The applause store, responsible for issuing tickets for Making Your Mind Up 2007, the United Kingdom's Eurovision Song Contest national final, have confirmed to esctoday.com that a staggering 210,000 ticket applications were made for the show. This is a phenomenal number, and will leave many disappointed as the capacity for the show is expected to be just 600 at the Maidstone Studios in Kent.
Every ticket holder has now been contacted by telephone, so for people that have not heard back regarding their application, the news is unfortunately not good. The show will be broadcast live on Saturday at 19:30 UK time (20:30 CET) and will be broadcast on the internet for international fans to watch.
After last year's overticketing problems, esctoday.com asked if tickets had been over issued. We were told: "All audience tickets are over-issued because tickets are free and sadly, there are people that are not as passionate about the show. We want to ensure that everyone with tickets are accomodated. We understand how passionate Eurovision Song Contest fans are, so we have lowered this to the absolute minimum for the show".
In further news about the final, esctoday.com has discovered that the studio layout for the show will be very different to the one used for the previous three years, with the stage set in an 'in the round' format, where the audience will sit around the stage, rather than in front of it. This is set to create a much greater atmosphere for the final and ensures that the fans will help play a part in the show.
Big Brovas, Scooch, Brian Harvey, Cyndi, Liz McClarnon and Hawkins & Brown will battle it our for the last ticket to Helsinki and a place in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest final.
