Speaking in an special bonus episode of The Euro Trip podcast, Melodifestivalen Supervisor and six-time Eurovision Song Contest Producer Christer Björkman has revealed the “chaos” in the days leading up to the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine.
In an interview with podcast host Rob Lilley, Christer explained exactly what happened months before the event was scheduled to take place.
“The government threw out the old producer and brought in the new Executive Producer, the one who had done it in 2005. He called me in December when I was in Armenia doing jury work… and he offered me to be the producer of the show.”
Christer went on to explain he couldn’t accept that position so late before the contest, but would take on the role of Contest Producer instead. However he became Producer after the team working on the show were dropped just months before broadcast.
“It was a disaster, and it was chaos, but in the end it was interesting… in the end it still becomes TV. And in the end, it wasn’t even bad.”
The 2017 contest was held in the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv following Jamala’s victory in Stockholm the year prior.
When asked how close the show was to not making it to our television screens, Christer gave an honest assessment.
“Every day, every day, even during the first broadcast. We took down the last audio tapes into the system at 8.45pm, that’s how late everything was.”
“We didn’t even have the chance to double check it to make sure everything was okay.”
He did admit he now looks on the contest was fondness, although it wasn’t a scenario he’d be keen to repeat.
“It was an experience… I learned a lot from it.”
Image Credit: Eurovision.tv
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