The Eurovision Song Contest dazzles again with a unique show

Unlike previous editions, the stage did not have video screens or LED backgrounds, although spectacular lighting once again played a key role. Riedel systems facilitated intercommunication and signal transport at Lisbon's Altice Arena.

Portugal hosted the musical competition last Saturday for the first time in its history, choosing the Altice Arena pavilion in Lisbon for the occasion.

Unlike previous editions, for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU-EBU) with Portuguese television RTP as host after Salvador Sobral won last year, the great musical event opted for one of the lowest-budget sets in memory. The technical production director of Eurovision, the Swede Ola Melzig, together with the RTP directors chose to work as much as possible locally, make a good plan and propose the minimum possible rent.

The 63rd edition of Eurovision had 43 participating countries that performed their songs in a gala before 11,500 spectators hosted by Portuguese journalists Sílvia Alberto, Filomena Cautela and Catarina Furtado and the Portuguese-American actress Daniela Ruah.

Jon Ola Sand returned to direct the film, accompanied in production by Carla Bugalho and Christer BJörkman with the Swedish company. M&M Production as delegate producer.

Unlike other years, the stage did not have video screens or LED backgrounds, although spectacular lighting once again played a key role. The German Florian Wieder was in charge of designing the scenography based on three suspended structures inspired by the armillary sphere of the Portuguese flag. The background was made up of 56 structures up to 13.5 meters high that supported 351 Magicpanel FX luminaires from Ayrton.

En iluminación, M&M Producciones utilizó un total de 14 mesas manejando más de 152.000 parámetros de control y 300 universos DMX activos. También se dispusieron 24 Follow spots controlados por RoboSpot Follow Spot System de Robe. The total number of luminaires was 2,632, which required 24 days of programming by six operators. 88 kilometers of wiring were used for lighting.

In terms of audio, around twenty linearrays with 239 speakers were suspended from the roof of the Altice Arena, using 232 microphones and 15 audio consoles in the production.

As has become tradition, the festival featured numerous performances with pyrotechnic effects that were carried out by the Portuguese company Luso Pirotécnia, which also used moving flares, flares, fog machines, wind, snow, smoke bubbles... and more than 50 kilos of confetti.

Intercom Riedel

In a show of this size, intercommunication is key. The festival organization trusted once again in the solutions of Riedel, which deployed the Artist digital matrix and 175 intercom panels connected to a 20-kilometer fiber network in a redundant ring topology. Each rack was equipped with a redundant power supply and a redundant CPU card. Most of all intercom panels were routed through MediorNet, Riedel's signal distribution system.

For communication between the different departments, Riedel installed a Tetra-based analog radio system with half a thousand radios. This system was mainly used for production with half-duplex and simplex channel configuration. The half-duplex channels were interconnected with the intercom system. The Tetra radio system was also used for communication with mobile units, backstage managers... In total, Riedel installed one base station and two remote stations throughout the entire venue, guaranteeing coverage throughout the venue.

The MediorNet signal distribution system consisted of a main routing core (6 MetroN Frame) and multiple “satellite” positions within the facility. Each position was connected in star topology to the core frames. The racks were equipped with redundant power supplies. Each MediorNet position had a minimum of two frames that could work separately from each other, taking advantage of all the fiber bandwidth. In total, more than 200 kilometers of wiring were deployed to transport all types of signals.

Nearly 2,000 journalists from 80 countries covered this edition of the festival, whose organization had 750 workstations, video walls in several rooms to follow the different semifinals and finals, and several rooms reserved for interviews.

Two mobile units with an exact configuration were involved in the festival broadcast. One of them served as the broadcast signal while the other was ready to go on air in case of failure as a backup. Both were connected through a fiber optic ring that guaranteed 100% redundancy. The audio mixing of the show was carried out from another mobile unit.

To ensure power supply at all times, fifteen generators with a maximum capacity of 4.4 megawatts were deployed, connecting the different access points to the network with 40 km. of cable.

During the festival, there were around twenty cameras (including a Spider Cam suspended above the ceiling), two robotic cameras traveling around the stage, a crane with a 22-metre arm, two telescopic cranes, two Steadycams, several outdoor drones and a technical team of 60 professionals.