There have been almost no articles about Sweden’s presentation of ESC, and virtually nothing about Malmö as a host city. Why? Because the news media, the blogs, and everyone else only writes about problems, failures and mistakes. And Sweden nailed it. Eurovision was absolute perfection.
Start with the Malmö Arena. It was the perfect size. Any smaller and it would have constricted what could be presented. Any larger and people attending would have been further away from the stage, reducing the experience there. The arena was perfect.
Second is Malmö itself. It’s a wonderful city. Large enough to easily handle the influx of visitors. Small enough that the focus of the entire city was Eurovision. And their mass transit system was perfect for moving people around. A wonderful host city.
Third is Petra Mede. After the forgettable trio of Azerbaijan, the painful humor attempts in Germany (proving that German Comedian is an oxymoron), and the painful amateur-ship of Norway, Petra was a wonderful change. She made it all appear natural, never being the show, and presenting everything perfectly. (We’ll ignore the minor faux-pas of pre-announcing the winner.)
Fourth is the introductory postcard showing the artist in their home country. A very sweet way to combine both the artists and the country. Way superior to Azerbaijan’s “land of secret police tourist spots” and Germany’s “look at how multi-cultural we are”. Sweden did as good as Norway here.
Fifth is their entertainment during the ballot stuffing voting and counting. They weren’t as good as Norway’s flash mob singing. But the rest was as good or better than anything else done. The part with the people electronically painting the stage as they moved was amazing. And a lot of it was a celebration of past Eurovision songs which was perfect for this.
Sweden, take pride in a job perfectly done.
David is a Colorado-based correspondent for WiwiBloggs.com
I was in Malmo for the ESC and it’s the best ESC host city ever. Bravo Sverige 😀
Like I said in the other thread, Dusseldorf was terrible from the television viewer’s perspective. Audio quality and camerawork were lackluster, early votes were lost in the first semifinal, and the opaque backdrop behind the voting numbers covered way too much of the screen during the performances. Baku was a way better host in terms of making things look good on TV, and I would argue by far the best host in recent years. Malmo had a few downsides. Announcing the winner early (which led to Emmelie’s final performance being cut off at the end!!!) was a big mistake, all… Read more »
It was great. Lacking a bit of the German Grandiose and stage versatiliity, but the stage didn’t engulf the performers.
There should be as less space as possible between the backdrop and the stage. Moscow, for size, did it right. Dusseldorf failed, as well as Baku on that. Malmo passed
Totally agree. It truly was a great ESC this year and I think it did have a lot to do with Petra Mede. While many people complained when it was announced, expecting Sarah Dawn Finer, Petra Mede presented a class act that will be difficult to surpass.
There is good reason for the early announcement of the winner as there is a 10-15 walk from the green room to the arena. The answer to this question is a golf buggy. Maybe that wasn’t part of the budget.
I was there in Malmo for the Eurovision. It was easily the best city that ever hosted the contest! The Sweden should be proud of themselves 😀
@Alex – you are clearly a brilliant, thoughtful, and all around terrific person!
Thank you 🙂
I agree with everything that David sais here. I haven’t seen a Eurovision show with so much quality in some years.
My ranking
1) Oslo
2) Düsseldorf
3) Moscow
4) Malmö
5) Baku
I didn’t mind that the winner was announced before the voting ended. In previous years, I used to wonder why they would continue voting like it was sooooo exciting and nobody knew who the winner would be (especially in 2009). And Petra was no doubt the best host of the last years. 2011 was also very good in my opinion(But that might be because Eric Saade was in it…and singing!). Oslo was enjoyable and Baku was just fake and plastic.
I also feel Düsseldorff did a better job. But honestly this year’s ESC was actually funny, funny and not just geeky funny lol.
We’ll ignore the minor faux-pass of anouncing the winner before the voting was completed… which was kind of telling the countries still to vote that they votes didn’t matter. We’ll ignore the fact that flags were never as much of an interference than they were in this year’s semifinals. Or the producers deciding the running order, telling us it was to ensure no similar songs performed together… except that Azerbaiyan and Iceland totally did, and while Denmark was taken apart from any other favorite and placed between two weak-looking songs (let’s admit it, Hungary’s top 10 was a surprise to… Read more »
I think Petre was the best. She was very entertaining and I enjoyed watching her. The best I have seen I think. As for announcing the winner early – I would say the anyone watching it – knowing the scores and how many countries were still to vote – already knew who won – no major disaster at all.
The postcards were special this year. It is to be hoped that they will set the trend for future shows. It was good to see the artists in their own environment.
Dusseldorf has clearly gone down in history as the best Eurovision in recent years. FEEL YOUR HEART BEAT!!!
I think Dussledorf is a personal favourite, and only edges out Malmö in that the scale in Dussledorf was a lot better, in sense of wider scope. Malmö was more intimate, but nothing really since 2011 has offered the chance of Eurovision in such dramatic staging as 2011. Having said that 2013 was easily better than Baku’s woeful 2012…not only was the song quality beyond Loreen poorer but the hosts were appalling, and the interval acts were dull…they should have called back Safura and Aysel & Arash and relied upon former entrants and famed acts like the Swedes did, to… Read more »
i agree with celioski and i think announcing the winner’s early is a MAJOR faux pas. it’s rude.
I tend to agree with @Celioski. Dusseldorf was amazing, the Arena looked better, and there were fewer technical glitches. Malmo benefits from following Baku…which was just cold and frigid in every detail.
Sorry to say, but although I do think Sweden did a good job, I personally believe this ESC was less perfect than Düsseldorff’s. Petra was indeed a breeze of fresh air after last year, but I didn’t enjoyed her as much as I enjoyed Anke. And there was a series of details that all sum up to a ESC not-as-great as some people are advertising. It was a good show, but definitely not the best of the last 5 years.