She’s compared her set design to a giant hamburger. But unlike the bun of a Whopper or Big Mac, Loreen‘s gigantic overhead screen weighs a whopping 1.8 tonnes. That, it’s now clear, will pose some problems for the Swedish delegation if Loreen wins Melodifestivalen and competes at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool.
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports that the country’s Eurovision bosses are aware of the challenges that the “Tattoo” staging will present.
“We know we will have to adapt,” says Melodifestivalen project manager Anders Wistbacka.
Sweden: Is Loreen’s staging “too heavy” for Eurovision arena?
Writing ahead of tonight’s final in Stockholm, legendary reporter Torbjörn Ek explained that Eurovision organisers are generally wary of heavy, advanced stage technology being hung from the ceiling.
The demands on the ceiling inside Liverpool M&S Bank Arena — the Eurovision 2023 host venue — are more significant than the ceiling in Stockholm’s Friends Arena. First of all, producers at Melfest only have to deal with 12 acts tonight. But at Eurovision producers have to contend with the demands of 37 countries plus the interval acts.
You may recall that ahead of Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv, John Lundvik sought to hang a special lamp from the ceiling. That didn’t fly. Instead the Swedes wheeled in a stand mounted on the floor to create a similar if different lighting effect.
“Tattoo” is a dark dance-pop track about holding on to the right love that’s arrived at the wrong time. Despite proclaiming “it’s time to say goodbye”, Loreen says “this is not the end” and retains hope that in the future stars will align and her love will thrive.
With lyrics like “I don’t care about the pain, I’ll walk through fire and through rain”, Loreen promises she’ll do whatever it takes to get back to that person.
The LED screens transport us to another world — one that’s at once abstract, but somehow natural and of the Earth. They help remove the audience from the picture entirely, suspending reality as we fall into Loreen’s sonic and visual universe.
Speaking to Aftonbladet, Mello project manager Anders Wistbacka said they’ll broach the issue with the BBC and EBU only after it’s confirmed that Loreen is the winner. Anders is unclear what the maximum weight they’ll be able to hang from the ceiling actually is.
“It might not work. Then we’ll have to come up with something else, if it’s her who wins. But we may have another winner and then we have to adapt based on other conditions.”
“We are completely focused on the Swedish TV program right now. Then we know that we will have to adapt depending on who wins. Some contributions will be easy to customize, others will simply be more of a challenge.”
The EBU sent a curt response to Aftonbladet, writing: “[Sweden’s team] have all the details about what can and cannot be used on stage in Liverpool.”
Do you think that Loreen could still thrive at Eurovision with a smaller hamburger bun on top? Could she recreate the magic in a smaller box? Let us know what you’re thinking down below.
You just wish her to fail on this one, don’t you. Terrible. I’m sure that Loreen and her creative team will come up with something else if it won’t work. But it will become a bit busy.. Or else Loreen is going to be the special effect 😉 I don’t agree that it all depends on that led roof.
just make a construction that stands on the ground
She will get a tanning bed from Ikea
Slightly embarrassing for the UK. Surely the prop doesn’t need to be so heavy. It’s basically a flat box with electronics inside. Over a ton…… surely not.
why embarrassment for the UK?. Neither the the BBC, the M&S arena or the EBU have commented on this, its one story from one reporter in Sweden everyone has got in a panic about. Plus its Sweden not the UK saying the prop is over a ton
Absolutely don’t worry about it, no panic! Reporters, don’t raise the alarm. This time nothing will be “too heavy”. Everything will be adapted, arranged and fixed, you will see. All this technology will be successfully integrated into the stage constructions in Liverpool. This will be done with the highest priority. Eurovision organizers will definitely take care of that, because it is a Swedish entry, it is a Swedish music industry… Relax and wait for their next triumph.
Perhaps they could use a proper arena for the ESC final contest? A stage that are ment for professional music concerts would be constructive solution… I believe the contestants should be presented with their original stage shows and authentic songs. Otherwise there’s no need to produce a final show anyway. Or they could give Loreen the Queen a tanning bed with some led lights to go for her Tattoos. ???
Euphoria was so good that she didn’t need any staging, but this one without staging is nothing…
Yup. Euphorias victory was well deserved. I still listen to the song itself on its own without watching the performance. Tattoo, on the other hand… its more of a triumph of staging (and, lets be real, *budget*) than a quality overall package. It feels like Sweden poured like 60% of their entire budget into Loreen, like 30% on the overall Melfest show itself, and the remaining 10% divided more or less equally between other entries.
