A single prop door for Russia and Greece
esctoday.com reports:
A potential staging problem has emerged after the stage production team realised that the props for the performances of Russia and Greece were too large and complex to switch in the 30 second gap between performances. After a round of heated debate, both sides are working against the clock to make changes to their props.
A spokesperson for the Greek delegation confirmed that there would be no movement of the commercial break to faciliate the movement of the two countries props. Neither country was prepared to accept the possibility. The problem seems to be that both performances have large and heavy props, and there is only one door to the stage for prop changes, as opposed to two or more in recent years. As a result, the switch-over between the two countries is taking longer than the time allowed.
The Greek delegation have adapted the giant book that turns into a heart, adding wheels to speed the movement of it to and from the stage. They are also looking to make the prop lighter in order to make sure everything is done during the alloted time period.
So far, we are informed that the Russians have agreed to look at changes to their props, but that no changes have been offered. They rejected the request to remove the ladder prop and are said to be very unhappy at the situation, although it has been strongly denied by both countries and the EBU that they threatened at any point to withdraw from the competition.
