Earlier today, it was revealed that Christer Björkman and Per Blankens will be an integral part of Eurovision 2024 core team.
The duo gave an interview to the Swedish website Aftonbladet, where they related to their position at the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as spanning their vision for the contest.
One of the main points was regarding the long duration of the grand final.
For example, Eurovision 2023 (produced by the British BBC) exceeded the 4 hour duration
Christer Björkman and Per Blankens related to the grand final show duration:
- On the one hand, the grand final should be long enough in order to guarantee a fair and monitored voting process. The votes should be gradedally collected and cast.
- Eastern countries (for example: Ukraine, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and etc.) live in different time zones compared to UTC time. Having the contest long, they have to stay awake till very late.
The way the grand-final will be shortened (if it will) is still unknown.
Possible cut-offs are: intercal cats, voting sequence, flag parade, etc.
The duo also referred to a hot rumor in the Eurovision random that claims to add of a “second chance” round, just like in the “Melodifestivalen.”
Christer Björkman denied the rumors by saying:
[photo: Lorentz-Allard Robin]
- The Eurovision format is working and alive for years.
- Main changes were made in 2013 and 2016, in regard to the voting system, and according were proved to be successful.
- The main aim is to bring high-quality, tight and efficient TV production to be translated into a memorable show
Any changes to the format should be approved by the top authority – The Eurovision Song Content Reference Group.
Changes (if there are any) will be presented to the heads of delegation of the different participating countries.
The Eurovision workshop will be held this year in Berlin on September 12th, where the core team will be represented in front of the EBU.
Should any changes be made, the information will be communicated here
Eurovision 2024 will be held in Malmö, Sweden.
The semi-final will be held on the 7th and 9th of May 2024, and the grand final will be held on the 11h of May 2024
So far, the following countries have confirmed participation in Eurovision 2024: Sweden, Norway, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Israel, Moldova, Estonia, Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Serbia, Switzerland, the UK, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Ukraine, Portugal, San Marino, Belgium, Albania, and Latvia.
