Harry Styles checking to make sure staff were okay after his Grammys performance went wrong
Harry Styles had a nightmare at the Grammy Awards in February when the stage he was performing on turned the wrong way.
The star and his dancers had to quickly adjust their routine when a technical glitch sent their stage into reverse.
But instead of berating the technicians, Styles “called the appropriate team to make sure they were okay,” says Grammys set designer Julio Himede.
The mishap “was heartbreaking,” he told the BBC’s Eurovision Podcast.
“In rehearsals, his performance was so polished. I sat and admired how amazing Harry and his dancers were to just run with it and get it over with.
“To go on with the performance live and suddenly think, ‘I just have to go backwards now’ is pretty incredible.”
After the Grammys, Himede’s next big project is the set design for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
He said mishaps like the one Styles suffered show why multiple rehearsals are so important for live television.
“The really interesting thing about working at Eurovision is that we have 37 artists performing on that stage,” he told the Eurovisioncast.
“If we do the Grammys, we might have up to 13 performances. Everything [at Eurovision] is bigger and bigger. Everything is faster.”
He explained that a typical awards show has three minutes between performances. At the Song Contest, the stage has to be rebuilt in less than 60 seconds.
“It’s fascinating because most people don’t realize what it takes unless you’re there in the arena.
“It’s chaotic, but it’s organized chaos”.
This year’s Eurovision stage is based around the themes of togetherness, celebration and community, recognizing that the UK is hosting the show on behalf of last year’s winner, Ukraine.
The stage “is inspired by a big hug and opens its arms to Ukraine, the show’s cast and guests from around the world,” Himede said when his design was unveiled last month.
Construction work at Liverpool’s M&S Arena will begin at the end of the month, with several previously booked shows being canceled or rescheduled to make way for the competition.
Weeks of rehearsals are held in front of the competition’s 160 million viewers to ensure none of the performers meet a similar fate to Styles.
Tickets for the nine Liverpool shows sold out in 90 minutes last week and fans have been warned hotels they book are under attack from phishing email cyberattacks that are putting their data at risk.
The whole build, insights and analysis are explored every week in a new BBC podcast called the Eurovisioncast.
Eurovisioncast is available on BBC Soundsor search where you get your podcasts.
