1974 Eurovision Song Contest winners ABBA (EBU)

The EBU is working with Danish Member DR—which happens to be the host of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest—to create a video archive of every Song Contest ever staged.

The ambitious digital library project follows Member requests for access to historical editions of the ever popular Eurovision Song Contest. It  is being built under the auspices of the International Federation of Television Archives (FIAT/IFTA), and will be accessible to broadcasters and journalists covering the event from 2015, when the contest celebrates its 60th anniversary.

After searching for a platform flexible enough to handle the various languages and technical needs of Member broadcasters, the EBU discovered DR’s open-source solution, called the Cultural Heritage Archive Open System (CHAOS). Project manager Jeroen Depraetere said, “An important aspect for any archive is that it is sustainable and that the content is accessible to broadcasters in the form they require. With all the different languages, video codecs and archive software out there, this was a big challenge to overcome. So we were pleased to have found CHAOS, and in particular, to be working with a fellow EBU Member.”

Videos will be available to the public through the www.eurovision.tv website. Song Contest fans will have access to selected items, said DR’s Andreas Larsen. “For fans of the contest, we hope that rights will let us provide some interesting clips.”

Presently, five Danish cities have shown interest in hosting the next Eurovision Song Contest: Copenhagen, Herning, Aalborg, Fredericia and Horsens. DR is evaluating each option and will announce the new venue after EBU approval is given.

CONTACT

Jeroen Depraetere
Eurovision Archive Project Manager
[email protected]
T +32 47 371 6821