The Eurovision Song Contest has always been a mammoth undertaking, but this year’s event has been a feat like no other.
“We came to this four months later than would normally happen because of course while Ukraine won in 2022, it took some time to understand whether or not they would be in a position to host the contest,” says James O’Brien, executive in charge of production at BBC Studios. “Add to that the current economic climate, and the fact that the UK event industry is busier than ever, and you start to get a picture of how challenging it has been to even get out of the starting blocks.”
He continues: “As soon as we had our core production team at BBC Studios, the challenge was matching the scale and ambition of the show to the venue. As expected, though, the amazing team at the BBC, Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre, and our technical delivery team have brought it all together to deliver nine epic live shows.”
O’Brien will lead the team at...