We are now just a few days away from the long-awaited return of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), held this year at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam on 18-20 and 22 May 2021 and organized by the EBU – the world’s leading alliance of public service media. OSRAM, parent company of Claypaky, will be the official lighting partner of the ESC 2021 and, as in past years, will contribute to the event by illuminating a key building in the city of Rotterdam.
Claypaky itself will be represented by an outstanding complement of 481 Xtylos, innovative luminaires equipped with a tailor-made laser source and boasting super-concentrated beams of colored light. They will be essential to the exceptional light shows at the Ahoy Arena and are being provided by the shows’ rental and production companies, including Ampco Flashlight, that is the ESC’s Official Technical Supplier for lighting. ESC 2021 is produced by the host broadcaster NPO, NOS and AVROTROS with Erwin Rintjema as ESC’s Head of Production.
“Xtylos was launched by Claypaky about 18 months ago and has already been used in a number of major world events and specified for others, which unfortunately were cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Claypaky Sales Director Alberico D’Amato. “All the Xtylos that will be used at the ESC 2021 are already available on the market and used by major rental companies across the globe”.
Although the stage has been redesigned, the ESC 2021 organizers have decided to maintain last year’s technical set up, as the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. The Claypaky Xtylos were also part of that project and have been confirmed among the key lights of the event. Henk Jan van Beek of Light-H-Art, this years’ ESC lighting designer, in fact called Claypaky’s Xtylos “irreplaceable” fixtures, with their particular light beams a key part of the project.
Marcus Graser, Claypaky CEO, proudly adds, “I am excited that the Claypaky Xtylos will be part of this celebrated event, which always has a wide echo in our industry. I also am confident that everyone will enjoy an unforgettable show highlighted by our latest, innovative technology.”