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Malmö: Just one presenter in 2013

17 October 2012 at 13:03 CEST

In our recent article regarding the ambition to "unleash the full potential", we looked at how the plans for next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden were shaping up.

Now, in an interview with Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter (DN), SVT's executive producer for the contest, Martin Österdahl, has revealed that they are looking to only have one presenter in Malmö next year, a stark contrast to previous years where up to three have compared the three live shows.

The last time this happened was in 1995 when Mary Kennedy presented Europe's favourite TV show at the then Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. From Oslo in 2010 to Baku in 2012 three presenters have been used to host the show but now SVT are taking it back to basics:

"We believe more in the way they present at the Oscars", Martin Österdahl told DN.

The presenter has yet to be picked but we will announce it as soon as it becomes known.

No more LED stages

Ranging from the innovative in 2000, to the basic in 2010 and the extravagant in 2009, LED screens have become a constant feature of the modern Eurovision Song Contest.

Now, SVT are looking to replace this with what Österdahl terms "the next big thing". This is somewhat ironic as it was SVT who introduced the LED concept in Globen in 2000 where portable LED screens were used to create a unique stage setting for each participating act. Now, once again the broadcaster is going to lead the further innovation of the contest.

He went on to tell the newspaper that they want a more intimate and less distance setting for the contest.