The countdown to the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest has officially kicked off in Copenhagen with the official inaugural host city insignia ceremony and allocation draw being held. The journey to Copenhagen is officially underway as Europe prepares to gather there in May for the biggest song competition in the world.
Copenhagen was unveiled as the host city of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest late last year in the wake of Emmelie De Forest’s victory in Malmo with her song Only teardrops. The expected TV audience in May for the 59th annual running of the contest is expected to fetch in a mammoth 170 million viewers worldwide and another estimated 190,000 visitors are expected to descend into the capital city Copenhagen during the two week long Eurovision spectacular.
The Eurovision celebrations officially began this week on the 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall with Copenhagen’s first official Eurovision 2014 event, ’Host City Insignia and the European Broadcasting Union’s Semi Final Allocation Draw’.
Mayor of last year’s Host City, Malmö, Kent Andersson officially handed over the Eurovision baton, which resembled a gigantic keychain, to Copenhagen and the Lord Mayor Frank Jensen, thereby officially kicking off Copenhagen 2014 in veritable style.
The Executive Advisor for the Eurovision Song Contest Jon Ola Sand provided the EBU gravitas to the proceedings by punching the start button for the countdown clock outside City Hall in Copenhagen, which immediately started counting down with 104 days to go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY8WwAGWpEM&feature=youtu.be
Tine Götzsche and Ulla Essendrup from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation determined through a live draw format in which semi-finals, and what part of it, each of the participating countries will compete. The semi finals will take place on the 6th and 8th May. The final will take place 10 May. There will be nine shows in total including rehearsals. In addition the host city Copenhagen will host a large number of free street events in the city.
37 countries will compete at the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest to be held at the B&W-Hallerne which DR plan to turn into a ‘Eurovision Island’ for the two week long competition. Germany, Spain, France, UK, Italy and Denmark are already qualified for the final, which means 31 countries will compete in the semi-finals in what is already shaping up to be an exciting and memorable year for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Stay tuned to esctoday.com for more news on Copenhagen 2014 and the Eurovision Song Contest.
