Eurovision 2019

I liked Lisbon’s stage design very much. The lack of massive LED screens meant countries had to concentrate on the songs - and it is a song contest not a staging contest. Amar Pelos Dois was staged without anything apart from the singer singing the song, and won resoundingly. Lisbon was almost an extension of that philosophy.

Boo Hoo ....

"Make the day of the Eurovision Song Contest final a national holiday" https://t.co/jP7CjEtGxT

— Rejected Petitions (@rejectpetitions) October 18, 2018

It is a Saturday I guess.

In other news KAN are putting the postcard production out to tender and there's a €1.2m budget to do it with.

I really hope they go down to two hosts. Four was too many. IBA were the first to do a trio, and the second to do a duo.

I'd like to see just one host do it this time.
Like Petra for example, she did a fantastic job doing it all herself in 2013

There does seem to be a bit of an arms race developing with the number of presenters these days.

For me, Petra is an incredible host and capable of holding the whole thing together on her own. I'm not sure most countries would be in a position to have someone that good, who is that much of a force of personality.

I'd say in most instances three is the magic number. Two on the stage, one in the green room or to pad with interviews when (if) something goes wrong.

It depends. Not every country has a presenter of the calibre of Petra Mede. Apart from Dermot O' Leary, have even we?

What would be nice, given that the green room isn't in the arena this year, is if SVT's 2013 lead is followed and some fun stuff is done in the ad breaks rather than the toe curling green room "banter" we've had the last few years.

I was just thinking that. You'd presume Graham Norton would be main presenter, but would he also have to do the commentary for the UK? In which case, I assume you'd need at least one other presenter to go through the scores and be there in case something happens.

As per the arrangement in 1998. Terry did the UK commentary and hosted at the start and end, whilst Ulrika did everything else.

I think Terry had a very unique role in the Contest to be fair, and because it was on the BBC in 1998, I assume the producers felt that not having him as part of the on-screen presentation team would have been both a bit of a snub to him professionally, and also slightly odd for a UK audience, who associated the Contest solely with Wogan. Also strange for the audience for there to be a different commentator for 3+ hours too, so I can understand the choice!

Having re-watched the 98 Contest, I would say now it looks incredibly odd to have that set-up, and I can't see a producer choosing to do that with any presenter now.

Graham Norton would be the default choice of course, possibly with Mel Giedroyc and Rylan Clarke-Neal as co-presenters. Fantasy team: I think it would be nice to see Mel and Su Perkins present (they do have international recognition thanks to Bake Off, although perhaps not so much with an European audience), with RCN in the Green Room, Norton behind the mic.

I don't think we're that far away from Graham Norton being the wrong choice for the commentator anyway. Eurovision is attracting an increasingly younger audience, and one day, the presentation team will have to reflect that. If you think about it musically, Eurovision entries are closer now to Radio 1 (non-specialist) playlists, than they are to Radio 2 in my opinion.

I think the BBC would want to do the same thing with Graham, given the choice. Historically, the UK's view of Eurovision has come through the commentator since Wogan's era, for better and for worse. Some people tune in specifically for him, so double Graham would be very appealing to the core audience (who aren't obsessively into Eurovision but enjoy it as a spectacle). He's got experience of co-hosting a Eurovision show with Petra Mede, so I imagine he could step up to the plate. The only issue is whether he would want to do it.

I fear Mel and Sue are a bit of a busted flush after the Generation Game reboot, and given the amount of time it'll take the UK to win again I think they'll be hugely off the radar by the time it comes up again. Dermot O'Leary is potentially a very good choice but would feel odd to BBC viewers.

In terms of the age of commentators, the Eurovision gig feels much like the Radio 2 breakfast gig in terms of it being a job for life if you want it. It's a very demanding job and when a broadcaster finds someone who's good at it they tend to stick with them. Ireland's commentator Marty Whelan is 62 and does the breakfast show on a classical music station, and he's still doing the main commentary on TV. There is room to groom a successor though, because Ken Bruce can't go on forever. Presumably, when he leaves Radio 2, the opportunity is there to give the likes of Rylan or Scott Mills a chance of doing the radio commentary, with the possibility of one of them taking the main position when Graham quits.

I'm surprised Mel & Sue weren't considered for the Radio 2 Breakfast Show rather than another ex Radio 1 breakfast host. Would have shaken things up a bit and been a nice way of repaying their loyalty for sticking with the Beeb. I think their whimsical way is very Radio 2.

They're not experienced radio DJs though. It's ok to get someone from the telly or other field of entertainment and put them into a radio studio to do a programme in a low profile slot at the weekend.

For a show like that they need someone who's got experienced at live radio, knows what works on the medium and can do it slickly every day. Someone who's never operated a desk before or needs a tech op to do it isn't ideal for such a slot.

That said Zoe Ball was hardly a radio veteran when she started on Radio 1, but she was co-presenter to someone who was