The first bite is always with the eye.
Forgettable like Sweden’s furniture and clothes. thank-you-next!
It’s almost pathetic a final staging would be compromised by something that a NF venue makes effortlessly. It’s pointless to cry over the wrong venue now, but this should be a wake up call for organizers to consider weight limitations on venues when choosing, if they are 100% objective in their picks.
I’m sure Sweden will come up with something else, and hopefully future stagings can have better planning to avoid situations like the unused kinetic sun from last year.
Alternatively, give the contest to who know how to organize them; someone like, you know, SWEDEN!?
All props used during the performances are brought on stage before the performance and taken away after. Countries can’t reserve a space at the ceiling of the venue. Other acts also need that space for their performances.
Sweden has organised the contest twice in recent years, and CB was head of contest for several years, so they should know by now there are limits what can be brought on stage.
Besides, in 2019 they had the same problem. Compare John Lundvik’s MF performance with the one in Tel Aviv.
The staging is make-or-break for this song. It tells the story, starting off claustrophobic / powerless / intimate and then raising the ceiling, finding her strength. As well as displaying the signature “tattoo” symbols in an ethereal way. Its an experience. Otherwise its just another pop song. I already feel like its a bit unfair how much money looks like its been poured into this compared to other acts, if other acts had these production values they could win, but I guess that kind of unfairness is baked into Eurovision.
Eurovision’s arena is weaker than the arena of a NF. Got it.
So pull a Malta and send another song.
Why? Malta didn’t pull a Malta either.
Swedes know ESC and TV shows better than anyone else. I am sure they have a plan B but no one ruled out that the staging cannot take place as it is now.
Love it
The first time I saw the staging I was like wow- I can’t even think of anything to improve it which is unusual. Can’t help thinking though what if the ceiling fell? Though I’m sure the crew know how to eliminate the chance of that happening, can’t help but wonder lol. Not sure how they can make the staging at the same standard/better without the hamburger though. The main parts of the preformance stand out with the hamburger like the start and the silhouette part.
So the thing that makes the song appealing – the performance – won’t even make it to Liverpool. Otherwise unfortunately the song is mediocre at best.
*in your opinion.
It’s a common sentiment amongst many. It’s the performance that makes the song wow, otherwise it’s an average song at best.
The fact that you have to try hard to understand her diction (reminds me of Melovin) is already a disadvantage. Euphoria had MUCH cleaner vocals.
Euphoria really DID NOT have much cleaner vocals. Mumbling is part of her vocal style.
I mentioned this a day or two ago about the staging not being able to translate to the main stage in Liverpool.
https://wiwibloggs.com/2023/03/10/poll-results-loreen-is-our-readers-favourite-in-melodifestivalen-2023/276289/#comment-1351119
Not to boast or anything, I have gave Loreen her praise that she deserves. But, I found that staging questionable not for its quality but how it can be implemented.
Call me crazy but i still think Noa from israel is going to win.
If it will be stage even close to what i imagine its winning
Ritoli, is that you? Stop the cap dawg!
crazy
Loreen just need to stand on the Eurovision stage to win, no need staging.
Just needS
The problem is not the construction’s weight, but the construction itself. It needs to be hung all night at the stadium and is not something you can take and put back after the end of the act. So that makes it unfair for all the other delegations that may need to add stuff to the ceiling.
Bring back Blas Canto’s moon and use that instead…joking ofc
I’m not worried for this. They will find a solution quite easily.
Sweden will find an excuse to not travel to Liverpool and will use the live-on-tape.
That upper bun of the hanburger shouldn’t fall on her. It would be a bloody liverpool
This is the stupiest article on wiwiblogs so far. There is a solution for everything and they can reduce the weight. I dont see the point writting about these things.
If it was so easy to reduce the weight, they wouldn’t be using a 1,8t heavy prop in Mello either.
Are you having a stroke???
We all know by now she is going to win. If she doesn’t Eurovision will be cancelled.
The years without Loreen Eurovision continued to exist…
Shs won then
Loreen fans are becoming really annoying with these comments.
