Setting The Stage: 70 Years Of The Eurovision Song Contest Opens At The National Science And Media Museum

The National Science and Media Museum hasunveiled new temporary exhibition Setting the Stage: 70 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, going behind the scenes of the world’s largest live televised music event.

The exhibition invites visitors to explore the technological history and innovation at the heart of the competition, contributing to its enduring legacy today. From pioneering early broadcast technology to the staging, lighting and production techniques that have come to define the competition as much as the music itself, the exhibition charts the evolution of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Setting the Stage features a series of interactive displays, allowing visitors to get hands-on with the groundbreaking technologies at the centre of the Contest. An interactive Nil Points Jukebox explores the Contest’s voting system, whilst an interactive projection mapped dress highlights the competitions use of pioneering digital technologies in more recent years.

A dedicated performance space encourages visitors to take on the role of contestant and perform from a selection of Eurovision Song Contest hits. The space brings together the performance and production elements that define the Contest and have helped to shape its identity as a global broadcast phenomenon.

Objects on display in Setting the Stage include a Marconi Mk III camera head, part of the early TV-broadcast technology that made early transnational broadcasts like the Eurovision Song Contest possible, and a Shure Duraplex headset, powering the Contest’s high-octane dance routines by allowing performers to move freely.

The exhibition also centres the people at the heart of the Contest’s global impact, with content from the fans and professionals who have shaped its story. This includes iconic outfits from hosts and performers, a range of fan-made ephemera from the Eurovision Song Contest’s global community, and memorable moments captured through specially commissioned and archive video footage.

While the exhibition maintains its primary focus on the evolution of the Eurovision Song Contest’s technology and production, the associated events programme will explore wider themes including music, performance, stagecraft and careers in broadcasting, the offer will provide visitors of all ages with opportunities to engage more deeply with the technologies behind performance and live events.

The Setting the Stage live programme includes pop-up parties, career days and curator-led tours, launching with a Big Family Party on Saturday 16 May. Kicking off the museum’s busy summer programme, the day includes live music, crafts, face painting, hands-on activities and even a silent disco.

Entry to Setting the Stage: 70 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest is included in free museum admission.

More details on Setting the Stage exhibition and the associated events programme can be found on the website.