The Eurovision 2024 stage design, will mesmerise not only those attending the competition this weekend, but the hundreds of millions who tune in from across the world too. Here's how the immersive staging came together
Malmö holds a special place in the heart of Fredrik Stormby, the Lighting and Screen Content Designer for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. “I grew up in the area, in Lund, not far from Malmö,” says Stormby, who is co-founder and CEO of Green Wall Designs. So, naturally, after years of leading Green Wall's work on some of the world biggest productions, such as Beyonce's Renaissance Tour, the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami, Amazon Music Live, and London's ABBA Voyage, London, working on the staging for Malmö to host Eurovision feels (quite literally) close to home for Stormby.
As dreamed up by Stormby togetherr with Eurovision's extensive team of creatives and technicians, including renowned production designer Florian Wieder, this year's stage and lighting design is a unique 360-degree experience that surrounds the audience at Malmö Arena. The official theme of the show is ‘The Eurovision Lights’, which will combine aspects of the North Lines together with the shape of harmonic rhythms on sound equalisers. Meanwhile, the cross-shaped stage is positioned in the middle of the audience, while movable LED cubes and flooring offer variations around the space. The monumental "centre piece" of the design is an installation of video and light suspended above the stage, where the lighting is designed to embrace the artists and their performances – bring both the live and TV audiences closer to the action.
Photo: Peppe Andersson
Stormby, who was part of Loreen's Swedish Eurovision delegation for last year's winning ‘Tattoo’ entry, emphasises the collaborative nature of this year's experience. “Over the course of this project, I have worked with at least 50 different creative teams,” he explains of the process of bringing to life the vision for so many international contestants on stage. But despite being in synergy with so many others, his own personal inspiration, drawn from the young, urban feeling around Malmö and the energy of its coastline that closely neighbours Denmark, translates in the design through “plenty of colour and strong lines”.
It's not just a competition amongst the contestants, the whole production is a competition.
Fredrik Stormby, Lighting and Screen Content Designer for Eurovision 2024
The competition extends off-stage as well, according to Stormby. “It's not just a competition amongst the contestants, the whole production is a competition,” he says. “It doesn't matter if you work here in the team, or if you're here as a delegation, it's a fight against the clock to make it happen.” The lighting and stage design had to factor in the very quick changes between acts, which allows about 45 seconds for the crews to reset. “It's intense,” Stormby says.
As well as ensuring all looks spectacular, the lights and staging have been designed with sustainability in mind too. Everything from fixture selections, materials and technical systems have been approached with environmental considerations, and the show only uses LED and laser light sources for their lower rate of power consumption.
Photo: Peppe Andersson
Speaking to Vogue Scandinavia the morning after the semifinals, Stormby describes the energy at the arena as “a bit bonkers, but amazing.” “There are so many great contestants with great energy. Last year's Finnish entry [Käärijä's 'Cha Cha Cha'] has definitely inspired people to go hard this year,” he says.
Putting his Swedish bias aside, can Stormby pinpoint his favourite 2024 entry – or the correlating creative team? “I'm too in the midst of it all right now,” he laughs. “Maybe ask me next week!”