Introducing Stockholm Revisited - a weekly series

03 June 2016 at 19:00 CEST
Over the course of summer we will be looking back to the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest and delving deeper into the event. Whilst the Eurovision Song Contest is first and foremost a television show, the vast majority of the preparations take place in the weeks leading up to the live shows. Every Friday we will take you on a journey behind the scenes in our new series, Stockholm Revisited. When it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest there is so much more than meets the eye!

Stockholm Revisited schedule

  • 10th June 2016: Technical production
  • 17th June 2016: Writing the script
  • 24th June 2016: Pre-contest milestones
  • 1st July 2016: Interval acts 
  • 8th July 2016: Voting
  • 15th July 2016: Semi-Final 1 revisited
  • 22nd July 2016: Semi-Final 2 revisited
  • 29th July 2016: Grand Final in focus
  • 5th August 2016: Top 5: Ukraine
  • 12th August 2016: Top 5: Australia 
  • 19th August 2016: Top 5: Russia
  • 26th August 2016: Top 5: Bulgaria
  • 2nd September 2016: Top 5: Sweden

Behind the scenes - the rehearsals

Rehearsals for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest started in Stockholm's Globe Arena on Monday 2nd May. Before the artists take to the stage they have an in-ear monitor rehearsals where the audio is perfected. Following this they then head to the stage where the performances begin. 

Each country initially has 30 minutes as part of the first set of rehearsals, followed by 20 minutes as part of the second round. How many times a song is performed in the allocated time is up to the acts and delegations. These rehearsals are not the first time that the respective songs have performed on the stage however; before the artists had even touched down in Stockholm the Swedish broadcaster SVT had arranged for stand-in rehearsals to take place with other singers. Songs were performed according to the instructions received from delegations concerning the look and feel of the entries. These performances were filmed and sent to each participating broadcaster for feedback ahead of the rehearsals starting.

After each country has rehearsed the stage is cleaned and polished, ready for the next act and the process begins all over again! 

The Viewing Room 

When the artists come off stage they go to the Viewing Room to watch their performances and provide feedback to the production team so that they can make any changes if necessary. This time spent in the Viewing Room means when the second round of rehearsals begin a after days later, technical changes can be accommodated. If required, final adjustments are made after the second set of rehearsals, meaning that by the time the live shows begin, the performances are perfected. You can read more about the process in our feature on the Viewing Room which was published last year. 

Check out our video below which provides a glimpse behind the scenes of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest!