APRIL 11

WELCOME TO THE 11TH EDITION OF THE EUROVISION DIARY!

APRIL 11

Hi y’all as we say in Texas! Weather is still iffy, but surely spring will arrive with full force once the delegations show up, and we’re all stuck inside the venue 14 hours a day………. this is always the case………it’s tradition………

The stage is almost completed and tomorrow we’ll start with live programming of lighting and video.

Straight out of a Sci-fi movie. Plus the floor is clearing out.

And the Green Room is finishing up nicely too. All 26 lounges are now in place, and we’ll start with dressing them, implemening video monitors and all that jazz. And I managed to pull off such a heart-warming thing together with the team at Highlight. The wine glasses we’ll use in Green Room are designed by Erika Lagerbielke. No wonder if you recognize that last name! She is the sister of Pontus ¨Bullen¨ Lagerbielke. Bullen was the assistant lighting designer for no less than 5 Eurovision Song Contests, including the show here in Kyiv back in 2005. He was also deeply involved with the production in 2013 and 2014. Bullen lost the battle to cancer in the fall of 2015, and all of us who had the honor to be his friend miss him on a daily basis.

Audience screens are off the floor and hung in position. Now we’ll just move them 7 times, which is another tradition that we entertain in this show……….

So the press came in to learn about all the progress. It was all in Ukrainian but I think they said we were doing a good job and everything was on track.

Christer explained how the wishes of each country were given to the production team – the feeling, the emotion, yadda yadda – and how we deliver that in the form of lighting, pyro, special effects, camera shots and props (which the countries are required to supply themselves.) He speaks fluent Ukrainian!

Even the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine made an appearance! A new friend that might come in handy………

I asked if we could take a selfie but Vyacheslav Kyrylenko Vyacheslav was more interested in the stage……

And oh boy, another birthday in da house! Happy Birthday Natasha!! Natasha is our venue manager, and I chase her daily about fridges, desks, chairs, trash bins and all other things that makes life more fun! She loves me……….