NTU, the national Ukrainian broadcaster is proud and honoured to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv next May after Jamala’s glorious triump in Stockholm last year. The 2017 ESC host broadcaster has confirmed the CORE TEAM for Eurovision 2017 and has shed more light on the ongoing preparations for the forthcoming contest. Let’s check out the Road to Eurovision 2017!

NTU has been working round the clock ever since Ukraine was proclaimed the winner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest last June in Sweden. The Ukrainian broadcaster has been working very hard and earnestly in order to showcase an extraordinary show and event come May.

The road to Kyiv 2017 hasn’t been an easy one but NTU and the City of Kyiv have both joined forces and are working together from strength to strength to bring about an excellent high level contest next spring.

The Road to Eurovision 2017.. the story so far….

On 1 June 2016 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the composition of the Organizing Committee in order to  prepare and hold the 2017 Eurovision, led by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mr. Vladimir Groisman.

Hereafter on June 24 2016 after the initial kick off meeting with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the city began the selection of the 2017 Eurovision host city. It lasted a little over two months and consisted of four stages:

• The submission for Ukrainian cities to apply and bid to host the contest by their respective admistrations.
  
• The preliminary analysis of the applicant cities by NTU’s working group
• The official presentation of the potential candidate cities and their respective bids at the meeting with the Organizing Committee and the election of the finalist potential host cities. ( Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv, Kherson)
  
• The inspection of  the 3 finalist cities (Dnipro, Kyiv and Odessa) by EBU representatives and the Organizing Committee.

In addition the NTU 1 viewers got the chance to to see live the presentation of the 6 bidding cities vying to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest as part of the special project Battle of the City.

This resulted in Kyiv being selected as the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest host city along with the International Exhibition Centre as the official venue of the contest.

The contest will be funded by several  different several sources: 455.7 million Hryvnias have been allocated from the State Budget in order to prepare and host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, whilst the host city Kyiv will be contributing 200 million.

We must also add the revenues and income from sponsors, advertising and ticket sales. The budget provided to host the 2017 ESC in Ukraine is enough to hold the event on a high leve.

At a meeting on October 11 2016 the government of Ukraine approved a plan of measures for the preparation and hosting of Eurovision 2017 in Ukraine. The document provides the development of the necessary security measures, the inspection of the technical state of construction of the 2017 Eurovision venue,  the improvement of the infrastructure around the ESC venue, the funding of the  additional locations and official television communications required for Eurovision.

In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has taken the decision to ensure appropriate conditions for the preparation and implementation of Eurovision 2017 in Kyiv. This decree gives the possibility to avoid applying cost limits to purchase the equipment necessary for the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest. Due to another decision of the Government, the Host Broadcaster of Eurovision 2017 got the opportunity to make prepayment for goods and services in relation to Eurovision.

Furthermore the President of Ukraine signed the law on amending the final and transitional provisions of Section IX of the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurements” with regard to the procurement of goods, works and services required to ensure the preparation and implementation of the Eurovision Song Contest. These amendments give the Host Broadcaster the possibility to hold the tenders necessary to organize the event under the simplified procedure. In its turn, the Government approved the specific limited list of such goods, works and services.

The team of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was formed simultaneously with addressing the above organizational matters. At the moment,it consists of 20 NTU staff members and 18 additionally involved experts. Nevertheless, in 2017 the number of people to deal with the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine will increase.

The basic commands of Eurovision-2017 include:

THE CORE TEAM

• Executive Producer- Ms.Victoria Romanova (NTU Deputy General Director)
  
•  Executive producer- Mr Oleksandr Kharebin (NTU First Deputy General Director)
  
•  Member of the 2017 ESC Organizing Committee: Mr. Pavlo Hrycak (NTU Deputy General Director)
  
• Show Producer- Mr. Stuart Barlow
  
• Creative Producer- Mr. Oleg Bondarchuk
  
• Event Manager-  Mr. Denis Bloschynskyy
  
• Arena Manager- Mr. Alexander Karjakin
  
• Communications Manager- Ms. Julia Golovlyova
  
• Host City Representative-  Mr. Alexei Reznikov

A concise report including the work and preparations for Eurovision 2017 was officially presented to the EBU by the Executive Producers of Eurovision 2017 at the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union in Swiss Lausanne on 8 December. As a result Ukraine received the green light by the EBU to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv next May

Ukraine is ready to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest

As of late 2016, the Eurovision team has held competitive selections of partners and suppliers that meet the objectives to the utmost and can produce a world class show. The preliminary analysis, negotiations and consultation with representatives of the market had been carried out for that purpose. The decisions on those selected by the 2017 Eurovision team were approved by the European Broadcasting Union.

Therefore, as of the end of 2016:

• The rental agreement for the premises to prepare and implement the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 has been signed with the administration of the next year’s Contest venue, i.e. the International Exhibition Center.
• The company to equip the IEC with grandstands for spectators has been selected.
• The supplier and concept of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 stage design have been selected. Wieder Design and the world-known designer Florian Wieder will be the production designer to develop and implement the stage design of the Contest to be held in Kyiv. The stage design will be presented in the year of the contest according to the Eurovision tradition.
• The official travel agent has been determined. According to the selection results, the hotel room booking services for the period of the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv will be provided by Pilot.ua.
• The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 creative concept pitch has been decided. The creative union of two creative agencies, Republique and Banda Agency, which specifically for this project created the company “Re Design Team” has won the pitch. 11 best creative agencies of the country proposed their ideas for the logo and slogan of the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine. The creative concept will be presented in January 2017.
• The selection of volunteers for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 started on 19 December. They will work with artists, press, foreign delegations and guests of the international song contest, as well as assist in TV show production, both in backstage areas and the fan zone. During the first selection day, NTU received 1500 applications from those willing to join the Eurovision Voluteers` Family. For today the number of applications is more than 5,000.

In addition, the selection of major locations for Eurovision 2017 continues. They include locations for the Opening Ceremony and Red Carpet, as well as Eurovision Village and Euroclub.

Also, the active work on the creative content of the three Eurovision shows has started. Show Producer Stuart Barlow and Creative Director Oleg Bodnarchuk are working on that. In particular, the Eurovision hosts are being selected, the ideas for interval acts and postcards are being developed and the list of guests is being made.

The Security Headquarters of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 is in operation. It includes experts from all departments in charge of the security of the city and contest visitors. The preparation of the Security Plan for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest  is coming to an end.

Ms.Victoria Romanova (Eurovision 2017 Executive Producer) says:

A number of decisions on the creative concept, the show itself, the hosts, design and creative content of the Contest will be announced in early 2017. We promise interesting surprises and a world class result. We will also start pleasantly surprising the Eurovision fans.

A total of 43 countries have confirmed their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Ukraine. It is a record number of contestants that repeated only twice in the history of Eurovision back in 2008 and 2011.

The Eurovision Song Contest will be returning to the majestic Ukrainian capital for the 2nd time in Eurovision history.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 9, 11 and 13 May at the IEC in Kyiv, Ukraine