4 ms·

The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

59 points by dabinat 1y ago

jgrahamc 1y ago
I saw this in Malmo in 2013 and it was pretty incredible how fast the set changes were done. The other thing you don't see is just how close the cameras are to the performers.
robertlagrant 1y ago
Honestly this sounds way more interesting than Eurovision itself.
- j4coh 1y ago
  Reddit style drive by snark doesn’t work as well here imho.
  - anthonymoose 1y ago
    [flagged]
  - robertlagrant 1y ago
    > Reddit style drive by snark doesn’t work as well here imho. Isn't this the only snark and drive-by comment around? I think it's more interesting, just as I think a pit stop change is more interesting in F1 than most of the race itself.
- Den_VR 1y ago
  I’ve been a fan for almost 18 years, ever since some euro friends were talking about the voting system on IRC. Love the intersection between culture and geopolitics.
  - isoprophlex 1y ago
    What politics? Saying or doing anything political gets you mad shade thrown your way, a lot of bad press, up to expulsion. I get that the big scrutiny against overt politics is something political in itself, but... To me the strictness towards the presiding mainstream opinion, the forced harmony, makes it less interesting.
    - mrtksn 1y ago
      It's not what they say on the stage but how voters from different countries behave. UK: 0 points total Cyprus: 12 points from Greece Azerbaijan: 12 points from Turkey San Marino singer: A Turkish guy sings in English Armenia: the song is in English instead of Armenian It gives you a clue on what's going on in every country. How nationalistic they feel this year, are they fixing their issues with their arch enemies, are they opening up to different cultures, do they feel part of the community, is everybody still annoyed by the Brits and did they took the event seriously enough to send a good song etc.
      - Steve16384 1y ago
        <spoilers>!
      - cjrp 1y ago
        The separate public and jury votes does now help with that, a bit.
    - Freak_NL 1y ago
      And yet the event is full of politics. From the voting cliques and countries favouring specific allies, to lyrics with hidden (or not so hidden¹) messages, it's everywhere. A lot of it is on a meta level though, leading to an event which taken at face value seems devoid of politics. 1: Georgia's entry in 2009 was called “We Don't Wanna Put In”…
    - mytailorisrich 1y ago
      No politics but Russia is banned... I think that it is rather as you suggest in your last sentence: There is strict "correctness" enforced, which is how things work in the EU in general.
  - RajT88 1y ago
    I have religiously watched Eurovision after seeing Lordi open up for Type O Negative in 2008. To Europeans it is normal and old hat, but to an American like me it is almost too weird to be real!
- Keyframe 1y ago
  always has been. Eurovision almost each and every year had two streams of interest - contest itself and the technology and logistics behind it. I vividly remember the whole 1996 big talk around virtual stage tech by Silicon Graphics https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_268-hughes.pdf https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_268-hughes.pdf Their brand was even prominently displayed and mentioned before and during the live event. https://youtu.be/mmxNAU0_b0U?t=7954 https://youtu.be/mmxNAU0_b0U?t=7954
gbalduzzi 1y ago
I know this is not the right place for this but english is not my first language. How is "have" the correct verb here? Shouldn't it be "has"? Like, the crew is the subject, and it has 35 seconds. I'm trying to understand what I'm missing here, because I'm sure BBC did not make a mistake
- CoastalCoder 1y ago
  Even native English speakers disagree on this.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- BlindEyeHalo 1y ago
  This might help: https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/are-words-like-band-and-jury-singular-or-plural https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/are-words-... In short: When you’re referring to the collective noun as a unit, treat it as singular: The band lost its spot in the top ten this week. When you’re referring to the individuals within the group, treat it as plural: The jury had to sign for their ID badges.
  - gbalduzzi 1y ago
    In Italian we don't have this distinction, when we use a collective noun we always treat it as singular (unless there are multiple collection, like multiple crews). Thank you for the explanation
  - mon_ 1y ago
    Doesn't your advice contradict the BBC's phrasing? Collectively, the band lost its spot in the top ten. And, collectively, the crew has 35 seconds to prepare the stage for the next performer.
    - rsynnott 1y ago
jon-wood 1y ago
I'd really love an alternative broadcast which shows the set changes rather than the postcards, I'm sure the people making the postcards are very good at what they do but they're almost designed to be as bland as possible, I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set.
- elaus 1y ago
  I would absolutely watch a full-length behind the scenes version of Eurovision. The technicial aspect is a huge part of my fascination.
  - pxeger1 1y ago
    Fernand's Live Show Show has a great behind-the-scenes minidocunentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_7uPzs188 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_7uPzs188
- KineticLensman 1y ago
  > I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set Not quite the same, but I witnessed a performance of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds where there was a complete failure of the stage systems about 15 minutes before the end. All the audio-visuals died and the mics cut off, screens died, animatronics went still, complete silence on the stage and only ambient light. For about 10-15 seconds there was stunned silence on the stage and then one of the drummers in the orchestra started drumming his part again. A couple of the other musicians joined and quickly there was music. From our seat we could see the stage's equivalent of mission control - three people who'd been quietly sipping their coffee while the playlists unfolded. They went into overdrive like movie hackers trying to enter some system before the corporation goons reached them. They quickly got the audio side back and then worked on the lights and screens. They left the giant Martian war tripod to last but even that was moving within a few minutes. It was one of the most impressive system recoveries I've seen.
  - tetris11 1y ago
    The chances of something like that happening must have been a million-to-one, and yet still they played on
hansc 1y ago
Same with tradeshows: I have many times been on tradeshows on buildup days. It is a huge mess, full of crates and packaging. Next day, everything is glorious and neat. Just for 3-4 days of 'show'
Freak_NL 1y ago
[flagged]
- em500 1y ago
  Sanctions on Russia and not on Israel is EU policy. The EBU is likely content to leave this call to actual politicians (European Commission/Parliament), rather than taking a dissonant stance.
  - Deukhoofd 1y ago
    The EU and the EBU don't have much to do with each other. The ban on Russia was mostly due to several broadcasts threatening they would pull out if the EBU didn't. For Israel the topic was seen as more divisive, and broadcasts didn't boycott it, though some spoke out against Israel's participation.
- mytailorisrich 1y ago
  It is quite interesting that tensions should run high at all because of Israel since this is an European-centric show (don't ask why Australia is there)... Perhaps an illustration of Europe's "changing" demographics...
- bjourne 1y ago
  > Extra challenging this year with tensions running rather high because of Israel's participation. If they can manage to pull this year off without any significant disruption, then the overall security and orchestration really are top-notch. On one hand, dozens of activists attempting to interrupt the show, red, black, and green flags in the crows (unless they were confiscated by security), and loud booing when a certain country receives points. Demonstrations outside against that country's participation. On the other hand, none of that. Muted microphones to prevent booing, pixelated crowd shots, and cameramen with strict orders to "pan the other way". Only Swiss people interviewed are happy because "music contents bring all people together!" It's like two alternative realities, one which is televised and the other which isn't.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
samus 1y ago
> stroopwafels Confirmed, that helps a lot to deal with stress!
diarmuidie 1y ago
Eurovision post videos of the technical blunders that happen during the live shows (some related to set changes) with side-by-side comparisons of what should have happened. An interesting watch! https://youtu.be/KeVaE8ldqfE https://youtu.be/KeVaE8ldqfE
impure 1y ago
Oh, so that's real sand. I thought that was camera trickery. No way someone would be crazy enough to dump real sand on a stage while someone's performing live.
_vere 1y ago
Maybe they should have prevented the blunder of a genocidal nation using their show to launder their image, but what do I know

