Recently broadcast live from Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, the 65th Eurovision Song Contest that showcases musical talent from around the continent employed Shure Axient Digital Wireless Systems in support all performances delivered singers and musicians.
The production included more than 40 artists on stage and an estimated audience of nearly 200 million watching across Europe. “With Shure’s Axient Digital we found the perfect system to monitor and coordinate the complex audio set up that Eurovision required, in which sound quality and spectrum efficiency are key,” says Aart Heus, Wireless Coordination Technician at Ampco Flashlight. “Shure’s Wireless Workbench was the most qualified software for it. The hardware not only provides control and stability, it’s trustable and reliable which is essential for a show of this size.”
Shure gear for the show included 20 Axient Digital AD4Q four-channel quad receivers, another 20 Axient Digital ADX2FD handheld transmitters with proprietary ShowLink remote control, and 70 P10R+ diversity bodypack in-ear monitor receivers.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is responsible every year for organizing of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). The 2021 edition was led by Erwin Rintiema, Head of Production, working together with Host Broadcasters NPO, NOS, AVROTROS and Ampco Flashlight, the official sound supplier for the contest. “Shure was the perfect solution offered by Ampco Flashlight that matched all our requests,” states Jeroen ten Brinke, Head of Live Sound at ESC. “The fact that channels are duplicated and can change frequency automatically when needed is an amazing feature. It was the best system in which we could trust for this major European event”.
Members of the Shure product team visited the stage before the performances to help ensure that the artists’ and technical producers’ audio needs would be met as well as to help make the return of the Eurovision Song contest an exceptional music experience it was expected to be. “Sound and reliability are everything in an event like the Eurovision Song Contest and Axient Digital is the perfect system for meeting these expectations. The ESC is a highly complex event technically and it’s been an honor to work with Aart Heus and the rest of the production team to deliver a successful show,” says Tuomo Tolonen, Senior Director of Pro Audio in Western Europe at Shure.
