøen, a huge production area will be erected with broadcasting trucks, tents and portable cabins for the production. Dressing and make up rooms will be built, along with a canteen and accreditiaton centre as well as the press centre with space for 1,500-2,000 reporters from all over the world.
”In the coming months, the actual room, lighting, stage and audience stands, green room and a lot more will come into place, and you will be able to see it all unfold”, says the head of relations.
The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will take place on the 6th, 8th and 10th of May.