The City of Stockholm and SVT have officially kicked off the countdown to the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest by launching the Countdown Magic Flower in the 2016 Eurovision host city Stockholm.

The Countdown Magic Flower is located in downtown Stockholm, at Norrmalmstorg very near the Eurovision village venue, the Kungsträdgården.

The Mayor of Stockholm, Ms Karin Wanngård has officially inaugurated a three-dimensional sculpture of the symbol for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest 2016 at Norrmalmstorg Square in Stockholm today. The sculpture will be counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the 14 May  21:00 CET when the Grand Final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest kicks off.  The Mayor of Stockholm is very pleased and comments:

Music engages, connects and unites across all borders – national, linguistic and cultural. We are proud to be the host city for the 2016 competition and we would like to give Europe a warm welcome to Stockholm. Eurovision will be visible in the entire city, and an event characterized by openness, tolerance and equality of all people. We welcome you to follow the countdown to May 14th at 21:00, when the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in the Globe Arena. After the event, the Flower will be placed in the Globe Arena district as a memory.

The sculpture is a three-dimensional version of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest symbol. The symbol is created by INGO on behalf of SVT (the Swedish public service broadcaster) and EBU (The European Broadcasting Union).

Facts about the Countdown Magic Flower

The sphere of the Magic Flower measures a total of four meters in diameter and consists of 190 flower seeds. The Flower is also a dynamic and energy-saving light installation, has a subtle fragrance and plays music streamed from the Stockholm-based streaming service Spotify. The flower stands on a three meter high podium with an integrated countdown clock.

• The Magic Flower is a total of 8.5 meters high, of which the actual flower is 4×4 meters. It stands on a 3 meter high podium.
• The fragrance from the Magic Flower comes from a system that follows IFRA:s, ie the International Fragrance Association, criteria for the production, handling and use of scents.
• The fragrance is supplied by representing Uniscent ScentAir in Sweden.
• The flower plays selected music, via a collaboration with the Stockholm-based company Spotify.
• The flower was drawn by MK Illumination and manufactured in Slovakia.
• The sculpture is made of lacquered aluminum, frosted plastic cable ties and LED lighting.
• The sculpture consists of 190 aviators.
• Each aviator consists of 110 ties.
• 84 square meters of metal used to make the flower.
• There are 7280 points of light on the magical flower.

The Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm next May is gearing up to be both very exciting and promising, with lots of surprises in store for you! Both the Swedish national broadcaster and the City of Stockholm are working round the clock in order to showcase an extraordinary event come May.

The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 10, 12 and 14 May at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.