Joined: 24th August 2004
Posts: 4,943
There does seem to have been a shift over the last couple of years towards stadia hosting the event, so I'd agree that option is probably the favourite.
I think should the UK win over the next few years the Millennium Stadium would be in with a shot of hosting it, but the only problem would be it's timing in May is bound to clash with some sort of rugby final, as I imagine the stadium would be out of action for a good month to accommodate such an event. The other obvious choice would be the O2 IMO, but I suspect the BBC would prefer it out of London to tick a few boxes.
The O2 is the obvious choice or the MEN, both hold up to around 22,000. The NIA would be too small and the Millennium stadium probably the wrong sort of venue, both in terms of setup and acoustically
Joined: 22nd October 2005
Posts: 528
Yorkshire
Look North (Yorkshire)
The big problem with the millenium stadium and probably the O2 would be booking them for over a month with no other productions or events able to be held during that time. The O2 is pretty well booked up with shows, so getting Eurovision in, with only 1 year's notice could be very tricky.
Joined: 24th August 2004
Posts: 4,943
The big problem with the millenium stadium and probably the O2 would be booking them for over a month with no other productions or events able to be held during that time. The O2 is pretty well booked up with shows, so getting Eurovision in, with only 1 year's notice could be very tricky.
It wouldn't take a month to set up and take down at the O2... it's already an arena set up for music and other performances, it would take slightly longer than any other show that is booked in there but not much.
Joined: 22nd October 2005
Posts: 528
Yorkshire
Look North (Yorkshire)
Well, it took a month to build the show in Moscow, then half a month of rehearsals, and best part of a week pack down, so if they only booked the O2 for a month it would only allow them a week and a half build - less than most big tours spend on their build up. Eurovision is on a different scale to most events at the O2 - they're built for the audience in the room - Eurovision is built for millions of people at home watching in HD (e.g. nobody bothers with LED staging in the live music industry as none of the audience would see it).
The crew out in Moscow haven't been taking their time to build the show, or faffing around struggling to get the venue to work for them because it's not set up for live music. It's taken a month to build because of the complexity of the show and the staging, and the quality of the finish required.
Joined: 24th August 2004
Posts: 4,943
The crew out in Moscow haven't been taking their time to build the show, or faffing around struggling to get the venue to work for them because it's not set up for live music. It's taken a month to build because of the complexity of the show and the staging, and the quality of the finish required.
Surely the fact that it's a sporting arena meant that it took a little longer than a purpose built entertainment venue? For a start there were several thousand seats to put up.
Lasts night's was on a huge scale, it remains to be seen whether anyone else will go that big
Joined: Before January 2003
Posts: 15,161
Granada
North West Today
The arena had been used for concerts though - didn't they say last night the French act had performed their a few months earlier?
With it taking so long to construct the set, I wonder if the event actually breaks even. Even filling it for the two semi-finals and the main event, I doubt ticket sales would cover the costs - so it's all down to the money invested from the broadcasters.
Joined: 11th January 2003
Posts: 4,924
Meanwhile, in Scotland:
http://www.snp.org/node/15304
This all despite the fact Scotland doesn't have its own national broadcaster, and as such cannot have its own membership of EBU-UER. Still, best not let logic get in the way of a bit of populist puffery, eh?!
Wales on the other hand....
STV are a member of EBU.
Joined: 11th October 2004
Posts: 752
Granada
North West Today
All the ITV regions are part of the EBU seperately too!