59 points by dabinat 1y ago

I saw this in Malmo in 2013 and it was pretty incredible how fast the set changes were done. The other thing you don't see is just how close the cameras are to the performers.

robertlagrant 1y ago

Honestly this sounds way more interesting than Eurovision itself.

j4coh 1y ago
Reddit style drive by snark doesn’t work as well here imho.
- anthonymoose 1y ago
  [flagged]
- robertlagrant 1y ago
  > Reddit style drive by snark doesn’t work as well here imho. Isn't this the only snark and drive-by comment around? I think it's more interesting, just as I think a pit stop change is more interesting in F1 than most of the race itself.
Den_VR 1y ago
I’ve been a fan for almost 18 years, ever since some euro friends were talking about the voting system on IRC. Love the intersection between culture and geopolitics.
- isoprophlex 1y ago
  What politics? Saying or doing anything political gets you mad shade thrown your way, a lot of bad press, up to expulsion. I get that the big scrutiny against overt politics is something political in itself, but... To me the strictness towards the presiding mainstream opinion, the forced harmony, makes it less interesting.
  - mrtksn 1y ago
    It's not what they say on the stage but how voters from different countries behave. UK: 0 points total Cyprus: 12 points from Greece Azerbaijan: 12 points from Turkey San Marino singer: A Turkish guy sings in English Armenia: the song is in English instead of Armenian It gives you a clue on what's going on in every country. How nationalistic they feel this year, are they fixing their issues with their arch enemies, are they opening up to different cultures, do they feel part of the community, is everybody still annoyed by the Brits and did they took the event seriously enough to send a good song etc.
    - Steve16384 1y ago
      <spoilers>!
    - cjrp 1y ago
      The separate public and jury votes does now help with that, a bit.
  - Freak_NL 1y ago
    And yet the event is full of politics. From the voting cliques and countries favouring specific allies, to lyrics with hidden (or not so hidden¹) messages, it's everywhere. A lot of it is on a meta level though, leading to an event which taken at face value seems devoid of politics. 1: Georgia's entry in 2009 was called “We Don't Wanna Put In”…
  - mytailorisrich 1y ago
    No politics but Russia is banned... I think that it is rather as you suggest in your last sentence: There is strict "correctness" enforced, which is how things work in the EU in general.
- RajT88 1y ago
  I have religiously watched Eurovision after seeing Lordi open up for Type O Negative in 2008. To Europeans it is normal and old hat, but to an American like me it is almost too weird to be real!
Keyframe 1y ago
always has been. Eurovision almost each and every year had two streams of interest - contest itself and the technology and logistics behind it. I vividly remember the whole 1996 big talk around virtual stage tech by Silicon Graphics https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_268-hughes.pdf https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_268-hughes.pdf Their brand was even prominently displayed and mentioned before and during the live event. https://youtu.be/mmxNAU0_b0U?t=7954 https://youtu.be/mmxNAU0_b0U?t=7954

gbalduzzi 1y ago

I know this is not the right place for this but english is not my first language. How is "have" the correct verb here? Shouldn't it be "has"? Like, the crew is the subject, and it has 35 seconds. I'm trying to understand what I'm missing here, because I'm sure BBC did not make a mistake

