How’s this for a post-Christmas treat? ORF have revealed the first details of the staging for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. The task of making the Wiener Stadthalle ready for the show has been placed in the very trusted hands of international set designer Florian Wieder.
That name may sound familiar to some of you die-hard fans – and if not, cast your minds back to 2010. It was on his stage that Lena won “Unser Star fur Oslo“, sending Germany on the path to hosting in Düsseldorf in 2011. And who designed that stage, with its mammoth video wall? Florian Wieder once again!
In fact, Vienna will be the third time that Wieder will design the stage, as he also created the set inside the Crystal Hall for Baku 2012. As if his successes there (one Wiwi team member has described Düsseldorf as his “favourite stage ever“) weren’t enough to convince you, he’s also been responsible for staging the X Factor in both the UK and United States, as well as multiple popular German shows such as “Schlag den Raab” and “Wetten, dass”.
So, what will the stage look like? Well, in the report that’s come out via Austria’s Kurier newspaper, it sounds like the tagline “Building Bridges” will play a big part in the contest’s overall look. Cue the ballad singer crooning from atop a curved bridge stage left!
ORF’s TV Director, Kathrin Zechner, has said that “the stage represents the bridge from the past to the present”. This sounds eerily familiar to how important “Feel Your Heart Beat” proved to Düsseldorf 2011, where the “heartbeat” intro preceded the songs. There will also be special work put into the green room, perhaps due to a certain Miss Wurst’s importance to it…
So, what do you think of the decision to have Florian in charge of the stage once again? Let us know in the comments what you think and whether you were a fan of the stages in both Düsseldorf and Baku.
Dusseldorf and Baku were fantastic. Was Copenhagen his job too?
He just copies one “set of ideas” in a different setting and in different angles, but still, his overall look kinda is the same. I expect X-Factor-esque stage, with lines & strips & general geometry. Oh, well… CPH2014 was the best by far, for me. Everything aligned perfectly. Even the rough terrain around. Well done Denmark, once again.
I’d rather have live instrumentation for a Christmas present instead of another fancy, expensive stage. He’s a great designer, don’t get me wrong, but I think the large-picture priorities are out of order here.
i hate his designs. they’re all look too solid, rigid and uninteresting. last year’s design, on the other hand, was absolutely amazing. it’s not too in your face and there are tons of surprises.
oh I adored everything about 2011! not so much 2012…but it was still good. this should be amazing!! It’ll take a lot to beat the cube from this years. Copenhagen’s was stunning with all its effects and capabilities.
His stages are far from great, so this is not the best news of the day. His stages, not only for Eurovision, but also for X Factor, Idol, MTV etc., look like oversized smartphone displays….. uergh…
i think his stages were 1. boring 2. too far away from the public. 3. all the same.
I think all the stages he designed (for ESC and German tv shows) look the same somehow?
Yeah cause Baku’s stage was so great …
The stages of 2011 and 2012 are my favourite! This year gets better and better.
I dont like the 2011 stage at all..come on, it was just a big led screen with a stage..all the artists looked so lost on that stage, same as in 2012…the bigger the better they think? well it certainly is not!!
So basically, a really large screen in the back, fairly-considerable to big floor stage with lights underneath.
Great news!
For me, best idea for stage had one woman from Ireland, she made stage for Eurovision 1988, 1994, 1997. For me best stage in history was from 1988 , when we look how tehnologies was in that time.
I like stage in 2011, but i don t like in 2012. For me worst stage from 2004 to 2014 are stage from 2006, than 2013 and on third place stage from 2010.
Love our stage in 2011! But 2012 was good too! I’m happy that he create the stage!
I loved 2011 & 2012 stages 🙂 Can’t wait to see what he’ll bring for 2015
I would prefer something more 2011 rather than 2012, even though I love both stages, but maybe is time to go back to something more simple?
One thing is sure, I think we can expect big LED screens, hah!
The Baku one was dreadful, I sincerely hope this year he creates a better one
YES! I LOVE the stages he makes, especially Baku’s