YLE have announced that they are expecting approximately 1500 members of the press for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. The press centre will be housed in the Helsinki Fairs Centre. Media members can expect to find a working area with computers and internet connections, a common room with sofas, seating, big screens and large televisions for watching rehearsals and the live shows as well as a fully functional cafe.

Although the number of press is expected to be greater than in 2006, the official number is likely to be lower as fans that aquire press accreditation are expected to arrive in lower numbers due to less attractive weather and more expensive cost of living compared to 2006. 1500 spaces in the working area are expected to be adequate and the press center facility will be housed in the same location for convenience.

2007 Eurovision Song Contest event producer, Kjell Eckholm states:
“The popularity of the song contest has grown in recent years, and we can expect to receive more than 1,500 media representatives. The fair centre has ample space, and there we can guarantee pleasant working conditions for the international press and other members of the media.”

Those that use the press facilities every year will be paying close attention to two particular aspects of the facilities. Firstly, the food on offer, which has become somewhat of a humourous theme over recent years. Secondly, the distance between the stage area and the press area. We believe that the distance is approximately 400 meters between entrances, which will then require journalists to pass through security checks. This means that for journalists that regularly need to pass between the press area at the stage for rehearsals, and the press area to write reports, a high energy diet and some pre-helsinki get fit programs may be necessary.

As in recent years, each artist will have two stage rehearasals, each of which will be followed by a press conference. Rehearsals and press conferences begin on May 3rd and the press facilities will open on May 2nd.

As every year, we will be covering all rehearsals, press conferences, official parties, interviews and much much more. There will also be plenty of new features this year, so stay tuned to esctoday.com for all your Eurovision Coverage if you are not joining us at the press centre.

esctoday.com's live coverage from Helsinki will begin this year on April 30th with the first team members joining our finnish editor, Ilari Karhapaa.

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