Last week I was invited to Vienna for the Eurovision Song Contest. It is of course a camp and fun thing – but can we learn something from an event like this? Are there trends here?
Vienna and Austria is lovely. Something I covered from a trip last year here. And now in May, the whole world is looking at the city for this music festival.
Just like so many other events like this, there are things happening on many places and many levels. The city was full of posters and displays with reference to the music context. The gradient graphic design in blue, purple and red might not be my choice, but it was recognisable.
Local pride for previous winners is ok. The song Merci Cherie won 1966.
On a side note, it was pretty obvious that Austria took this opportunity to talk about their prefered story. So more references to Falco (cool) and not Opus with “Life is life” (cheesy). And I was pretty amazed but the abscence of Conchita Wurst, the winner of Eurovision 2014.
I did like how the city gave “12 points” for certain sustainable behaviour. Like public transportation or bikes. It could have been more…
ESC Vienna had an official mascot. I had to double check. It is not the first time there is a mascot – but it is not as common as you think. I might be something more evident for the future. 1992 Malmö had a bird and last year in Switzerland there was a heartshaped carachter.
Something I REALLY liked were the way they handled the cafés. Vienna is famous for the cafe culture and it must have been around 15 bigger cafes that participated in this. The cafe had two supporting countries. Here Estonia and Italy. And they would have activities. At this specific cafe you would get a free glass of bubbles if you were from this country. FUN.
Also the “green room” at the arena was built around the cafe culture. Nice.
There wasn’t that much “merch” as I would have expected. Of course nice when we are looking for a more sustainable and durable future. No more plastic shit. Here a cookbook based on food from each country. What about Sweden? Of course meatballs… No real surprises here.
Postcards with the representatives… Not sure I need one…
The city was of course full of people wearing merch for the act they supported. Here a guy with Finnish song Liekinheitin. Most fun was perhaps the Greek merch where you could get the same hat as the singer.
During my days here I got to see the whole arena on a guided tour. It is actually more mindblowing than you could think. Very impressive.
We for instance learned that they clear and build up the stage in 40 seconds. And since the floor is a screen, they illuminate the sections where they should place the objects. First Australia where they place a harp, and just above here the tables for the UK song.
Hair and make up for the artists.
Press conference.
And of course a lot of nightlife.
The actual show was so much better than expected. Lots of fun. Of course super long, but fun. I got invited to the VIP area so no complaints.
But everything was sooo good live. You could really sense that every act used the whole room and not just looking at the camera. And everyone had been working for this three minute act so hard. All angles, all props, all dancers were on key. It was like the Olympic Games but for pop culture.
Not one act was bad. Of course you have your favourites but everything was so nicely executed.
Vienna is of course more than Eurovision. It is where my Forecast Club friend Alina lives. So a lot of coffee culture with her.
And just walking around.
Not a lot of time for sightseeing but I got to stop by the design museum MAK.