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Germany: “Always On The Run” by ISAAK to Be Presented Differently at ESC in Malmö

We already know a bit about how the team behind the German ESC delegation plans to bring “Always On The Run” by “The German Final 2024” winner ISAAK to the stage in Malmö: For example, it’s clear that the word “Shit” in the song lyrics will be replaced by a hissing sound. It is also known that the creative agency Black Skull Creative has been engaged to bring the German entry to the ESC stage in collaboration with Austrian Marvin Dietmann. ISAAK himself has also expressed that there is still intensive work to be done on the staging.

This is certainly necessary because it has also been noticed internationally that there was basically no staging during ISAAK‘s performance in the German final (as stated by wiwibloggs chief William Lee Adams: “There’s really not any staging“). Dan Shipton, managing director of Black Skull Creative, who will be responsible for the German staging in Malmö, also emphasizes this point in the current episode of “The Euro Trip Podcast“.

Dan expresses himself in the conversation with his colleagues as follows:

“The final performance in the preliminary was not right; For him as a great street artist, that was not authentic. I didn’t feel that the overall package represented the man he is.”

At the same time, Dan praises “Always On The Run” and emphasizes that, in his view, the song has greater potential than the (international) fan reactions and betting odds suggest. He firmly believes that Germany does not have to finish last and that with a good staging (“It’s up to us”), Germany can move much further up in the result table.

However, Dan’s comparison between Germany in the current situation and the United Kingdom about 5 years ago seems a bit unfortunate, because it is well known that Dan and his team have not really succeeded in improving the placements of Electro Velvet, Joe & Jake, or SuRie through suitable staging, just as they did not with James Newman (whom Dan compares to ISAAK) or Michael Rice.

Nevertheless, German ESC fans can draw hope from the fact that the responsible creative team is aware that “Always On The Run” at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö must be presented very differently than in the Berlin live show of “The German Final 2024” and that the considerations and planning for this are already beginning.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Germany’s participation in Eurovision 2024, in Malmö!

Source: ESC Kompakt

Eurovision 2024: Dan Shipton to Direct Germany, Austria, and Cyprus!

Dan Shipton will be directing three countries in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Specifically, Black Scull Creative, owned by Dan, his husband Ross Nicholson, and their collaborators Jay Revell and Paul Gardner, will be responsible for the television production of the entries from Austria, Germany, and Cyprus.

Speaking to The Euro Trip, Dan Shipton revealed:

We have Austria, Germany, and Cyprus.

We are very excited about these countries and we are very close to them.

We turned down several collaborations this year to dedicate more time to family, but we couldn’t miss out on Eurovision because it’s our passion.

Shipton has been the creative director of many entries in the past decade and was the main creative director of Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool. Also, in 2022, he worked with four countries, while in 2021, he collaborated with seven. Shipton and Nicholson had to reduce their collaborations for this year’s Eurovision as they are expecting their first child. Marvin Dietmann will also be collaborating with them on the three entries in Malmo this year.

Kaleen, this year’s representative of Austria at Eurovision, is married to Dietmann and is a close friend of Shipton.

Kaleen and I have been friends for years.

The song is a banger and has very nice elements. It’s wonderful, her vocals are amazing, the choreography is fantastic, and the song is perfect.

It has something different from what you would expect from a typical Eurovision song. What we have prepared will excite.

17-year-old Silia Kapsis, who will represent Cyprus with “Liar,” has already started working with Shipton and his team to prepare her performance for Malmo.

The song is fantastic. When her team sent it to me, I listened to it, listened to it again, listened to it for a third time, and I really liked it.

As an artist, she is amazing. Vocally, she is great. The choreography is wonderful. She definitely has the potential to stand out.

The Eurovision stage has been designed by German designer Florian Wieder, who has designed seven stages at Eurovision since 2011, including last year’s in Liverpool.

Whatever Florian designs is amazing.

It’s wonderful to have the audience around you. The cross-shaped stage will compel people to rally around it.

It’s up to us, as creative directors, to find a way to capture something different and guess what the result will look like to do something that will stand out. The stage has many possibilities.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest developmentes regarding the 68th Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: The Euro Trip Podcast

Cyprus: Marvin Dietmann & Dan Shipton to Stage Eurovision 2022 Performance!

Today, Marvin Dietmann posted on his Instagram stories that he and Dan Shipton will be the artistic team behind the Cypriot participation for Eurovision 2022.

Unlike other years, RIK has been late in announcing the artist who will represent Cyprus at the upcoming Eurovision, as the right song must be found first and then the singer.

What has been mentioned by the Cypriot delegation is that this year’s participation will have a Cypriot color. It does not necessarily indicate the participation of a Cypriot artist as a representative but more broadly in the creative team of the song.

So far, RIK has not reached either the song or the artist who will be in Turin, however the search continues.

Cyprus finished in 16th place last year, with Elena Tsagrinou performing the song “El Diablo”.

Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for all the news regarding the participation of Cyprus in Eurovision 2022!

source: OGAE Greece