Presumably the show brings together large numbers of people behind the scenes from all over Europe. Given the travel restrictions between countries in the EU it may just not be possible to get the staff they need to put anything resembling the show they want to. Better not to do it than do something poorly IMO.
Couldn't/shouldn't they have found a way to do it, even if it's remotely/without an audience like some some have suggested (eg. using pre-recordings from each country if they can't be live from each country)? Even if they wanted everyone on the same stage/place couldn't they have found a way to do it? Even if the host countries rules disallowed that many people couldn't they have a few in at a time (who haven checked for corona like suggested) or done it with green screens or LED backgrounds (to show a virtual representation of the actual stage) from other countries and maybe green screened/CGI'd in an audience? They could have had quite a long time to make it work well.
What a huge amount of effort – would it be worth it, even if it were possible with staff shortages and other priorities?
:-(
A former member
The member requested removal of this post
Last edited by A former member on 26 March 2021 4:30pm
What a huge amount of effort – would it be worth it, even if it were possible with staff shortages and other priorities?
It would proably be worth it and the cost could be recovered. Maybe the cost could be less than it usually is. They've used leds in the background before. They could use LED for virtual studio production (maybe updated ones compared to previous years) like in other TV shows like The Mandalorian to represent the actual stage if they couldn't get people there and for the audience in the far background they could be the same set of people 3d models/2D mixed up or something.
They should be able to make all their money back with the same way they do every year but would probably need a lot less people at the actual venue (if any).
I am quite surprised they haven't at least provisionally re-scheduled a new date maybe in the autumn to allow a 2020 show. Then maybe next year could have been two or three months later before getting back on track to around May in 2022.
They answered this point is their FAQs, saying that it is because doing this wouldn't allow a full year to plan next year's contest.
The issue isn't just staff - it's production, equipment and infrastructure that often comes in across Europe and with many borders closed - it makes it all the more difficult given the freight would be classed as 'non essential'.
Then the crew need to go with it to operate it - hard to do with restrictions in place even if they are lifted this time next month.
They answered this point is their FAQs, saying that it is because doing this wouldn't allow a full year to plan next year's contest.
Though they could speed up the process for next year if they did a later one this year. They could also do a scaled down one next year or re-use the same stage/venue as a previous year because of it (or a smaller existing one). The rules I think allow another country to do the show if the winning country can't (or in this case, if they possibly can't in time).
It's a shame it's been cancelled, but some of the suggested alternatives (such as each song broadcasting from its own country) were impractical and could have been very expensive.
It wouldn't have had a cohesive look, and denied the Netherlands the opportunity to produce something they were proud of showing to Europe. At least they will get the chance (sometime) next year, but there is no guarantee that everything will be back to normal by May 2021.
