Danish broadcaster DR’s plans have received an official and public stamp of approval, with an enthusiastic thumbs up from Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor, Jon Ola Sand.
Speaking to eurovision.tv, the Norwegian TV executive – already veteran of three contests in his current head position – praised the selection of Copenhagen as the 2014 song contest venue. As well as citing the well-known infrastructure advantages of the capital city, Sand echoed Executive Producer Pernille Gaardbo’s comments on the innovativeness of B&W Hallerne as a choice. The unique nature of the so-called ‘Eurovision island’ has “ignited imaginative and inventive ideas in the creative team“, he explains, suggesting that fans can expect a good measure of originality from the 2014 event, combining a central focus on “heritage” with a forward-looking creative vision. It might be thinking “outside-the-box“, but Sand is confident that the broadcaster will pull it off.
On the sensitive subject of another kind of box, Sand also reveals more of the reasoning behind the failure of Bank Boxen in Herning, a former bookies’ favourite for the hosting contract, to win the bid. Complimenting the venue as “ideal“, he nonetheless admits that the difficulty would be “to absorb into such a small place” an event as huge as the Eurovision Song Contest. Again, we get the impression that the decision was a close and difficult one, with personal visits by Sand to both the Herning and Copenhagen venues earlier this year.
You don’t win it by accident
As for next year’s entries, there is some advice for potential candidates. “You don’t win it by accident”, Sand explains. Pointing to the effort expended on the national song selection process by Scandinavian countries, the man at the top tells us that “you have to work seriously and systematically with artists and songwriters” to achieve a comparable level of success. Broadcasters around Europe can take this as the prompt to action, as the 2014 season prepares to crank up a gear.
