What is Eurovision Song Contest?

If you're European, then you need no introduction to the Eurovision Song Contest. Otherwise, you may be unfamiliar with the spectacle that dominates the hearts and minds of 250 million Europeans every year, and has been for 60 years. I could make an attempt to explain it, but words would do it no justice. Instead, check out this video where the hosts sing and dance the best explanation of the phenomenon that one could hope for. The answer to the question "What is Eurovision Song Contest?" starts at 06:15 - Click here. Go ahead and watch it. I'll wait...

Okay, now that you have a better understanding of the show, let's talk about the technology and the art.

Yesterday I had a great conversation with Fredrik Jönsson, the lighting designer of ESC. He said he received an AutoCAD drawing of the set from the set designer, imported it into WYSIWYG, simplified it, and designed the lighting around the set. He was thrilled that the drawing he received was super accurate because, for the first time in the history of the show, someone went into the Globen Arena, where the 2016 event is being held, and scanned the venue with a laser to get precise measurements.

The set, he said, was very angular and geometric, with sharp corners. He wanted a simple design with straight lines to make a bold statement. At the same time, he wanted it to be big, like the early heavy metal bands he idolized.

"It was time to incorporate a big-ass lighting rig," he said.

The Globen Arena, he said, is the world's largest spherical arena. It's 80 meters high (about 260 feet) and it's 36 meters to the catwalk (about 120 feet). He said he always wanted to illuminate the globe above the catwalk but he never had a show with the budget...until now. And when he lights it up, it's impressive!

The bulk of the design work, he said, came during a grueling tour he was working on, and it was challenging to meet the deadlines.

"It's not supposed to be easy," he said. And when you see the scope of the work, you can almost feel the heavy burden of hours and hours that must have gone into it.

Once he had a 3D model of the lighting rig, it was then built in MA Lighting 3D software for pre-visualization. Three programmers spent four weeks in the studio, preprogramming the show, and then they spent five weeks in the arena tweaking it.

Each song was cued based on a description sent to Fredrik by the artist. Some of the descriptions were very vague, he said, and others were very detailed. In the end, they had 36 pages of detailed information about the cues.

The entire show is run on time-code with the exception of a small manual desk that Fredrik uses to cue the ring lights on the cameras and the followspots. When you see the show, you understand why it's run on time-code. The action is so fast and furious that no ordinary mortal could possibly cue it in real time. There are lots of cameras, some on Cyberhoists, some on telescoping cranes, some on pedestals, one on motorized dollies, some handheld, and one spider cam. I've never seen a camera crane being swung around so fast in my life. Two people are working it on the floor, and three more in the truck. Even the camera switching is automated, as are the set pieces. The show is choreographed within an inch of its life. And it's all to great effect.

There are 1500 lights in the rig, 1000 of which are automated, and about 80% of those are Clay Paky Sharpy's, Sharpy Wash, Mythos, and Scenios.

"Each act," he said, "has to hand in a document called 'Look and Feel.' It explains what kind of production they like, what kind of atmosphere they want to create and even if there are some colors they don't want to use. Most of the acts also give you 'Mood Boards.' That could be a piece of paper with a photo on it or it could be 36 pages of detailed information on the lighting, video playback and camera angles that they want. We try to take in all that information and see what we can do with it – and of course make them as happy as we can."

Fredrik talked about the TourPro Aquabeams. He said he went to LDI in 2015, and when he walked in, the first thing that caught his attention were the bright, narrow beams shooting across the hall. He followed them to the TourPro booth and learned about the Aquabeams. He said he thinks they will be very popular, especially with festivals because they are IP rated. "I absolutely love them," he said.

He also gave props to Anders Wallertz, who calls the followspots. Anders is old school, having toured with many of the heavy metal bands who inspired Fredrik. He said he is "so happy" with Anders' work because it is "full throttle." "He saves my ass a lot," he said.

Fredrik talked about his choice of color temperature, which is almost tungsten but slightly higher. He said it's a compromise so that he doesn't lose the saturation of the reds and yellows and at the same time, it helps make the pinks and purples pop.

Fredrik talked a lot about his programmers and his assistant, Emma Landare, and for good reason. They are working with over 3000 cues on 13 lighting consoles, grandMA Lites. There are four active plus four backups for the programmers, one active and one backup for followspots (controlling color), one active and one backup for video (controlling media servers), and one portable for programming around the venue.

Tonight is the final show and I'm looking forward to being in the house.