So this is fun…we’re sitting in the production office awaiting results for the contest. While this goes on, rockin’ cello band Apocalyptica just played as the interval act (they have opened for Metallica–think long-haired metal band on strings). The officials are tabulating votes, giving update s to the live audience as the standings progress. The folks in the arena are absolutely wild…a lot of energy here. Winner to be announced soon. The show went off perfectly. It looked great live and on camera. Check out the broadcast here: http://www.eurovision.tv/content/view/161/142/

So, in just a few hours, the finals start for Eurovision. We’re about to break for dinner with Niclas Arvidsson of Wireless Solution and James Heron of Green Hippo. All the technology partners for the production have showed up in the last 24 hours to see their gear in action. Saw some folks from Barco, MA Lighting, and Robe in the last few days also.

The final dress rehearsals went off without a hitch this afternoon. All things tweaked yesterday ran like a top today. I just finished interviewing LD Mikki Kunttu for our full article in the July issue, but more on that in print. The contest winner will be announced right after the performances. Last year’s winner, Lordi, is opening this evening’s festivities…should be fun.

Here’s the audience last night during semi-finals.

So, we all know this is a European competition, right (that’s aside from some Eurasian countries represented, of course)? No North Americans in the contest here, but that didn’t stop the two resident Americans (production assistant Joan Lyman and yours truly) from acquiring an American flag and waving it proudly during the semi-finals last night. Everyone has a flag here, so we thought we should represent, yo. It’s been reported for over a year that our own “USandA” will be taking up this breed of competition at home, but final plans have yet to be announced.

Here’s production assistant Joan Lyman (aka, “The Other American”) representing the home land.

Of course, our display of the stars and stripes did prompt a member of security to ask, “You know this is EUROvision, right?” Off to do some more international diplomacy…

Stepping back a few paces…Have I mentioned that Live Design is the official US publication of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, so we’ll have exclusive coverage in our July issue? I found out last night that we’ll be named in the show credits, broadcast live to 42 countries, with in excess of 200 million viewers and many others across the globe receiving a delayed broadcast. Now, that’s not something we get to experience every day, so we’re really proud of that.

The video crew is presently tweaking some malfunctions as we speak, but there doesn’t appear to be too much chaos (yet)…of course, dinner break may be falling by the wayside at this point. Some video was lost during first dress this afternoon, but I’m sure they’ll get everything online in time for second dress tonight. It’s amazing how, when things go wrong, the audience doesn’t really have a clue. Rehearsal looked great anyway.

Semi-finals last night at Eurovision Song Contest put ten bands through to the finals (Belarus, Macedonia, Slovenia, Hungary, Georgia, Latvia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Moldava). It’s quite an interesting process. Unlike the hours of voting that goes on a la American Idol, the participating countries have 15 minutes to vote via phone or SMS, so the audience stays in the arena, and the finalists are announced on site. The ten finalists from last night join 14 pre-qualified finalists that automatically get to the finals…so another 24 acts play tomorrow night.

Just a few road cases in storage at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki for Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Sort of reminds me of the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The after party last night was a fun scene. All of the winners and many of the production staff headed over the EuroClub around 1:30am…late to be sure, but that’s what happens when the production wraps at 12:30, and everyone needs to blow off a little post-show steam. And anyway, they had food!

Here’s a shot of the set from last night. (Copyright: Alain Douit, Eurovision.tv)

Now just sitting through dress rehearsals for the finals. Second dress rehearsal is tonight. Thankfully, everything is running smoothly. Nothing has crashed, and the crew seems pretty relaxed. Interestingly, they sell tickets to the dress rehearsals, so the arena is packed for each rehearsal. There’s a great interval act at the break, but it’s a big secret, so I can’t give that away, or they’ll put me on the next flight back to New York. Check out the finals tomorrow afternoon, streaming live at eurovision.tv. More later…