Käärijä’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest would mean a huge amount of work for Yleisradio.
The exciting Eurovision final is fast approaching. At the same time, speculations about Finland’s possible victory are intensifying even more.
What, then, would Käärijä’s win concretely bring with it?
Director of Ylen’s Creative Content and Media Unit Ville Vilén tells Iltalehti that there will be a busy project. He has plenty of experience, as he was involved in the arrangements 16 years ago, when the singing competition was last held in Finland.
– I especially remembered the fact that it is a big year-long project due to a few television programs. Three shipments are prepared a year, Vilé’s sum.
Ylen’s Ville Vilén already knows that organizing the Eurovision Song Contest is a demanding project. YLE / image service
The winning country must decide within a month whether it will be able to organize the following year’s competition.
– First we would look at our responsibility at Yle and after that the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) delegation would contact us immediately.
– They (the EBU) have a ready-made template for the organization, it has certain roles to be filled. It includes a chief producer, for which an experienced person must be found. Then you have to find a director responsible for the content side, who is responsible for what happens in front of the cameras. Then there is the producer who is responsible for the collaborators, Vilén opens the process.
The host country is responsible for, among other things, the opening number of the competitions and the “postcards” or video clips seen between performances. Preparing the budget also falls to Yleisradio.
Käärijä has wowed both the Finnish and international audiences at Eurovision. Corinne Cumming 2023, EBU
The first task would also be to find the competition city and venue. According to Vilén, the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, has exact requirements for the competition arena and the host city.
– I think that (finding a competition arena) is the biggest challenge for Finland, admits Vilén.
– For example, it must be possible to organize direct flight routes from as many European countries as possible. There must be an incredible amount of accommodation capacity.
Vilén points out that there are few airports in Finland that could host international flights. Even large arenas are not oversupplied in Finland.
Lord’s win meant that the games were organized in Helsinki in 2007. KARI PEKONEN
Vilén mentions that the competition arena must be available for up to 7–8 weeks.
– If you think pragmatically, it’s quite challenging. If you have to have a hall available for two months in the spring, when hockey is played in all the halls. This will not be an easy solution.
The situation was similar in 2007, when the competition was held at the Hartwall arena, i.e. the current Helsinki Hall.
– It was quite a negotiation, of course, but the Eurovision was wanted, it was historic, Vilén recalls.