Shes won then
Why would a mediocre song that has millions poured into staging be an auto win, back to the drawboard my friend
Guys how can i vote (if I am in Sweden but I dont have swedish number) ? 🙁
On the app
I cant download it 🙁 I wanted to vote for Smash Into Pieces – it shows me wrote …
Error*
It is really annoying to overhype a song and a singer with all posts; although she even didn’t win. Eurovision and Melodifestivalen are both song contests; not the contest designed for “Flattering” previous Eurovision winners :/
With this, I wish M and M, Smash into Pieces, Kiana and Theoz all the best!
Oh my, we will never hear the end of it from the fans, if there is a different staging in Liverpool. Let her win first, then decide on the best staging.
I wish another song participant like Marcus & Martinus, Smash into Pieces would win the contest; rather than Loreen. Although I liked Loreen’s previous songs; I couldn’t like this song and I want to evaluate the song itself; rather than polished LED screens performances.
Based. These other two songs are actually better as well.
People say that the ceiling is being held up from the top via attachments to the roof and in physical reality that is true. But as a visual metaphor, the ceiling is being pushed up from the ground by the sheer force of Loreen’s presence and the devotion and inner strength she speaks about in her song that allows her to withstand the pain and pressure she’s facing.
This staging isn’t just a visual spectacle, it’s an artistic concept, and I hope if Loreen does win the SVT team can make it work for her in Liverpool.
I bet there are plenty tanning salons in Liverpool who could provide the swedish team another smaller upper deck of Loreen’s sunbed!!!?
I wouldn’t have enough trust in anyone to stand under 1.8 ton screen.
I hope they will find a bit lighter option for Liverpool
Maybe they could use some kind of mirror (like Cyprus 2021) and keep the floor LED screens one. I knew it was going to be an issue because when you look at the ESC stage design reveal, you clearly see that the top of the stage is already form of etablished LED elements which is part of the design. But I’m sure they will find a way to let the song shine in its best way should it win his NF.
For the record, that ceiling will be under a lot of stress.
I don’t know about you guys, but I feel that Loreen getting crushed by her staging would not make for an enjoyable evening.
I’d rather have a queen with a changed staging than one who’s somewhat dead.
Off topic – Luke and Jann on Melfest wknd 23
Cute. Giving me Ellie and Riley vibes.
Whilst I dont suspect this will be an issue for most people, especially those who love the song and those who hear it for the first time in the semis or final, but Ill be honest, Im lukewarm on the song (I dont hate it, its decent, but I have other preferences songwise in Melfest). For me the staging, whilst not necessarily being something completely unheard of in esc (interacting with LED screens), I think the atmosphere it creates and how Loreen sells it, elevates the performance massively. Im sure they could if they needed to, come up with a… Read more »
What? She won already?
No but wiwibloggs overhypes her song; as this Website always overhype Sweden’s entries.
And then she will win because these ‘unbiased’ articles favoured them! A social media campaign!
I think this is okay because at least Swedish delegation might realize that songs are important; rather than polishing songs with expensive stagings. Without staging; “Tattoo” song is just average song :/
Same like overrated Croatia
Lots of people hate Croatia, that’s not overrating, it’s just polarizing.
A good reason to send someone else.
But your most important reason is “I want someone else regardless staging issues” …
I dont understand if they cannot have the same props in Liverpool why are they allowed to use them at MelFest? That would be like having 28 dancers on stage on the NF, It might influence people to vote for a particular song based on a staging that will be different.
Is it not bad that THE EBU do not aspire to have the same high standard as SVT in terms of staging?
Mello is SVT’S way to try and push technology forward. To test limits and try new staging concepts so that the brand stays fresh and relevant…
Why a national final can push boundaries but a bigger final can not is the question?
Timing is the answer. Like the sun in Torino.
The EBU should care and work for 37 different performances and not just for one or two like SVT does in Melfest.
It’s more complex I guess.
And in this case it’s not about EBU is note capable of going forward with technology. It’s a weight thing.
Indeed, many Melfest stagings display more than 6 persons. The answer is simple. The Melfest is not Eurovision. It’s a competition on its own and stagings like Loreen’s this year contribute a lot, in my opinion, to the expertise of putting on a good TV show. This shows only that the Swedish live TV production is ahead of many others in Europe. They just can’t drop their high standards just because other can’t. I always have the impression that they do thzir best to adapt to Eurovision. But even last year RAI really was not able to handle their perfect… Read more »
Id imagine they conceptualised the staging before they knew what the EBU and the BBC were planning to do for the construction of the stage.
