Akis Stamatiades, art director of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, revealed some of his do's and don'ts in an interview with newspaper Espresso.
Host couple Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas will not only make a stunning appearance, they will also rise up from the stage at the end of the semifinal, to return from the sky at the beginning of the final.
Some requests from participants had to be turned down. "We received a lot of requests, but we couldn't accept everything", Stamatiades says. For technical and safety reasons, ERT had to turn down TVR's request to have rope dancers hanging in the ceiling. According to our secure sources, TVR came up with an "exceptable alternative". Monaco's Severine wanted a real coconut tree on the stage, to accompany her during the show.
As expected, SVT asked for big wind machines to accompany Carola on stage. However, Sweden wasn't the only country with that request; at least four more countries asked for wind machines!
The art director of the show explained that the costs for all requested special effects were acceptable and that ERT put a lot of effort in fulfilling requests from the participating delegations; "Ultimately, what you will see, will be beyond any possible imagination".
