[Brekkie]

Ridiculous and unnecessary change that nobody asked for.

[Jon]

Ridiculous and unnecessary change that nobody asked for.

Obviously to some extent the producers are just trying to see to what extent they’re able to fix running order.

[strollfan]

Imagine this will irritate broadcasters such as RTSH and CT who have seen their entries repeatedly get given bad "draws" by producers already, the last thing these smaller nations will want is to give those producers more power to shaft them

[Earlie37]

This sounds very confusing and a lot of effort for something that didn't really need addressing. I've read the article through three times and still don't quite understand what real benefits it brings. They might as well just have numbers 1 through to 26 and pick their place at random.

I have a feeling that this may be something that is quietly dropped after a short number of years. SVT were moaning about how complicated things were getting and also wanted to reduce the length of the show. Problem is... most of these things were elements they introduced! (e.g. the flag parade, separating out jury and viewer voting, getting producers to decide some of the running order from 2013). They've done the same with Melfest and just need to strip things back. The re-attempt at 'Andra Chansen' this year in Melfest completely fell apart... the old adage 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'!

[UTVLifer]

The behind the scenes documentary on Olly's Eurovision journey will air on BBC One on the night of Semi Final 1 after the News at 10

www.bbc.co.uk 

BBC One - Eurovision Song Contest, 2024, Olly Alexander’s Road to Eurovision '24
This revealing film follows Olly Alexander as he navigates the road to Eurovisio…
  Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Also Radio 2 are yet to announce their commentators for the Semi Finals, unless I've missed an announcement somewhere

[RhysJR]

Also Radio 2 are yet to announce their commentators for the Semi Finals, unless I've missed an announcement somewhere

Doesn't look like it. At the time of writing, Radio 2 is 'off air' during the semi-finals.

www.bbc.co.uk 

BBC Radio 2 - Schedules, Thursday 9 May 2024
This is the daily broadcast schedule for BBC Radio 2
  Source: www.bbc.co.uk

[Flux]

This sounds very confusing and a lot of effort for something that didn't really need addressing. I've read the article through three times and still don't quite understand what real benefits it brings. They might as well just have numbers 1 through to 26 and pick their place at random.

That situation gives producers no control over the running order, which is the opposite of why they’re making this change. You could end up with 10 dull ballads in a row, or all the upbeat fun at the end of the show. I know some might not care about that and prefer the fairness of a draw, but the justification put forward that producers are making changes because they’re trying to create the best TV show through the most impactful running order holds water.

I totally agree that the new “solution” is confusing and never needed addressing in the first place, though.

The whole point of the two draws (first half/second half) was to keep some degree of jeopardy and perceived “fairness” on the acts’ part - i.e. They still drew their position to an extent - but to ultimately allow producers control over the running order. I think it was a good enough compromise and effectively disguised the fact that the actual decisions lay with producers. This new “producers choice” category totally diminishes that. If they’re after more control they may as well just do away with the draw altogether, or look at other options such as making the draw exclusively choose who performs first and who performs last so producers could control the running order around that.

I can see it being a damp squib every time a “producers choice” is selected in the draw as it means absolutely nothing.

[Brekkie]

If anything they should have gone the other way and cut it into quarters or fifths (groups of 5 would work, with the host as the 26th drawn completely at random).

Ultimately whether they draw first or second half now or "producers choice" it's effectively all producers choice. The EBU though probably mess up by being too honest in labelling it "producers choice" and perhaps should have gone with something like "wildcard" with the outcome being the same but it just doesn't sound so blatantly fixed. I think having 7-8 automatically allocate to each half rather than just 6 so fewer are allocated by producers would have made it a bit easier to sell too.

Alternatively the same thing could have been achieved by replacing the halves with odds and evens. That still gives some sense of randomisation but gives the producers what they want with them able to allocate a song from position 1 to 25 or 2 to 26.

[UTVLifer]

First official pictures of the stage in action and it looks incredible

x.com 

[Edogawa Ranpo]

And here is the big reveal on video with some faster-paced theme music, bit of a mix of 00s rave with some orchestral elements.
Also notice the potential "stage ready" sound we might be hearing before song, it's a remixed version of the intro of Loreen's winning song "Tattoo".
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