A new credibility? Eurovision boss Martin Österdahl discusses this year's contest

Speaking to CNBC's Tania Bryer, Martin Österdahl discusses his role as executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, which the U.K. is hosting this week on behalf of Ukraine. He'll also touch on the event's new-found credibility and the future of the controversial "Big Five" group of countries which automatically quality for the Eurovision grand final due to their financial contributions.

[@scanpolar]

This year there were one special country that dared to jump over the language barrier. And that was FINLAND . HYVÄ SUOMI ? In English ....Well done Finland . Together we break also the cultural barriers.

[@ehmzed]

He dodged some questions lol. _ He didn't explain how the UK was chosen as the host country when Ukraine couldn't host it. _ He didn't specify that the change they wanted to introduce this year was the XFactor-like qualification announcement with all the contestants standing in line, which they tried in the rehearsals but decided not to introduce in the end. _ He didn't mention that the reason why they removed the juries from the semifinals is because last year some of them voted irregularly by voting for each other. Saying this would've put Eurovision's credibility under a bad light. _ He didn't explain that the reason the Big5 exist and need to be qualified in the final every year is because if even just one of them didn't qualify, they'd lose millions and millions of viewers from that country who wouldn't be interested in the final without their own country.

[@laurap.1507]

Would it be fair to have eurovision song contest executive supervisor from non-eurovision country? In The end Martin Österdahl is Swedish and his decisions might influence on jury system's future and competitions future development. I would like to see renewal

[@evidemment14]

If the Big 5 concept is so 'disadvantageous', then why keep it? Find another way to finance the Contest or reward the financing countries differently

[@timschnitzel]

Theres already countries leaving left right and center because they cant afford participation fees. if you loose the huge contribution from the big 5, the whole contest falls apart

[@evidemment14]

@@timschnitzel imo, the Big 5 should cover all the participation fees if they actually wanna deserve the automatic Q

[@mafaldacosta3364]

Neighbour countries voting for each other - like cyprus and greece- is also "disadvantageous".

[@JustBeingAwesome]

The big 5 have been in top 5 regularly in the past years. Tonight Spain, Italy and France will score well too (top 5, top 10). Now that their jury show recording is shown in the semi-finals and on youtube, things have changed.

[@MyBroSux24]

@Jörg Bauch hell no, the contest is more relevant and popular than ever no matter how Germany or any big 5 are doing. And interest in the semis is greater than ever. The spotlight would be even brighter on the semis if the big 5 are also competing. A bad song doesn't deserve a prime spot in the final.

[@kimbozw1808]

mr. "good-to-go".

[@cheyennebrennan966]

*_SWOON_* 🥰

[@kimbozw1808]

iskalla killen?@@cheyennebrennan966

[@cryptomonkey6142]

Please keep Australia in Eurovision, don't allow this to be our last year! 😢 🇦🇺

[@luisblue2004]

I'm sorry I have to say it.....he's a daddy

[@user-bt5mk3fe9s]

He should go. He is utterly partisan, and had transformed a fun event into a place where artists fell unsafe. And instead of listening to complaints, he blames everyone except himself. Utterly shameless.

[@eurovisionaryvoice]

Informative! :)

[@Consfeliciocosta]

You should review the way running order is being done. Not very fair, i must say.

[@peterschnider217]

A draw is the only way dooing it right. It might be a tv show, but still its so much more, somewhere in the league with the olympics or football worldcup. Noone would let some tv producer descide who plays against whom there...

[@bojan80]

Yes this year I can see some countries got hurt but running order

[@eurovisionaryvoice]

"The right winner" - hmm, what does it mean?🧐🤔

[@HansBaz]

Since he became supervisor, the Eurovision Song Contest has been a mess.

[@davedoyle2149]

Past 5 years votes for Sweden and Norway says everything you need to know about how Eurovision has lost credibility. Juryvote Sweden 1138 Televote Sweden 603 Difference 535 or 107 extra juryvote advantage Juryvote Norway 203 Televote Norway 797 Difference 594 points Juryvote penalty 119 Something needs to change with Jury.

[@alexpaps7682]

Agree! Especially the producers!!!!

[@ArvalVampire]

A year after and...Martin made an oopsie

[@tmack729]

I can take or leave Martin, but Moroccanoil should NOT be sponsoring Eurovision.

[@807615]

The best interview I have ever seen with an executive supervisor. Great questions and very honest answers. Martin thank you for everything you do for the Eurovision.

[@user-bt5mk3fe9s]

He is a total and utter disgrace. It is not easy to lose the goodwill of the Eurovision fans. He should apologize and go.

