You're reading: Ukraine can learn from other Eurovision hosts

Time is running out for Kyiv to get its act together to host Eurovision 2017. Preparations for the show, to be held in the Ukrainian capital from May 9-13, have not gone well even though there’s still plenty of time to recover before an estimated 200 million television viewers tune in.

There were problems with ticket sales. It took awhile to decide on a venue even after Kyiv became the host city. Then nearly two dozen members of the organizing team quit, with some of them expressing displeasure about how some of the taxpayer money is being spent.

It’s as if Ukraine was hosting the first ever Eurovision show. But the show has been held every year for 60 years now. So there are plenty of people go to who can give advice.

Past experience

That’s exactly what the Swedes did when they started preparing for last year’s song contest.

Ann-Charlotte Jönsson, a communications strategist responsible for marketing and PR during Eurovision 2016 in Stockholm, says when Sweden’s Eurovision organizers started preparing for the show, they had few guidelines on how to organize the event and chose to ask the previous hosts, Vienna and Malmoe, for advice.

“It was important to talk to previous host cities, Vienna and Malmoe, and they were generous with tips and ideas and timelines,” Jönsson said.

Both Vienna and Stockholm started preparing as soon as it was announced they would host it, Vienna in August 2014, and Stockholm in July 2015. They worked in close cooperation with their television broadcasting companies, the European Broadcasting Union, and others responsible for the Eurovision.

Daniel Themessl-Huber from Vienna city hall’s international relations department says it’s important for a Eurovision host city to think in advance about how to present itself to the foreign visitors.

“The question about what kind of public image a city wants to communicate is crucial and needs to be addressed in advance,” he said.

Vienna’s Eurovision 2015 slogan was “Building Bridges” focusing on the uniting idea of music, and the city of Vienna as a world capital of music in the heart of Europe.

The Swedish Eurovision organizers paid special attention to Eurovision fans and cooperated closely with the international Eurovision fun club, which has over 20,000 active members in 37 countries who every year travel from one host city to another.

“It was a conscious decision to involve those who know the contest and the host cities the best, to listen to their experiences and wishes, and to be in a constant dialog with them,” Jönsson says. “This offered new insight and a fantastic opportunity to get feedback on all aspects of our work.”

Stockholm’s results were also fantastic – 78,954 sold tickets for all nine Eurovision shows, including 28,000 old to foreign fans. The city’s revenues from Eurovision totaled 347 million Swedish kronor ($38.5 million).

Seven out of 10 visitors were likely to return to the country within the next 1 – 5 years, corresponding to extra potential tourism revenues of 68 million Swedish kronor ($7.5 million) Jönsson says.

Delays and hiccups

In contrast to Sweden’s organized preparations, since last May, when Ukrainian singer Jamala won Eurovision 2016 in Sweden, giving Ukraine the right to hold this year’s show, organizers in Ukraine have wasted time.

Preparations effectively started only in September, when Kyiv was selected as the host city – a decision that had been repeatedly postponed.

Ukrainian Culture Minister Yevhen Nyshchuk said the delay was due to fierce bidding among potential host cities, while the biggest discussion was about determining which venue would hold the contest this year.

Then last November Zurab Alasania, the CEO of the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine or NTU, responsible for organizing Eurovision, quit. Alasania said he was quitting mainly because funds intended for the development of public broadcasting in Ukraine had been diverted to Eurovision.

Then on Feb. 13, three months before the contest, more than 20 members of the NTU’s Eurovision organization team, including the contest’s executive producers Victoriya Romanova and Oleksandr Kharebin, quit, accusing the NTU and its deputy head Pavlo Hrytsak of interfering in the work of the team.

They also accused the NTU of non-transparency in making key decisions and of not holding tenders and not signing contracts in a timely fashion. Hrytsak said the resignations would not affect preparations. The NTU soon found replacements.

Eurovision tickets finally went on sale on Feb. 14 after delays.

Don’t panic

Despite the shaky start, Ukrainian organizers say there’s no reason to panic.

“We’re working very intensively. Earlier – in 2016 – we had some delays, but now everything’s going according to plan,” Hrytsak told the Kyiv Post. “Eurovision is one of the most difficult and most technical shows in the world. Now we have to work intensively every day.”

The contest in Ukraine will be funded from two sources – Hr 455.7 million ($16.9 million) from the central government and Hr 200 million ($7.4 million) from the host city of Kyiv.

The organizers expect nearly 20,000 foreign tourists to visit Kyiv over the two weeks of the contest in May. The expected revenues from Eurovision ticket sales is over Hr 70 million ($2.6 million), Hrytsak says.

But Kyiv, unlike Vienna and Stockholm, will also have to improve city infrastructure if these ticketholders are to get their money’s worth.

Oleksiy Reznikov, the deputy head of Kyiv City Administration says the city’s preparations are currently under way. Reconstruction of the Livoberezhna metro station, located near the Eurovision’s main arena, has already started. Forty roads in Kyiv are now being repaired, he says.

The city administration also plans to launch a river tram connecting the left and right banks of Kyiv of the Dnipro River.
“Eurovision has to be done properly, because we’re talking not only about the image of Kyiv, but also the image of the whole country,” Reznikov says.

When the weather gets warmer, he says that grass and flowers will be planted and buildings next to official Eurovision locations will be covered with banners with Eurovision symbols.

Eurovision effect

Ukraine won’t make a profit from holding Eurovision. The organizers expect no more than $7.4 million in revenues.

In this regard, Kyiv is no different from many recent Eurovision hosts: Vienna in 2015 spent $42 million while tourist revenues were $33 million. Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2014 spent $54 million to hold the contest, while its revenues were $20 million.

Only Sweden stands out. Last year Stockholm spent $11.2 million on the event, while tourist revenues generated by Eurovision-related events generated $38.5 million.

Eurovision host countries also get a share of the profit from TV channels, ticket sales and advertising. The value of advertising bought for Eurovision in Vienna in 2015 was about $106.4 million.

“The effect of the event is spectacular – it’s a TV show with 200 million viewers,” Jönsson of Sweden says.

Reznikov of the Kyiv City Administration says all the money that Eurovision tourists spend in Kyiv will be plowed into the city’s development – hotels, restaurants, theaters, museums, etc.

But organizers believe what Ukraine will gain most from Eurovision is an improvement in the country’s image and reputation.
“Our first goal is not financial profit. We’re working on the image of the city and country,” Reznikov said.