Dan Shipton will not stage Olly Alexander’s Eurovision performance in Malmö. 

Shipton has a long history working with the BBC’s Eurovision team as Creative Director, having staged the UK’s entries at the contest between 2015 and 2018, and again in 2022. 

But this relationship will continue to be on pause as Alexander’s Eurovision performance will instead be staged by Theo Adams who is a long-time Creative Director for the BRIT Award nominee. 

Speaking exclusively to The Euro Trip, BBC Studios’ Eurovision Executive Producer, Lee Smithurst, said: “Dan is not going to be doing the staging because Olly has his own team. 

“It’s important that he has his own team around him for Eurovision. 

“The good thing is that Olly’s such a massive fan of Eurovision – he does know it inside out. You don’t need to tell Olly you can only have six people on stage, or that your song can’t be more than three minutes long. 

“For Olly and Theo to be working together already and thinking about ideas is great because they’re a team and they trust each other. They’re going to come up with something great. 

“He wants to do as much as he can on stage in three minutes and make it as exciting and unique as possible so it stands out in the crowd.” 

BBC Music’s Commissioning Executive, Will Wilkin, joined Smithurst for an exclusive interview with The Euro Trip – available now on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Adams has collaborated with Alexander on a number of projects in the past, including the singer’s performance of It’s A Sin with Elton John at the 2021 BRIT Awards, his New Year’s Eve show on BBC One in the same year, and his most recent world tour. 

Shipton and his company Blackskull Creative have been heavily involved with the BBC at Eurovision and Junior Eurovision since 2015. 

They can boast having staged more than 15 entries in recent years, leading the production of seven in 2021 alone. 

Shipton himself stepped up as Lead Creative Director of the whole contest last year when the BBC took the reins and hosted Eurovision in Liverpool. 

Blackskull Creative designed some elements of Mae Muller’s staging when she represented the UK last year, but this was without Shipton’s input. 

It remains to be seen whether Shipton will be part of Eurovision 2024, but Smithurst thinks he’ll be involved. 

“I’m sure Dan will still be there in some capacity.”