TECHNICAL HANDBOOK

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CONTENTS
04 VENUE PLAN
05 WELCOME
05 THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST IN VIENNA
06 TV DIRECTION THE VISION
07 TECHNICAL CONCEPT
08 TV PRODUCTION
09 THE STAGE
10 CAMERA PLAN
11

OB TRUCKS

12 COMMENTARY POSITIONS
13 AUDIO PRODUCTION
15 AUDIO PRINCIPLE
16 EBU SWITCH AND TRANSMISSION
18 DONT SKIP THIS PAGE
19 TECHNICAL CONTACTS

VENUE PLAN

FOYER
PRESS CENTRE

TV
COMPOUND

STAGE

DELEGATION
AREA

HALL F

LEVEL 1

STAGE
HALL D
SHOW AREA

GREEN ROOM
VIP AREA

COMMENTATOR`S
LOUNGE

LEVEL 0

WELCOME
The production staff of the Austrian
Broadcasting Corporation, ORF, is happy to
welcome you to Austria with a cordial Servus.
After Austrias first and only previous Eurovision
Song Contest victory in 1966, we are highly
honoured to host this outstanding TV music
competition for the second time. The Song
Contest 2015 is a very special event, and we are
proud to host the 60th anniversary show.
We have found an excellent team with great
respect, ambition and enthusiasm that will make
all provisions to create a wonderful show in
Vienna; together with all of you, we are convinced
that we will make the Eurovision Song Contest
an extraordinary event and a big party.
Enjoy your time in Austria, and we hope that
you will take a lot of positive memories to your
home country.

STEFAN WBER
Head of Production / Line Producer
Eurovision Song Contest 2015

THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST IN VIENNA

We are especially pleased to welcome 40
countries as our guest in Austria.

help to join all acts into one grand piece

of art.

We have succeeded in putting together

an internationally-experienced team
to create the Eurovision Song Contest
shows. International experience, combined with Song Contest experience and
a clear understanding of the Austrian
culture, was important when assembling
the team. I am sure that we will be able
to present an incredible show, embodying the theme of Building Bridges.

Conchita Wurst succeeded in bringing

the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 to
Vienna after displaying the theme we
chose for this event, Building Bridges,
and therefore already starting to build
the first, vital bridge. For me personally,
this meant the beginning of the biggest
and truly, the most overwhelming event
a show producer in Europe may ever be
able to produce. I stand before this enormous task filled with joy, but also filled
with great respect for what lies ahead.
The journey to the Song Contest 2015 is
going to be the highlight of my career
and I will be very happy if this festival
also becomes a highlight for you.

We see this show as a cooperation of

all participating countries. Together,
we will create a ground-breaking show,
hopefully leaving behind a long-lasting,
positive message. In this spirit, we will
do our best to support each and every one of your acts, making sure they
are exceptionally showcased. However,
dont forget that we will also need your

STEFAN ZECHNER
Head of Show
Eurovision Song Contest 2015

TV DIRECTION THE VISION

This years Eurovision is truly historic on many
levels. Marking the 60th anniversary of the
Song Contest, geographical boundaries have
been broken with the unprecedented inclusion
of Australia into the 2015 Eurovision family.
As a Director who has been with the Austrian
broadcaster ORF for 30 years, creating this remarkable event with my friends and colleagues
has been a major step and distinct honour.
The motto Building Bridges succinctly reflects
the unique production approach. In these difficult societal times, Eurovision 2015 aims at
making connections across national borders,
across cultures and indeed, across decades.
Our vision is to create a musical event celebrating tolerance and inclusion while promoting
respect and peace.
The production design reflects these underlying goals. The bridge concept emerges as

a physical structure linking the stage with the

audience, thus creating new possibilities for affinity and connection. In turn, the dynamicallyilluminated eye symbolises shared vision: diversity enhanced by a mutual respect between
cultures, countries and people.
Steering the conceptual design of these shows
has been a significant challenge regarding both
visual staging and implementation. A small team
began the creative process the very day after
Conchita Wurst won the Song Contest in 2014,
and this group has developed in dimension and
synergy ever since. As creating a show for an
audience of almost 200 million people is a
complex challenge, the Eurovision Song Contest requires teamwork at its very best.
We are delighted to have engaged seasoned
experts in supporting this production. Al Gurdon, among the top lighting designers global-

ly, has provided invaluable support throughout

the process. Similarly, set designer Florian
Wieder is among the best in his genre and has
contributed greatly.
On a personal note, I would like to dedicate
my work on this momentous project to my
beloved family, as well as to the recentlydeparted Udo Jrgens. After having won the
Eurovision Song Contest for Austria in 1966,
Jrgens went on to write almost 1,000 songs
and sell over 100 million records. I had the
deep pleasure of working with Udo on many
productions and can say that he is sorely
missed. But, the show must go on, as Udo
would have agreed. I am sure he will join us
in spirit.