[@Leja27]

martin you are a disgrace and not honest, you should have protect Joost instead of disqualifying him

[@milsedd]

Larget ROTW vote came from USA ! It must be allowed to participate for a season

[@Eum67]

Dear Martin, you’re doing a great job! Much love from Armenia 🇦🇲

[@peterschnider217]

I actually miss Jan Ole a lot. Yes Eurovision has to change with time and it always did. Some really questionable changes happened past couple of years.

[@nian60]

No he isn't, he is doing a terrible job.

[@user-bt5mk3fe9s]

No he isn't. He has transformed the Eurovision into an event where the artists feel unsafe and are bullied.

[@Eum67]

@@user-bt5mk3fe9s yeah, I understand what you mean. I didn’t watch the show this year because one of favourite acts was unfairly disqualified 🥲

[@rafan6552]

Abolish the jury votes. Finland was the real winner, not Sweden who didnt get a single 12 points in televoting. Give the power to the millions of viewers, not juries of 5.

[@JCesar-xf2bk]

A very interesting interview! I just feel Eurovision has become way too big. Last year the show was over 4 hours long. It was tiresome. There are too many songs and the big 5 idea isn't fair. Downsizing a bit might be a good idea for Eurovision, who knows?

[@luigilombilla6149]

Get rid of the Big Five!!! Draw the order of performances, and get rid of this executive supervisor, bring someone who is not European! ESC is extremely influenced my Melodifestivalen!

[@liul]

I'm OK with that, but obviously those big five won't be paying anymore for everyone else

[@TheNellic07]

Swedish mafia

[@kwunder123]

Both Martin and Loreen are such great ambassadors for Sweden. Professional and humble.

[@87leafar]

Yah that's the problem... He does TO MUCH for Sweden..... Even a great running order.... Suspish

[@alexpaps7682]

@@87leafar Exactly. That is why they promote Sweden all these years - especially with the juries, running order-. However during recent years they receive high votes from the Juries, but low votes from the public!

[@Annini00]

@@87leafar Nr 9? really is that a good running order. In fact it's not good at all.

[@Annini00]

@@alexpaps7682 "all these years" he became Esc supervisor 2020. Get your facts right.

[@alexpaps7682]

@@Annini00 I did not say about him. I said Swedish producers! (Do you remember Christer Björkman?)

[@stephanielane1821]

Australia was fire, they should have won

[@ns2110theonly]

They were phenomenal. That song gave me goosebumps. IMHO The contest is ageist and the Australian band had been around since 1999 and are a bit older. Thus, though they by far they had the best song & best performance they didn’t win because they’re older. Eurovision is ageist among a lot of other things.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

The Eurovision Song Contest has undergone a significant transformation becoming in recent years the worlds premier LGBTQ festival where queer people are elevated and openly celebrated in a space like no other- for LGBTQ citizens of many east European nations this is an important official recognition that openly challenges the laws and cultural conventions of their country in away that's impossible to ignore. Also in the UK the transition has been fuelled by the "cool gay" factor and the replacement of Terry Wogan who singlehandedly did a lot to undermine the credibility of the contest with his commentary that belittled the performers of other nations- a style that thankfully is no longer PC and quite frankly was never all that funny at the time. The UK rock and pop establishment never took the show seriously and no cool A list stars ever entered the contest while at the height of their careers. It was always the uncool acts- Cliff Richard, New Seekers, etc or washed up stars of old like Bonnie Tyler that represented the UK. I do find the BBCs attempts to link the Beatles with the contest this year while Liverpool is hosting is stretching credibility. The show has always been greater than the sum of its parts. The spectacle and performance aspect has become supersized. The best part for many has always been the judging and the satellite links to Europe's capitals and all the technical glitches that can and still do happen. There was a time when the UK was isolated and Eurovision was one the handful of live events that allowed us a peek into other nations across the continent- all very exotic and exciting back in the day. Of course staging the event can generate a boost to the locale economy of the city hosting but it can also be a white elephant for smaller poorer nations. Ireland famously won the contest several times in the 90s almost crippling the country's national broadcaster who were responsible for hosting the event as winners. In 2022 politics vey obviously played a part in the outcome of the contest in way that is difficult for the Eurovision bosses to deny. They banned Russia from participating- personally I think they should've allowed them to perform and be totally humiliated and ridiculed on the international stage. Ukraine won and the UK- one of the nations most supportive of the Ukrainian war effort were suddenly good guys again across Europe- rehabilitated after BREXIT - was runner up. Politics and geography have always played a part (Germany won for the first time in 1983) and the axis of popularity and voting shifted after the fall of communism. The Nordic cabal and of course the derision every year when Greece and Cyprus cast their douze point. In my opinion 2022 was a strong year with a lot of genuinely good songs. Having watched both semi finals of 2023 I don't think this year comes anywhere close.

