The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

Summary

Meet the 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunderMark SavageMusic CorrespondentGetty ImagesIcelandic boyband VÆB were the first act to perform on the Eurovision stage this yearThirty-five seconds. That's all the time you get to change the set at Eurovision.Thirty-five seconds to get one set of performers off the stage and put the next ones in the right place. Thirty-five seconds to make sure everyone has the right microphones and earpieces. Thirty-five seconds to make sure the props are in place and tightly secured.While you're at home watching the introductory videos known as postcards, dozens of people swarm the stage, setting the scene for whatever comes next."We call it the Formula 1 tyre change," says Richard van Rouwendaal, the affable Dutch stage manager who makes it all work."Each person in the crew can only do one thing. You run on stage with one light bulb or one prop. You always walk on the same line. If you go off course, you will hit somebody."It's a bit like ice skating."Watch a 30-second set change at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in LiverpoolThe stage crew start rehearsing their "F1 tyre change" weeks before the contestants even arrive.Every country sends detailed plans of their staging, and Eurovision hires stand-ins to play the acts (in Liverpool 2023, it was pupils from the local performing arts school), while stagehands start shaving precious seconds off the changeovers."We have about two weeks," says Van Rouwendaal, who's normally based in Utrecht but is in Basel for this year's contest."My company is around 13 Dutchies and 30 local guys and girls, who rock it in Switzerland."In those two weeks, I have to figure out who's right for each job. Someone's good at running, someone's good at lifting, someone's good at organising the backstage area. It is a bit like being good at Tetris because you have to line everything up in a small space, in the perfect way."As soon as a song finishes, the team are ready to roll.As we...