BAKU, Azerbaijan — For the 57th annual Eurovision Song Contest, with semi-finals staged May 22 and 24 and the finals on May 26 at the 23,000-capacity Baku Crystal Hall, Cape Cross Studio + Filmlicht GmbH worked with Cologne, Germany-based Toneheads for the live broadcast’s audio support. Among the many companies contributing to the success of the event was Sommer Cable, also based in Germany.
Sommer Cable noted in a press release that the production required more than three kilometers of fiber optic cable and four kilometers of multi-channel AES/EBU + DMX cabling, and, with almost all of the gear arriving from Germany, the crew oversaw gear transport via 100 40-foot rail containers, 110 40-ton trucks and two Boeing 747 cargo planes.
For sound mixing, Toneheads provided eight Soundcraft Vi6 digital audio consoles. A team of sound engineers was kept busy working on five of the Vi6s (with the other three on standby). Piloting the FOH mix for the main contest were Toni Kern and Guido Preuss, while the opening and interval acts (along with the moderation) were mixed on a separate desk operated by Matthias Reusch, Pit Lenz and Michael Neumahr.
Down in Monitor World three Vi6 consoles were in constant use. The contestants’ reference sound (and opening and interval acts) were assigned to separate Vi6s, with another desk used in the In Ear Rehearsal Room. These were respectively under the command of Achim Lanzendorf, Lars Studer and Harald Jäger.
Sommer Cable products were incorporated in the 14 NPUs (10 active and four spare units) plus 18 NSPs (14 active, four spares), in 11 locations around the hall for lighting control, and the company’s cable lines were also used for the audio wiring — with SC-Quantum multicore spans of up to 175 meters between the Riedel RockNet hubs and the amp racks.
For more information, please visit www.sommercable.com.