[@Matthy63]

For what it's worth, the thing that got them to kick out Russia wasn't actually the invasion. The EBU's initial reaction was "no this changes nothing this is fine". What changed things was that like 8 countries threatened to boycott if Russia wasn't excluded, so it was lose Russia, or lose like, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, and pretty quickly the EBU got the hint.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

@@Matthy63 and quite right too!

[@christee9590]

​@@knockshinnoch1950 not really, Urkaine started the war in 2014 by bombing Russian speaking Ukrainians in the Donbass region, - 5,600 innocents were murdered by the saintly Ukraine military and government. Ukraine should be banned too.

[@ns2110theonly]

@@Matthy63 I am a firm believer that, like the Olympics, Eurovision should be a politics free zone. I abhor what Russia did but that is not the fault of the musicians who participate. Boycotting a judo contest or a song contest only punishes the young people who have worked and sacrificed to get to that place and those young people have no interest in politics and should not be blamed for anything their countries leaders do. Like the Olympics, Eurovision should be above politics. Politically boycotting a politics free song contest is a dangerous slippery slope and quite hypocritical. I guarantee you those children Who didn’t get to participate in the song contest our way more hurt than Putin ever could be by a boycott which he couldn’t give a crap about.

[@nian60]

@@christee9590 Stop lying, orc.

[@abel3357]

After the genuine disaster of this year and fostering an atmosphere of insecurity and tension in the contest, completely disregarding its values and mission, Martin should resign as soon as possible.

[@sebastianniittyvuopio5017]

Mafia boss? Abba's butler?

[@HyperUTS_official]

He's a disgrace to the competition and has messed up the whole Eurovision.

[@postilaatikko7384]

Pelkuri hurri!

[@milsedd]

When will USA be allowed?

[@trildi]

Never hopefully.

[@milsedd]

@@trildi Biggest vote came from USA. IT must be allowed to participate next season!

[@trildi]

@@milsedd No it must not. Eurovision needs to keep its identity separate from any US-based influence.

[@postilaatikko7384]

Sut pitäis hakata!

[@alexpaps7682]

Martin Österdahl and the rest of Swedish producers, want to give Sweden it's 7th win (that is why they promote Sweden all these years - especially with the juries-), in order to tie with Ireland as the most countries with the most wins. The best choice is to remove him as executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and bring another one (best choice, one from outside Europe).

[@danielheden6580]

I do hope that you’re wrong. But I also think that you are right in the way that the person with that responsibility shouldn’t be from Europe.

[@peterschnider217]

I get that feeling too. So, running order should again be a draw and please, ALL the singing should be live again.

[@Paolo3480]

The rumors are Sweden wants to win because next year it will be the 50th anniversary of the Abba's success in 1974. So they want to remember it properly. It's time the Executive Supervisor is from a country not participating to Eurovision, or at least not from the Nordics block.

[@nian60]

@@danielheden6580 The results this year shows that the OP is right.

[@nian60]

I agree, and Sweden now has yet another undeserved win, most likely by rigging the juries.

[@seriouspleasures]

...and Loreen FFS! Very few people cared about Eurovision before "Euphoria". As a matter of fact, can we cut so I can go listen to it? Cut! Take five.

[@seriouspleasures]

@Mariyan Georgiev Good point there.

[@orwellianyoutube8978]

what a joke, sell your soul lad.

[@barrygriffiths4530]

It will be a freak show the result will be political

[@robmbms]

Who do you think is going to win and why?

[@Matthy63]

What does that mean specifically?

[@sladjanalemaich600]

Definitely political Eurovision just looking this year and last year winners. Get rid of juries. We don’t need their votes. Just a few people from each country who are not appreciating real art.

[@fredrikmoller629]

Its gonna be a freak show with only televotes

[@Matthy63]

@@sladjanalemaich600 if you mean that Ukraine winning was political I hardly disagree, given that "got invaded three months ago" is one of the more normal situations to define as "political", but the juries had nothing to do with that, that was all the televote. If it were for the juries it would have gone to Sweden or Britain

[@christee9590]

Bring back the juries for the semi-finals next year. If juries are needed for the final; they are needed for rhe semi-finals too. The large Albanian, Polish and Croatian dyaspera in other European countries voting for their own countries definately skewed the vote, meaning poor song from those countries have ended up in the final, at the expense of brilliant songs from smaller countries, with little dyaspera in other European countries - like Georgia, Latvia and Iceland.