Procon and Meyer Sound Help Bring Eurovision Song Contest to Millions Across the Globe
One of the longest-running events on television, the Eurovision Song Contest made
its debut in 1956 and has grown steadily ever since, with recent audience estimates
exceeding 100 million. Viewers cast their votes among contestants from each
participating country and the winning country hosts the following year's event.
Russian representative Dima Bilan and his song, "Believe," is the winner of this
year's Eurovision held at Belgrade's Beogradska Arena, one of Europe's largest
indoor sporting venues. A massive Meyer Sound M3D and MILO® line array loudspeaker
system was deployed, provided by Hamburg, Germany-based Procon Event Engineering
GmbH which handled the challenging multimedia logistics including sound, light and
video.
As with most large sporting venues, the acoustics in the 23,000-seat,
48,000-square-meter (517,000-square-foot) arena were less than optimal. "With the
large numbers of TV broadcast crews covering the event," FOH engineer Carsten Kümmel
reports, "it was very important for us to avoid unwanted reflections. Thankfully,
the tight focus of the M3D and MILO line arrays enabled me to deliver a sound that
was powerful and consistent across the entire arena."
The sound system, comprising two main arrays of 15 Meyer Sound M3D and two MILO 120
line array loudspeakers per side, was augmented by a center hang of six MILO 90
cabinets. Two more hangs of 13 MILOs supplied outfill coverage, while deep low end
was covered by six flown M3D-Sub directional subwoofers per side and 12 650-P
subwoofers on the ground. A Galileo(tm) loudspeaker management system with three
Galileo 616 units provided system drive and processing. Onstage monitoring was
handled by nine M'elodie(tm) line array loudspeakers and two 600-HP subwoofers per
side.
"We choose Meyer Sound equipment because of its excellent reputation all over the
world," added Procon's Managing Director Morten Carlsson. "For an event of this
magnitude, Meyer Sound equipment is really the only choice. It's simply the best
there is."