KURT PONGRATZ
Senior Creative Director / Head of Directors
Eurovision Song Contest 2015

TECHNICAL CONCEPT
Its with great pleasure and honour that I lead
the technical production management for the
upcoming Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in
Vienna, currently the most fascinating, important and largest broadcast project for ORF.
Together with my team, we are trying to find
the best technical tools, solutions and innovations needed by the creative team to fulfil all
requirements, wishes and requests. The great
challenge we face is to take care regarding
very efficient and reliable solutions which are
in accordance with the strict interpretation
of the ecological and sustainable terms and
conditions of a Green Event.

Well prepared fail-safe concepts have top

priority for the technical planning and project setup. As such, the entire technical setup is designated to have a full redundancy at all times and to be flexible enough to
make creative changes, in the most efficient and effective way, to meet the demands
from our guests, the delegations.
We wish you a pleasant stay and a wonderful
time in Vienna.

CLAUDIO BORTOLI
Head of Technical Production Management
Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Special Note:
Please note and understand that all use of
any wireless equipment inside the venue is
unfortunately strictly forbidden and may result in loss of accreditation.

TV PRODUCTION
Broadcast
Stereo and 5.1 surround sound

ORF transmits the signal to the EBU switch and they

transmit the signal to all countries participating adapted
to their format.
26 cameras in total:

Blackcam

2D Cable Cam

Jitacam

5 Pedestal Cameras

3 Steadicams

7 Handheld Cameras (6 wireless)

3 Hotheads

2 Speedcams on trails

3 Minicams

Format
The Eurovision Song Contest will be produced in 1080I50
with 5.1 Audio distributed in Dolby-E format.
AES
AES
AES
AES

1: int. PGM /Stereo audio

2: Voting coordination + hosts from stage
3: int. PGM / surround sound audio (Dolby-E 5.1)
4: not connected

OB units
The main production unit is a double-extended 18 metre trailer with highend equipment throughout. The unit has been involved in many major events
around the world, including acting as the main unit for previous Eurovision
Song Contests. A back up unit with exactly the same equipment, workspaces
etc. is linked with the main unit via a Technical Operation Centre on site.
OB units, sound
The main sound truck is a 10-metre vehicle with state-of-the-art equipment
and acoustics. An identically-constructed truck will serve as the backup.
Viewing Room
The viewing room is located in the backstage area near the stage exit and will
contain high-quality video monitoring and 5.1 surround sound systems.
Power
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 will be a Green Event, this means that we set
up an environmentally-friendly power supply solution. The main supply will be
distributed by the power grid of the City of Vienna. The back-up supply comes
from power generators always in a stand-by mode, starting up and running
only in case of failure of the main supply. The switch over will be bridged by
huge battery-based UPS systems. This provides a sufficient and stable yet
eco-friendly power supply for the whole venue.
Sound
up to 12 sound mixing consoles
up to 100 wireless channels, in-ear and microphones

A sound crew of about 30 people

Use of wireless equipment
Use of personal wireless equipment (PMSE or similar) at the Press Centre or
anywhere else in the venue is strictly forbidden, and may result in a loss of accreditation rights. The reason is that the host broadcasters limited-frequency
ranges may not be disturbed in any way. It is not permitted to build ones own
WiFi router to prevent interference.

THE STAGE

Building Bridges: The 60th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna

combines nations and people with
different cultural roots in a unique
way. This is the vision that ought to
be perceived by millions of people.
This years stage concept emblematises this vision by a haptic eye.
Countless steles, symbolising the
participating nations, generate an
entity - and form a giant eye that
dominates the room as a statement. The eye sees itself as a portal and forms a bridge between the
artists, their delegations and the
audience all over the world.

The eye, that spans the entire

stage, consists of about 1,300 individual pillars and has a width of 43
metres, a height of up to 14 metres
and a depth of up to 22 metres.
The steles are equipped with LED
technology and produce a wide variety of lighting effects. The stage
surface in the eye has a width of
14.2 metres, and has a full LED floor
with a diameter of eleven metres.
In the background, there is an LED
wall with a width of 30 metres and
a height of 9 metres, which can
be hauled apart in the middle to a
width of 13 metres.

