APRIL 7
WELCOME TO THE 11TH EDITION OF THE EUROVISION DIARY!
APRIL 7
Wazz up!?
Yet another day has gone by in the dream factory here in Kyiv! Things are going more or less according to the master schedule. There are some oops here and some crap there, but overall, it’s hanky danky dory!
I have many mantras in life. One of them is, NEVER do a production without Segways! So, we have Segways………… Can Lighting, Sound, Video and Staging get your shit off the floor so we can use them?
See what I mean……….. Even the audience screens are on the floor………. Skärpning as we say in Sweden! Speaking of…….. we are educating our Ukrainian, American, Belgian, German, Estonian and New Zealand Production staff in words and phrases that might come very handy……. in Sweden…… It’s quite amusing with them all being VERY rude, without having any idea about it………. The locals think that we sound like pidgeons when we speak Swedish by the way…………
Sometimes I’m left clueless with what to say about some of the pictures that my wife posts in here, for me to write today’s story about…….. I got nothing here…….
A blue truck, with the same colour as our portable toilets stopped outside a tent to look at the church? I got nothing……..
[JLM: Hey jackass — I was in the golf cart with you and you told me to take that picture!!]
The entire LED wall is up now, all lighting trusses are at trim, and the stage arcs are under construction.
We have a total flock of moving trusses in all sizes and shapes over the stage, using no less than 112 Cyberhoists. It will look spectacular!
Our Set Designer Florian Wieder calls this piece the Bee Hive. Our Lighting Designer Jerry Appelt calls it the Swiss Army Knife. I call it Sven. I always liked the name Sven………
Here is one of our 816 active Elation fixtures in the rig! The Platinum 1200 Wash uses the Osram LED range, just like all other Elation LED fixtures, which is quite handy since Osram is Official Lighting Partner to The Eurovision Song Contest.
In 2013, we were building bridges. In 2016, we were making halls in walls. In 2017, we are removing walls. Because we can…….. and it will improve the Segway route in the venue – AWESOME!
The back end of the grandstand is getting ready enough for us starting to building up the Green Room at the far end of the arena. Come on, educate yourself and click on the link!
It’s also quite urgent to get the F section completed, which is right next to the stage on the right side. Our main dimmer city is located under this section, so hurry up boys!
Name: Fabian Bäter
Title: Art Director
OM: What are your children’s names?
FB: Luk and Leya………….. but I swear, Star Wars has nothing to do with it!! OM: Yeah, OK. If I said my dog’s name was Choobakka would you call that a coincidence?
OM: If you could die and come back as a different creature, what would you be?
FB: I’d be an ant. OM: Why? FB: Oh, you know, they’re small and they go unnoticed but they can lift 50 times their weight! Plus their social and good team players. OM: You’re weird.
OM: I’ve also learned that you have never been to the USA. What city would you visit first?
F: New York. OM: Why? F: I really like the architecture. OM: AAAAAGHN! Wrong answer. You want to go to Chicago.
Name: Roman Keryk
Title: Associate Head of Production
OM: How is it that you’re super happy when you’re talking with me?
RK: Oh I’m not so tired…working for you makes me not so tired. I’m sorry my English is not so good. OM: That’s OK because I don’t understand English. It just seems like I speak English because I watch TV…… “How YOU doin?”
RK: LOL
OM: “Pasta.” See? I speak Italian too.
OM: Who would you like to spend 48 hours with on a deserted island?
RK: It needs to be…………… it needs to be…………. a drunk sailor with lots of whiskey.
OM: (LOL) Good one. I would have a 2 kilo ribeye.
Why is the word dictionary in the dictionary? So many questions!
