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Why was Düsseldorf the right choice for Eurovision 2011? Written by on January 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

It started about two thirds of the way through the voting in Oslo, as it became clear that Lena was going to win the contest and hand the honour of staging Eurovision in 2011 to Germany. The first question on everyone’s lips was simple… “where?” The answer however, was not as obvious as we had thought.

Unlike many of the countries that recently hosted Eurovision, Germany has the potential to host the Contest in cities other that its capital. Thanks to the sheer size, great infrastructure and a wealth of accommodation, Germany has many places that could potentially host world-class and large-scale events, as evidenced by its unofficial title as “Europe’s fairground”.

In the early days of the host determination process, there were over 20 cities in Germany that applied for copies of the tender to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Over the lodgment period however, for various financial and structural reasons, the actual amount which applied to host eventually dwindled to just four cities – Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover and Düsseldorf.

For fans there was great expectation that the host city would be the capital city of Berlin. The previous hosting in 1983 actually took place in what was one of the largest cities of West Germany – Munich. The year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, reunification of Germany, and the renaming of Berlin as its capital city also started a wave of former Eastern Bloc countries actually joining Eurovision. The competition has since grown to host more than 43 countries, and if it wasn’t for that significant moment in 1989, it would be doubtful that the growth of Eurovision would have ever happened. Therefore, what better place to unite Europe during May?

Berlin's Brandenburg Gate

Berlin's Brandenburg Gate

Berlin was, and frankly still is, the natural choice for Germany staging Eurovision. The problem is despite its expansive infrastructure, with a number of suitable venues, 2 airports, fast train services, and accommodation to host hundreds of thousands of tourists, they failed to live up to the standards and expectations of the EBU or the fans. It would always be difficult for the event to be visible in such a large a city as Berlin, but predominately it appears the issue for Berlin was the venue.

Despite the hopes of many that the O2 Arena in Berlin would be the chosen playground for 2011, the city did not put this forward in a bid due to the costs associated with closing such a venue down for the six weeks of time required to stage Eurovision. Instead the city offered to erect a tent on the defunct airfields of Templehof Airport. The tent would have been similar to those erected in World Expos, with air-conditioning, flooring and seating for approximately 10,000 people. Whilst location and transport appear to be perfect for hosting an event, the issue of sound quality in an untested venue, as well as weather, and the obvious cost in creating a temporary space for a television broadcast surely would have weighed heavily in the decision not to award the hosting to the capital.

The other fan favourite for hosting, the city of Hamburg, had provided German fans with a Eurovision hub and party during the live shows screened over the past few years. Hamburg has strong infrastructure, with a large airport, tens of thousands of accommodation beds, and is also famous for its party quarters in the Reeperbahn. There is little doubt that the city would have shone in the spotlight and provided a fantastic hub for Eurovision fans.

Another reason for Hamburgs’ status as a favourite was due to the fact that the selected producer and broadcaster of Eurovision – ARD and its regional subsidiary NDR, is based in Hamburg, making the broadcast logistics far less costly. Hamburg proceeded by giving the option of hosting in its newly built Exhibition Halls. But despite being over 7000 square metres, once the addition of a stage area had been constructed, the hall would not have held much more than 8000 people. With the growth of Eurovision and the increasing number of fans, the size of the venue would have struggled to meet expectations. It was reported by local newspaper ‘Hamburger Abendblatt’ that Hamburg, in the closing stages of host city talks, withdrew their bid due to financial constraints.

Likewise, Hannover also proposed to host within the confines of its exhibition halls. Hannover is Germanys leading exhibition city, holding many world-famous conferences and large scale events in the past. With great rail links to the rest of Germany, it could have handled the large numbers traveling to the contest with ease. Local press stated that the regional government ,in a bid to acquire the rights to host Eurovision, had offered capped accommodation rates making it a more attractive option despite its less than interesting city life. Nevertheless, much like Hamburg, the lack of numbers to seat in the venue, along with the fact that it has no permanent broadcast facilities, is most likely the reason that the contest was not awarded to the city.

The only city to propose a venue seating more than 10,000 people in the end was Düsseldorf. The west German city, proposed to use its 40,000 seater football stadium, the Esprit Arena, to host the Eurovision Song Contest, with the ability to house fans within its city and surrounds, and having an airport and train link within minutes of the venue. The indoor arena had been a proven live music venue with large-scale concerts by the likes of Take That already planned for later in 2011, and it also has the ability to house broadcasting facilities. In October 2010, Düsseldorf announced its plans to refurbish another stadium for the last few matches of the season for the football club Fortuna, thus removing the last hurdle from Düsseldorf’s bid. As we all now know, the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf was announced just days later by NDR as venue for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 12 October 2010.

When you can't find a room, just thank Interpack.

When you can't find a room, just thank Interpack.

Since the decision however, not all has gone smoothly for Düsseldorf. From the moment of the announcement, complaints were made regarding the lack of accommodation available in the city during the Eurovision period. This has been blamed on the coinciding of the Contest with Interpack – the world’s largest consumer packing expo. In early December, newspaper ‘Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung’ reported that the city may have falsified its financial situation and used trickery regarding its promise to refurbish an alternative football venue to beat out Berlin, Hamburg and Hannover for the honour of hosting Eurovision. It is now expected that Düsseldorf will build a temporary venue next to the Esprit Arena to host the football games for Fortuna.

Finally, there was a debacle in regards to ticketing when 34,000 tickets for the final sold out in less than 2 hours, with many fans missing out. The local ticketing agencies website crashed before public sale had even begun due to the fact that local German fans were given priority to purchase tickets.

Nonetheless, the conclusion is that it appears there never really was a choice. Düsseldorf was the city offering the best options in terms of transportation, media opportunities, and obviously venue to the EBU. It offered the most seats for more fans to attend, facilities to broadcast the show to tens of millions, and the city itself has enough satellite towns to accommodate those who travel to see the show. The alternatives to Düsseldorf would have provided even more headaches with ticket availability, with local finances, and with the broadcasting facilities. So despite the issues with the EBU choice of host, it’s clear that Düsseldorf was the city that best fulfilled all the expectations that Eurovision needs to meet to put on one of the most watched and most loved shows in the world.

About The Author: Sharleen Wright

Sharleen Wright is the co-founder of ESC Insight and a freelance journalist and researcher. She has previously worked for numerous community radio stations in Sydney Australia, and contributed to the wider world of comedy holding production and promotions roles at both the Edinburgh Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Her written words have appeared online, as well as The List magazine, and numerous fanzines on the topics of television and specifically, Eurovision . She is currently based in Australia and undertaking research on food and event tourism. You can follow Sharleen on Twitter (@sharly77) and Facebook (facebook.com/sharleenwright).

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Have Your Say

One response to “Why was Düsseldorf the right choice for Eurovision 2011?”

  1. matthias says:

    Well said.

    I know the European fans would have loved to go to Berlin, but Berlin is also nearly bancrupcr and wasn´t able to support the Contest in the same way Düsseldorf offered.

    And Berlin never cared about Eurovision, and so they don´t deserve it. Düsseldorf was at least part of the Flash-Movie!

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