The vision for Eurovision Song Contest 2015 is the bridge that leads from
the past to the present and future.
The eye is a symbol of this bridge - a
cooperation based on respect between cultures, countries and people.

Florian Wieder (Creative Producer), Matthias Kublik (Production

Design), Al Gurdon (Lighting Designer), and Kurt Pongratz (Head of
Directors) are the responsible artists behind the stage design.

FACTS
The set design shows a large eye which covers an area of 43

metres width and 14 metres height that surrounds the main stage.
The eye consists of 1,300 single steles each with a LED-lit front

fascia.
All steles together consist of 3,225 linear metres of tube material.
There is a 30x9 metres LED screen with a resolution up to 7.5

mm in the centre of the eye.
The circular main stage has 450 LED modules (10mm) integrated

into the floor, which work in very low angled camera views and
also can carry high loads.
For special effects, 45 linear metres of metal grids are placed

next to the stage edge.
To highlight edges of the stage, 300 linear metres of LED strips

are installed.
Nearly 5,000 square metres of floor space are used for designed

set and technical areas, starting with the stage, presenter areas,
EBU positions and ending with FoH and commentator areas.
Several roller screens and fast fold screens allow the audience to

see live camera views and other content projected with 10 DLP
projectors.
Special camera systems and lighting effects are integrated in

the stage design.

CAMERA PLAN
20

01:

Pedestal
Pedestal

x 95

03:

Pedestal

x 95

04:

Pedestal

x 95

05:

Rail/Speedcam

x 17

06:

Pedestal

x 95

07:

Steadicam RF

wide

08:

JitaCam

wide

09:

Steadicam RF

wide

10:

Blackcam

wide

11:

Handheld RF

wide

12:

Remote Head

wide

13:

Handheld RF

wide

Railcam

x 17

2D Cablecam

wide

16:

Remote Head

wide

17:

Handheld RF

wide

18:

Handheld RF

wide

19:

Remote Head

wide

20:

Handheld

wide

10

10

x 17

22:

Handheld RF

x 17

23:

Steadicam RF

wide

24:

Minicam RF

wide

25:

Minicam RF

wide

26:

Minicam RF

wide

13

11
08

04

06
05

17

15

18

14
01

Handheld RF

19

12

(Backstage)
21:

26

07

16

(on the ceiling)

15:

25

09

x 95

02:

14:

24

21

02

22

03

23

OB TRUCKS
To be able to maintain a flexible setup and a safe backup solution, we will
use two identical OB units from Videohouse NV. The main production unit
will be Videohouse OB One and the backup will be Videohouse OB Two
For music production, we will use our own ORF Sound Trucks.
Sound Mobiles:
Audiomixer Lawo mc2 66 Mk2
Multitrack 1 Protools 64 I/O for recording & 1 Protools 64 I/O as Plug In
live FX Engine & for Timecode Level Automation.
Monitoring 5 PSI Audio A17M, Neumann KH 810
Outboard Waves, TC, Bricasti

Vision Mixer

VIDEO HOUSE OB One & OB Two

Cameras Grass Valley LDX Elite
Monitorwall 32 JVC 20 & 3 JVC 24 HDSDI monitors
Vision mixer production 1-Grass Valley Kayak 4ME frame with a Kayenne
3ME/35 button panel
Videomatrix Miranda 8288 264x372
Audioconsole Lawo mc2 66
Audio router Lawo
Intercom Riedel
Glue Axon
Servers EVS

Audio

11

pictures: Videohouse NV

COMMENTARY POSITIONS
The Commentary Positions in Vienna will
be built behind the Green Room area. The
Commentators Lounge will be located on the
ground floor behind the Commentary Position.
Commentary Booths of two different sizes
will be available:
2-person booth (2.00 width x 1.50 depth x
2.50 height, in metres)
up to 4-person booth (4.00 width x 1.50

depth x 2.50 height, in metres)

12

The sound isolation level in the booth will

be approximately -30dB, at 1kHz, and the
temperature at 21-24 degrees Celsius.
An internet connection will be available (2x
LAN/RJ45-plug); please bring your own laptop.
An electrical outlet for 4 connector plugs will
be installed in each booth.
There will be one 21 display, showing the main
programme feed, and a second 21 display,

switchable between a backstage camera

(showing waiting artists) and voting charts. The
commentary area will be supported by qualified
specialists.
Please note that it is mandatory to complete a
full technical check no later than noon of the 17th
of May in the presence of each commentator.

