Inside Eurovision’s high-stakes world of spectacle design
5/11/202628 min
Once a punchline, now a powerhouse. For decades, Eurovision lived on the fringes of Australian culture — loved by some, dismissed by many. But when Australia entered the competition in 2015, perception began to shift. What was once mocked for its camp excess and theatrical scale moved steadily into the mainstream. After 70 years of spectacle, ambition and visual escalation, how has Eurovision gone on to influence the way entertainment is designed today?
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First 90 secondsRoss Nicholson· Guest0:00
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Anthony Burke· Host0:05
[upbeat music] When it comes to entertainment, you don't get much bigger or more global. A once-a-year collision of pop concert, costume parade, light show, and geopolitical pageant, with an audience of 166 million people worldwide. I am, of course, talking about the Eurovision Song Contest. And for designers, it represents the largest and most widely seen stage imaginable.
Go-Jo· Guest0:37
I've played a lot of shows in my life, from smaller shows to, you know, arenas and things like that, and it is by far the biggest stage. There was almost too much that I could've done on it. Even when I watch the performance back, I'm like, "Damn, there, there's so many moving parts and so many," you know, like, where I'm not looking down and I'm moving to the side, I'm moving to the left, and it's like, you know, I could've fallen in a, in one of those, like, manhole things, but thankfully the stage was enormous.
Anthony Burke· Host1:04
[laughs] Since its first broadcast in 1956, Eurovision hasn't just endured, it has evolved. 70 years of ambition, identity, technology, and theatrical excess. Once written off as kitsch, how much has it shaped the look, language, and scale of entertainment design today? [upbeat music] For decades, Eurovision sat on the fringes of Australian culture. It