<\/p>\n
\n\tAt last year\u2019s Eurovision Song Contest, Graham Norton identified him as \u201cMr. Eurovision\u201d and said he just calls him \u201cthe boss.\u201d While almost everyone on the production team for the Eurovision Song Contest does their work behind the cameras, the European Broadcasting Union\u2019s executive supervisor Martin \u00d6sterdahl is visible every year on the live broadcast. When it comes time to reveal the votes of the participating countries, the hosts turn to \u00d6sterdahl to confirm that the votes of the juries and the public are checked and that there is a verified result. He then tells the hosts that they are \u201cgood to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBefore he was named executive supervisor in 2020, \u00d6sterdahl was executive producer of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 and 2016, both produced by Sveriges Television (SVT) following Sweden\u2019s victories in 2012 and 2015. He has also produced past versions of Melodifestivalen, Sweden\u2019s televised national final to select the country\u2019s entry for the annual Eurovision competition.<\/p>\n
\n\tTo find out what to watch for in the 2024 contest airing next week, Billboard<\/em> talked to \u00d6sterdahl via Zoom to get a preview of this year\u2019s 68th edition of the popular pan-European event.<\/p>\n \n\tHow are things in Malm\u00f6 with just a few days to go before the two semi-finals and grand final of the 2024 contest?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThe rehearsals are going really well. All the delegations are here now. I wish the world could see what the atmosphere is like. People are hugging, high-fiving. It\u2019s great to be together again and great to be getting the job done.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat are five things we should be looking out for this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThe first thing is that for the first time ever, we are finally going to see the Big Five and the host country perform full-length performances on stage [in the semi-finals], which is great. We\u2019ve never done that before, as you know. It will give more entertainment to the viewers and more value to the fans, so I think that\u2019s a great change.<\/p>\n \n\tIn recent history, the Big Five (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom \u2013 the five countries that contribute the most to the production budget) don\u2019t have to compete in the semi-finals to qualify for the grand final, so we would only see snippets in the two semi-finals. Why was this change made?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWe\u2019re very much about the even playing field and we have felt from time to time that the Big Five perhaps had a disadvantage. We\u2019ve looked at ways to correct that. The Big Five have been doing much better recently, but still we feel the time is right to make this change now. And it has to do with [the second thing to watch out for].<\/p>\n \n\tThat is to increase the engagement in this show. For an entertainment show in Europe, we have a lot of young viewers. We\u2019re quadrupling the channel average when it comes to reach and the youth segments, which is fantastic, but the voting system is quite old fashioned with SMS [texting] and televoting and also the fact you had to wait for two hours before you can cast your vote. So we\u2019re trying out this new thing this year where you can vote in the grand final from the very top of the show. If you see something that you like, you can cast your vote, which is something that is more in line with the behavior of young people today, who are used to interacting straightaway with the shows.<\/p>\n \n\tWe introduced the rest-of-the-world vote last year and we\u2019re increasing the window for that to be 24 hours before the show, so that people in Asia and in South America don\u2019t have to sit up and watch this live on Central European Time. We get votes from 180 countries around the world in the show, so we want to embrace that love for Eurovision in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n \n\tHow did that rest-of-the-world vote work last year?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tVery well. We do a show called the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as well and we\u2019ve had an online voting platform for that. We did a show in Warsaw a couple of years ago during the darkest days of the pandemic, so we couldn\u2019t have the delegations on site. There were pre-recorded performances from the different countries. And then we had a studio in Warsaw where I sat with the presenters and the interval acts and Polish TV did a great job with that.<\/p>\n \n\tBut when we saw the online voting come in, it was a real eye-opener for me, because there were 12 participating countries as opposed to 40 in Eurovision and it\u2019s a kid show. We saw the votes coming in from 180 countries around the world on this European kids\u2019 show. It was amazing, so I thought, \u201cWe need to tap into this.\u201d My expectations are high when it comes to the engagement here.<\/p>\n \n\tDoes the fact that U.S. viewers can watch live on Peacock greatly increase the number of people watching?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYes, the engagement from the U.S. is great. The United States is the second biggest ticket buyer [for the live shows]. If you forget about [host country] Sweden, the biggest country of ticket buyers is the U.K. followed by the U.S. Amazing, right? We have ticket buyers from 89 countries coming to Malm\u00f6.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd what is the third thing we should watch out for?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tCelebration. We have so much to celebrate this year. Sweden has taken the number one position now alongside Ireland with seven wins in history. Loreen is only the second ever female artist to win twice and she and Johnny Logan are the only artists to have won twice, so we\u2019re celebrating that. And of course, it\u2019s 50 years since ABBA won with \u201cWaterloo\u201d and we\u2019re going to celebrate all these things in the show, so that\u2019s another one to look out for.<\/p>\n \n\tHow exactly are we going to celebrate \u201cWaterloo\u201d and ABBA in the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s an easy reply to that. Tune into the show and you\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n \n\tI didn\u2019t think you were going to give that one away. And the fourth thing to watch out for?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tNumber four, you should look out for the new hit phenomena. When I started working on Eurovision a long time ago, we used to refer to the classics like Celine Dion and ABBA when it came to who had the international global hits from this show, but that\u2019s not the case anymore. We churn out international hits every year and you\u2019ve probably seen the success of Duncan Laurence, Rosa Linn and M\u00e5neskin. That\u2019s a really exciting trend with modern day Eurovision and I think it\u2019s going to continue. It\u2019s a really strong field this year.<\/p>\n \n\tAlright, you\u2019ve given us four things to watch out for. What is the fifth?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tNumber five is that we\u2019re going to have a really exciting climax to this show. The Eurovision Song Contest voting sequence is arguably one of the longest, but also one of the most nail-biting sequences of any show on TV and I think this year we don\u2019t really have one standout favorite. We\u2019ve got a couple who are talked about a lot but not that one standout. So I think it\u2019s going to be exciting this year and I think it\u2019s going to lead to a really exciting climax.<\/p>\n \n\tSpeaking of the voting sequence, do you track the ratings on different parts of the show, and if so, how does this part of the contest do?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tNormally the voting sequence is the most viewed part of the show.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the past, some years were runaways and we knew who the winner was going to be long before the final vote was cast. Other years we didn\u2019t know until the last moments.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWhen Loreen first won in Baku [in 2012], everyone knew 35 minutes before the show ended that she was going to win, because you could do the math. But we still had to go around all of these countries and listen to their 12 and 10 and eight points. It seemed this show deserved a better climax, so that\u2019s when we made that change [to report the juries votes first and add in the public voting at the very end] and now it\u2019s all down to the very last delivery of points.<\/p>\n \n\tOne last question. As an EBU official, how would you describe your interaction with the production team, which is from the host broadcaster.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMy job covers a lot of different areas, but when it comes to the production, this is a co-production between 37 different national broadcasters in Europe and beyond and as such it needs a central coordinator or supervisor for the whole thing and that\u2019s me. That means I have final say in all questions, including all of the show content. I work very closely with the producers every year. My main mission is to transfer knowledge and best practice. Of course, this year it\u2019s special, because the knowledge is already here and it\u2019s my old team. We work together really well.<\/p>\n \n\tViewers in the U.S. can watch the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest live on Peacock (and on demand). The first semi-final will air on Tuesday, May 7 at 3 p.m. ET. The second semi-final will air at the same time on Thursday, May 9. The grand final will also air at the same time, on Saturday, May 11.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n