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Welcome to the Vienna Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Come over the bridge, leave your
predictions behind, enjoy the contest, the colourful Life Ball on the 16th of May or fulfil your
Viennese expectations for free with some of
the best classical music open air concerts in
the world at Schnbrunn Palace on the 14th
of May. Just enjoy the vibrant culture of this
open-minded city. We unfortunately have no
time for that this year, but dont need your
mercy as we will be enjoying our real passion:
We trill the last knobs of the best audio gear
to provide you and the millions in front of their
home TV cinema sound systems with pristine
sound quality. Yes - we have the honour to do
the sound for the contest this year. For this
purpose, you need some excellent gear, the
best audio companies of the country and a
lot of die-hard sound aficionados.
Grothusen is providing us with
MICROPHONES & IN-EAR
The company is a long-time Sennheiser dis-

13

tributor for Austria, the Balkan countries

and some Eastern European countries. Under the lead of Gerhard Vonwald, who is a
Song Contest veteran, his team manages 56
channels of radio mics. Handheld transmitters are Sennheiser SKM 9000 digital, with a
mixture of Sennheiser ME9005 and MD9235
capsule heads. Body-worn transmitters are
SK 9000 digital, with HSP-4 headset microphones, each coupled with the EM 9046 digital receivers. For in-ear monitoring, were
using SR 2050 twin transmitters, coupled
with EK 2000 beltpack receivers. For optimal and predictable results, we recommend
bringing your own custom moulded ear pieces with 3.5mm stereo plugs, but of course,
we will provide you with a standard personal
set if you dont decide to use your own. Our
team of professional audio specialists will try
to fulfil your requests and requirements to
achieve the finest possible sound.
We use the experience from Sound Art Service for monitor and PA applications. ORF
and Sound Art Service have a long-lasting re-

lationship for TV-PA applications, and we are

happy to have Stefan Schloegl and his experienced team on board. I am sure we will need
a whole lot of their experience, because one
of the major attractions of the show - I cant
tell what it is now makes our grey hair grow
and forces us to go to the limits.
The main PA system is a Meyersound Lyon
Line Array system, and it will be supplemented by a lot of delay speakers from varying types from Meyersound. MSL 4s are
our choice as sidefill systems and will serve
as backup for the in-ear monitors. The Green
Room is at the very end of the opposite side
of the hall; for this reason we provide a separate Line Array system to amplify the Green
Room talk from this direction. We use Midas
Pro 9 mixing consoles in conjunction with a
Waves Soundgrid Rack for the front of house
music mix and Pro 6 consoles for the FoH final mix. Midas Pro X consoles are used for
monitoring. Every mixing console at the main
venue has an active spare console for redundancy purposes.

AUDIO PRODUCTION
During the last contests, it was common
practice to have a first IEM rehearsal in a
more relaxed environment backstage before
the talents enter the breathtaking stage. For
this purpose, we provide a separate room at
the venue. As a novelty, we want to bring in
the acoustics of the big venue at this early
stage with a room impulse response of the
The Wiener Stadhalles ESC PA System. So,
we hope to make the reverb generated from
the PA systems a more predictable part of
the IEM Mix at the monitor rehearsal room. After completion of the IEM rehearsal sessions,
the snapshot from the monitor console in the
rehearsal room will be transferred to the monitor console beside the stage.
You cannot find many companies in Europe
to provide two Ob Vans equipped with the
same gear, and there was no reason to make
a change from last years provider, Videohouse. They did an excellent job, so it was an
easy decision for us to rely on their services.
So, for TV sound, we are using the sound con-

14

trol rooms of their trucks for the final mix in 5.1

and stereo and we put mixing in the hands of
our Broadcast Engineers Stefan Baumgartner
and Werner Rabatsch. For the music mix, we
use two brand-new radio OB vans from regional studios in Lower Austria and Burgenland.
All trucks are equipped with Lawo consoles
series 66. In the music trucks, we will use timecode automated Protools systems inserted
to the consoles channels, Plug Ins from Waves,
VSL and a lot more. If thats not enough to impress you, we have the finest digital hardware
from Bricasti, Waves and TC. Our centralised
play out system is equipped with Mac computers and we also use Protools here. The music
mix will be mixed by, in my opinion, Austrias
best of all music mixers - Dietz Tinhof - and
he is supervised by our much valued producer Dorothee Freiberger (formerly Badent).
She also did some compositional work on this
years impressive Song Contest anthem together with her musical partner David Bronner;
both were part of last years successfully winning team behind Conchita.

