Much is being written about the stage of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest, and especially about its main element, the kinetic sun, which would be the focal point of this year’s Eurovision stage, but now somehow seems to be disregarded because of technical malfunctions. The Italian National Broadcaster, RAI, does not seem to have an explanation, but somehow there are also plans to involve the kinetic sun, may it not be in its full glory, during the interval acts.
The center of the Eurovision universe
The kinetic sun would be the center of the Eurovision universe in Turin. The arches of this kinetic sun stage element would turn, and it would give every performance a unique look. At first, the Italian organization would fix the problems, and then they would not, and then… Let’s just say it is a bit of a mess, and somebody in our team even came up with the slogan “The Beauty of Chaos” for this year’s contest. Fact is that the malfunctions of the kinetic sun element kind of ruin the plans of entrants who had big plans for the use of this on-stage element.
A challenge of their own
On some of the pictures we have seen online we see lots of cables and lighting of the sun element, because the chaos surrounding this differentiating part of the stage are becoming a challenge of their own. For some of the delegations disregarding the kinetic means that months of work and money will result in nothing. In the short-distance shots that have been made during rehearsals one can see many cables across the floor, and in the long-distance shot the sun element, that is broken, blocks the view of the LED screen.
Not included in the competing acts
Italian newspaper “La Stampa” claims that the arches of the kinetic sun do not work as intended, and because the Italian National Broadcaster RAI cannot guarantee that they are going to work properly at some point, the sun cannot be included in any of the 40 competing acts. By doing so, RAI hopes that no country’s performance will get affected by this change of plans, and that everybody has the same chances, even without the kinetic sun prop on stage.
The sun rises for “invited” guests
Strangely enough we will see the arches of the kinetic sun in motion, but only when there are “invited guests” who perform during interval acts. There might also be other instances during which the kinetic sun will play a role, but the arches will turn in a limited kind of way. When they do, we will get to see a glimpse of what the designer of the Italian stage intended with it, which is naturally a huge shame to have designed something grand that eventually never really sees the light of day.
Lackluster way of going about things
Fan media and even news outlets have spoken out about this lackluster way of going about things, but the EBU and RAI keep silent. The whole ordeal is just unbecoming. Some of the delegations have been hit hard, because many of them have spent time and money in staging that matches their song, while including all the elements that they have at their disposal, including the kinetic sun.
Will the sun ever rise on the 66th Eurovision stage in Turin (Italy), who knows…
Eurovision Song Contest 2022
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will take place on the 10th, 12th, and 14th of May 2022 in Turin, Italy.