Meeting to discuss audio considerations for the coming Eurovision Song Contest found Agorà and Sennheiser – both official audio suppliers to the ORF for the event – assembled at Sennheiser’s head office in front of large screens displaying control software, and mobile and stationary wireless audio devices under endurance testing.
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) will be the fourth time for Italian rental company Agorà handling technical production for the event. In Lisbon and Tel Aviv, the company supported the local teams for PA, RF, show mixing and network technology. In Turin, it was in charge, and is now bringing the same full service to host broadcaster ORF in Vienna.
Valerio Motta, Agorà Project Manager for the ESC 2026, is excited to see the great advances in technology and workflow that this mega-broadcast brings year after year: ‘But the best part of the job,’ he says, ‘is to work with teams from so many nations. The ESC is like a very fast and complex festival – we love it.’
‘The Eurovision Song Contest is a huge opportunity for companies to put their latest and greatest technology through its paces at the world’s biggest live music broadcast,’ offers Dr Andreas Sennheiser. ‘We’re very pleased to be able to partner with the ORF and very happy to have welcomed Agorà to the Sennheiser offices.’
For the Eurovision Song Contest, Sennheiser will deliver the largest Specterawireless set-up to date, including manufacturing samples of the yet-to-be-launched handheld transmitter. A firmware variant especially for the event adds functionalities that will be needed on site, such as a level recorder.
‘Artists and crews will benefit from the extraordinary clarity of IEMs over Spectera, and artists using a headset mic will be able to perform with just one belt pack,’ says Volker Schmitt, Manager Technical Application Engineering and ESC veteran. Like the Agorà team, our wireless experts are very much looking forward to the amazing international teamwork at the ESC.’
After the endurance test at Sennheiser, all Spectera devices were shipped to Agorà for further tests and configuration into racks, followed by a two-day training at Agorà’s headquarters. The Agorà and Sennheiser teams are now getting ready to support host broadcaster ORF in making the world’s biggest live music contest a reality once again.
More: www.sennheiser.com