Stage Technologies provided rental equipment for the spirited opening show, semi-finals and the live final in Moscow's gigantic Olimpiskiy Indoor Arena, which was built for the 1980 Summer Olympics. A combination of point hoist winches and an Illusionist control desk were used to create a number of performer flying effects to captivate a live audience of thousands and a worldwide audience of millions.
Four winches were used for the opening sequence: one winch was rigged in the arena above the audience to fly a performer in a net, two were rigged above the front of the stage to form a 12m bridle to fly a performer up and over the audience and another was rigged above the stage for a vertical flight scene.
The bridle and point hoist winches were also used to lift Russian heartthrob Dima Bilan (the winner from last year's contest) and an angel character, during the tale of 'The Prodigal Son' who yearns to escape the tedium of everyday life and sing at Eurovision. The prodigal son (Bilan) sung the winning song from Eurovision 2008 Believe in a delightful modern fairytale interwoven with thrilling stunts and gymnastics from the Cirque du Soleil troupe.
Additionally, Stage Technologies stepped in at the eleventh hour to provide an urgently-needed Saxis control unit and a 6m/s winch to the main contractor for the event, Visual Act, which was used to fly a remote head camera from upstage down over the acts. This camera was used frequently throughout the rehearsals and shows to impart a sense of the dynamic performances and the buzz in the crowd.Next year's contest in Norway promises to be just as fun-packed, as Eurovision continues to delight its fans. In the words of Terry Wogan, "[it's] the world's greatest international television event. ... exciting, camp, foolish, spectacular, fun .... the most brilliantly produced three and a half hours of live television ever seen," and Stage Technologies hopes to be able to pitch in again in 2010.
For more on this year's Eurovision, see the July issue of Lighting&Sound magazine.
(Claire Beeson)
