Procon and Meyer Sound Help Bring Eurovision Song Contest to Millions Across the Globe

Photo: courtesy of Meyer Sound Laboratories.

Audio Product Stories Published: 30 June 2008
One of the longest-running events on television, the Eurovision Song Contest made its debut in 1956 and has grown steadily ever since, with recent audience estimates exceeding 100 million. Viewers cast their votes among contestants from each participating country and the winning country hosts the following year’s event.

Russian representative Dima Bilan and his song, “Believe,” is the winner of this year’s Eurovision held at Belgrade’s Beogradska Arena, one of Europe’s largest indoor sporting venues. A massive Meyer Sound M3D and MILO® line array loudspeaker system was deployed, provided by Hamburg, Germany-based Procon Event Engineering GmbH which handled the challenging multimedia logistics including sound, light and video.

As with most large sporting venues, the acoustics in the 23,000-seat, 48,000-square-meter (517,000-square-foot) arena were less than optimal. “With the large numbers of TV broadcast crews covering the event,” FOH engineer Carsten Kümmel reports, “it was very important for us to avoid unwanted reflections. Thankfully, the tight focus of the M3D and MILO line arrays enabled me to deliver a sound that was powerful and consistent across the entire arena.”

The sound system, comprising two main arrays of 15 Meyer Sound M3D and two MILO 120 line array loudspeakers per side, was augmented by a center hang of six MILO 90 cabinets. Two more hangs of 13 MILOs supplied outfill coverage, while deep low end was covered by six flown M3D-Sub directional subwoofers per side and 12 650-P subwoofers on the ground. A Galileo™ loudspeaker management system with three Galileo 616 units provided system drive and processing. Onstage monitoring was handled by nine M’elodie™ line array loudspeakers and two 600-HP subwoofers per side.

“We choose Meyer Sound equipment because of its excellent reputation all over the world,” added Procon’s Managing Director Morten Carlsson. “For an event of this magnitude, Meyer Sound equipment is really the only choice. It’s simply the best there is.”

For more information about Procon, visit http://www.procon-online.de/go/home-en.html ; Carsten Kümmel can be reached at www.tonmeister-online.de.