I think Swedes are aware that there will be changes in ESC. Even if someone else wins, which they wont, the staging will have to change. It is not going to be a 100% copy paste from Mello. So why this is even reported I do not know.
We vote for her because we want her to represent us with the song. Whatever happens in Liverpool we deal with later .
It really doesn’t matter what the staging is like, Loreen will win the jury vote and Ukraine will win on a ‘pity me’ vote from the public AGAIN.
You’re clueless.
Not saying she wont win the jury although in all fairness, shes a compelling and professional performer who can sing (all qualities jurors would appreciate regardless of the name) and if the staging will be professional, jurors also like that.
so to answer your statement, she could win because the performance is well done but there are others I could see challenging for the jury (Spain and Estonia).
Can you tell that with those exact same words to the face of someone who had to run away from Ukraine and not faceless behind your laptop keyboard or mobile?
Hi, Troll
This specific staging was key for Tattoo. If the Swedish broadcaster cannot come with something as visually impressive as the staging from the Melodifestivalen, Loreen might not reclaim the crown (in the case she’s chosen, of course).
Guys I think the song is overrated too but no hating on Loreen please. If you want to take your day out on someone, it’s really easy to find Blanka’s social media.
I think she has them deactivated. D:
Marco Mengoni will need to lose an entire orchestra, which to me is the greater sin.
and cut 45 seconds from the song
I have seen still some news from Italian TV that he might choose another song for Eurovision rather than Due Vite.
Hasn’t the Sanremo performance of Due Vite been already published on the ESC official channel a week ago? I thought that was a confirmation of the song kind of
I’ll be honest, Loreen’s voice is there, powerful as usual but with how she perform her song with the movement of her hands and the dance is just like on what she did in 2012 but with some upgrades and changes to differ but still for me it wasn’t spectacular enough.Let others represent else she’ll just waste the slot like Alexander Rybak 🙁
Ngl Rybak’s 2018 effort wasn’t THAT bad!
Shooby doop dap dap, shabba dabba hey hey.
Such sound advice.
Loreen’s vocals are just awful, mumbling throughout.
unbelievable! People comment and write non-stop how some of the songs in this contest are generic, not innovative, sound the same. But when it comes to “Tattoo”, everyone is amazed by the song and praises it, but no one hears that it is an exact transcription of Euphoria. As if 11 years haven’t passed and we hear a catchy song indeed, but a complete twin of his brother and as if that’s not enough from the same singer’s voice.
unbelievable! You fully ignored all those criticisms or even attacks here that ‘Tattoo’ is generic, dated, and Euphoria 2.0, since the very day 1.
Maybe, but it doesn’t change the fact that the majority still assign him the debut, he was chosen here as the favorite song to win the final of Sweden, and regardless, he also leads by far in the chances of winning.
Who is “him”? Using that pronoun to refer to whom? A song is not a human being.
I’m guessing English isn’t Ilay’s native language. In many languages everything is either a male or female. Russian an Hebrew for example. in Hebrew a song is a male while a Melody is a woman. I’m not sure what you aimed for, but your comment comes across as condescending and ignorant. Be kind!
Not you acting like you have an unpopular opinion while getting 20+ upvotes. Meanwhile I’ve seen more people call tattoo generic and unoriginal than any other song this year (except for Blanka – solo, lol)
And it’s worse too, with no climax and just relied PURELY on the staging!
She is “copying” herself, if she does. Do you see the difference? That is her style.
Sort the comments by most liked on this article… and they’re ALL literally saying she’s overrated and her song is too generic. You people love to imagine yourself as individualistic connoisseurs of GOOD Eurovision music all in a ruse to hide your simplistic contrarian perspectives on successful, high-quality acts which you maintain because of preconceived prejudices and biases.
Anyone analysing Melodifestivalen this year would’ve objectively give her the win, even without the stage theatrics, as is exampled by her out-streaming two-fold M&M, an act with four times her social media following!
It is disappointing that a certain staging can be realised in NF, but not in ESC.
Agreed with Jimmy. SVT must have made great efforts to enable all stagings from their artists. Kudos to SVT! (But please, hold up the quality of Mello, please.)
Looking forwards to the show tonight!