2017 Core Team Expands: Major Milestones Met in Kyiv!
We are now officially in 2017, the year that we’ll be heading to Kyiv for Eurovision in May. The hosting broadcaster NTU have now chosen the creative agency and the travel agency, and the core team has expanded to include the stage designer, show producer and creative director. The new team members have all been approved by the reference group, which is the governing body of the European Broadcasting Union, who represents all participating broadcasters.
Re Design Team – Meet the Creative Team
Two Ukrainian agencies, Republique and Banda Agency won the creative pitch after joining forces to create the joined team named Re Design Team. A total of 11 creative agencies submitted a total of 23 creative bids for the contest. The applications were only accepted from Ukrainian agencies or Ukrainian offices of international companies. This is due to the core team wanting to demonstrate the best of Ukrainian national design.
The Art Director of Republique, Dmytro Basov, has said, ‘This contest is about friendship, unity, the fact that we are all different and can enrich one another. It is a boost for us as a country, and winning this pitch would become a boost for us as an agency.’
The Head of Strategy at Banda Agency has added, ‘We want to convey a specific message, use the Eurovision Song Contest as a platform to say something to Europe. We as an agency would like to help in that’
Stay tuned for more news on the creative concept of the show, which will be revealed this month.
Creative Producer and Show Producer Join the Team
NUT has appointed Oleh Bodnarchuk as the Creative Producer of the show, who will work closely with the Show Producer Stuart Barlow on the creative aspects of the contest. The Executive Producer of Eurovision 2017, Victoria Romanova has commented on these two team members, saying,
‘For the 2017 contest, we are preparing a unique, modern world-class, Ukrainian show. To this end, we have built a team of national and international professionals, who have a long-standing experience in the production of TV shows. Stuart Barlow has been working in the media industry for over 20 years and joined the organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, Baku, Malmo, Copenhagen and Vienna. Oleh Bodnarchuk has repeatedly directed the most popular Ukrainian shows, such as The Star Factory and The Voice. Last year, his staging of a performance at the US project America’s Got Talent was a success. The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest will fuse Ukrainian and international experience’
A Former Stage Designer Joins The Team!
NTU received a total of four pitches for the stage design of the 2017 contest, two of which were international, and two from within Ukraine. The winner of the pitch was Florian Wieder, who has actually designed three of the former Eurovision stages, 2011, 2012 and 2015. He has also worked on the X Factor in the UK, and US, as well as the MTV VMAs.
With the stage designer in place, and all the necessary agreements with the contest’s venue, the construction of the stage and grandstands is set to take place in late March.
Florian has commented on his selection as stage designer, saying, ‘I love the idea behind Eurovision Song Contest. So many different countries and cultures come together in peace to celebrate this event that’s what truly excites me. The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most exciting projects of my career. There are only a few like this in the world, so it is a huge honour for me to be the designer for this years show in Kyiv.’
Official Travel Agent on Board
The company Pilot has been chosen as the official 2017 travel agent. The company will be responsible for booking accommodation for the 43 participating delegations, foreign crew, sponsors, press and fans who will be visiting Kyiv in May.
Online booking of the official hotels will start in late January, after the Host City Insignia Exchange between the Mayor of Kyiv and the Mayor of Stockholm.
Olena Korchynska who is the Director General of Pilot has said, ‘We will provide a 24/7 English speaking support service for delegations. We will consider the wishes of every country so that is as convenient for everyone as possible and to leave everyone with the best impressions about Ukraine. For our part, we also intend to have a sequence of negotiations with our Stockholm counterparts to adopt their Eurovision experience to the utmost and take into account all important details’
