Eurovision is very expensive, although I'm never entirely sure why. Costs vary, but somewhere around $20m+ is probably fairly close. And from what I can tell, that cost is essentially borne by the host country - the host being the winner of the previous year's competition (the UK stepped in to host for Ukraine last year having finished 2nd in 2022).
But I'm not sure that it's true to say that it would never happen if proposed today. The ratings are insanely good in most countries across Europe. In the UK it's about 10m, which placed it third in 2023 behind only the coronation (which isn't something that comes around that much) and the finale of Happy Valley. And in some European countries it is taken *much* more seriously than it is in the UK. And it has a bunch of things that continue to work in 2024. Years ago, they transitioned from juries being the sole arbiters in each country to phone lines and now online voting. That means audience participation. And there's the reality-show style lead-ups in many countries that go about choosing that country's entry (Not everyone does this. Someone in the UK just *picks* our entrant these days.) Eurovision itself is much bigger than just the Song Competition. There are other shared rights that member countries get access to. And these days, a lot of classical music created by various state broadcasters around Europe is shared this way. For example, many across Europe will watch the New Year's Day Concert from Vienna which plays a lot of Strauss waltzes (e.g. The Blue Danube) every year. The BBC Proms are shared across Europe too. As for the booing - I'm sure that they have really good sound mixers on the programme that means that they can easily turn up or down sections of the audience that are doing anything that they don't like. For a show like Eurovision, you would probably have lots of microphones scattered across the audience that you can mix between. In Premier League football fixtures, sections of the crowd will sometimes sing songs with words that can't be broadcast, and the sound mixer will dip the relevant mics and bring up others. And I'm sure they can "augment" the crowd mix if needed. Adam On Fri, May 10, 2024 at 2:57 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> wrote: > In an interesting piece behind a paywall, the Ankler said that the very > expensive to run Eurovision song contest has kept going due only to > tradition and that if someone would propose it today, it would be turned > down in the wink of an eye. Of course, it was a much different beast in > 1958, with everyone in formal wear singing in front of a house orchestra in > a concert hall and no dancers or flashy special effects--and only seven > contestants. And it was reflecting the mainstream western European adult > sensibility of easy listening music (none of that American rock and roll). > Even in 1974, when ABBA basically began their international career at > Eurovision, the production on their hit song "Waterloo" was understated > compared to the overblown spectacle Eurovision has become--and the fall of > the eastern Soviet bloc has made a big difference in what the contest has > become. > > Mark Jeffries > [email protected] > > > On Fri, May 10, 2024 at 8:38 AM John Edwards <[email protected]> wrote: > >> The EBU did apparently take steps to ensure that any booing last night >> wasn't audible on the broadcast, and isn't above sweetening or inserting >> sounds of cheering to ensure that any booing doesn't go out on TV. Social >> media last night indicated that there was some booing, but I'm not sure if >> it was as pronounced as during the dress rehearsal on Wednesday. >> >> John >> >> On Thu, May 9, 2024 at 7:42 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Singer Eden Golan has been told not to leave her hotel in Malmo, Sweden, >>> except for rehearsals and performances, as throngs outside are protesting >>> Israel's presence in the annual song contest--the song was originally >>> entitled "October Rain," but the Eurovision bosses rejected it as too >>> controversial, so it was rewritten and retitled "Hurricane" (video of song >>> in link)--Golan's rehearsal yesterday was interrupted by boos from the >>> audience, although no boos were evident during today's semi-final heat >>> telecast (I'm assuming that Sweden's SVT is not sweetening the audience >>> response like some American reality comps)--she made it into the Saturday >>> finals after an all-viewer vote (the finals are at 3 p.m. ET in the U.S. on >>> Peacock), as did the Irish rock band Bambie Thug, who had to change their >>> costumes on Tuesday's semi-final heat when it was found that Celtic writing >>> on the costumes said "CEASE FIRE" and "FREEDOM FOR PALESTINE": >>> >>> https://www.thewrap.com/eurovision-protests-israel-eden-golan-hurricane/ >>> >>> The European Broadcasting Union of pubcasters who organizes Eurovision >>> has always maintained that the contest is apolitical and that Israel's >>> pubcasters are valid members of the organization, but politics has always >>> butt into the proceedings over the years (like the Ukraine winning in 2022 >>> after the Russian invasion) and with the panels of industry people voting >>> on Saturday along with viewers, it will be interesting to see how Israel >>> does and if the EBU will get hit with either coddling Zionism or supporting >>> anti-Semitism. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/dcfd7865-998b-47ea-86a4-038337097418n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/dcfd7865-998b-47ea-86a4-038337097418n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> >> >> -- >> John Edwards >> "You can insure against the weather, but you can't insure against >> incompetence, can you?" - Phil Tufnell >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJLXtMJkx7%2BJfqbETDhNgMidVt1eaF4i3OXGL5BJ9bQmPvgE6w%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJLXtMJkx7%2BJfqbETDhNgMidVt1eaF4i3OXGL5BJ9bQmPvgE6w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJ_uKi-fddgDd8EPeB3-yGVa6S-M%2BYUfVaPUCwDK%2BkvsnE%3Dyyg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJ_uKi-fddgDd8EPeB3-yGVa6S-M%2BYUfVaPUCwDK%2BkvsnE%3Dyyg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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