In the third part of interviews with the Executive Producer of Malmö 2013, Martin Österdahl, we now hear of the inside threat that is always present at the Eurovision Song Contest. It can be too repetitive. Now he reveals how the Swedish production team is hoping to eliminate this by using just one host, who will be completely integrated into the show and all its elements.

Once again the team have taken inspiration from this year’s Swedish winner, Loreen. When asked how she would describe herself in one word, she said “organic”. That is also how Martin Österdahl sees the solution to stop the show becoming boring. We will try to create a more organic narrative through the programme, he says. This could be done by weaving the host into the different parts better than before. The host can now for example pop up also in pre-recorded inserts like the postcards, making it all flow better together.

This is also why SVT has planned to return to using just one host for the finals. Just like at the Academy Awards, or the Oscar ceremony, they have allowed a single host like Billy Crystal create a more personal touch to the event. Just like the Eurovision Song Contest, the Academy Awards needs a lot of repetition during the proceedings, and this according to SVT is easier to deal with than with three hosts.

As for the question of slogan, that has been used in connection with the contest most years since 2004, Mr. Österdahl is not sure whether SVT will adopt one at all. He says that sometimes these have worked really well, like Share the moment in Oslo. But the one used for Belgrade, Confluence of sound might have been lost for many as they were not familiar with the word “confluence”. But as a them that went through the whole show it worked great, he says. Two rivers that meet in the city, just like Europe is coming together and renewing. The scenography was also using the image of two rivers. But even if  SVT is using the four core slogans as guidelines for the planning, they are not sure whether they will come to using a slogan at the end of it. It is not easy to come up with a good one every year, that would not just be a rewrite of another one, says Martin Österdahl.

Once again Mr Österdahl returns to the base idea of bridging the gaps, create mutual cultural understanding and put emphasis on the equality of all people. This founding idea of Eurovision is a richness for a TV producer and provides potential that has not been unleashed in recent years. It may sound pretentious, when we bang on about in this way, but we also need some dynamic narrative between the glossy and the serious bits of this show, he says. In all seriousness, I believe that we can bring it to life with these dynamics, that we can not only think that the Eurovision Song Contest is the most fun and coolest show, but it is also exciting and matters a bit, Mr Österdahl continues. That it means something and has a value.

He continues: We see there is great value in Europe sitting and rejoicing the same event at the same time. We think it helps to build identities, togetherness and brotherhood. There is a saying in international television, that big disasters bring the people together. We wish to reach the same effect in joy.

In the next article we shall hear how Sweden will reject the technical arms race.

Source: svt.se 

Photo: Carl-Johan Söder/SVT  – Martin Österdahl, Executive Producer ESC 2013.