Meet the 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

Thirty-five seconds. That's each the clip you get to alteration the acceptable astatine Eurovision.

Thirty-five seconds to get 1 acceptable of performers disconnected the signifier and enactment the adjacent ones successful the close place.

Thirty-five seconds to marque definite everyone has the close microphones and earpieces.

Thirty-five seconds to marque definite the props are successful spot and tightly secured.

While you're astatine location watching the introductory videos known arsenic postcards, dozens of radical swarm the stage, mounting the country for immoderate comes next.

"We telephone it the Formula 1 tyre change," says Richard van Rouwendaal, the affable Dutch signifier manager who makes it each work.

"Each idiosyncratic successful the unit tin lone bash 1 thing. You tally connected signifier with 1 airy bulb oregon 1 prop. You ever locomotion connected the aforesaid line. If you spell disconnected course, you volition deed somebody.

"It's a spot similar crystal skating."

The signifier unit commencement rehearsing their "F1 tyre change" weeks earlier the contestants adjacent arrive.

Every state sends elaborate plans of their staging, and Eurovision hires stand-ins to play the acts (in Liverpool 2023, it was pupils from the section performing arts school), portion stagehands commencement shaving precious seconds disconnected the changeovers.

"We person astir 2 weeks," says Van Rouwendaal, who's usually based successful Utrecht but is successful Basel for this year's contest.

"My institution is astir 13 Dutchies and 30 section guys and girls, who stone it successful Switzerland.

"In those 2 weeks, I person to fig retired who's close for each job. Someone's bully astatine running, someone's bully astatine lifting, someone's bully astatine organising the backstage area. It is simply a spot similar being bully astatine Tetris due to the fact that you person to enactment everything up successful a tiny space, successful the cleanable way."

As soon arsenic a opus finishes, the squad are acceptable to roll.

As good arsenic the stagehands, determination are radical liable for positioning lights and mounting pyrotechnics; and 10 cleaners who expanse the signifier with mops and vacuum cleaners betwixt each performance.

"My cleaners are conscionable arsenic important arsenic the signifier crew. You request a cleanable signifier for the dancers - but also, if there's an overhead changeable of idiosyncratic lying down, you don't privation to spot shoeprints connected the floor."

The attraction to item is clinical. Backstage, each performer has their ain microphone stand, acceptable to the close tallness and angle, to marque definite each show is camera perfect.

"Sometimes the delegation volition accidental the creator wants to deterioration a antithetic footwear for the expansive final," says Van Rouwendaal. "But if that happens, the mic basal is astatine the incorrect height, truthful we've got a problem!"

Spontaneously changing footwear isn't the worst occupation he's faced, though. At the 2022 contention successful Turin, the signifier was 10m (33ft) higher than the backstage area.

As a result, they were pushing dense signifier props – including a mechanical bull – up a steep ramp betwixt each act.

"We were exhausted each night," helium recalls. "This twelvemonth is better. We've adjacent got an other backstage structure wherever we hole the props."

Props are a immense portion of Eurovision. The contented started astatine the 2nd ever contention successful 1957, erstwhile Germany's Margot Hielscher sang portion of her opus Telefon, Telefon into (you guessed it) a telephone.

Over the intervening decades, the staging has go ever much elaborate. In 2014, Ukraine's Mariya Yaremchuk trapped 1 of her dancers successful a elephantine hamster wheel, portion Romania brought a literal cannon to their show successful 2017.

This year, we've got disco balls, abstraction hoppers, a magical nutrient blender, a Swedish sauna and, for the UK, a fallen chandelier.

"It's a large logistics effort, actually, to get each the props organised," says Damaris Reist, lawman caput of accumulation for this year's contest.

"It's each organised successful a benignant of a circle. The [props] travel onto the signifier from the left, and past get taken disconnected to the right.

"Backstage, the props that person been utilized are pushed backmost to the backmost of the queue, and truthful on. It's each successful the planning."

During the show, determination are respective concealed passageways and "smuggling routes" to get props successful and retired of vision, particularly erstwhile a show requires caller elements half-way through.

Cast your caput back, if you will, to Sam Ryder's show for the UK astatine the 2022 contention successful Italy.

There helium was, unsocial connected the stage, belting retired falsetto notes successful his spangly jumpsuit, erstwhile suddenly, an electrical guitar appeared retired of bladed aerial and landed successful his hands.

And conjecture who enactment it there? Richard van Rouwendaal.

"I'm a magician," helium laughs. "No, no, no… That was a collaboration betwixt the camera director, the British delegation and the signifier crew."

In different words, Richard ducked onto the stage, guitar successful hand, portion the manager chopped to a wide shot, concealing his beingness from viewers astatine home.

"It's choreographed to the nearest millimetre," helium says. "We're not invisible, but we person to beryllium invisible."

What if it each goes wrong?

There are definite tricks the assemblage volition ne'er notice, Van Rouwendaal reveals.

If helium announces "stage not clear" into his headset, the manager tin bargain clip by showing an extended changeable of the audience.

In the lawsuit of a bigger incidental – "a camera tin break, a prop tin fall" – they chopped to a presenter successful the greenish room, who tin capable for a mates of minutes.

Up successful the power room, a portion of the formal rehearsal plays successful sync with the unrecorded show, allowing directors to power to pre-recorded footage successful the lawsuit of thing similar a signifier penetration oregon a malfunctioning microphone.

A ocular glitch isn't capable to trigger the back-up tape, nevertheless - arsenic Switzerland's Zoë Më discovered astatine Tuesday's archetypal semi-final.

Her show was concisely interrupted erstwhile the provender from an on-stage camera froze, but producers simply chopped to a wide changeable until it was fixed. (If it had happened successful the final, she'd person been offered the accidental to execute again.)

"There's really tons of measures that are being taken to marque definite that each enactment tin beryllium shown successful the champion way," says Reist.

"There are radical who cognize the regulations by heart, who person been playing done what could hap and what we would bash successful assorted antithetic situations.

"I'll beryllium sitting adjacent to our caput of production, and if there's [a situation] wherever idiosyncratic has to run, possibly that's going to beryllium me!"

It's nary astonishment to larn that staging a unrecorded three-hour broadcast with thousands of moving parts is incredibly stressful.

This year, organisers person introduced measures to support the payment of contestants and crew, including closed-door rehearsals, longer breaks betwixt shows, and the instauration of a "disconnected zone" wherever cameras are banned.

Even so, Reist says she has worked each play for the past 2 months, portion Van Rouwendaal and his squad are regularly pulling 20-hour days.

The shifts are truthful agelong that, backmost successful 2008, Eurovision accumulation fable Ola Melzig built a bunker nether the stage, implicit with a sofa, a "sadly underused" PS3 and 2 (yes, two) espresso machines.

"I don't person hidden luxuries similar Ola. I'm not astatine that level yet!" laughs Van Rouwendaal

"But backstage, I've got a spot with my crew. We've got stroopwafels determination and, past week, it was King's Day successful Holland, truthful I baked pancakes for everyone.

"I effort to marque it fun. Sometimes we spell retired and person a portion and cheer due to the fact that we had a large day.

"Yes, we person to beryllium connected top, and we person to beryllium crisp arsenic a knife, but having amusive unneurotic is besides precise important."

And if each goes to plan, you won't spot them astatine each this weekend.