VIEWING ROOM
For the purpose of experiencing and evaluating the sound production, we have set up
the viewing room with an aligned Genelec
DSP monitoring system consisting of 5 Genelec 8260DSP and an extra SE7261 LFE channel. A high-quality stereo system with PSI
Audio A21 speakers will supplement the system. Our staff will take notes while you make
comments on the sound during the listening
sessions.
Now its time to say Thank You Conchita!
Let the contest begin, you made one of my
dreams come true. Now I am taking a step
back again, and I hope that the audience
does not take notice of what we do - then we
have probably done a good job.

GERHARD JANSA
Head of Sound
Eurovision Song Contest 2015

AUDIO BLOCK
DIAGRAM

15

EBU SWITCH AND TRANSMISSION

16

The EBU Switch will be built just next to the

Production OB Vans. EBU voting coordinators
are located here.

have to bear in mind that the original signal

is not 4/3 protected, so letterbox is the only
viable option for the SD format.

It is the nerve centre for the incoming and

outgoing video and audio signals. The native
High Definition version of the Song Contest
will be available to broadcasters on two
channels and two orbital positions: one on
Eutelsat 7A, the other on Eutelsat 10A. The
signals will contain normal IS stereo, Dolby
E audio and voting-related audio. These two
signals are routed and quality controlled,
before being distributed, each on two different
routes to the outside world. A mix of satellite
and optical fibre (EBUs Fine network) will
be used. When needed, safety devices
can be activated to ensure a trouble-free
transmission. It is up to the SD broadcasters
to produce a SD broadcast feed from the HD
signal (a downscaled version) Broadcasters

In order to receive the picture and sound

of the 40 voting countries, a total of eight
satellite channels are used. These channels are
switched on and off by the respective countries
at the voting coordinators request, rigorously
following the voting sequence. This requires a
professional and disciplined attitude from all
participating broadcasters. The new Eurovision
FNRMN network (V-sat) will be used for the
voting for the first time. The reception of these
channels in Vienna is backed up by a parallel
reception in Frankfurt and backhauled to
Vienna via the optical network.
Eight channels are needed, because the interventions on air by the spokespersons are
much shorter than the time needed to esta-

blish and quality check a studio connection

over satellite.
The voting coordinator talks to each studio
separately to ensure that they are ready to
give the votes, and then requests the studio
manager to switch the presenters microphone
in Vienna to the spokespersons earpiece.
The voting coordinator then switches the signal
from the voting countries one by one to the
program director in the production van, from
where they are inserted into the final production.
The HD signals will be transmitted in 42Mb,
Mpeg4, with 4.2.2. colour sub sampling,
ensuring the highest possible quality.

FRANK SAELENS
EBU Supervisor
Voting Coordinator

EBU SWITCH

17

DONT SKIP THIS PAGE

Dont skip this page! Well, but isnt this
just another epilogue praising the worlds
greatest musical event of the year, bringing
Europe together and all that? Well, hopefully
its little bit different just like our plans and
intentions for this 60th Eurovision Song
Contest are.
During the last year, we had been thinking
out of the Eurovision box (which was hard
because its a really huge box) and came up
with some special and original ideas or as
you might call them: weird.

18

But dont worry too much its still a music

competition (phew!) with all the exciting and
unifying moments you have been preparing
for including flag waving, singing and nailbiting during those ten hours presentation
of votes.
According to our motto, we will be building
bridges from big powerful show acts to
intimate emotional moments, from serious
music to modern pop, from a single person
on stage to millions of viewers around the
world. And we are glad and honoured to

have the most talented builders from all

over Europe with us - you!
So whatever youre planning for your performance costumes, dancers, rocking the
stage, minimalistic act or even wearing a
dress and a beard (secret hint: that works!)
- I am extremely looking forward to building
bridges with you!

GREGOR BARCAL
Creative Producer
Eurovision Song Contest 2015

TECHNICAL CONTACTS
Head of Technical Production Management
Claudio Bortoli
claudio.bortoli@orf.at
Technical Production Assistant
Daniela Friedel
daniela.friedel@orf.at
Technical Production Manager
Nikolaus Sagmeister
nikolaus.sagmeister@orf.at
Technical Production Manager
Wolfgang Maier
wolfgang.maier@orf.at
Technical Production Manager
Laszlo Fekete
laszlo.fekete@orf.at
Technical Production Assistant
Bianca Ritter
bianca.ritter@orf.at

EVENT SUPPLIERS

19

HOST CITY

OFFICIAL AIRLINE

NATIONAL PARTNER

20

OFFICIAL PARTNER