Get to know the “Invisible” team behind the scenes team that makes the song bookmark competition

Thirty -five seconds. This is all the time when you can change the set in Eurovision.

Thirty -five seconds to remove a set of performers from the stage and put the next place in the right place.

Thirty -five seconds to make sure everyone has the right microphones and headsets.

Thirty -five seconds to make sure that the requisites are in place and tightly fastened.

While at home, you watch the introductory videos known as postcards, dozens of people swim the scene, putting the scene for everything that follows.

“We call it the change of the Tire Formula 1,” says Richard van Rvevendaal, the welcoming leader of the Dutch stage, which makes it all work.

“Everyone in the crew can only do one. You run on stage with one bulb or one support. You always walk the same line. If you leave the course, you will hit someone.

“It’s a bit like ice skating.”

The stage crew begins to rehearse its “F1 tire change” weeks before the competitors even arrive.

Each country sends detailed plans for its production, and Eurovision hires stands to play the acts (in Liverpool 2023, these were students from the local performing arts school), while the stage hands began to shave precious seconds beyond the change.

“We have about two weeks,” says Van Ruvendaal, who is usually based in Utrecht but is in Basel for this year’s competition.

“My company is about 13 Dutch and 30 local boys and girls who rock it in Switzerland.

“In these two weeks, I have to find out who is right for every job. Someone is good at running, someone is good at lifting, someone is good at organizing the backstage area. It’s a little like being good at Tetris because you have to arrange everything in a small space, in the perfect way.”

As soon as a song is over, the team is ready to roll.

Like the stage hands, there are people responsible for the positioning of lights and the placement of pyrotechnics; and 10 cleaning products that put the scene with pugs and vacuum cleaners between each performance.

“My cleaning products are as important as the stage team. You need a clean scene for the dancers – but also if there is an excessive shot of someone who is lying, you do not want to see the wraps on the floor.”

The attention to the details is clinical. Behind the scenes, each contractor has its own microphone stand, set at the right height and angle, to make sure that every performance is perfect on the camera.

“Sometimes the delegation will say that the artist wants to wear a different shoe for the big finale,” says Van Ruvendaal. “But if that happens, the microphone stand is at the wrong height, so we have a problem!”

However, spontaneously changing shoes is not the worst problem it faces. At the competition in 2022 in Turin, the scene was 10 m (33 feet) higher than the backstage area.

As a result, they pressed heavy stage requisites – including a mechanical bull – up a steep ramp between each act.

“We were exhausted every night,” he recalls. “This year is better. We even have an additional backstage tent where we prepare the props.”

Requisites are a huge part of Eurovision. The tradition began at the second competition in 1957, when German Margo Hielshire sang some of her song Phone, telephone In (you knew) a phone.

During the interventional decades, the production has become increasingly complicated. In 2014, Ukraine Maria Yaremchuk grabbed one of her dancers in a giant Hamster wheel while Romania brought a literal cannon for their performance in 2017.

This year we have disco balls, space bunkers, a magic food blender, a Swedish sauna and a chandelier fell to the United Kingdom.

“In fact, this is a great logistical effort to organize all the requisites,” says Damaris Rast, the deputy manager of production for this year’s competition.

“Everything is organized in one type of circle.

“Behind the scenes, the requisites used are pushed back to the back of the queue, etc. It’s all about planning.”

During the show, there are several secret passages and “smuggling routes” to bring props out of sight, especially when performance requires new elements in half.

Return your mind, if you will, at the presentation of Sam Ryder to the United Kingdom at the 2022 competition in Italy.

There he was alone on stage, throwing fake notes in his spatula, when an electric guitar of thin air suddenly appeared and landed in his hands.

And guess who put it there? Richard van Rouvendaal.

“I’m a sorcerer,” he laughs. “No, no, no … It was a collaboration between the camera director, the British delegation and the stage crew.”

In other words, Richard threw himself on stage, a guitar in his hand as the director cut into a wide shot, concealing his presence from viewers at home.

“It’s choreographic up to the closest millimeter,” he says. “We are not invisible, but we must be invisible.”

What if everything goes wrong?

There are certain tricks that the audience will never notice, Van Rouwendaal Reveeals.

If he announces “Stage is not clear” in his headset, the director can buy time by showing a prolonged shot to the audience.

In the case of a bigger incident – “the camera can break, support can fall” – they are cut into a leader in the green room, which can fill in a few minutes.

In the control room, the rehearsal of the dress of the dress plays in sync with the live show, which allows directors to switch to pre -recorded footage in the case of something like a stage invasion or a malfunctioning microphone.

However, the visual problem is not enough to activate the spare tape-as Switzerland Zoya Maya found in the first semifinals of Tuesday.

Its implementation was briefly interrupted when the camera emission on stage froze, but the manufacturers simply cut themselves into a wide shot until it was fixed. (If that had happened in the final, she would have been offered the chance to introduce himself again.)

“In fact, there are many measures that are being taken to ensure that any act can be shown in the best way,” Rast says.

“There are people who know the regulations by heart who play through what can happen and what we would do in different situations.

“I will sit next to your production management and if there is a (situation) where someone has to run, maybe it will be me!”

It’s no surprise to learn that a live three -hour show with thousands of moving parts is incredibly stressful.

This year, the organizers have introduced measures to protect the well-being of competitors and crew, including rehearsals of closed doors, longer breaks between broadcasts and the creation of a “divided zone” where cameras are prohibited.

However, Rast says she has worked every weekend for the past two months while Van Rivedal and his team regularly hold 20-hour days.

The shifts are so long that in 2008 the legend of Eurovision production Ola Melzig built a bunker under the stage, complemented by a sofa, “sadly used” PS3 and two (yes, two) espresso machines.

“I don’t have hidden luxury like Ola. I’m not at this level yet!” Laughs van Rouvendaal

“But behind the scenes, I have a place with my team. We have Stroopwafels there and last week was the King in the Netherlands, so I baked pancakes for everyone.

“I try to make it fun. Sometimes we go out and drink and cheer up because we had a great day.

“Yes, we have to be on top and we have to be as sharp as a knife, but having fun together is also very important.”

And if everything goes according to plan, you will not see them at all this weekend.