CoastalCoder 1y ago
Even native English speakers disagree on this.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
BlindEyeHalo 1y ago
This might help: https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/are-words-like-band-and-jury-singular-or-plural https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/are-words-... In short: When you’re referring to the collective noun as a unit, treat it as singular: The band lost its spot in the top ten this week. When you’re referring to the individuals within the group, treat it as plural: The jury had to sign for their ID badges.
- gbalduzzi 1y ago
  In Italian we don't have this distinction, when we use a collective noun we always treat it as singular (unless there are multiple collection, like multiple crews). Thank you for the explanation
- mon_ 1y ago
  Doesn't your advice contradict the BBC's phrasing? Collectively, the band lost its spot in the top ten. And, collectively, the crew has 35 seconds to prepare the stage for the next performer.
  - rsynnott 1y ago

jon-wood 1y ago

I'd really love an alternative broadcast which shows the set changes rather than the postcards, I'm sure the people making the postcards are very good at what they do but they're almost designed to be as bland as possible, I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set.

elaus 1y ago
I would absolutely watch a full-length behind the scenes version of Eurovision. The technicial aspect is a huge part of my fascination.
- pxeger1 1y ago
  Fernand's Live Show Show has a great behind-the-scenes minidocunentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_7uPzs188 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_7uPzs188
KineticLensman 1y ago
> I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set Not quite the same, but I witnessed a performance of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds where there was a complete failure of the stage systems about 15 minutes before the end. All the audio-visuals died and the mics cut off, screens died, animatronics went still, complete silence on the stage and only ambient light. For about 10-15 seconds there was stunned silence on the stage and then one of the drummers in the orchestra started drumming his part again. A couple of the other musicians joined and quickly there was music. From our seat we could see the stage's equivalent of mission control - three people who'd been quietly sipping their coffee while the playlists unfolded. They went into overdrive like movie hackers trying to enter some system before the corporation goons reached them. They quickly got the audio side back and then worked on the lights and screens. They left the giant Martian war tripod to last but even that was moving within a few minutes. It was one of the most impressive system recoveries I've seen.
- tetris11 1y ago
  The chances of something like that happening must have been a million-to-one, and yet still they played on

hansc 1y ago

Same with tradeshows: I have many times been on tradeshows on buildup days. It is a huge mess, full of crates and packaging. Next day, everything is glorious and neat. Just for 3-4 days of 'show'

Freak_NL 1y ago

[flagged]

em500 1y ago
Sanctions on Russia and not on Israel is EU policy. The EBU is likely content to leave this call to actual politicians (European Commission/Parliament), rather than taking a dissonant stance.
- Deukhoofd 1y ago
  The EU and the EBU don't have much to do with each other. The ban on Russia was mostly due to several broadcasts threatening they would pull out if the EBU didn't. For Israel the topic was seen as more divisive, and broadcasts didn't boycott it, though some spoke out against Israel's participation.
mytailorisrich 1y ago
It is quite interesting that tensions should run high at all because of Israel since this is an European-centric show (don't ask why Australia is there)... Perhaps an illustration of Europe's "changing" demographics...
bjourne 1y ago
> Extra challenging this year with tensions running rather high because of Israel's participation. If they can manage to pull this year off without any significant disruption, then the overall security and orchestration really are top-notch. On one hand, dozens of activists attempting to interrupt the show, red, black, and green flags in the crows (unless they were confiscated by security), and loud booing when a certain country receives points. Demonstrations outside against that country's participation. On the other hand, none of that. Muted microphones to prevent booing, pixelated crowd shots, and cameramen with strict orders to "pan the other way". Only Swiss people interviewed are happy because "music contents bring all people together!" It's like two alternative realities, one which is televised and the other which isn't.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

samus 1y ago

> stroopwafels Confirmed, that helps a lot to deal with stress!

diarmuidie 1y ago

Eurovision post videos of the technical blunders that happen during the live shows (some related to set changes) with side-by-side comparisons of what should have happened. An interesting watch! https://youtu.be/KeVaE8ldqfE https://youtu.be/KeVaE8ldqfE

impure 1y ago

Oh, so that's real sand. I thought that was camera trickery. No way someone would be crazy enough to dump real sand on a stage while someone's performing live.

_vere 1y ago

Maybe they should have prevented the blunder of a genocidal nation using their show to launder their image, but what do I know